Crimson

Chapter 9: The Five

Nearby...

The night class dormitory had risen in energy as each cloud passed the sun and the sky grew darker and darker. However, one student hadn't been in the dormitory until now.

"Hello Lucian."

The white haired boy walked in without a second glance at the flaming redhead.

"Evening, Roman."

Lucian stopped and narrowed his golden eyes.

"What happened here?" He asked, studying the damaged wall.

"Avery should be able to tell you that." Roman sighed.

"I hope no one was hurt." Lucian said, having a seat on the regal sofa. "Hey- where's my book?"

"Bel should be able to tell you that."  Roman replied.

Lucian leaned back lazily and groaned. But suddenly, Roman was at full attention. Those orange eyes that matched his hair were on Lucian. He swallowed.

"Why do you smell like that?" He asked, intrigued.

Lucian met Roman's eyes. They narrowed.

"I don't know what you mean."

"You wear the same scent Bel wore earlier but stronger..." Roman said, walking up to Lucian. "That irresistible scent."

"It's not me," Lucian said with a roll of his eyes.

"Of course it's not, you smell like books, this is... this is the girl Bel was with earlier." Roman said.

Lucian sighed in annoyance, then stood up to reveal a small book bag in his right hand.

"Is that-"

"Y/n's." Lucian said simply.

"Did you steal it?" A voice from the corner of the room suddenly asked. The purple haired boy was smugly leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. Lucian looked fierce.

"Of course I didn't." He said. "Y/n found me in the library and must have left it."

"You're more cunning than I thought." Avery said with a smirk.

"I'm going to return it to her." Lucian said, carefully eyeing the other students. "It's the right thing to do."

"Is it though?" Asked Avery, making his way to Lucian. "Maybe you should use that little gift of yours to see what everyone is no doubt thinking."

"Do you want to be thrown against a wall for the second time today?" Lucian growled.

Avery rolled his eyes and walked away with a smile, just as Bel appeared at the top of the stairs.

"What's going on here?" He asked, a more serious look in his green eyes than usual.

Roman nodded to Lucian.

"Lucian's got a souvenir from his date with y/n." He said without much expression. Bel was the opposite.

"What-"

"I didn't go on a date with anyone and it's not a souvenir!" Lucian said loudly. "She forgot this in the library."

"That is hers, isn't it..." Bel said softly, descending down the steps. "It smells like her."

Lucian tried as hard as he could to resist taking in every part of the bag's scent. It was nothing compared to y/n but she had the bag with her all day and it smelled absolutely divine.

"I'm going to return it to her tomorrow." Lucian said with gritted teeth.

"No! Wait." Bel said, running up to him. Bel was easily the shortest of all the boys there.

"Maybe we should keep it." He said, eyeing the bag.

"No." Lucian stated.

"What's even in it?" Said Roman. Even he couldn't feign disinterest.

"School things I think, and the book I signed out for her at the library." Lucian said, glaring at the others for their over-interest. "I'm not about to go through her things, I'll return them to her myself."

"Are you sure that's such a good idea?" A voice rang throughout the common room.

"Knock it off Avery. " Lucian said without paying much attention to the trickster.

"Well if you're so fixated on bringing her back the bag, why wait until tomorrow?" Avery's voice echoed. "Why not do it tonight?"

Before Roman could answer, the atmosphere in the room grew cold and dark. But even though it wasn't Cadere, the tension in the room thickened all the same.

"You won't be going anywhere, tonight Avery." Someone at the top of the balcony said. They grasped the railing and stared at the rest of the students with eyes the colour of a dark rose, and hair that could either be seen as black or dark brown depending on the light. He was in his black uniform and just slightly shorter than the tallest boy, Lucian. But he easily commanded the most presence.

"I- I wasn't planning to, Dimitri." Avery said quickly. He appeared in the corner of the room once again.

The boy with the fixed expression named Dimitri walked down the stairs and met the eyes of the rest of the group. Anyone would have said he was the oldest and most mature there.

"You wouldn't want to get in trouble with Cadere again, would you?" Dimitri asked calmly, walking up to Avery.

He shook his head but still harbored an apparent sense of loathing.

The boy named Dimitri turned to Bel, Roman, and Lucian but instead focused on the bag in his hands.

"Who's this girl causing so much disarray?" Dimitri asked in a slow, articulate voice.

"She's a day class student, I haven't met her," answered Roman, "but I'm in the minority."

Dimitri raised an eyebrow at the others.

"I met her yesterday, she's really something." Said Bel, reminiscing.

"Do you know where she'll be?" Dimitri asked the blonde.

Bel smiled, mischief rekindling in his emerald green eyes.

"I have an idea."