Crimson

II- Chapter 47: Birds of Prey

Cautiously you began walking down the poorly lit hallway with Avery, but not before his appearance changed once more. His eyes became dark, his hair, lighter, and his uniform not unlike yours. Suddenly Avery was no longer Avery but someone from patrol you knew liked to skip.

"He's never here," Avery vocalized your thoughts. "Shall we?"

Together you made your way around the corridor, the night student eerily close. He walked just an inch ahead but for some reason you never felt like he wasn't watching you.

"I'm sorry about what happened to your roommate," he said out of the blue. "Hopefully things get better soon."

"Oh, yeah," you replied. "I didn't realize the night students knew. It only happened yesterday."

"Word flies fast, I can attest to that." he said. Then his hooded eyes addressed yours. "Especially when a day student is staying the night. Cadere must really like you."

"What do you mean?"

Avery shrugged playfully.

"Well how many other day students do you see
unpacking their bags, looking for a glass of water here? Not even Simone got the offer you did after what happened to her roommate last year."

You felt the hair raise on your arms.

"What happened to her roommate last year?"

"I'm the wrong person to ask," he replied without turning around.

You desperately wanted to know who the right person was to ask, but Avery's confident strides left that conversation neglected and abandoned, not even worth touching.

"Where are we going?" You asked instead, out of both genuine concern and distaste for the silence that'd been created. Avery was usually more talkative- but then again, he wasn't Avery now was he.

"I'd get you water right from the lake if I could," he said with a smirk. "But the kitchen's pretty fresh too."

"Why don't you just... turn into a bird or something?" You asked with amusement.

A stunning window overlooking the water was right there, along with the day dorm silhouetted against the rising moon, lit up by hazy specks of glowing light.

"Wouldn't that be fun?" Avery asked. He leaned against the window's frame, gazing outside, grinning. "Unfortunately that's more up Cadere's alley. I can't do everything, surprisingly."

Your brows furrowed.

"You don't know the story? How delightful," he said. Seeing Avery so clearly through a day student you hardly knew was becoming unsettling. You shook your head, Avery gesturing down the stairs. You followed him down, nearly tripping twice.

"The kitchen water's best," he assured you again, although you were now more interested in Avery's powers and what he just said about Cadere.

"Turning into animals was never really my thing," Avery admitted, cautiously looking around. "No one's in there but if we run into anyone, I'll take care of it."

The kitchen was how you remembered it. Like your room, sorely untouched, a waste of beautiful space- although Avery said the students had spent more time there since you last left.

Pulling a goblet far too embellished for a glass of water from the cupboard, Avery filled it up in the same sink you'd last seen wash away your blood.

"Thank you," you said, taking it carefully. Avery watched you raise it to your lips.

"Any time y/n."