AWAKEN ; benny weir [2]

twenty-five

"Sarah!

The vampire spun around at the sound of her name, growing concerned as she saw Benny and Ellie running down the hall to her locker.
"Have you seen Ethan today?" Ellie asked, out of breath. "We haven't seen him all day and he hasn't answered his phone."

"No, I haven't seen him," Sarah answered, shrugging to lighten the tone. "Maybe, he's just sick or something.
"The lack of response made Sarah think that the interaction was over, until she turned around to see the mages' jaws dropped at her response. They looked flabbergasted at her suggestion.
"Did I say something... or—?"

"Sarah, tell me the last time that Ethan took a sick day," Benny argued. "You won't have an answer because he hasn't taken one since primary."

"He won't call us back or answer us," Ellie added, her expression growing anxious.
As if on cue, Sarah heard her ringtone jingle in her back pocket. She pulled it out and showed the contact to Ellie and Benny, revealing Ethan on the other end.

"That douche. He'll call you and not me?!" Benny groaned.

Sarah answered the phone and held it between the three, turning on the speaker for the mages to hear.
"Hey, Eth. Where are you?"

"Sarah, you need to get Benny and Ellie and come down here now."

Ellie scrunched her face at Ethan's demand.
"Ethan, we have a biology quiz in ten minutes—!"

"—Ellie, this is bigger than biology! Get to my house now!"
Before the three could question him any more, Ethan abruptly hung up the phone to leave the three to stare at themselves in confusion.

"That doesn't sound good," Sarah said.
Benny tried to chuckle, "At least, I don't have to take that quiz."

——————

Sarah, Benny, and Ellie finally pulled up to Ethan's house in the vampire's car, sneaking past the school patrol to get to the Morgan's residence."This better be worth the F on that assignment," Ellie complained, alongside the two as they approached the front door.

Benny bounced in place as the three waited on Ethan to answer the front door. Because of Sarah's vampiric boundaries, they couldn't just barge in like they normally could. Ethan had to let them in.
"Oh my god, he needs to hurry up," Benny grumbled.
"We knocked ten seconds ago," Ellie said.

Before Benny could complain any longer, the front door to the Morgan's home swung open to reveal Ethan, who seemed to be the shell of who he was before. His hair was in tatters, he was still in his pajamas, and you could skateboard on the bags under his eyes.
"Finally— JESUS, what happened to you?"

Ethan rolled his eyes at his friends' reactions, seeing that they were all but pleasant.
"Thanks, guys. Come in."

Allowing the three into the house, Ethan couldn't help but slump himself back on the couch were he was before. Sarah, Benny, and Ellie all squinted at him, wondering why he was so disheveled.
"Are you gonna tell us why you're so... depressing to look at?" Ellie finally asked.
"Yeah, did you start your period this morning?" Benny chuckled, earning an elbow from the other mage. "...Sorry."

"Guys, knock it off."
Sarah ended the two's judgement and sat herself beside Ethan, taking in a respectful approach to his state. "What's wrong? Why did you need us here?"

Ethan gulped, biting his cheek at the thought of the situation. "...I keep getting these visions and they aren't stopping," he began. "I don't even have to touch anything or think about it at all; they just happen! I haven't slept, I can't focus on anything, and I feel like I'm going insane."