Beechwood Academy

chapter three

It took him ages to find the drama room. After asking many students, he finally found out that it was located on the bottom floor of the main building, but when he arrived there wasn't a single person in sight. The classroom was made of brick, it looked very similar to the cafeteria but was only half the size. A metal desk was pushed into the far left corner but that was the only trace of furniture inside. Duncan turned, making his way back to the door and tugging at its handle. It wouldn't budge, it had locked behind him.

"You've got to be kidding me," Duncan mumbled under his breath before tugging the door once again just to be sure. He made his way across the room towards the desk in the corner, hoping to find a key in one of it's drawers. The first drawer was filled with papers and scripts, the second was full of pencils and writing utensils, but the third was stuck. Duncan could feel it moving when he pulled it and his curiosity was struck. Using all of his strength to open the drawer, he finally tugged it open only to be drenched in a thick liquid that had been in plastic bag that had gotten caught in the drawer. The bag had ripped when Duncan pulled it open. The drawer he'd opened was now crimson, only small traces of the plastic bag remained.

He stood there in shock, dripping in red before finally coming to his senses. His heart beat sped up and his breathing hitched. The boy gagged, the smell was metallic and nearly overwhelming. Duncan stepped back, frantically trying to wipe the substance off but only making it worse. His uniform was completely drenched and stained with blood.

"Duncan?" A familiar voice made it's way through Duncan's sense of panic but it wasn't enough to calm him down. "What the hell happened? Are you hurt?" Frantic hands grabbed Duncan's shoulders, holding him still long enough to determine whether or not the blood belonged to him.

"I-I-it just — I don't—" Duncan couldn't speak, the only thing he could think about was the sticky substance covering his body.

"It's okay, it's okay, come on." Duncan let the person pull him away from what looked like a crime scene. "Who's blood is this Duncan?"

"I-I don't know. I just. . .opened it, it exploded." Duncan gripped into the person pulling him towards the door, the glimpse of red hair he'd caught was enough to give away who was helping him. "Rudy. I—I don't like blood."

"It's okay, it's not yours so you're okay. Let's get you to your room, alright?" Rudy pulled Duncan out of the room and up the stairs, earning many looks from passing students. Rudy pulled the brunette through the courtyard and to the dorms until they finally reached Duncan and Sammy's room. When Rudy swung the door open, Sammy sat on his bed holding his hand up against his nose and mouth as if he was smelling something foul.

"What the bloody hell happened?" Sammy lifted his shirt above his nose in an attempt to cover his gag.

"I found him in Miss Drake's office, he was drenched when I walked in." Rudy explained, quickly rummaging through Duncan's drawers to find him some clean clothes.

"I'll take him to the showers, you find some candles or something to get rid of the smell." Sammy pushed Duncan back out into the corridors. Duncan didn't move, he barely even took the time to blink, his entire body was numb with shock. "Are you alright, man? It's just a little blood, snap out of it." Sammy pushed Duncan into the washrooms, tugging off the boy's uniform and tossing it into the washer that sat at the far left corner beside the feminine hygiene dispensers. Duncan allowed Sammy to strip him down to his trousers and push him into a stall, turning the water on and rinsing Duncan off as if he was a child.

"Sam, I-I don't know wh—"

"Hush, it's alright. You don't need to explain yourself just get clean, I'll be right back." Sammy left Duncan in the shower stall and rushed across the washroom towards the mirrors that lined the wall over the sinks. His stared at his reflection, red eyes stared back at him. "Shit," he mumbled, splashing water onto his face. He closed his eyes, willing the color to return to it's natural blue and when he opened them, his wish was granted. He rushed back to the shower where he'd left Duncan, finding his roommate staring blankly at the floor while the warm water flooded over him.

"Why would she have all that blood?" Duncan glanced up at Sammy, his eyes were practically begging Sammy for an answer.

Sammy hesitated, "I have no idea." He turned the water off and wrapped a white towel over Duncan shoulders.

* * *

"I've brought you dinner," Sammy said as soon as he opened the door to his dorm room. Duncan sat on his bed, his knees pulled up to his bare chest, staring into space, his hair still damp from the showers. Sammy laid the plate in his line of sight and snapped his fingers in front of Duncan's face. "Alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," Duncan mumbled.

"The lunch looks pleasing, I even nicked you a biscuit." Sammy said with a proud smile.

"I'm not really a fan of biscuits." Duncan mumbled half-heartedly without even looking down at his lunch plate.

"I'm sorry?" Sammy's smile dropped. "No, I'm going to need a new roommate. You are clearly unstable."

Duncan furrowed his brows after taking a few seconds to process Sammy's word. "Because I don't like bread?"

"Bread?" Sammy repeated. Sammy waved a hand in front of Duncan's face. "You've only had one day of classes and you've already been traumatized so badly you're brain was scattered. Seems like you'll love it here, Dunc." Sammy mumbled sarcastically before hopping onto his own bed and opening the book he'd been reading last night to the page he'd stopped on.

"Did they serve cookies yesterday?" Duncan asked, finally looking down at his dinner.

Sammy rolled his eyes. "Bloody hell."

"Does Miss Drake—"

"No. No more Miss Drake talk, eat your dinner." Sammy cut Duncan off with a strict parent-like glare.

"Why are you so afraid of the drama teacher?" Duncan asked, setting his untouched food on his nightstand.

"I'm not afraid of her," Sammy mumbled looking at Duncan's plate of food. "If you don't eat this we will have some problems, Duncan."

"If I have to eat, then so do you." Duncan said, standing up in order to be eye level with Sammy.

"It doesn't work like that."

"Well now it does." Duncan lifted the plate from his nightstand and handed it to Sammy who eyed him up and down. He almost looked frightened.

"I can't." He said, not taking his eyes away from Duncan's. "My body will reject it."

"That doesn't make sense. Nothing about you makes sense and you won't explain anything to me, why?" Duncan raised his voice causing Sammy to flinch.

"You act like we've known each other for years. You don't get to know everything about me because you ask." Sammy clenched his fists.

"No. I'm not taking that answer. Tell me what I want to know." Duncan was letting this go and Sammy knew that. Despite only knowing each other for two days the two understood each other's emotions without needing to be told blatantly. They knew each other better than they'd ever known anyone else.

"I have a medical diagnosis. I can only eat certain foods at a certain texture or else my body will reject it and I'll be vomiting all afternoon. Happy?" Sammy flopped down onto his bed and stared at the ceiling while Duncan processed this.

"That makes sense. Now tell me why you're so afraid of Miss Drake." Duncan sat on his own bed, watching Sammy closely.

"I'm not."

"I may have only known you for two days but I know that you're lying to me." Duncan stated, not backing down one bit. There was something Sammy was refusing to tell him and he wasn't going to stop until he knew exactly what it was. "She did something to you, didn't she?"

Sammy stayed quiet. He didn't want to respond, he was afraid of what he might say.

"Did she hurt you?" Duncan pestered. Sammy was silent. "Sam, did she hurt you?"

"No." The blond turned on his side so that his back was facing Duncan. Sammy caught himself wishing he had a different roommate. Someone as observant and stubborn as Duncan was sure to be a danger to him and everyone close to him. If he could get Duncan to believe everything was alright, then it would be. Nobody cares as much as Duncan did, his charisma was beautiful but the result of it wouldn't be. Sammy swore that he'd never let anyone know what he was and why. He couldn't put more people in danger, he didn't have to heart to endure it.