Beechwood Academy

chapter four

Duncan was starting to believe Sammy was waking him up every night on purpose. Instead of waking up to a pillow to his face, Duncan woke to a muffled sob across the room from him. He looked up, his eyes not yet adjusting to the dark and mumbled Sammy's name, causing the British boy to freeze and for the crying to cease.

"Go to sleep." Sammy said as if he was a king demanding his servant.

"What's the matter?" Duncan asked, his voice deep and coated with sleep.

"Nothing that concerns you," Sammy responded. Duncan stood and groggily made his way to Sammy's bed, feeling his way to the edge and staring at Sammy through the darkness.

"Tell me and I'll be able to sleep."

"Only because you're half asleep and won't remember this in the morning." Sammy mumbled under his breath before raising his voice and telling Duncan everything he felt with two simple words. "I'm trapped."

"How?" Duncan asked, moving closer to his roommate and tilting his head to the side out of curiosity.

"I can't eat. I can't sleep. I am the definition of disappointment to my parents. And I can't even escape through death. I'm stuck. . .trapped." Sammy's voice was just above a whisper now and the pain in his voice was enough to bring Duncan on the verge of tears himself. It was heartbreaking to hear Sammy like this.

"What do you mean 'you can't escape through death'?" Duncan asked. Sammy was quiet, not bothering to give Duncan the answer he was expecting. "Sam, what does that mean?"

"Go to sleep." Sammy whispered.

"No. If you're going to hurt yourself I need to know," Duncan blurted the last sentence out without thinking and he regretted it almost instantly. It wasn't his place to interfere with how Sammy felt, he'd only known the boy two days for crying out loud. They were merely strangers.

Sammy almost laughed. "If only it were that easy." The blond turned away and used his feet to push Duncan off of his bed. The conversation was over. Duncan wasn't getting anything else out of the boy. He lay back down on his bed and stared at the ceiling, knowing for certain he wasn't going to sleep after that.

"If you need someone. . ." Duncan began, not sure if he should continue. "If you need someone to trust with anything, anything at all, you can tell me."

"Yeah sure, then I'll end up in a nuthouse with a bunch of crazies. Sounds like a good idea." Sammy scoffed, amused. He turned to lay on his stomach and face the wall.

"Sammy—"

"Bloody hell Duncan, I'm not going to die any time soon. Trust me," Sammy practically yelled through the silence. Duncan shut up but his mind was not eased and the worry he felt for his new friend only grew with the silence. There was a part of him that was scared to fall asleep, thinking that Sammy would be dead when he woke. The other part of him knew Sammy would stick with his word.

Suddenly, the boys' dorm door swung open and was slammed shut seconds later. Sammy and Duncan both shot up in their beds, Sammy holding his pillow as if it were a weapon to protect them both from harm.

"I'm sorry," the feminine voice filled with fear was enough to let the boys know they probably weren't in any danger. Sammy sat his pillow onto his bed and stood up, making his way to the light switch by the door. When light flooded through the room Duncan flinched but when his eyes adjusted he was confused by the girl that stood at their door. It was the brunette from the showers. This time, she wore a baggy shirt that covered a pair of sleeping shorts, the shorts revealed a long nasty scar ranging from her mid thigh to her calf. Her hair was tied in knot on top of her head.

"Are you alright?" Sammy asked her, furrowing his brows. He was shirtless and wearing a pair of sweatpants that were pulled up to his knees.

"I, um, I saw something I shouldn't have and I think the person I saw saw me." The girl said, not taking her eyes away from Duncan.

"What did you see?" Duncan asked, shooting a look at Sammy.

"You won't believe me," The brunette girl responded almost instantly.

"Try me," Sammy said.

The girl took a deep breath, looking at Sammy for a couple of seconds before speaking. "Miss Drake, she was rushing through the halls with blood on her mouth and it was dripping down her neck."

"She saw you?" Sammy asked, his eyes suddenly wide with fear.

"I don't know, she looked my way but I ran away and your door was the only unlocked one." Her eyes were full of fear and her body was shaking violently.

"What's your na—" Sammy was cut off by a loud bang on the door. His eyes widened and he quickly instructed the girl to hide underneath Duncan's bed. She did as she was told and Duncan made sure his blankets hung off the bed enough to cover her before Sammy opened the door. Miss Drake stood there, clean and wearing a tight black dress as if she was on her way to a date. The woman was gorgeous to Duncan, she had long raven colored hair that reached her mid back and her complexion was pale but her eyes were bright blue. Her entire look was unique.

"What can I do for you Miss Drake?" Sammy asked, shooting a handsome smile at his teacher.

"It's past curfew Mister Frost," Miss Drake stated, her eyes scanning their dorm and landing on Duncan.

"Yeah sorry, um, Duncan had a night terror." Sammy lied, coming up with the excuse on the spot without flaw. Miss Drake's eyes didn't leave Duncan. He cleared his throat awkwardly and moved closer to his bed, suddenly afraid that Miss Drake could see the girl underneath. She ended up nodding and leaving the boys alone without another word, continuing her stroll down the corridor. Sammy closed their dorm door and twisted the lock as the girl pulled herself out from underneath the bed. She let out a breath of relief and thanked them quietly. Sammy leaned his back against the door and let go of the breath he was holding before breaking out into a smile.

"What did you say your name was?" Sammy asked the girl, stepping closer to her and taking in her beauty he hadn't yet noticed through her state of panic.

"Daisy. . .Daisy Marsh." She ran her hands through her hair and looked at Duncan who hadn't spoke a word. "Forget everything I said earlier, I'm sorry to have disturbed you." She began to make her way towards the door but Sammy swiftly grabbed her arm as she passed him.

"Wait." His eyes met hers. "I believe you."

She smiled softly, "I know." Something in her eyes caused Sammy to tense. She knew, he could tell by the way she looked at him but she wasn't afraid. Sensing his discomfort, Daisy placed her hand over his and smiled. "It's okay. Really."

He nodded and cleared his throat, turning to Duncan. "We should get back to sleep."

Daisy nodded and waved at Duncan before leaving their room and closing the door behind her. As soon as she was out of the door Sammy let out a giggle. "The joys of Beechwood Academy."

Duncan couldn't share his amusement no matter how much he wanted to. He was unsettled. First by his conversation with Sammy and second by Daisy's accusation towards Miss Drake. She was clean when she came to their door. . .Could Daisy have been dreaming? Sleepwalking? Hallucinating? And if she was did that mean Duncan had hallucinated the entire ordeal in the woman's office? Something wasn't adding up and it sent his mind to places he didn't want it to go. Theories and questions kept him awake all night.