Adelaide

Chapter XI

Adelaide DuPont

Hours into our search for the unknown professor, I glance up from my J and K folders to set my eyes on Emerald. The same now as whenever he disappears into his thoughts, that lovely melancholy expression flits across his kind features. It's not quite grief — though no one would blame the orphaned boy for expressing his heartache — but something closer to an inherent acceptance of misfortune, fitting for the backstory Sapphire told me.

Exhaustion flickers unwillingly behind my own gray eyes, but I refuse to acknowledge it until we find the truth. Handwritten names of countless individuals span across the pages, but none match Sapphire's beautiful artwork in the slightest. This night will be long, indeed. My mind wanders, and I wonder — were I in Emerald's situation, would I miss my parents at all? If they passed, I'd inherit a large sum of money as the sole heir of their business, and with money comes power — at least, enough authority to bail someone out of an asylum.

"How did the four of you even become friends? You are all so different from one another, yet fitted perfectly."

My idle words tinge with tiredness, but I know that by the time the sun rises again I'll feel much worse. Although, this sort of exhaustion strains me mentally, more than physically. Emerald merely shakes his head in amusement, his flaxen eyes fixing across mine as he pauses his work and lays files L through M on the dusty sofa armrest to stretch his arms.

"Well, I can only speak for myself. As the last one to arrive here, I was at first quite excluded from the other three. Rumor has it — Saph and Rue detested each other when they first arrived. Of course, back then they were called Aisling and Unity. I hear they maintained a constant war of wits that almost drove the professors insane."

He smiles slightly in a way I don't understand.

"But, eventually, their better sides won out. Rue is so generous and loving, and one as gentle and compassionate as Saph could never resist such charm. I met them like that — foiled in the same way summertime enhances winter's beauty, and vice versa."

Procrastinating a return to our tedious task at hand, he leans his head against the backrest and stares up to the cobwebbed ceiling. Mesmerized, I notice how his silky curls reflect the warm sconce candlelight like a late autumn sunset.

"Oz enrolled the year before me. He and Saph have always had a sort of, well, attachment. You know. I suppose that's how he befriended the girls, though I reckon he found accepting their camaraderie to be quite difficult, considering the events prior to his arrival."

Emerald shrugs, purely nonjudgmental. Those three constitute his family, and I'm sure he wouldn't alter any of their histories, which crafted them all into the individuals they are today. He looks towards me again, as if wondering whether I'll make a place for myself within their ranks. Perhaps I already have, in a way; we all collaborated on solving this mystery without a second thought.

His smile is equal parts kind and curious, painting an image of invaluable cleverness buried deep beneath the surface. Something might have blossomed between the two of us, I realize, if not for James and then Julian. He's so sweet and beautiful, but James reached my heart first.

"Saph and Ruby — those two make quite the pair," I finally respond, "I do hope they can sort out everything between them right now."

I crave sleep, if only a few minutes to rest my eyes, but the task at hand is more important. My eyes wander toward Emerald's files, attempting to engage my interest enough to erase the haziness from my mind, when one particular picture clipped to the page catches my attention. Without thinking, I reach across Emerald, leaning against him for just a moment to retrieve the folder brimming with L-names from the armrest. He inhales sharply but I barely hear, because there, blatantly spelled out across the pages in my hands, lies our mystery victim.