part three - ausculto
"Aurelio Cabrera is dead."
Noel spends a lot of time thinking about Cyric's teeth and the word 'run' — he spends even more time thinking about his dream, and struggles to focus as the television at the front of his classroom flickers to life.
Four weeks have passed since Aurelio was declared missing — four weeks since Noel's encounter with Cyric in the woods, and since his dream, a dream where he could feel, where he could smell.
The dream where Aurelio Cabrera was also dead.
—
Each class of humans has a Scelerati overseer designated to them. It's for protection, they say. Noel knows better. The Scelerati are a quiet threat — a fierce request for obedience and order.
...But now, the seat in the corner of his biology class is empty.
Aurelio's not there, spinning his dark curls around his mechanical pencil, his knee isn't jumping — and, well, there's no black eyes settled on Noel's collared neck. Noel's stomach turns when he feels relief instead of pity.
"Aurelio's mother owns the branch that my son is a janitor for."
Ms. Williams is whispering, but her throat has been dry since the start of August, and Noel can hear each word scrape out quietly — between the sounds of graphite scribbling on paper. She sniffles, but Noel knows it's from her cold.
"...I wonder who our next overseer is going to be."
A Scelerati's death is not a normal death. The humans don't grieve for it. In fact, they've seemed less tense in the Scelerati's absence. Ms. Williams' aid shifts from beside her and says something lower, something Noel shouldn't hear in response.
He tries not to listen in — and maybe it's a strange coincidence that he's able to hear someone so far away, at such a low pitch.
'Just a coincidence.'
Noel tries to tell himself. His eyes narrow, he writes faster —
'We're in the middle of an exam — and I'm seated too near to the empty shelves in the back.'
It means nothing; it's another coincidence.
"They say Aurelio was killed by another Scelerati."
—
(A/N: This is a chapter of another one of my Patreon stories. This story is several chapters ahead on my Patreon.
You can find my patron here: www.patreon.com/mythmouth. Or on my page under my links. @mythmouth.)
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EREBOS (M|M)
RomanceThe first time Noel meets Cyric Erebos, the latter man's knuckles are stained with blood. (rewritten and revised) (M|M)
