𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐞 જ⁀➴

V

Cassandra

Cassandra had jolted awake with a pained groan, the laden bedsheets twisted and tangled through her sweaty limbs. Her damp waves were matted to her forehead, her stiff muscles aching in a sticky mess that made her think she had fallen a lot more times than she had imagined the night before. She wanted to rot in her bed. Live in those sheets forever, and although it was completely impractical, the idea was a great deal too enticing. A pale sunbeam peaked passed the curtain and that was even too much, having her squinting in a matter of seconds. Last night was sort of a mere blur to her. Small, little fragments punctured her mind but not quite piercing enough to penetrate so she could barely recount all the events.

Deeply uncomfortable, she rolled onto her side, arms slinking around the pillow, as she reacquainted herself with wakefulness and thoroughly stretched out her inflamed limbs.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead."

Heart hammering hard in her chest, Cassandra's head jerked to the side. She froze. Because perched in a chair beside her bed, hand wrapped around a cold drink was her cousin Dorian Vale. She registered him for a long time, her lips parted in sheer shock, but as she regained consciousness, she gasped, clutching the sheets close to her chest and around her. What had he been doing here? An impish grin was etched across his face, as he ran a callous hand through his icy blonde, almost white, tousled head of hair mirroring her own features.

"No point hiding yourself, it's not like it's anything i haven't seen before." The amusement displayed on his face forced her to groan, only paining her head further as she rubbed her fingers against her pulsing temples. "Thought you'd be more surprised to see me, seeing as I had to carry you here."

"You carried me?"

"Yeah because for some weird reason you were passed out outside our dorm," wearied Dorian, brows knitted.

Her bleary eyes blinked as she distinctively scanned the dorm she was in and sure enough it had been his. Her memories came to her slowly; she remembered heading to sleep right after she had returned, she remembered being woken up in the middle of the night as water flooded her senses, and she couldn't breathe any longer. But as soon as the next set of events approached, she swallowed it all down harshly and looked back at Dorian. The details of last night no longer held any relevance or concern to her, the lingering weight of a familiar clothing draped over her shoulders, the light talk of idle conversation—it was all too dizzying for her to recollect fully without feeling bile rise immediately up her throat.

"Nice to see you too." proclaimed Dorian, dark green eyes shining with a sense of hopefulness that pained her heart.

Cassandra sighed. "I hope you don't expect a thank you."

He snorted, placing the drink down on the bedside table, the grin that intensified a sign of his content. "Wasn't planning on it from such an arrogant swot." Dorian's gaze softened, and she had already understood what was about to happen. "Olive explained what happened last night. Came rushing in shouting and barely even breathing properly."

"Of course she did," huffed Cassandra.

"We looked for you all night and couldn't find you." He rested his elbows upon his knees, leaning in closer as if to read her blank expression. "Where were you hiding, Cass?"

"Some random classroom." She answered too quickly.

"Why didn't you come to me?"

"Needed the silence."

"Well," he huffed, motioning to a load of suitcases stashed in the far corner of the room. Her suitcases. "You're sleeping in here from now on, Cass. I can't trust you anywhere else."