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⊹ Book 1 of the Aldergrove Duology ⊹
After being told he has only six months left to live, Clementine decides to track down his sister's murderers, leading him to Aldergrove Academy, a place...
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⤠ ≻ ◈ ≺ ⤟
Clementine woke to a vulgar taste in his mouth. His throat felt dry, his head felt as though it had been smashed into a wall repeatedly, and an awful pain simmered in his gut.
He groaned, looking around his room—the first thing he thought he needed was water, but when he felt his insides churning, he knew that wasn't what he'd woken up for.
With a disgusted grimace on his face, he flew out of bed, sprinted into his bathroom, and reached the toilet bowl just in time. He groaned painfully as he threw up his dinner, and as he retched, his mind became flooded with panicked thoughts. Had someone poisoned him? Was he drugged? But when he lifted his head from the bowl and saw the black bile veining through his vomit, he understood what was going on.
He dragged his arm over his mouth as he leaned his back against the wall, clamping his knees against his chest. He could only ever have so many good days, and why now, of all times, would a stage of deterioration hit him?
"Clementine?" came Elliot's voice along with a knock on his bedroom door. "Are you okay in there?"
Had he really been that loud? He sighed, dragging his hand over his face. "Yeah," he called. "Just uh...ate something bad."
"Do you need anything?"
"No."
"Okay, well...let me know if you do."
He waited until he heard Elliot's footsteps fade and his door shut. Then, he got up off the bathroom floor and dragged himself back into his room.
Collapsing into his bed, he sighed heavily and tried to get comfortable again. This was only going to make things harder than they had already become. But he had no choice other than to deal with it—he'd dealt with it before...all he needed was ceraroot, and up here in the mountainous forests, he'd find that anywhere. The only problem was...going out into the woods.
Clementine glanced to his left at the murky forest outside his window. He was certain there were creatures out there far worse than what roamed the academy halls, so if he was going to go out there...he'd need backup. And that was yet another thing for him to figure out.
He'd do it tomorrow.
As the walls started whispering to the howling wind, he rolled onto his side and tried to drift back off to sleep.
⤚ ♠ ⤙
The morning was freezing. Clementine woke to the blue-hued light spilling into his room, and the only sound came from the creaking building. His headache felt worse but the nausea had passed, so that might make his hunt for ceraroot a little easier. All he had to do was figure out how to persuade someone to go with him.
