Welcome To The School

27

"VESPER! ADIRA!" Eijeh skidded to a halt, breathing heavily. "I HAVE A QUESTION!" He proclaimed, throwing a hand into the air briefly, before lowering it and leaning against the doorframe to the fourth-years' dorm. Vesper looked up from where she'd been focused entirely on her girlfriend, who was lying down, talking in the most animated way Eijeh had ever seen her speak, while Vesper was braiding her snowy hair into tiny, even plaits. Adira sat up and nodded. "Go ahead, Eijeh." She encouraged. Vesper nodded, before making a "hurry up" gesture.
"IS IT POSSIBLE THAT ANYONE HERE COULD HAVE THEIR MEMORI—" He stooped abruptly as Vesper launched herself towards him, muffling his words.
"Not so loud, idiot! Do you want to get found out?" She shook her head. "You realise that if this gets back to a teacher, we're all screwed? Golden rule of this place: Don't question the rules. Don't question your missing memories. Don't question anything, really, unless it's a class debate or whatever. It's dangerous. More so than you realise." She waited for him to nod that he'd be quieter before she relaxed and returned to her spot on the carpet with Adira. The vampire smiled softly. "Now, go ahead, please."
"Right...So, uh, do you think anyone could have their...head things?...the, uhh...you know what I mean, intact? I'm asking you guys because you're fourth years and you've been here the longest, so..." He trailed off.
Vesper shrugged. "Beats me."
"Well, I'm not sure, but if anyone may know, I think you should ask Marco. He's the sort of person who'd look into that." Adira smiled. "He'll be in the library. Walk down the corridor, it's the mysterious-looking door that has all these symbols carved into it. He'll probably be somewhere between the fourth and seventh floors." Eijeh nodded his thanks, before leaving the two of them in peace. As he left, he heard, "What about that place, I think it still has the same name after all this time. Hawaii, I believe? It's close to the beach, which you like, and apparently in the last several centuries, the chance of hurricanes have increased, and you've always wanted to see one, and also it's quite close to—" He smiled and made his way to the mysterious door. Like Adira had said, it was covered with all sorts of odd symbols, none of which made any sense to Eijeh. The largest one, and therefore the one that caught Eijeh's eye, looked like this:

He made a mental note to find out what it meant sometime, but for now he was on a mission. He followed several signs and ran up a long, twisting staircase, followed by another, and another, until he finally collapsed on a soft carpet on the fourth floor. After investigating a bit, he'd found a handful of  books — one he thought Hayden might like (it had a pirate on the cover, and it was no secret that Hayden wanted to be a pirate someday), one that he knew Zia would enjoy (a horror book by some long-forgotten horror author who'd written about clowns who liked red rum or something along those lines), three for himself, all mysteries of some form, and one for Pluto Alodia, which seemed like a journal more than an actual book, but he'd still chosen it because it was titled "How To Destroy This Damn World And Become Ruler Of Everything by Pluto Alodia", and he'd figured it was probably something to do with her — but no Marco.

He was just about to give up and ambush him in the cafeteria, when he heard a grumbling noise, and followed it towards a bookcase in the corner. He watched it curiously for a few moments, before shrugging and settling down to wait. After about twenty seconds, he was ready to walk out of there if nothing interesting happened in the next five seconds.

Thankfully, there was a loud creaking noise, and Marco emerged from the bookcase, looking frantic and...angry? In the short while he'd known Marco, he'd realised the older boy was always calm, always composed, always gentle and sweet and nervous...But no, now, in this hidden corner of the library, Marco's breathing was heavy, his fists were clenched, and he was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he hadn't yet noticed Eijeh. He watched with mild curiosity as the older boy stood frozen for a moment, before lunging towards the shelf opposite the one he'd emerged from, and ripped out an handful of books. With an anguished scream, he threw them at the far wall, one after the other, seeming to find solace in the fact that each hit the wall with a loud thud, but still he grabbed more and more books, throwing them again and again, until he finally paused and took a long breath. He screamed again, this time going on and on until Eijeh felt his eardrums would burst at any moment, and Marco he ran out of breath. He was hitting his fists against one of the bookcases, over and over, until they were bruised and bloody. That was when Eijeh decided enough was enough.

"Marco," he intoned. Marco turned, eyes wide and searching, like a wild animal that had been cornered and wasn't sure if they'd escape. Eijeh held out a hand, just in case he reacted violently. "Marco, it's Eijeh Ignis. Marco. Marco. I...Are you okay?" He asked awkwardly.
"N-NO! NO, I'M N-NOT O-OKAY, FUNNILY E-ENOUGH! BUT N-NO ONE W-WANTS TO HEAR T-THAT, D-DO THEY? S-SO, Y-YOU KNOW WHAT?" He gave a hysterical laugh. "I-I'M FINE, O-OKAY?! I. AM. F-FINE!!" He screamed, tears streaming down his face, blood on his knuckles, eyes wide and angry and insane. Something in him had snapped, but still Eijeh persevered.
"Marco. I need to ask you something."
"O-OF COURSE! W-WHY, GO R-RIGHT A-AHEAD! T-THAT'S ALL A-ANYONE N-NEEDS ME F-FOR, ISN'T IT?!" His eyes cleared for a moment, and he dropped to the floor. His voice lowered to a broken whisper. "I-Isn't it?" He looked up at Eijeh, and for a moment, all Eijeh saw was someone broken beyond repair. Someone trying to hide that. Someone silently crying out for help. Eijeh wasn't the best when it came to being a sensitive human being, but in that moment something in him stirred. He sat down next to the fourth-year.
"Marco... I'm... I'm sorry. That was... rude of me. So, let's focus on what you need, not what I do. What's bothering you, Marco?"

He was silent for a long while, staring brokenly at Eijeh. Then he spoke, in a whisper so quiet it was almost impossible to hear. "W-When we w-were in f-first y-year, I h-had a b-b-brother. A t-twin. L-Liam. We... w-we were so c-close, Eijeh. S-so close. A-And then..." As he spoke, his hands found an odd position, almost as if holding something. Then his fingers started to move. His right hand moved up and down, pressing down as they did so, getting closer to his face and then farther away again. His other hand, however, by his lap, was strumming, he realised. Almost like... Like holding a guitar. "I p-presume y-you know a-about t-the student? The o-one who... T-That was L-Liam. I s-saw him when I w-woke up, y-you know? H-His skin was s-so pale...And t-the lips I s-saw...T-They would n-never sing another s-song, or c-crack another s-stupid j-joke..." Eijeh was very aware of the tears filling his eyes, and he was careful not to blink. He rarely cried, and he wasn't about to start now. His night terrors were different, though. Then, he could cry as much as he wished. "I l-loved him s-so much...A-And you k-know the worst t-thing, E-Eijeh? I s-see his k-killer e-every day. A-And, it's just so u-unfair. I-I mean, I h-have friends, a-and everything, but... I have to s-stop myself f-from raging m-most d-days. From b-breaking down in t-tears. W-Which is why I c-come here. Y-You won't t-tell anyone, t-though, will you?" His brow creased and Eijeh saw the desperation in his eyes.
"Of course not." On an impulse, he wrapped his arms around Marco Seldana, the beautiful, broken boy who'd lost his other half when he was Eijeh's age. Marco leaned into the embrace and began to weep. Eijeh held him close, as Marco Seldana weeped.

He held him close as he weeped for all he had lost.

And all he had found.