arescere ✿ xavier thorpe

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20 - of boys and montsers

when xavier woke the next morning, the last place he expected peter to be stood was outside on the balcony. he sat legs dangling over the ledge. he sat staring at the morning sun which was gently rising in the sky. pink clouds making the orange seem burnt. he wore headphones, whatever he was listening to, he was tapping his finger on the ledge to the beat.

"hi xavier." he mumbled as the boy climbed out the window too, shivering lightly in his pjs. wishing he had been smart like peter who put a jacket on.

"you okay?" he questioned, leaning forward on the ledge beside the boy who sat. the stretch of woods seeming never ending.

"mhm, just thinking.'' peter replied, turning to look at xavier. who held his breath in his throat for a moment. pink clouds reflected in peter's eyes, the orange dancing over the green making them seem almost gold. and xavier's phone alarm buzzed.time to get ready for the first lesson. peter followed in xavier's actions with reentering the dorm room. both boys getting changed, backs facing the other.

walking to the greenhouse, peter found a pretty girl sitting in the chair beside his own. a girl who never sits there. her skin was pale and hair dark. enchanting. that's what she was. and he noticed the pendant hanging from her neck. a pearl that seemed to have a greenish glow. siren.

"hi, i'm pete-"

"peter belfiore. we were chemistry partners briefly last year." the girl mumbled, and he nodded. correct. he hadn't expected her to remember though. someone remembered him.

"lily aenon." he returned and she nodded lightly, placing her head in her hand which covered her mouth. to hide the smile. someone remembered her.

"while most plants reward their pollinators with sweet nectar, many carnivorous varieties turn to sexual trickery. or deception.'' ms thornhill spoke and he put on his headphones, pulling out his book as she continued to ramble on. noticing lily glancing over to look at his writings every few minutes. clearly not interested in the lesson at all.

"you drain life?" he heard lily question which he nodded to. leaning back slightly in his chair to reach for one of the poisonous cacti. lily's brown eyes widened in surprise as it seemed to shrivel up like it had positioned itself before the colour drained. leaving it lifeless. before turning back to ms thornhill who was saying something about the rave'n. he wasn't interested. he had no intention of going or asking anyone. wednesday turned in her seat, slamming her hands in front of peter. pulling him away from the gentle gaze he looked at lily with as the girl packed up and rushed away.

"outside. now." and he nodded but made no movement to actually move so she grabbed his collar and dragged him. xavier laughed lightly as he watched peter squeak as he did so. the two disappeared out of the greenhouse. he quickly packed up, wanting to ask peter something but when he got outside. the two were already gone. no sign of them. only the lingering cold of death and smell of vanilla.

"how did he get those scars?" wednesday investigated as she led him into the woods for a private talk. it was the only place they could do as such without the eyes and ears of others.

"since when did you care about xavier?" he questioned raising his brow on wednesday who snapped her head to look at him. a hint of disgust written on her features.

"i don't. i'm trying to solve a case." she practically spat and he sighed.

"he said something about a painting."

"brilliant, let's go." and she was leading him deeper in the woods. following a dirt path towards a small hut. lingering outside as she noticed a figure moving in the window. only for the door to open as they creeped behind trees. xavier appeared from the hut. this must be where he came to paint.

"he's hiding something." she spoke as xavier looked around, making sure no one was looking before he a made a beeline back to the school. hoping to run into peter. little did he know that peter was about to find the paintings he wants none to see. the room which was eerily dark for it be midday outside. him and wednesday creeped into the room to find it was xavier's painting room. canvas littered the room. many sizes and shapes. wednesday walking to the one he was currently working on. pulling a switch and peter let out a cry as he came face to face with the monster that killed rowan that night. the same leathery features, and red eyes that haunt his dreams. the beast was towering over some kind of blur. a person with unreliable features because the painting was not yet done.

"i suppose every artist needs a muse." nd she was right. but it wasn't the only one. there were so many. in different styles they were all of this beast. till he found a canvas which had fallen to the floor. three cut marks through the piece as he lifted it up.

"xavier, you just became that much more interesting." wednesday spoke as she picked up scrap pieces of work. and he flipped the a3 sized canvas. only to find himself looking back at himself. an unknown horror lingering in his eyes, mouth wide in fear. skin pale to death. like he had just seen the unknown monsters of hell itself. but the claw marks stretched across the piece. the charcoal smudged at the tips. turning to find the painting that must have hurt xavier had charcoal drawn claws. it had reached out to slash the painting of peter. but why? and how did xavier end up hurt? nothing made sense. his head was starting to hurt. his mind was a board of unsolved questions. so many red strings hung between them. red for unsolved. and there was only red.

"wednesday?" he heard someone speaking from outside and he turned to find him standing alone in the studio. wednesday had pocketed the art and left him to think. not knowing what to do in this situation. peter was staring at a drawing of himself painted by their roommate who acted like he hated him. yeah, she was confused too.

"what are you doing?" he asked again as peter rushed for the door. not opening it but leaning against it to hear their slightly muffled conversation more clearly.

"is this about a certain dance that makes you want to poke needles into your eyes, perhaps?" xavier questioned, peter could hear the smug fucking grin from here. he felt his heart drop to his stomach. xavier did notice the small glance wednesday gave to the art studio before returning to xavier. she would regret this.

"would you possibly consider going to the rave'n dance with a certain boy- would you go to the dance with me?" she inquired, stumbling on her words as she wanted to ask xavier for peter. knowing there was something there, something odd between the two boys. but her mind flicked to the monster case. her theory on the monster and a master.

"yes, wednesday, i would love to go to the dance with you. i thought you'd never ask." xavier replied and wednesday turned on her heel and practically rushed away. and peter was left alone, looking down at the painting of him. why had the monster slashed this specific painting? why had xavier painted peter? why had he drawn the monsters? was he hiding something? too many what ifs.