All For Not

Page 23

 A throat cleared behind me, taking my attention away from my book, instead of thumbing the page and flipping to the next one I waited for words or movement. "I need your help," furrowing my brows in a tight knitted motion, I frowned, she moved closer to stand behind my chair, "with?" She walked around the chair as my face relaxed, "to get into the secret society known as the nightshades, there's a book I need and the society is the holder..."

"Is it the same as Cousin Itt's secret society?" She nodded, "I believe so, my vision and the drawing are connected, I'm sure of it," nodding in compliance I stood up with a sigh, my annoyance only a mild simmer but my curiosity was hinting at a rise, "fine, only to look for your book..." Standing from my seat she watched me, as I walked around the other side of the chair I dropped my book onto the faux leather cushion before proceeding towards the door. "Rowan was the one who had the drawing, I want to check his room first." Freezing my steps, the room turned cold and my skin crawled, "you wanna search his room, even after it's been cleared of all his personal effects?" She nodded as I turned back around to face her, "fine, but the dorm masters are going to be an issue, do you have a solution?"

Her face turned towards the large webbed window and I exhaled through my nose, "I hope you're agile enough to walk across the beams, we both know you won't land on your feet Wednesday," she tilted her head crookedly, "of course, i'm not a feline after all, now chop chop. Rowan's not the one we need to be cautious of now." I frowned deeply, the mood darkening as I followed after her through the intricate glass work.

"Don't fall," I sneered behind her as she spoke, jumping up onto the ledge I started to walk, not stopping till I had somehow made it past her and hopped down onto Xavier's balcony. She reaches for the handle to enter the room almost instantly when she finally appears beside me. Grabbing her wrist, I tilt my head at the sound of a door opening in the room. I only let go of her wrist when the sound of another door shutting is heard through the balcony door, only opening said door when the water pipes rattle in the brick work signaling the showers have been turned on. "That purple book has got to be around here somewhere." The doors barely opened before she ushered me inside and spoke as she pushed against my shoulder blade to get me to move. "Start investigating."

"Stop pushing, if you wanted to do this we should've waited till the middle of classes," I whispered harshly and she only ignored me. Moving to look over his desk and flip through his stuff, I shook my head at her only to turn and look at his wall. Above his headboard there were handfuls of drawings plastered and tacked into the wall. Tearing my eyes away I heard a scoff, "he's been drawing you... disgusting." I frowned, turning to look at her before walking over and peering over her shoulder.

The art was detailed, the line work clearly admirable and the piece itself was all in graphite pencil. I swallowed and inhaled deeply, "I hope you're not becoming compromised," My brows furrowed at her comment, "compromised? Compromised as in, you already suspect him as an enemy? Without concrete evidence?" She walked away without confirming anything, "one would think he's stalking you," her tone of voice set me on edge and I furrowed my brows peering after her. I found myself looking back down at the page, examining it in a way until Something popped on Rowan's side of the dorm room. "What is that?" Wednesday had her black light shining against a plastic object, "a mask, I'm assuming it goes to the order of nightshades," nodding, I motioned towards the door and then signed to Thing as he moved over to us. Suddenly the water cut off in the bathroom and we each dove for cover, under the bed...

The bathroom door opens and Xavier walks out, flipping the lights back on as a series of knocks rapped on the door. He was quick to toss a towel on the bed, leaving it to hang over the side as he rushed to the door opening it.

"You're not supposed to be up here." Bianca stood before him while smiling almost giddily, yearning little stars in her eyes until he grabbed her by the curve of her shoulder with a harsh grip and pulled her into the room. He was extra attentive, looking out into the hallway just in case before closing and locking the door with an upset air surrounding and exuding from him. "Good to see you too." He turned with a face of annoyance barely glancing at her as he walked past, "how'd you get past the Housemaster? Use your siren powers?" Her face dropped further and she clutched at her amulet as he sort of sat against the metal framing at the foot of the bed, "not while wearing this. Would it kill you to not think the worst of me for once?" She stood before him and reached out only for him to cross his arms above his chest, my only sight however was his ankles and her calves and shoes. "What do you want, Bianca?" She scoffed as Thing crouched before me to better view the situation.

"To see how you're doing. I'm sorry about Rowan, I know you guys used to be close." She gestured to the other side of the room and he scoffed at her, "since when did you give a damn about Rowan?"

"You were the one afraid he'd do something to Wednesday. Isn't that why you've been following her and her sister like an eager-eyed puppy?" He moved away from her towards his desk, "or is there something more?" He paused and as she took a step towards him he closed his sketching book in a haste, smacking it closed. "Seriously, what do you see in them? You have a thing for tragic goth girls with funeral-parlor fashion sense?"

"Or maybe it's the sister, the other freak. Is that it, you like Morella, Xavier..." He turned his face away as we moved under the bed, watching and listening, "you like that she's easily impressed by your spiders, or that you talk to her and no one else will," he scoffed and spoke up with annoyance on his tongue, "maybe it's because she hasn't tried to manipulate me." His rushed words made her scoff this time, "I make one mistake, and you can't forgive me. Even Wednesday treats you like crap and you can't seem to get enough." Xavier had a look on his face, almost like he couldn't believe the jealousy rolling off of her, "why are you so fixated on Wednesday?"

"Because she thinks she's better than everyone else, her and her sister don't belong here..."

"I can't wait to crush Ophelia Hall tomorrow and watch their werewolf roommate crumble. It's gonna be a Poe Cup finale to remember." She moved to lean on his desk beside him, "I hate to think what you've got planned." I watched as she smiled and my brows knitted together, confused and curious, "my game's already started. I like to win. Is that so wrong?"

"And you wonder why I broke up with you."

"You used to love my killer instinct. We were good together, Xavier." I watched her grab his hand, slowly becoming irked by the siren, "were we? Or is that just how you wanted me to feel?" Both Xavier and I were becoming irked by the siren, "trust me, Wednesday Addams is not the girl of your dreams. She's the stuff of your nightmares." I watched Bianca stand and look at him as she backed up, her point coming across well enough that she waited to see if he would say anything in response but when nothing came from his mouth she scoffed and turned to leave. He only spoke once the annoyance boiled into a slight anger at the girl, "I'm not into Wednesday, maybe you should mind your own business next time," she had slammed the door closed at that, leaving him 'alone'.