Shadow of a Grave ✧ Sebastian Sallow

chapter sixteen ✧ the tower

Sebastian Sallow's heart beat so hard against his chest that he thought he was going to explode. His adrenaline was still racing through his body from the moment he woke, but now it pained him. Guilt ate away at his mind as he blamed himself for Annabel's disappearance. He had just promised her mother that he would take care of her and within the same breath had already failed to keep his word.

"How in Merlin's name did you lose Bella?" Ominis growled as he entered the Astronomy room. His glamor had been placed back on as the uneasy chestnut eyes looked sharply through his soul. A safety while walking around the castle while students were awake and wandering.

The shy little boy Bash clangs on his father's arm. Then, he buried his head among the large group of adults as if he had been too shy to acknowledge them.

"I was asleep," Sebastian explained sharply. However, he felt ashamed that he hadn't heard the little girl leaving. The only thing was he didn't understand why his daughter left to begin with. "We think Bella just wandered out and left. But I don't know where she'd go off to or how long she's been gone."

"How did you sleep through that?" The blind friend hissed angrily.

Poppy was quick to his defense, "Dear, it was one of those dreams." None of them knew how to address the strange dreams yet. Poppy had only known the vague details of Amelia's presence in the dream the night before, but there hadn't been much time to think about what happened. Not only had there not been time to explain everything that happened in detail, but it wasn't clear how he would even begin to explain the concept to them. Amelia had called it purgatory when she spoke to him the night before. Sebastian still felt like it was a dream. He was conceived that it was real, but at the same time, he still had no idea what to think of it all. 

Ominis mulled over the news of the dream, before asking more calmly, "Anything important?"

"If you think Amelia possibly being alive still is important, then yes," Sebastian said flatly, "But finding Annabel first takes priority. We can discuss that later."

"Alive? Are you joking?" Ominis asked with a raised brow.

"He isn't," Poppy clarified, "But this isn't the time! We need to find Bella!"

Sebastian was also a little concerned about what the truth of the situation was. Whether or not it was possible to bring Amelia back was still a mystery to him. It was a topic better suited for a different time. They would have to wait until there was more time to focus on the topic, but for the moment there were far more important issues that needed to be handled before anything else. 

Amit Thakkar had mostly shaken his head in frustration as he paced his classroom. The news of the missing girl had been alarming when they came to him that morning. And while he was trusted with a lot of their secrets, he was becoming overwhelmed by the burden of the news.

His frustration boiled to his edge as he breathlessly asked, "Bella must have said something to someone here. She had to leave for a reason?"

All the adults remained mute. 

Bash's face popped up at the request and a little gasp caught everyone's attention. His eyes widened with excitement before looking over the rest of the adults as if he were looking for permission. Then he looked too nervous to speak. He preferred to lean up and whisper intently in his father's ear instead.

"Is Bash afraid of me still?" Sebastian asked lowly to the boy's mother.

"Probably," Poppy offered back with a laugh.

Ominis' face scrunched and folded as he listened to his son. Then a heavy sigh escaped him as he pitched his nose in frustration.

"Oh no, that doesn't seem like a good sign," Amit pointed out.