Dead Ravens Society

Chapter 11 - Nevermore

And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting

On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;

And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,

And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;

And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor

Shall be lifted- nevermore!

- The Raven, Edgar Allan Poe

Adam

Adam didn't like to think of himself as an overly untrusting person, but ever since Gansey found out about the Dead Ravens Society, his view of their headmaster had gotten twisted. And with the journal now in their possession, he didn't feel as trusting towards Mr Czerny either. Not with the message he had written and Gansey had tried to hide from him in their room earlier.

It was not "nothing", as his roommate had said. Gansey had been visibly shaking when Adam walked up to him, so whatever he had gotten from that oddly worded note from Mr Czerny, it was something. 

At the current moment, Gansey seemed back to his normal self, at least the normal Adam was used to when Ronan was around, and was reading the journal with intensity where he walked in the very back. But Adam still wondered why he had lied.

"Something on your mind, Parrish?" Ronan asked, stopping, and looking over his shoulder at Adam. Before Adam had time to ask, he added, "You're mumbling."

Adam opened his mouth to answer when he suddenly realised how quiet it had gotten. He could no longer hear the sound of Gansey's footsteps behind him. He copied Ronan's movements to look over his shoulder at his roommate, expecting him to have stopped too, but then turned around fully at the sight behind him.

Gansey had stepped off the path and was walking deeper into the forest, his head held high. The journal was discarded on the path behind him.

"Gansey you idiot, stay on the path!" Ronan called after him and rushed past Adam. 

Adam followed closely behind. But Gansey couldn't seem to hear them, continuing his stroll. Ronan grabbed ahold of his arm to stop him, but he somehow managed to free himself from his friend's grip, shoving him to the ground. Adam knew Gansey had been captain of the rowing team the year before, having dropped it only because his father thought it was as a waste of time, and wasn't weak by normal standards, but compared to Ronan, he was. It shouldn't have been possible for him to break free of the grip that easily. 

Not to mention that it didn't seem like Gansey at all to risk hurting anyone. He didn't even look back to check that Ronan was okay where he sat on the ground.

He stopped half a metre away, his head tilted as he stared into the dark forest. Once the shock had worn off, Adam and Ronan ran up to him, grabbing one arm each in case he decided to continue walking.

"Gansey?" Adam asked as he stood before him, his heart dropping when he realised the boy's eyes had rolled back in his head. Ronan at once grabbed the epi-pen from Gansey's back pocket but stopped himself from using it when Gansey spoke.

"Gansey," he repeated, a sad look on his face. A pause followed and then he glanced down at his boatshoes. "That's all there is."

Following those words, he fell to his knees, closed his eyes and then blinked, his brown irises showing again when he opened them. He was silent for only a moment before asking, "What's wrong?" He looked down at Adam's and Ronan's hands holding on to him but didn't shake them off this time. "When did we get off the path?"

"Are you stung?" Ronan asked, checking him over as Adam let go of his arm.

Gansey shook his head, his frown deep. "What. Happened?"

'Yeah, what did happen?'

"You got fucking possessed, man," Ronan said.

"Oh." Gansey looked down at his own hands as if expecting them to have grown claws. "That's... interesting."

"Interesting?" Adam echoed.

"Well, Mr Czerny noted odd things happening near leylines, so maybe there is one close by and that's why he and Whelk decided to hold their meetings out here of all places," Gansey answered matter of factly. "I did think it was an odd place to hold a meeting when we could've more easily snuck into the library and had access to all the books about Glendower."

Adam stared at him. "Are you going to just ignore what happened to you?"

Gansey pouted. "Of course not, but I can't remember ever walking over here, so you'll have to fill me in."

And so Ronan did, but when he was done Gansey's expression was filled with wonder, rather than terror. "You guys know what this means, right?"

"No," Adam said.

"That you need to go with me to church next Sunday?" Ronan replied.

Gansey beamed. "No; that we're on the right path."