Robin's Song

Monsters By My Bed

Arlo

It is almost the time when I shouldn't be out here. I don't move however because I can't help but dread going back to my room. Not many places are safe in this school and I definitely don't find comfort anywhere. The walls dance with shadows of invaders; my eyes flicker to them, expecting to be trouble. An eerie sound of silence has replaced the screams of students. No laughter and expressive talking is coming from inside and outside the rooms. But, it has been replaced by a heavy fog of sadness. You can see it in everyone's faces. Knowing that things will be hard to go back to normal.

My body folds into the warm couch I have found myself in. Instead of spreading my time in the dining room, my room, or the library, I move to find new places throughout the building. All my old spots had been drawn over with filthy memories I wish I could unsee. After ages of endless wandering after my school trip out of the village, I came across a study room. I'm not sure if it was the exhaustion I felt from the trip that made me think differently from what I usually think, but it was worth it.

My sleepy wandering led me to this room filled with soft furniture and an absence of negative energy. I don't study much due to always doing it in my room or the library. I always found it odd that I preferred those places since I like to be around people. Maybe I can start coming to this study room more often. There aren't any people in here right now, but I bet I would like it when it isn't so close to curfew.

That is if I do come back to this school. I had agreed along with my friends that I would go to Robin's residence. I'm still not sure what to think of this plan we have crafted, but I'm confident in our abilities to pull it off. The state that Robin's been in had been terrible to see and it pulls my heart strings knowing I can't fix the situation he's dealing with. The best I can do is go with the others to try and get closer to his father.

The idea of all things going bad floats in the back of my mind. We have little details about the plan. It seems like we might wing it. Because truthfully, we don't know what we're going to do once we've reached Robin's property, all I know is that we're helping Robin. I have found myself putting all my trust in a broken man. Robin is someone I have found myself caring for, but I'm concerned that he isn't in the best mental state to lead us. There is not a doubt in my mind that Robin will betray us and hand us over to his father, but I can't know that he will protect us at all times.

Hence, why I'm staying away from our dorm room. It's been a tiring day at the village and I've decided to give Robin some alone time with himself. The trouble of today has just built to the rest of the weight he's carrying. I'm praying that he's at least trying to sleep up there. He took a nap on the train on the way home and it had pained me to wake him up from it.

In the meantime, I've been relaxing myself. Stressing is something I wanted to avoid but ended up doing anyway. During my time in this study room, I wrote letters to my family. I'm still not sure if they know about the incident that happened in the school recently, even if they don't know, I didn't bring it up in my letter. All I talked about is how I've decided to spend my winter break here to catch up on school work and spend it with some friends. My chest had tightened out of guilt when writing. It's always rare when I have to lie to my family. I never sought to do it, but this time I had to. There's no way I could explain why I would be choosing to spend my time away from them to spend it at Robin's.

"Sir, this room is closing soon and it is almost past curfew. I advise that you pack up your things," A short elderly guard tells me from across the room. She stands there, never taking her eyes off of me. She wants me to go to my room. Slowly, I nod and gather my writing supplies into my bag. I tell her to have a good night on my way out and I hear the lights shut off behind me.

Most hallways are dark on my way back to my dorm. A creepy feeling slivers up my spine, making me shiver. As hard as I can, I try to push all the thoughts telling me I'm in danger to the back. I'm not in danger, I'm just paranoid. I'm fine, just keep walking.

The closer I get to the boys' dorms, the more the scared feeling starts to turn into dread. I realize I don't want to be in the same room as Robin right now. But, I can't go anywhere else. I could try and stay the night in Eden and Fox's dorm, but that would be against the rules, and weird. I just suck it up and open the door to my room. The room is dark. I cautiously light one candle in the main room with a match placed right beside it. My nerves start to calm when I see Robin still in his bed. I'm glad he fell asleep. But even while unconscious, he still looks like he's in pain.

I walk around the room slowly. I don't bother to put on pajamas as the bathroom light and noise might wake Robin. Some layers of clothing were carefully stripped before I slid myself into my bed. I hear Robin stir from the other side of the room. My heart drops as I think I just woke him up, but after a minute that felt too long, Robin doesn't move again. The air I had been holding in my chest released from me and I lay down to fall into my sleep.

Sleep never came to me. I lay awake, staring at the far wall. Either I'm too hot or cold. My clothing is also very uncomfortable. But even with these factors, I know I'm not sleeping because I'm trying to stay alert. The thought makes me cringe, but I realize it's true. There is no way I will be able to sleep in the same room as Robin. It's just too unsafe when I'm not positive he's stable. He won't do anything to me, or at least the Robin I know won't. But I keep thinking back to the connections he has with his father. Does he know about me? Does his father know that Robin doesn't want to follow in his footsteps?

The way Robin has been expressing himself, he doesn't want anything to do with his father and his organization. I just need to keep putting trust in what I know: Robin wants to do good. I'm here to help him do that. We will be able to pull off this plan. Robin is not a monster like his father is. He's a good guy. I repeat this to myself. Slowly, my worries slipped from me. I'm taken by sleep.

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