Project: Nighthall

3

When Emily mentioned Gabriel 'wolfing out' this morning, I didn't realize what she meant. But after dinner rolled around, Gabriel was on edge. So much so that when he was helping Michael clean up from dinner, he dropped the casserole dish. His limbs trembled, and before any of us could move, Michael called out for Rose.

The sun had come down over the horizon, leaving the moon to dance over the rippled water. Rose wanted us to stay inside, but even though we were in the house, we could hear it.

Guardian Croft seemed to be in mental distress listening to Gabriel's scream being choked off, we could hear his bones cracking and Rose's whispers of encouragement. Tilda came out of her office and sat on the couch closest to the back door, her head angled towards it in case she needed to go outside.

"Should we be concerned about him?" Guardian Castile asked.

Sheila shook her head from where she went over Michael's homework with him.

"This is normal. It's actually moving much faster than it usually does," she explained quietly, "If she doesn't come in in the next ten minutes, one of us needs to go check on them. But if there was a serious problem, she would call out for us."

"Isn't there a possibility he could hurt her?" Jamieson asked.

"No. Even in his state, his instincts are in hyperdrive. The last thing he would be capable of is hurting her."

"I'll do it," I said, "Gabriel is going to be in a vulnerable state. He knows I'm not a threat to him or her."

Tilda smiled. "You caught on to it quickly."

"I simply understand the lengths you would go to protect someone you care about," I said quietly. Tyson muttered something under his breath, but Sheila was close enough to hear him and narrowed her eyes at him.

"I think you should really keep your mouth shut, before I kick you out of my house," she chastised, "From what I've read in Guardian Belikov's file, he put himself between Rose and a Strigoi, which in turn, is why he was turned. It was either him or Rose, and he cared about her enough to literally but his life between her's and danger. That's more than what can be said about you. You who has more disciplinary remarks, assault charges, and complaints from former charges. You know nothing about care," Sheila snapped.

Guardian Croft cleared his throat and left the room, mumbling that he needed to make a phone call.

Multiple set of eyes moved to Sheila. "How do you know that?" I asked.

"You got files about us; we got files about you. It's only fair," Bryce said as he flopped down onto the couch, picking up the gaming controller.

I smirked because I knew that they got files about us, I just didn't know what they got about us. I took the moment and listened carefully. I couldn't hear anything from outside so I got up and went to the door. I couldn't see much so I went out, closing the door carefully behind me.

I scanned the deck but didn't see much and headed for the stairs.

"Comrade?"

I stopped in my tracks and turned, finding Rose in the corner of the deck, enveloped in darkness aside from her eyes.

"I just wanted to check on Gabriel. It got quiet," I said as I slipped my hand into the pockets of my jeans. I felt naked without my duster but understood why Rose was holding it hostage.

"He's okay. He's tired," Rose said, turning her head and stroking her hand over what I originally thought was darkness. Instead, she was sitting on the deck and Garbriel's form was wrapped around her, his head resting on her lap. The closer I looked, I could see the blue-green glow near her lap. His eyes were open, but barely. You could see the exhaustion from here. I crept closer and sat down too, my back against the wall of the house.