The Hornsey Bay Chapters

Chapter 13 - A Drop of Info

Agitated, Alicia drops her pen on her notepad and plucks the earphones from her ears.

She doesn't know how she's supposed to concentrate on her studies today, and the soothing classical music that usually does such an excellent job of helping her focus is not succeeding now at all. It is actually starting to irritate her. Nothing feels right or makes sense to her anymore.

Popping her earphones in again, she scrolls through the playlists on her phone and finds the one she'd made for One OK Rock, her favourite band. What she needs right now is a song that perfectly reflects her mood, and soon, she sighs in satisfaction while Takahiro Moriuchi screams in her ears about his frustration with liars. Perfect! Alicia's heart agrees with him, though she hasn't actually been lied to.

She should probably calm her nerves with something gentle and sweet, like one of the band's many beautiful ballads instead, but she's afraid of becoming all misty-headed with hearts flashing in her eyes while she dreams about Archer's voice and his luminous eyes.

Or worse, Ranger sleeping in her arms!

Life was so much more straightforward less than a day ago when she simply thought of Ranger as an idiotic, selfish piece of human waste and his friends as dangerous thugs. Everything is confusing now that she'd seen other sides of them. Ranger's vulnerability is leaving her feeling ill at ease.

Alicia likes having things nicely organised and categorised with everything in their specified slots. The demon wasn't supposed to have layers and facets; he was just supposed to be an annoying jerk. Life felt predictable then. She likes predictable.

Exactly who is the boy in the room across the hallway?

She's been asking herself that question over and over all day. The question interfered while she was reading a book and it's interfering now when she's trying to focus on solving trigonometric equations. She has been doodling all over her notepad for over an hour now, and it is not even the only question messing with her fragile equilibrium. There's another one.

Exactly who are the boys with him in that room across the hallway?

They're the friendliest thugs Alicia has ever met. John, the one she used to fear running into in a dark alley, brought her coffee and crumpets less than an hour ago. Crumpets! They were delicate and delightful, dripping in syrup, and he made them himself!

It's just obscene!

Jared knocks on her door every couple of hours to ask her if she needs anything, and then he gives her some of their snacks. Apparently, the boys are having a party in Ranger's room. They're certainly loud enough for that to be true.

Shouldn't he sleep?

The only boy who hasn't brought her food or something to drink, fattening her up for the human sacrifice they're probably planning for later, is Archer. She only gets a glimpse of him when she leaves her room, which isn't often. It's a good thing because she likes seeing him a little bit too much for her liking. He doesn't speak to her when their paths cross; he just nods and does something that almost passes for a smile.

Ranger has also not paid Alicia any visits. He only gets up when he has to go to the bathroom, and then one of his buddies hangs out outside the door, waiting for him to come out. Nobody wants a repeat performance of earlier when he passed out in there.

He looked a bit better when she saw him a short while ago, on her way to the laundry to fold the clothes she'd stuck in the wash last night. She was happy to find that her dress was fine. Whatever stains there are blend into the background pretty well, but Jared's sweater, which Ranger wore during the incident, is a write-off.