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❝faking sleep to count your breath❞
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IRIS PRACTICALLY JUMPED OUT OF BED AT THE SOUND OF CLANGING IN HER ROOM. She was half awake, and she could figure out where the hoise was coming from until she saw the grate for a vent pop out from underneath her bed. She immediately reached for the knife that she had hidden in her boot, and she spun it around for a second, getting a good grip on it before swinging under the bed to see who was breaking into her room.
"Jem?" she called when she saw the familiar face of the boy staring back at her. His bottom half was still inside the vent, but his arms and torso were on the floor as he climbed out, sliding the grate out of his way. He did not answer. Instead he just grabbed the edge of the bed and climbed up as she sat back up on the mattress. She questioned, "How did you get here?"
"Vents are magical things," he answered, gesturing to where he had just climbed out as she slid over to make space for him on the bed. He sat at her feet as she tucked and rested her chin on her knee, gazing up at him with her very tired eyes.
She then shot him a concerned look because he was kind of the last person she expected to climb into her room at night, considering their past and all. There had to be something wrong, right? Why else would he be there? "Is everyone okay?"
"Yeah, they're fine," he assured her, and she breathed out a sigh of relief. He leaned back against the wall that the bed was against. He groaned lightly and ran a hand through his hair. He informed her, "I just...couldn't sleep."
