The Code

Chapter 2

Kendricks Academy, 1987

The nightmares were nothing new to Arthur.

As a legacy, it would have seemed logical that he would have already known about The Code, and the test that all Kendricks students were put through, but that wasn't how things worked. Even legacies had to go through it. Even legacies had to prove their trustworthiness, and the elders wanted to know that, put on the spot with no warning, you would remember where your loyalties lay.

The nightmares had been horrible at first - more than words could describe. He hadn't slept more than an hour at a time, more than few scattered hours in a week, for nearly a year. He had gone through the motions of classes, and social activities, but he'd felt barely human.

Over time, though, he'd learned to shove it down, to push it to the back of his brain, even if he couldn't totally scrub it away. But he still recognized the signs. He'd seen it so many times since that day that he could spot it in another student from miles away.

He observed much more than anyone gave him credit for - and to his way of thinking, that was a good thing. He saw the ones who for all intents and purposes didn't seem affected, and the only way he could tell they'd even been put through the test was by the change in their eyes. He saw the ones who immediately buried it down deep and never let it resurface. He saw the ones who, despite their youth, took to drinking or drugs to get by. He saw the ones for whom it could not be overcome: the ones who had a total and complete breakdown, or worse.

And then there were the ones like Davies: the ones who were completely rattled, and walked around like zombies for days, or weeks. They didn't sleep except in short, fitful spurts, interrupted by horrific nightmares repeating over and over again the last moments of a friend's life. After the initial shock wore off, they seemed fine, but the nightmares were the one sign that they would never be the same.

Because he was two years older, Arthur didn't sleep in the same room of the dormitory as Davies. But he had taken to using an invisibility spell he'd found scrawled on an old note in the back of one of his textbooks, and wandering around after lights out; he didn't sleep very much anymore. He knew if he got caught he'd be in for it, but he had no intention of getting caught.

All of this to say that several weeks after their first encounter, he'd come back from a jaunt to the kitchen and heard noises coming from one of the other bedrooms. He knew immediately what it was.

He quietly opened the door and went in. He saw Davies thrashing around in his bed, murmuring and muttering incoherently. He thought about waking him, but didn't know if an attempt to help would be appreciated or not. He might just be humiliated and angry at having his nightmare heard.

"I had to, Tim... I didn't have a choice..." Davies pleaded with his imaginary victim. He held his hands to his face. "So much blood," he muttered, "how can there be so much blood?" And then, in a howl that surprisingly didn't wake any of his roommates, "WHYYYYYYYYY?"

With that, before he could second-guess himself, Arthur murmured the incantation that broke the invisibility spell and crouched by the side of the bed. "Davies," he whispered. "Davies, you're having a nightmare... wake up..."

But Davies continued to roll around, saying in a low voice, "No... no... no... no... no..." over and over again.

Arthur tried one more time to wake the younger boy, but nothing happened. Finally, in frustration, he reached out and slapped Davies hard across the face.

Davies woke with a start, his hand flying to where he had been hit. "What the hell are you doing?" he snapped. "What are you even doing in this room?"