The Fourth Roommate

Chapter 4: Casual Bloodlust

Basil slept fitfully. It was more than just the feel of unfamiliar sheets on his skin and the uncertainty of his current situation causing turmoil in his mind. Through the wall he could faintly hear the sound of the front door opening and closing. He even thought he heard unfamiliar voices of night-time visitors.

When his alarm finally sounded on his phone in the morning, he immediately sat up and slid out of bed as if waiting for it all night. He looked to the other bed. Archer was still sleeping soundly, mouth wide and sheets tangled.

Basil was beyond grateful that, as he stepped out into the common room, it was deserted. The last thing he wanted as to run into one of his new roommates alone. Backpack slung over shoulder, he raced out the door.

"Basil. Basil!" He jerked to his senses. Down at the board the teacher was still droning on, a complicated equation in marker underlined several times.

Basil looked over to where his name had sounded. Rainn was watching him with a tilted head, her eyebrows drawn together in concern.

"Why did you stop taking notes? You look really pale..."

Basil forced a smile. His disrupted sleep in combination with his frayed nerves must have been showing.

"If you're sick just go. I can give you the notes."

He shook his head vehemently and tightened his grip on his pencil. "I'm fine, really."

Rainn gave him a look that told she smelled falsehood. Having known each other since childhood, naturally she could read his face better than anyone.

Before she had moved away, he and Rainn had been very close friends. It was incredible that, years later, they had ended up at the same college, together again. Since that time Rainn had exchanged her pink dresses for black shirts and dark purple lipstick. Her hair was its same short beach-blonde, but now several shiny silver rings made their way up the side of both ears.

Basil hoped he might be able to slip away quietly after class, but his efforts were for not. Rainn grabbed the back of his bag and pulled him to the side as soon as they were out the lecture hall.

"Alright, tell me what's wrong."

Basil tried shrugging her off, to no avail. "I told you—nothing. Come on, I need to finish an essay before my next class."

"Ah ha! Leaving homework to the last minute? Now I know something is up."

His eyes burned with fatigue. Today was not the day to do this. "Please Rainn..."

But his friend only folded her arms. She paused, seemingly collecting her words, before starting, "Did you talk to your mother yesterday?"

Now Basil really did feel sick. "That's not it. I'm just...a little tired. The neighbors were too loud last night."

Rainn turned up her nose. She still didn't believe him. "Is it...then...do you want to talk about Liliana?"

"I don't!" Basil quickly lowered his voice—he'd gotten to shouting. He needed to calm down. Given everything that was going on, of course he wasn't mentally ready to talk about his dead little sister.

"Then is it about your dad? Listen Basil, I know there wasn't enough time to forgive him for what happened--"

"Rainn, please, just...stop."

However Rainn was not a young lady to be out-stubborned. Taking a deep breath and clenching her fists, she looked her friend in the eye. "Your mother is right. You need to take some time off. After everything that's happened, you need to be home right now."

"One night of bad sleep and I get a lecture?" The last of the students finally trickled out of the hall. Basil took his chance to leave. "Really, I got to go Rainn. See you Wednesday." And he finally managed to slip away, leaving Rainn with a deep frown.

"Mr. Noorwood." Basil looked up. The librarian stared down at him through her thick glasses. "It's time to close up."

Basil sighed heavily, but began packing up his things. It seemed it was time to return to the apartment. He'd been dreading this moment all day. In fact, after all his thinking, he believed the best course of action might actually be returning to his storage unit and forgetting the whole ordeal of the night before.

But as soon as the notion crossed his mind a shout caught his attention and his stomach sank.

Archer jogged the rest of the distance between them, waving him down. Reluctantly, Basil waited for him to catch up before starting off.

"At the library huh? Got everything done?"

"Enough," Basil answered.

Archer grinned playfully. "Awesome. Then it's time for winding down—college style! What do you think—should we hit the bar?"

Basil gave him a look. "We're both underage."

"Don't worry, money will add to our age—if you get what I mean."

"I'm not in the mood for bribing bartenders."

Archer nodded fairly. "Alright, so a different fix...oh, we could stop and get a couple rolls of weed. Or meth, I know a Biochemical major who's got this brilliant technique—"

"No drugs." The reply was so strong, Archer paused in stride to look over. Basil stared ahead stonily. It was clear he'd hit a nerve.

Archer set his hands inside his pockets and began to stroll at his companion's side once again. "I see. You know, there's only one type of person who'd say no like that to a good roll of pot--someone who's been directly burned by using. So what's your deal? Past addict? Or maybe someone you know?"

He knew he'd struck gold with the latter. Basil's jaw clenched tight.

A smirk crawled onto Archer's lips. "Who was it? Friend or family member? Come on, I'm curi—ahhhhhhhh!"

Archer's eyes were wide and staring over Basil's shoulder. Alarmed, Basil turned to look, but Archer was already pulling on him, darting forward. "What in the—"

"Run. Run!" Basil tripped. His roommate kept him upright with a grasp on his upper arm. "Hurry! Follow me!"

Basil could make out running footsteps over pavement not far behind. "Archer!" A voice yelled. A steady line of swearing came from Archer's lips.

He dragged Basil up the staircase to the literature building and pushed inside. They threw themselves into the nearest elevator and Archer quickly closed the doors.

Basil had just enough time before they shut to see their pursuer for the first time—he looked to be another college student, a mop of blonde hair frazzled by the humidity. He screamed Archer's name once again in an unearthly howl before it was cut off by the doors. The elevator began to ascend.

Archer leaned into the corner, holding his stomach for laughter.

Basil was panting. "What...who--?

"Ah man, that's old Jacey," Archer said as his laughter subsided. "Don't worry, he always tries to kill me whenever he sees me."

That was supposed to make him not worry? Basil watched the rising number next to the elevator door with anxiety. They were getting close to the top floor. What would they do once it was time to get out? Jacey would surely still be looking for them.

He cast a worried glance over to his companion, but Archer seemed completely unfazed by the turn of events.

"So then, uh, why does he want to kill you?" Basil asked.

"Let's just say he took one for the team a while ago and is still sour about it."

Well that explained absolutely nothing. But their time was up. With an optimistic ding, the steel doors slid open. Basil leaned out—nobody there. Yet.

"What now?" He asked his companion.

Archer hummed in thought. Then he reached back a wide hand and pushed Basil out the doors. Basil stumbled and fell, but immediately turned on his back to the elevators.

Archer gave him a cheery wave just as the doors began closing once more. "How about you just head him off for me? Thanks!" The elevator closed.