The Fawx Bite

XXIII.

It was so nice so be back in the comfort of my head. It felt so warm after the long night. My satin sheets hugging me just right and holding the warmth of my body so that I didn't get any sort of jolting cold to startle me out of my sleep. So fantastic. I could almost forget about what had happened...

Wait.

How was I in my own bed?

The memories were rude upon their intrusion. I jolted out of bed, nearly collapsing. It was only then that I realized that there wasn't a single article of clothing on my body. I looked up to see Viola lying in a bed opposite of me. Before I could think logically about the fact that she was blind, I screamed and tumbled back on to the bed and then proceeded to spend five minutes battling my sheets before managing to slip back underneath them.

The corner of Viola's mouth twitched at her attempts to resist her laughter. The flush of embarrassment that had turned my cheeks an ugly red shade quickly transformed into one of annoyance. "Well, excuse me. I wasn't expecting anyone to be near me, I didn't get a chance to see who it was. Just that it was someone and I didn't want that someone to see my...lady bits."

"You say vulgar things all the time yet you refer to your parts as lady bits?" Viola's eyebrows shot up to her hairline.

"Well, I don't know who is listening," I tossed a lock of hair over my shoulder, and then grabbed the sheets to cover my chest.

"Listening? I'm just staring," I looked over to see Echo sitting on a bed in another corner of the room. She was casually eating popcorn (what the hell?) and watching me with round blue eyes. "Are you sure we're all related? Cause you have some curves that I've only seen on photoshopped magazine covers."

"Oh my god," I went to curl into myself when a dragonhead popped out from somewhere to my right. I screamed and nearly rolled off the bed though I managed to catch myself. Viola was full of laughing now, holding her stomach as she doubled over. Echo just continued to eat popcorn, a smile curling her lips. Marek was the only one that seemed to have any sympathy for me as he pushed a stack of clothes in my general direction. He turned his head away as I struggled to get dressed under the sheets. "Where are we?"

"The Institute of the Arcane," Echo flourished her hands this way and that, tossing (precious) popcorn all over the room. Noting the blank expression on my face, she let her hands fall back into her lap. "Basically a magic school."

"Like Hogwarts?" I asked.

Viola sighed heavily, "No, like North Shore High School. Obviously like Hogwarts only real, and with more than just kids and wands."

I shot Viola an offended look, "How did we get here?"

It was Marek who answered, "When Sky dropped us off, he dropped us right on the edge of the wards that protect this school. It set off an alarm and they sent out a team to come and get us. Once Jin was recognized and he was able to explain the situation, they placed all of us in this room to sleep off the magic."

I forgot how difficult it was to get dressed under the covers as I asked, "Where is Jin now?"

"Having a discussion with someone important," Echo finished off the last of the popcorn, standing to throw the bag away.

"Who is this someone important?" I ducked fully under the covers to put my bra and shirt on.

"Someone important enough," Echo replied, collapsing back into her bed.