The Grim (Ravens #3)

viii. in the same four walls

A/N: NOTIFS ARE FINALLY WORKING AGAIN!! I had this chapter up for a day when the servers first stopped working, but I don't think anyone actually read it, so here it is again. I'll probably post a second chapter tonight to celebrate getting notifications again.

They fell into a routine, Skylar and Sebastian, visiting the lonely bar on Gail Street every afternoon right after work, and not leaving until the busy streets were quiet with only the gentle buzz of the yellow lamp posts illuminating the sidewalks in a pale light. He would walk her home, stopping in that back alleyway so she could appear to be alone.

"Even Levi's never been up there," she always insisted, "I promise you, there's nothing you want to see." She always claimed he didn't have to wait, didn't have to watch to make sure she got inside, but Sebastian would stay anyways. He never turned around until he saw the door close behind her. Skylar always complained, to which Sebastian would argue it was simply common courtesy.

This pattern had continued for almost a week, and often Sebastian's roommates were asleep by the time he returned home. But late that Monday evening, he was surprised to enter into their living room with the lights still on.

"Donny?" he asked, squinting in the bright light, as his eyes had grown adjusted to the darkness on the streets and the apartment hallway. "It's like one in the morning. Why are you still up?"

Donovan Mayler pushed himself off the couch, running his hand through his hair. He wore nothing but a pair of flannel pajama pants, revealing his toned upper body. Sebastian was always surprised by how athletic his friend was. The boy was tall and thin, and without a shirt he could see every defined muscle along his chest. "I could ask you the same thing," he said, "I mean, you're the one who refuses to drink on a weeknight, but goes to the bar now until sunrise."

Sebastian sighed, taking a seat at their small kitchen table, "I've never been out until sunrise."

"Not the point," said Donny, "Is she your rebound now?"

"Excuse me?"

"Mai wrote to you again today. It's in your room," he said casually before adding, "Don't worry, I didn't look at it."

"It's been a month since her last letter," said Sebastian, "I thought she'd moved on."

"I don't know what to tell you. It's not like I was ever friends with her," Donny shrugged.

Sebastian cracked a small smile, "You two came a long way. When we first met you guys at Peregrin she was dead-set on kicking you out of your own camp."

Donny clicked his tongue and rolled out his neck, as though to intentionally avoid looking at his friend. "You wanted that too. Thank God we had Emma, saving the day as always."

"I was so scared," Sebastian whispered, biting softly on his inner lip, "I thought she'd get hurt. I'd just gotten her back, I couldn't stand to lose her again. But of course, she was right."

"She's always right," Donny muttered, "But still, everyone always assumes she's wrong, and everyone always screws her over. What a load of bullshit."

"You think she's still alive," said Sebastian, noticing the present tense. He lifted his head away from his palms, dug his elbow out of his thigh. "How can you be so sure?"

"She's the strongest kid I've ever met. Better than all of us, that's for sure."

"She doesn't know how to fight," the brother said. He took a deep breath before continuing, allowed the air to fill his lungs and concentrated as they deflated, just like a balloon. Like they could be popped with just a thin needle, and that would be the end. Fragile. "They sent her out there alone, and doesn't know how to fight. She knew how to wield a knife, but we both know that's not enough. Guys out there could so easily take advantage of her, and she'd be powerless. It's practically a death sentence."