Frost

XXXI.

^Sasha Luss as Aspen, because she is a true beauty

I didn't go to dinner that night. 

I had the paranoid feeling of someone's eyes on my back, following me as I walked back to my History class, then into Self-Defence fourth period. Desiree had nudged my elbow in Self-Defence, between breaks of boxing prep, to ask me if I was okay. I suppose that evidence of the note left my emotions bubbling to the surface, because soon both Marina and Desiree cornered me and asked what had happened. 

"Meet in my dorm after dinner" I told them. 

I suppose I should be used to it by now, the threatening notes, the missing persons, the weird feelings I've been experiencing for the past few weeks. I didn't know what I was going to tell the group once they all showed up at my dorm's door. Would I tell them about the note or should I-?

Should I tell them about me? 

A nagging feeling told me that everything that was happening right now could be because of me. A theory could be that James Westley knows who I am, wants to avenge his father Lance, and is the one who escaped from jail, sending the cryptic messages, and abducting my friends to send a message. But if it was James, wouldn't he have revealed that he took Lucy? Wouldn't he have said, watch out or your friend is going to die? Some of it just didn't add up. 

Should I tell them? Somehow, I felt like this mess was all my fault. Life at Thornhill was fine until I accidentally tried to kill Heath and ended up in an infirmary. 

I was on my bed, staring up at the night ceiling, the note was still stuck to my window from the outside, and I hadn't bothered to attempt to reach it. Blythe would be back soon, with the others in tow. I didn't feel hungry missing dinner, only nausea. Nausea from the thought that all of this could be my fault. If I run now, would it cause more problems than solve?

A knock on the dorm door sounded. 

Blythe would have just walked in, so I guessed it must have been some of the others. I peeled myself off the bed and opened the dorm door, Marina and Desiree were both standing in front of me. Marina was bare faced, a contrast against her usual dark shadow and coloured lips, she looked drained both physically and eternally. Desiree had her arm around her friend's shoulder and smiled up at me expectantly. 

I let them in, and the two piled onto Blythe's bed out of habit. 

"Did you text the others?" I asked. 

"Yeah, I texted in the group chat. I added you to that by the way" Marina says softly. 

"So this is our first real team meeting?" Desiree asks, her smile was bittersweet. 

"Under unfortunate circumstances" Marina mutters. 

Less than a few minutes pass until the door opens again, Blythe stalked through the door in her ridiculous black heels, with Damien in tow. She flung her bag on her bed beside Desiree and popped the heels off her feet, joining me on my side of the room. "You will not believe the crap I had to witness sitting with the vamps I-" Blythe stopped talking, her eyes suddenly trained on the unnoticed note stuck on our window. Marina and Desiree hadn't even noticed yet.