In The Dark (Sequel To Light) -Clementine/Louis, Clouis, Louisentine

Chapter 15

It had taken a lot of convincing after they got back to the school that night for Clementine to get to bed for at least a few hours of rest. Of course, the second they got back, she tried making a beeline for the office, a plan for how they were going to tackle this issue already forming in her mind.

Louis was none too happy about this to say the least, knowing that this problem would keep her awake all night, and insomnia definitely won't help to stem the overwhelming panic she seemed to be digging herself into. Especially as he had noticed she hadn't been sleeping well for the past week, and seeing how the lack of sleep had been effecting her, even if she did her best to cover it.

So, after arguing his case, and a few promises that they'd get right on it as soon as the sun was up, he managed to change Clementines path from the office upstairs to their room in the dorms, for what he hoped would be a good night's sleep.

It's not too much of a surprise for him that, when he wakes to see the sun barely past the horizon from the window of their room, Clementine is no longer laying next to him.

He heaves himself out of the bed with a sigh, wondering how on earth she's able to function on what he's sure is less than 2 hours of sleep over 7 days, as he stumbles out of the room in exhaustion.

He finds Clementine outside on one of the tables, but she's not alone. Zara is sat by her side, a comforting hand on her back while Clem sits leaning forward on the table, elbows on its surface and her head in her hands. He can hear them talking to one another in low tones, not loud enough to make out what they're saying from here. He steps down from the dorm doors, stretching his arms over his head as he heads towards the two.

"...If you're that worried about it, you could always take a trip up earlier?"

"Trip up where?" Louis asks, only having caught the last of what Zara was saying.

"Hey, Louis," Zara greets him, casting him a worried look. "Clem told me about what happened last night. We were talking about what we should do about it, especially since we don't know for sure what that person was doing there."

"They were definitely watching us," Clementine asserted, pulling her head out of her hands and glancing down at them. "They only ran away once they realised I noticed. They can't have anything good planned..."

"What did you see?" Zara asks Louis

"Not much," Louis answers with a shrug. "They were behind me when Clem saw them, and they were already long gone into the forest by the time we took chase. I was too focused on looking where we were going to get a good look at the guy."

"Same for me," Clementine added bitterly. "It was too dark to see much of anything. I think it might have been a guy, but... Not one-hundred percent certain."

"This has really got you spooked, huh?" Louis says, noticing Clementines pale perplexion. "Is some guys watching us that bad?"

"It's not like people ever stake you out for any good reasons," Clementine insists. "They could be doing anything. Checking for our defences, seeing if there's anything worthwhile inside, getting a good look of all of us to see if we would be easy pickings..."

"Oh..."

"Yeah. Oh."

"And you've only seen them once before?" Zara questions

"Not entirely sure, but yeah. It's been a while, but I still remember how odd it seemed. I shouldn't have brushed it off..."

"Isn't there a possibility that its not the same person?"

"I mean, maybe? I don't know what's worse; if it's the same group that's been watching us for nearly a year, or if it's two different groups watching us. Then again, we don't even know how long they could have been watching us."