Page 43 of Alamort

“You remind me of her, my sister. Headstrong, determined, sarcastic,” He laughs, remembering something. His voice holds longing when he speaks about her. “She was also a troublemaker. Caught the attention of one of the Demons. I can’t imagine what it’s like to have the wrath of all three.” Coach Riley studies my face, looking for something, but I’m not sure what. “I believe that was her downfall.” Side eyeing him, I’m not sure what he’s getting at.

“If you think I’ve intentionally gained the eyes of all three Demons’, you’re sadly mistaken. Whatever issues they have with me are one sided.” Or they were. Until they brought River into it and degraded me in front of everyone in the school. I chew on the inside of my lip and rub the burning sensation in my sternum. River.

“I would hate to see a beautiful girl like yourself be mixed up in the wrong crowd is all, Priya.” Pursing my lips, I can visiblysee he doesn’t want to listen what I have to say, like most of the male population.

“Coach Riley, I appreciate you helping me out back there, but I am not your sister. I can handle myself.”

He smiles to himself before looking over at me. His expression seems a little too friendly for a teacher, but he’s not giving me creepy vibes yet.

“Yes, I can see that. Please, call me Mason.”

“All right, Coach Mason. Thank you for walking me to the nurse’s office.” I dismiss him.

I’m not going to go into Nurse Lisa’s office. When Mason is out of sight, I rush as quickly as I can in heels through the castle’s dark and gloomy hallways into the even more grim morning to find River. The compulsion to check on her is consuming.

Feeling a sense of urgency to see River, I kick my heels off at the elevator doors, and sprint down the hallway to her rainbow decorated entryway. Unlike the last time I was here, I don’t hesitate to knock. A part of me is worried I lost a friend during that debacle.

Her door cracks open, revealing her brown eyes rimmed red from crying and darkened with pain. For the second time, I want to reach out and touch her. I’m probably the most awkward person when it comes to comforting, but River’s brokenness calls to a forgotten part in my heart.

“Can I come in?” I aim for gentle and not pushy. She sighs and, with a resigned shrug, opens her dorm door.

At first glance, her room doesn’t match her sunny personality. But it does match her gothic appearance, the room is painted in a sage green making all the shadowy black items stand out more prominently. A matching green canopy lined with fairy lights hangs above the bed, giving a sense of otherworldly comfort. Tons of live greenery of plants bring life to the otherwise morbid room. Pinned spiders and butterflies line the walls. Small coffins that look like décor and I secretlyhope are empty give off a Halloween theme. It smells like her, lavender and honeysuckle. She’s made herself at home.

River’s silent as she sits at the end of the queen size black iron bed and grabs a knitted pillow to cover herself with. It feels like she’s closing herself off from me. That could be my insecurities speaking for me.

“I’m sorry, River.” My hands reach for hers, but I pull it back in case she doesn’t want to be touched.

“He knew.” She whispers brokenly. Slowly, giving her time to object, I climb on the bed and pull her towards me, hugging her tightly. This was supposed to comfort her, but I need this hug just as much. Deep sobs wrack her body. I’m out of my depth here. Not one to show my emotions in front of others, I usually go numb. Her reaction is the complete opposite. How do you comfort someone? Should I Google this?

It will look bad if I pull out my phone to do just that. I rub her back as she clings onto me crying into my shirt. Should I ask?

After my arms tingle with numbness and my shirt is soaked, her sobs turn into sniffles. Reaching over to her side table, I grab a charcoal-colored tissue out of the box and hand it to her.

“He knew about how I got here. Details he shouldn’t know.” She halts, staring at me. “Did you tell him?”

My eyes widen at the accusation before realizing she’s genuinely asking. Even though they weren’t far away from me and Crew, it’s plausible that he whispered something low enough that only she could hear.

“Of course not! We’ve been together every minute since you’ve told me. I would never betray your trust like that!” My initial emotion was to lash out. Angry that she thought that low of me after I’ve spilt my secrets to her and trusted her. She’s hurting. I’ve done this to her plenty of times since we’ve met. She’s not trying to take it out on me. Mentally patting myself onthe back for not jumping headfirst into my emotions, I let her work through whatever is going on through her head.

She nods woodenly.

“I’m sorry.” Apologizing again because I can’t help but to think this is my fault. The Demons are angry with me. They used her against me to comply with their outrageous games.

“Are you okay?” She asks, getting the attention off of her. We’re at an impasse because I don’t want to talk about what happened, either. The feeling of needing to downplay my feelings is tempting, but I think she wants to run away from her own mind by focusing on me.

“No. Not really.” My pride is hurt. Shame is second on that long list of why I’m not okay. Admitting is the first step, right? “They threatened to hurt you if I didn’t do it.”

Her eyes zero in on my new piece of jewelry, then on my bare feet. Too tongue tied to do anything but touch her own throat. Her gaze makes the collar feel more like the shackle it is. Renewed humiliation washes over me, causing me to look away from her to stare at the black velvet curtains.

“It’s locked. But why?” she whispers, her brow creasing. She’s worried for me. This time, she has a right to be, because I am too. Voicing it out loud, with my track record, would jinx me.

“I don’t know.” I say honestly. “Originally, I thought it was because they’re egotistical assholes who can’t stand to be questioned. Then, I thought it was because I shut Bennett down. My bluntness towards Crew in psychology, even.” Shaking my head, ceaseless questions batter my mind. What do they want from me?

“The Demons’ have never directly interfered with anyone, Priya. Something is wrong. This is more than just mean girls like Amber. During my time here, they’ve kept to themselves.” My fingers grab my matches from the side of my pleated skirt. I do my ritual to calm myself so I can think.

“We could always just ask them?” Her cocoa-colored eyes hold an air of innocence. My face flushes red, remembering being on my hands and knees.

“Yeah, River. Let me go ask Crew why he did that. I’m not worried about him finding a new way to humiliate me.” Sarcasm in full force as I throw my hands up in exasperation. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I close my eyes. None of this is her fault. It’s mine. Somehow, someway, I have offended them enough to earn their ire and drag River into it. I want to know why, but not at the risk of going through that again.

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