He got shoved out of bed instead. “No breaking the code. You know the rules.”
“What rules? They change every day,” Teddy grumbled.
“That’s because you talk your way around them!” Four complained. “But not this time. You have to go and post that sticky note on Instructor Kellan’s room or you have to do the forfeit.”
Teddy immediately started shaking at the mention of the name, his brain fighting to shut down the panicked, blurry images and pain that were trying to sneak through the cracks of the door before he could shore it up again.
No. We can’t go back there. We have to stay far away.
Four frowned. “What’s up with you? It’s like I mentioned a ghost or something.”
“It’s nothing,” Teddy said. “I’ll do the stupid forfeit.”
“You’d rather go and tag old Gwen’s door than stick a note on Kellan’s?” Four was incredulous.
“Just give me the marker.”
Teddy moved along the dark hallways with the pen clutched in his fist, swearing internally to himself.
Since when did he give in to peer pressure?
This was so freaking stupid.
He sighed. Whatever. He’d do the stupid thing and then Four would get off his case and he’d never make another bet with him again.
The corridors from the sleeping quarters to the main building had never seemed so large before. Were the ceilings always so vaulted and shadowy? Were the windows that lined one side always so looming? Even the cogs and mechanisms gave off an ominous aura in the dark, like they weren’t there to help, and instead were waiting for Teddy to come close.
Ghost stories would get passed down from older cursebreakers to all the new ones, making them scared to leave their beds. Teddy had never believed them until now. They didn’t seem so farfetched all alone in the dark.
It didn’t help that that feeling of menace was following him; a tall figure tracing his every step like a duplicitous shadow.
He felt like he was running away from something.
He tried to shake the feeling off as he turned the corner.
He froze.
A patrolling Nexus instructor farther down had his heart stopping. He quickly ducked into a shadowy alcove, but he knew it wasn’t going to shield him for long.
“Hey!” a voice whispered. “Over here.”
Teddy blinked and looked across at the window. It was cracked slightly, and on the other side, looking in, was a boy Teddy had never seen before. He had a mop of unruly, inky hair sticking every which way and coming down to his chin like it was in an awkward stage of growing out. A single lock at the front near his temple was colored white, and Teddy had to wonder if he had gotten his hands on some bleach, and where.
He must have been younger, the fat on his cheeks still stubbornly lingering. But the most arresting detail to Teddy was the cursemark around his eye. It was perfectly centered and glowing faintly, making the blue of his eye appear like a cerulean sea.
“You just going to stare all day and get caught?” the boy asked.
Teddy flushed red at being called out, glancing up the hallway to where the instructor had stopped to tie his shoelace.
Teddy bolted across the hall toward the window, climbing through to the other side.
When he dropped down he realized the boy had been hanging on the edge, and standing, he only reached Teddy’s shoulder. Instinctively he knew that he couldn’t have been far off Teddy’s age even if he was smaller. His demeanor was bigger than his stature.
He was wearing no shoes, feet covered in mud all the way up to his ankles and toes wiggling in the grass like they were old friends. His mud-splattered Nexus pajamas were green, which let Teddy know he was an animal cursebreaker.
That piece of information slotted into place in his mind as just right—an undeniable truth, like the sky being blue.
This close, he was struck by the realization that this boy was incredibly pretty. Underneath the dirt and muck was probably the prettiest thing Teddy had seen in his young life. Angled eyes with spiky lashes, a mouth that sat in a naturally doll-like pout, and a small, sharp nose with a streak of dirt across the bridge that sat perfectly in the middle of his creamy complexion.
