I followed Sara-Kate up the staircase, her long braids swaying behind her. She tip-toed very carefully, looking right and then left before ushering me forward to follow her. We walked down the carpeted corridor, and I glanced out the tall windows that spanned all the way down to the first floor, with a view of the courtyard, the autumn leaves on the trees gently falling.
Just as we were about to approach the door to the teacher’s lounge, it opened with Mr. Phillips and Ms. Timmons talking in hushed tones. Sara-Kate and I scrambled for the storage room to the left of the door and barely jumped in before the teachers turned.
“It will be alright, Stephanie,” Mr. Phillips whispered to Ms. Timmons, who looked like she was dabbing at her eye with a tissue. “It wasn’t your fault. You can’t blame yourself.”
“But that girl needed help. She neededmyhelp,” Ms. Timmons responded. Their voices faded as they headed for the staircase. “She was trying to tell me something, but I just didn’t understand.”
Sara-Kate and I remained silent and waited for their footsteps to recede before letting out our held breaths.
“Who do you think they were talking about?” I asked as Sara-Kate peeped through the door again, checking that the coastwas clear.
“Honestly, hard to say,” her voice low. “It could have been about Ashe or Michelle. Crazy how two girls have died already this semester. Makes it feel like maybe Windsor is cursed.”
Before I could reply, a sharp, splitting headache pierced through me. It felt like someone had taken a hot poker and stuck it directly into my brain. I gasped, grabbing my head as I fell to my knees, whimpering in pain.
Sara-Kate was on her knees at my side in an instant. “Mari!”
I felt her arms wrap around my shoulders, squeezing in reassurance, but the pain was so blinding that I couldn’t speak.
“I’m going to get help,” Sara-Kate reassured me. As she stood up to leave, someone threw the door open. With my head in my hands, I could only make out a pair of men’s black loafers.
“What are you doing here?” Sara-Kate demanded, the tone in her voice indicating this wasn’t a teacher or staff member who had found us.
“Go downstairs and get her some water,” he demanded, leaving no room for discussion.
I whimpered again; the pain flashing like lights behind my eyelids. Surprisingly, Sara-Kate didn’t question him, but ran out of the room. The door closed behind her, and I felt two big, calloused hands cup my face, forcing me to look up into dark green, hooded eyes.
“Alaric?” I questioned, astonished to find him of all people here.
“You’re okay,” he muttered quietly, taking a deeper look into my eyes, turning my head this way and that, gently tucking a few stray blonde curls behind my ears as he looked me over.
I felt my face flush even in the midst of the worst headache I’d ever experienced. He was close enough to touch. His lips looked so soft.
“Headache, right?” His question brought me out of my widely inappropriate and unhelpful thoughts; his intense gaze never leaving mine. “Been happening for a while now?”
I was stunned.How did he know?
“Yes,” I groaned, a bit of relief flooding me at finally admitting it to someone. “Every day. They won’t stop.”
He nodded, letting go of my face. I instantly missed his touch.
“Wear it. It won’t stop them, but it’ll make it harder for them to find you.”
Before I could process his words, he slid a gunmetal crest ring from his finger. Without hesitation, he guided it onto my right pointer finger; the band fitting snugly, as though it had been waiting for me all along. The moment the metal hit my skin, it felt like a cooling wave of relief flooded through my body, taking away the headache as if it had never existed. I blinked down at the ring, confused how something so simple could have given me such solace. The ring looked old, with what must have been Alaric’s family crest on the base. The sides showed glowing red lines that looked as if they were actually moving, as if the ring were a living thing instead of an inanimate object.
I looked up, my eyes meeting his face as a look of empathy and sorrow clouded his eyes. He was still holding tightly to my hand, his thumb tracing soft circles. It felt like the ring and his touch healed me completely.
“What does that mean?” I finally asked, my voice cracking.
He opened his mouth to respond, but Sara-Kate burst into the room at that very moment, my water bottle in her hand.
“Here!” She shoved Alaric out of the way, pushing the water into my hands, insisting I drink. “We need to get you to a hospital.”
“No, no,” I replied quickly, taking a sip of the cool water. “I’m much better. I swear.”
Sara-Kate looked at me questioningly, her right eyebrow raised in doubt. I tried to stand but found my legs wobbly. Both Alaric and Sara-Kate grabbed my arms to help me up. I didn’t miss the way Sara-Kate was looking suspiciously at Alaric, most likely wondering how and why he got here in the first place. I was also wondering the same thing.
“Thanks, dude. We got it,” Sara-Kate spat, herdislike for Alaric shining in her bright copper-brown eyes.
