You had to stop your jaw from hitting the floor as Eleanor introduced the boy who chased the train on your way to Arcadia. The boy who was an off-centred mosaic of his younger brother. And the boy who just days ago handed you a fruit you'd never seen before.

There was no doubt about it.

But did Eleanor know?

"You didn't cause enough trouble when you were here?" Simone teased as the tall boy sat down beside Eleanor. The two were strangely similar yet different at the same time.

"I couldn't resist," he replied. Those dark brown eyes lit up with his smile.

"You should have told me you were coming sooner!" Eleanor said.

"I wanted it to be a surprise," he said apologetically. "Aren't things more fun that way?"

"Maurice is gonna be working with Sylabil," Eleanor said happily. "She's wanted him for a while but I guess you missed me too much, huh?"

"Awfully convenient to show up right before fall break," snickered Theo.

"You're quiet," Eleanor mentioned. You noticed Maurice push up his glasses before Eleanor did the same.

"Just a long day," you said.

Maurice casually took a swig from his glass, his eyes on yours with mutual curiosity.

"I think I remember you," he said.

You only became aware of your heart in your chest when it started beating in your head louder than the dining hall clock.

The others all seemed very interested.

"At the train station," he continued. "You were with El."

"You remember that?" Eleanor asked. "It seems like forever ago... and don't get started with the nicknames."

"Sure thing Ellie," Maurice pulled his brother in by the shoulder playfully. Eleanor pushed his brother away.

"Maureece's pieces, Maury, mo, MORON," The younger brother exaggerated.

"I hope you're not going to be grading our papers," Simone said.

"That's what I'm here for." Maurice smiled.

Side by side, the longer you looked, the more apparent the differences became. While both wore glasses, Eleanor's took up more real estate on his face. Aside from Maurice having much darker hair, his features were less child-like, although his sense of humour was apparently not.

The rest of supper went by without a hitch. Eleanor said something about everyone going to Delwood since Maurice "knows all the best spots," and you weren't that hungry when supper started anyway.

Kindly excusing yourself from the table, you began to head back to your dorm, leaving the conversation behind you. Something about Maurice wasn't adding up, and it wasn't helping that your skepticism about the Delwood plum boy was being reflected onto his brother- one of your most trusted friends here.  But you didn't have time to worry about it because the first thing you noticed when you got back was that the almanac was missing.

~
"You know what I miss?" a youthful voice asked.

When no one answered, Bel continued.

"Having y/n around."

"I don't." Roman said irritably. "Women are bad news Bel, you need to grow up."

"I like women." He said absently.

"Me too," another silky voice joined the rest in the night dormitory.

"What do you want, Avery?"

Eerie yet unavoidably charming laughter echoed through the room.

"Don't think I've forgotten about our spat," Avery whispered with a grin. "I know you have a temper but I don't do with false accusations."

"I wonder what she's doing right now," Bel said to no one in particular as he sprawled out across the floor. His emerald green eyes were searching for constellations in the crown moulding.

"Where's Lucian?" Roman asked, eager to evade attention.

"With Dimitri I'm guessing," Avery answered, his eyes low.

Suddenly, Bel shot up with wide, placid eyes.

"Bel? What is it Bel?" Roman asked quickly.

The blonde stared unnervingly ahead as Avery folded his arms and watched from a distance.

Finally, Belmont answered in a broken voice.

"Something's been stolen."

The other two stared at him, Roman placing an arm on his shoulder.

"What, what's been stolen Bel?" The redhead asked more assertively.

"I.... I don't know..." Belmont said. He turned to meet Roman's worried eyes. "But whoever took it... is very dangerous... very..."

The boy tried to finish his premonitions but his green eyes rolled back, closer, Roman having to pull him back to stop Bel from meeting the floor.

The front entrance closed loudly. Lucian and Dimitri stopped at the doorway, the frosty air creeping in.

"What happened?" Lucian asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Avery replied.

"Bel went off about stealing," Roman answered, shooting daggers at Avery. "He must have seen something."

"Stealing is about to be the least of our problems," Lucian said without expression.

"Sylabil wants to reinforce more rules." Dimitri said. "And Cadere, more repercussions."

Avery's usually smug face faded at this.

"More repercussions? As if we don't have enough already!"

"Shut up," Lucian snapped, "you're probably the reason for it."

Avery's calm collected persona had done a complete one eighty.

"I forgot, we're in the presence of royalty," he said loudly. "Everyone bow down because the messiah of the undead is here to save us from all our sins! Look at how... kind, and virtuous Lucian is. He's a saint! Instead of killing innocent people, he just kills innocent animals! What a hero! Please, tell us all about how good a person you are, because I'm sure you wouldn't be drinking yourself to death if you weren't, right?"

"That's enough Avery," Dimitri said.

"Don't act like I'm the villain. I know what you are, I know what all of you are. And you're no better than me. Not you, not you, not you, and not you."

The group watched Avery silently before Roman spoke.

"I'm sorry I accused you of stealing."

"I'm sorry I didn't say anything about the bloody napkin." Avery replied. "Or was it a tissue?"

"What?" Dimitri asked,

"Oops," Avery grinned.

"You don't know what you're talking about," Roman said. "Bel needs to be taken upstairs."

"No, let him wake to mom and dad fighting," Avery replied.

"Whose blood?" Lucian asked firmly. And then his face contorted with rage.

"Y/n's!?"

Dimitri's red eyes widened. Roman carefully watched the others as he remained with Bel.

"Don't act like any one of you haven't done worse!" He said aggressively. "It's not my fault."

Bel's eyes started to open.

"What did you do to her?" Dimitri asked dangerously.

"Nothing!" Roman snapped.

"He did the gentlemanly thing and offered to clean y/n's wound. How sweet." Avery mused.

"I hope you're happy now," Roman said, glaring at the magician.

"Oh yes."

The rest of the boys' stares burned through Avery. All but Bel who was just gaining consciousness.

"Why is everybody fighting..." he asked sleepily.

"It's not for any one of us." Dimitri sharply addressed each of the night students with his scarlet stare. "None of us are perfect, I know. But enough has happened that those in charge, namely Cadere, Petrikov, and Sylabil- see it in Arcadia's best interest to take more pervasive measures."

"Like what?" Roman asked.

"Namely, vetting of rooms, stricter surveillance..." Dimitri began.

"Cadere knowing where we are at all times," Lucian added.

"Cadere already knows where we are at all times," Avery huffed.

"Evidently not," Dimitri said grimly. "Lucian was able to get a glimpse of Sylabil's thoughts in the library earlier."

"I thought you hadn't been feeding-" Bel said, standing up.

"I haven't," Lucian stated. "My powers are falling fast, I can't lie. It's like I'm a teenager again, all I've been able to see are glimpses of ideas."

"We don't have time to worry about the ins and outs of your wasted pureblood powers," Avery said. "When is this going to happen and what are we going to do about it?"

"We don't know." Said Dimitri.

"What about the night patrol?" Bel asked.

Dimitri sighed, composure slowly building back up in the room. He glanced past the entrance.

"It's fall break, that means most of the day students will be gone," Dimitri said. "That gives Sylabil and Cadere lots of time to work things out."

"And y/n?" Lucian asked.

"She's going to stay."

~
It's 4:00am. Wanted to write more but seemed fitting to end it here. I really, desperately need sleep so I'll keep this short (and forgive me if there are any errors, I'll go over it in the morning.)

I'm sorry for the wait. Sometimes I publish so often it's scary. Lately it's been the opposite. Life, dare I say depression, and now exams. We've all been around there. Thank you so so much for continuing to support me and this adventure, I can't wait for you to see what happens. We're all on it together. You mean the world to me and I couldn't be more grateful. I'll keep doing my best, and hopefully, I'll see you very soon.

Goodnight, stay rad
~ Your number one Fan <3