"You are getting much better at running, Squirt. Pretty soon you'll be the one to lead."

"Tell that to my aching feet. Did we have to go through the quarry today?"

Hercules laughs and his spittle peppers my nose. I wipe it away with my napkin and set it next to my breakfast tray. I push the tray aside and hang my head in my hands.

"What is it?" Hercules asks.

"Guess I'm not very hungry."

Hercules looks at me quizzically. "First the new haircut and now you're not hungry? What the hell happened last night?"

I sit up straight. Matthew made it clear that it was in the academy's best interest that Hercules not know about my attacker. And since it seemed like we were getting close, there wasn't a point in involving him. The only problem with that is that our pool of suspects is huge and Matthew, the narcissist that he is, never cared to learn about the specifics of the strains of any of the students or even his colleagues. I'm half tempted to try and see if Hercules knows someone with the strain we're looking for, but that'll just make him suspicious. So I just give him a small smile and shrug my shoulders.

"Nothing really. I'm just a little nervous. I promised Matthew I'd finish all my meals here in exchange for an allowance, but I don't feel like eating."

"That all?" Hercules reaches over, pops the egg in his mouth first, followed by the toast, and then squeezes the contents of the grapefruit into his mouth.

Holy hell.

"Problem solved."

It's not, but I nod anyway.

***

Morning classes suck but do motivate me to eat my entire lunch and speed on over to the garden.

"Hey, Caiden!" I yell from the gate.

He looks over to me, midway through cutting a flower before his hands drop.

"Something wrong?" I say as I approach.

"Your hair."

My fingers go to the ragged ends.

"It'll grow back soon, at least that's what Matthew says."

"So he's behind it. What kind of sick punishment is that?"

I wave my hands frantically. "No, no it isn't like that." He frowns, not buying my words. I sigh and explain to him the events that happened last night.

"Doesn't seem like Matthew's made any progress in capturing that bastard."

I can't tell if the 'bastard' insult is directed to the Spark that attacked me, or Matthew. Still, I bristle at his words.

"He's trying, Caiden. He's been out every night looking for him."

Caiden's face hardens and he looks away. It's always the same thing with these two.

"Why do you guys hate each other so much?" I ask.

"It's complicated."

I tap my foot on the ground. "No, it's annoying."

Caiden deadheads another flower. "Do you know what it takes to activate or seal a portal, Elizabeth?"

I shake my head, but he's still turned from me. "No, I don't," I say.

"It takes the power of someone from all four houses, plus a psychic."

"So when the council..."

He chops off another flower with his shears.

"Matthew helped them seal it."

"I'm sure he was just doing his job."

Caiden spins towards me.

"He knew Catherine was still on the other side! He didn't have to go along with their plans, the council couldn't have sealed the portal, not without one of us. But he was so weak, he didn't want to go against them even though she was his friend too."

I let his words get washed away by the stream beside us. Their history is such a complicated mess, that I'd rather talk about anything else. I take the fallen blossom and set it adrift in the stream. Hopefully, he takes it as a token of my solidarity. Then I pull some books from my bag.

"Do you mind returning these books to the library for me? I hear the librarian, gets pretty anal about due dates."

That coaxes the slightest of smiles from him.

We sit and toss flowers together.

"I'll have another set of books ready for you tomorrow, but only a few. I was thinking about including something you could read recreationally. Is there anything in particular you're interested in?"

"Well. To be honest, I'm a mixed bag. But I'm a sucker for a love story."

He chuckles.

"Yeah, I thought you might be."

I nudge him. "Don't act like you aren't a hopeless romantic."

"Oh? Suddenly a psychic now?"

I ignore that last part because I'm never sure how to respond. He's asked me a few times what my strain is, and so have lots of others, but it's different with him. He knows I'm not a psychic. Avoiding the question is starting to get difficult.

As usual, I deflect.

"There was a book I really wanted to read when I was alive, so I preordered it, but I died before I could pick up a copy. After months of waiting, I had planned to pick it up after I got back from a family trip but..."

"That was the end?"

I nod. "Car accident. I never even saw it coming, so who knows what happened to my copy of Sheeted Fangs."

Caiden's eyes go wide.

"I know, weird title. It was a love story with a ghost and a vampire. I thought two undead creatures falling in love would be funny, even if the premise was a little cringy. But no story is truly original, right? So maybe there is something like that in the library?"

It was the first time I had ever told anyone a hint of what my life was like, or at least the end was like. Still, I didn't expect him to seem so stunned about it. Then again, he still seemed to have a hard time shaking off our earlier discussion about Matthew.

I reach out to take another flower from him, but the watch on my wrist takes over my attention.

"Caiden. I'm sorry. I have to go."

"I know. Have fun in class."

I give him a hug but regardless of the amount of warmth I try to inject into it, his body is cold and rigid.

I can't shake the unease from Caiden's story when I'm waiting for class to start.

"Where did all of your hair go?" Piper asks next to me. The class is lined up, but we've been waiting so long for class to start that we're all sitting on the ground. It isn't like Hercules to be late, especially by twenty minutes. I twist myself around.

"Oh. I cut it," I say, shrugging.

"But your hair was so gorgeous. Are you going to let it grow back?"

"Better that than cutting it every few days."

"So then why do it in the first place?" Keiji interjects.

Piper rolls her eyes. "No one can spend eternity looking the same, you have to change it up every so often," she says.

"She's been here for barely three weeks," he mumbles.

Piper ignores him and looks around. "Where is Hercules at? Class should've started by now."

"Maybe he's planned a sneak attack?" Keiji says. The two look over to me. Usually, I'm able to give them a clue as to what is going to happen in class. Today I just shrug at them.

"I have no idea."

Piper and Keiji's eyes look above me, so I turn around. Two of the Sparks in class are coming up behind us. I quickly stand up. I don't know much about the Sparks in this class, or any of my others, so as far as I know, either of them could be the person who's attacked me.

Well, maybe not the shorter of the two, she's a she, and her hair is blond.

"Where's Hercules?" she asks, almost accusingly.

I cross my arms. "I don't know."

"Sure, like you don't hang out with him every day," the other Spark says. I can't tell if his voice is the same that I heard last night. Damn.

"That doesn't mean I know where he is every second. Go check the fieldhouse, that's where he usually hangs out."

"Why don't you go? You're his girlfriend, aren't you?" the girl says.

That's a new one.

"She's everyone's girlfriend," the boy snickers.

That, unfortunately, is not as new. I'm tired of taking this garbage from these kids.

"I'm not dating anyone, piss stain. Go find Hercules yourself." I turn back to Piper and Keiji. Their eyes are as big as saucers, obviously surprised at my outburst. Good. I'm not taking any of this anymore.

"Elizabeth, watch out!" Piper yelps.

I turn back only to barely dodge a shove from the boy Spark. A static discharge runs through my clothes as his arm passes by me. That power and dark hair...could it be him?

Henry jumps between us and wraps his red-collared hand around the Spark's wrist before I get the chance to kick the guy's ass.

"Stop screwing around. Hercules is going to be pissed if he comes out to you two fighting."

"Mind your own damn business," the Spark says. Henry twists his arm, making him wince from the obvious pain and grip I'm all too familiar with. The Spark chuckles, "I didn't know you were sleeping with her too."

Henry tosses him aside.

"Go ahead and try your little shocks with me and see how far you get, Levi."

Levi says nothing as the other Spark helps him to his feet. Henry turns to me.

"Go get Hercules."

I groan but don't argue about it with him. The other jerks in my class got a real show out of that. One of the Socks could've been there and back already if they weren't so busy eavesdropping.

But as I head over to the fieldhouse, I can't help feeling a little happy Hercules is late. I might be only a few steps away from catching my stalker. That Levi guy fits the bill perfectly. He has a weird incel vibe about him that makes me feel like he could be motivated to attack the girls on campus. Or at least, me.

I knock and then open the door.

"Hercules?"

He's there, sitting on a woodpile with his head in his hands.

"Hercules? Uh, sir, class has already started."

He doesn't look at me, and next to him is his crate of wine. Completely untouched.

"Sir? Are you okay?"

I rush over to him and shake him gently.

"I'm not asleep. I just. Look Squirt, class is cancelled."

"Okay, but what's wrong?"

"Just go tell your classmates."

"Alright, but I'll be right back," I say then head out the door.

I run back to where everyone is lined up.

"Hey guys! Class is canceled!"

"For real?" one of the Meats asks.

"That's what Hercules said. Come back tomorrow."

Cheers erupt from all the students as they head back to campus. Piper and Keiji approach me, concern and confusion etched on their faces. Leave it to the Aquas to be the most compassionate of the bunch.

"What's going on?"

"I'm still sorting that out. I'm sure it's nothing though, see you at dinner?"

"Yeah, sure."

The Sparks pass me by after Piper and Keiji walk away. Levi looks at me over his shoulder.

"Watch your back," he says menacingly.

God, could he be any more obvious? I ignore him and head over to the fieldhouse.

"I'm back."

"Hey, Squirt."

"Feeling okay?"

"No."

I go beside him. "Come on. I'll help you back to your house."

He shakes his head and brushes me off when I try to grab him. Even dead men act like babies when they're sick. I pull at his arm, and again he tries to pull away. But it's strange. Hercules always feels like he's made of iron, but today his skin is almost soft and I'm able to force him to move even though his muscles are straining to keep him seated.

I cover my mouth and step back. "Holy shit."

"Damn it, Elizabeth! Go away! I don't want anyone to see me like this."

"Then let's go back to your place. No one has to see us, you can rest up until you feel better." He says nothing and doesn't even attempt to move. "Hey. Look at me. I bet you could still snap my neck if you wanted to, or anyone else's on campus."

That coaxes a chuckle from him. I toss him a bottle of wine.

"What you need is an elixir. Drink up."

A grin pulls at the corner of his mouth.

"Only if you're joining."

"Fair enough," I say, grabbing my own bottle.

We sit and drink through most of the bottles. Him more than me. His strain may have mostly faded, but his capacity for wine hasn't. I'm still guiltily sipping on my first bottle and already my mind is going fuzzy. Making my fear of Matthew finding out about this float off into space.

"You know it took me too long to get you to drink with me. But," he holds up his bottle in a toast. "I still made it in the nick of time to win that bet with Matthew."

"Seriously? A bet?"

"Yep. Pissed?"

"Very."

"It's just dude things. We've been doing it since we were students in the dorms. All in good fun."

I scoff, but end up hiccupping instead.

"What other 'dude' things did you guys do?"

He takes in a large gulp of wine. "Not much. Matthew's a real stickler for the rules. Closest he ever got to breaking one was a few overdue library books."

"I bet Caiden hated that."

Hercules's hand drops.

"You know about Caiden?"

Did I just screw up? My mind is moving five minutes behind my words.

"And Matthew is fine with it?"

I shrug my shoulders. "Neither of them are fine with each other, but Matthew says I can hang with whoever I want so, yeah."

He sits back.

"Stay out of their shit, Squirt. I mean it."

"Easier said than done. What happened between them?"

"Well. I'll tell you, since it doesn't look like you'll remember anyway. But you have to take another shot first."

I tilt the bottle back and gulp.

Hercules nods. "Hanging around Caiden, I bet he's already told you about Catherine."

"Barely anything."

"She was the facilitator for the Aqua house. Most powerful Aqua in the history of the academy. Weird girl. She was too pretty and too nice. She would go Topside every single Sunday without fail to do good deeds or something. Made us all wonder how she ended up here and not heaven."

"Makes sense why Caiden liked her so much."

"Not just him."

"Matthew too?"

He shook his head. "I don't think so. Matthew plays at being perfect, but this girl was perfect and she saw right through him. They became good friends, took a few classes together, that sort of thing. Nothing romantic, but I know they were close. I think everyone knew that. Probably what surprised everyone the most, considering what he did. I wasn't as close to her, but even I refused to help the council seal the portal knowing she was out there. But it was like it didn't even phase him."

So Caiden was right.

"I know Caiden's still pissed about it but," Hercules scratches at his head. "I don't know. Matthew was so weird after it happened. Disappear every morning, take extra tasks from the council, things like that. I think he's spent the last hundred years repenting. We all have."

"You too, Hercules?"

"Me? Nah. The only thing I regret about that day is that I let those council bastards demote me instead of resigning, just because I wouldn't seal the portal for them," he sighs heavily. "Working this class is better than working alongside any of those snakes. Matthew excluded."

"Still, I'm sorry it happened to you."

"The only thing I'm sorry about is that the students will never get a facilitator like Catherine or me again. The lot the council picked out are nothing but self-serving assholes."

"Is Matthew included in that tally?"

"You tell me."

My inebriated mind ponders it for a moment.

"I guess not. Lucky me."

Hercules raises a bottle to me.

"Lucky you."