Dark Clouds (NaNoWriMo 2022)

13.11.22

Chapter Thirteen

After inspecting every inch of that room, I left. I did my best to make sure the door looked untouched, as I didn't want anyone else finding the room or knowing I was there. I snuck back to the hole in the fence to Chann, and I explained everything to him on the walk back to the school.

Once he got settled in the stables, I snuck back into the dorms and to my room.

I immediately throw my cloak on the coat hanger and fall onto my bed, exhausted. I get myself more comfortably settled under my blankets before falling fast asleep.

Right after, Kaelan rolled over his bed, his eyes wide open as he looked at me.

Only a few days pass before the itch to go back overwhelms me.

Just like before, I waited until everyone was asleep before grabbing my cloak and sneaking out. I don't take Chann this time, though it does make me feel a bit bad, and I'm quickly sneaking back through the hole in the fence and to the door. For some reason, anxiety pounds in my chest as I rush down the stairs to the room, not taking into account my surroundings.

I'm finally able to breathe when I reach the room, and I rest against the table, taking a deep breath.

My heart stops, though, as I hear footsteps behind.

"What is this place?"

It's... Kaelan?

"You followed me here?" I ask, still out of breath.

He doesn't respond, as he notices the table and walks closer.

"What's this?" he asks, breathless just like I had been the first time I saw it.

I look at it with him. Glancing at him, a force inside me is saying to trust him, so I do.

"It's a puzzle," I begin to explain. "Made of six pieces, I'm guessing."

After a few moments, Kaelan turns to face me.

"I have so many questions," he states.

Kaelan is a year or so older than me, going on seventeen. He's said before that he's from a wealthy Soreli family where he has five sisters. Just like his father and his fathers father, he was sent to Alcott's school for boys when he was only ten.

He has a blonde undercut and the typical paler skin of the locals, but what I first noticed about him were his bright blue eyes. He's a good head taller than me, with broader shoulders and maybe a dozen pounds of muscle on me.

We sit on the floor of the room as I explain everything to him.

"Before I showed up at the school, I woke up on a riverbank in the middle of a forest," I began. "I was alone, except for Chann, my wolf-dog. I was muddy and covered in blood." I swallow. "Blood that wasn't mine. I don't know whose it was, or how I ended up there. I don't remember anything from before that."

"So... you have amnesia?" Kaelan asks.

I nod. "I guess so. I can remember some bits and flashes of things, and I remember Chann, but that's it."

He takes that in for a moment.

"Did you say... wolf-dog?" he asks.

"Yeah," I say with a sigh. "I've been telling everyone he's just a large dog, but he's a wolf-dog. I don't know why, but I know that I shouldn't tell anyone."

"So why are you telling me?" Kaelan questions.

I shrug. "Again, I... don't know."

I tell him all about finding the road, the couple finding me, and ending up here. I show him all of my tattoos, which also reveals my nipple-less chest, and the crystal, which is still glowing. I tell him about Bronn and how I found this place.

"And you can't remember anything about... all of this?" he asks.

I shake my head. "No, I can't. From what I can piece together... I'm not from here, that's for sure. I think that I... I was in a fight before I ended up on the riverbank. Maybe that's how I lost my memory."

Kaelan is quiet, as he has been since listening to me. Honestly, I'm surprised that he's so calm about all this.

"About Bronn, I don't know--*I've* never noticed anything strange about him, at least, and I have Magic, too. But it does seem like your Magic is... special, somehow. You have that crystal and you found this place, not to mention all the things you're hiding that you don't know about."

I nod. He makes sense.

He hands up in front of me, and he holds out his hand for me to hold. I take it, and he helps me to my feet.

"Like you said, I don't know what it is, but there's something inside me..." he begins, but he pauses.

I realize that we're chest to chest, and as I look up at him, he looks down at me, making our lips only inches apart.

I take a step back.

"I'm with you, through... whatever this is," he says, motioning towards the puzzle.

I smile and hold my hand back out.

We shake hands, but Kaelan surprisingly pulls me into a hug, patting my back,

"Thank you, Kaelan," I say softly.

He pulls away, smiling.

"We should probably head back soon. Wouldn't wanna be falling asleep in class tomorrow, would we?" he says in a joking manner.

I can't help but chuckle a bit.

"Yeah, let's go."

What are these feelings?

For the first time--in my life, it seems--I'm feeling a feeling in my chest and stomach that I can't describe. It's not nausea, anxiety, sadness, or even adrenaline. I sort of wish it was one of those things, because I know those things, but this... this is new.

And I feel it everytime I think of that one moment with Kaelan.

Could it be... love?

No, I can't be. It has to be something else.