Invisible String - Sebastian Sallow

Chapter Twenty-Four: Dark Desires

"Shit- Sebastian!" I called as I approached the cove. I was cursing myself for not having brought toast with me, knowing I had no way to get in. "Seb, are you-"

Just as I came around the corner, I smacked into a rather hard surface, the air being ripped from my lungs, and my words cut off as another clap of thunder rolled through the sky and lightning flashed.

"Abbi!" The thing I hit said, voice low, almost ripped away with the wind. "Are you alright?"

Sebastian was the thing I had run into, his own robes completely soaked, tie undone and hanging around his neck, his usual perfectly messy curls stuck to his face. He'd instinctively wrapped his arms around my waist as I'd run into him and almost fallen flat on my ass, and I was being held closely to his chest as a result.

"Seb, I- I was looking for you," I breathed heavily, the stitch in my side more prevalent now that I wasn't running through the whole castle and grounds searching for him. "You left so quickly, before class was even done."

His expression turned dark at the same time that yet more thunder shook the sky.

"Yeah, well, I'm fine," he said thickly.

"No, you're not."

"Abbi, I said I'm fine," his voice shook a bit at the word, and I watched as he squeezed his eyes shut, working his jaw. I watched as his constellations of freckles scrunched together briefly before he smoothed his face.

I struggled to get a better footing with the way I was being held to him, his arms still holding onto my waist tightly, which he finally noticed. He helped me stand, his hands shaking. "Come on, let's get out of the rain," I said taking his hand and leading him to the cove.

The entrance was still open, and I pulled us inside, walking precariously along the rocky edge. Lightning illuminated the cave as it flashed over the lake and I was glad to be out of the water. I walked him over to the same couch he'd placed me on when we'd left the Repository, and before allowing him to sit, pulled out my wand and waved it over him, drying his clothes instantly.

Doing the same to myself, I pulled him to the couch and sat with him, letting the silence engulf us.

He held my hand, his fingers gripping between my own, and stared blankly at the bookshelf across the room. He was lost in a memory, no doubt the same one I had relived during that class. The echoing of my screams still seemed so fresh in my mind.

A shuddering breath.

A squeeze of my hand.

"I don't think you know how much I regret having cast Crucio on you."

His words here surprised me. "Why would I not know that?"

"I never apologized to you. I didn't even ask if you were okay. I just stood there, while bloody Ominis cared for you."

I thought hard, pulling the details of that day to the front of my mind. I remembered a pair of arms wrapping around me as soon as the curse was lifted, a voice attempting to sooth me. I'd always thought it had been Sebastian- too blinded by the pain to actually remember.

But he was right.

When I forced my memory to clear, it had been Ominis who'd been holding me. My gaze had settled onto Sebastian's face, and I recognized the expression I was seeing on his face now. Realization of why he'd left class so quickly settled over me, and I had to shove down the wisp of dark magic I'd taken in in Feldcroft.

"You enjoyed it, didn't you?"

"No! Abbi, how could I have enjoyed hurting you?" He had shouted it, his brown eyes flashing dangerously.