The Garden of What Once Was

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

As Landon trudged to his dorm, an unpleasant smell of roses hung heavy in the air, making an unimaginably painful headache form in his temples. He couldn't wait to just get back to his dorm, then sprawl out on his bed and go to sleep with Ched–...Ah, I forgot. He's still missing. A deep sigh left him as the reminder of Cheddar's absence filled his mind again. Thanks to Reed and Casper, he had been able to forget about it for a bit, but now, it was all he could think about. He shook his head, trying to disperse the negative thoughts forming in his mind as he opened his door.

"Ugh, what the–..."

His hand clamped over his mouth and nose to block out the now heavy stench of roses that covered the entirety of his room. He waved his hand around in the air in a vain attempt to disperse at least some of the flowery smell. When that did absolutely nothing, he decided on opening his window, though he soon found that it was already wide open with a backside hanging out of it. A very familiar backside.

"Jared," Landon sighed again, now thinking that the culprit behind the stench in his dorm was Jared. He walked closer to his window, where the smell seemed to grow even stronger. "Did you really think it would be funny to spray my room with perfume?"

Roughly, he kicked Jared in the butt, expecting Jared to immediately pull himself upward and yell obscenities. Instead of doing that, Jared remained still, as if he were asleep. The only problem was, Jared was never a heavy sleeper. If someone breathed too loudly when he was asleep, he would instantly wake up.

"Hey, stop playing dead. It's not funny, Jared," Landon urged him. "Jared...?" His voice grew quiet as panic rose in him. Swallowing hard, he grabbed a hold of either side of Jared, hauling his limp body upward. When Jared didn't abruptly whack him away, Landon's stomach sank down into his feet. "Jared!"

He stumbled back with Jared held against him. His foot twisted, immediately causing him to lose his balance. A loud bang sounded when their bodies crashed to the ground, yet not even a grunt of discomfort sounded from Jared. All Jared did was just lay there on top of Landon's chest. Now there was no doubt in Landon's mind that something was wrong. He had no idea as to what, but he did know that healing Jared was sure to at least do something. Quickly, Landon sat himself up with Jared's head placed carefully in Landon's lap. His hands splayed out flat against Jared's chest. Though, nothing happened, not after two minutes nor six minutes.

"Come on, come on, come on...it isn't working. Why? Why the hell isn't it working?" He muttered to himself as the palms of his hands began to heat up from overexertion of his power. His hands balled into fists. "Wake up, just wake up. Come on, open your eyes! Jared, damn it, come back to me!"

No matter how much he pleaded to Jared, there was no response. Defeated, he bowed his head into Jared's chest. The sound of Jared's heart beat flowed into Landon's ears, making his breath catch in his throat. His heart beat was far too slow, even for a vampire.

"I don't know what to do, I don't what to do...! Goddammit, what would Jared do?" Landon wondered out loud, lifting his head.

He would figure it out himself, but I can't do that. The only other people Landon could think to rely on were Reed, Casper, and Ember. Quickly, he pulled his phone from his back pocket, shakily typing across his digital keyboard: Emergency. Get over to my dorm now.

Naturally, Casper and Reed were quick to assume that Landon's emergency was over something ridiculous, like one of his Sims dying or him having art block. Nevertheless, they still arrived at his dorm in only a few minutes. When they pushed open the door to his dorm, they simultaneously brought their hands to their faces, pinching their noses to block the smell of roses.

"Since when did you start wearing perfume, Landon?" Casper coughed through his question.

"Ugh," Reed gagged as if he just accidentally swallowed a bug, "I can even taste it!"