CHAPTER 45: THE NEXT MORNING

"Thad?" Liam questioned, confused.

Zeke didn’t have time for this. He brushed past Liam and walked into the room unwelcome, and looked around once.

There was no sign that Hellcat had been here last night.

"Why are you looking for Thad?"

Zeke looked unbothered. He didn’t even spare Liam a glance and walked out of the room, heading to his.

Behind him, Liam called, "Did he not return last night?"

As he expected, there was no answer from Zeke.

But Liam saw through a bit of Zeke’s unbreakable facade. His shoulders were a bit tensed, and he was walking a bit faster than usual.

Worry.

Zeke was worried - he understood that much.

And that got Liam worried too. Did Thad really not return last night or something? Quickly, he slipped on some clothes and left his room in search of his friend.

.

.

.

A deep sigh escaped Theo’s lips as her eyes slowly opened. It was taking longer than normal for her eyes to adjust to her surroundings, and when she tried to push up to a sitting position, her limbs were too heavy to carry her and her head swayed, forcing her to stay put.

What the hell?

There was this euphoric feeling swelling in her, and everything was quite blurry. Her throat burned faintly with the aftertaste of the Silverbloom, and her pupils were even more dilated.

She could tell she wasn’t in her Dormitory from the feel of the soft bed, and the images she could make out through her distorted sight. Her sense of smell and hearing were dull and she subconsciously reached out to Seraphina.

No answer. Only silence.

She tried again, and it was the same result.

She raised her hand to her face and softly flexed her fingers, trying to figure out something. Then, she reached up and began tracing the features of her face.

"I’m a man," She said out loud, "Wait, why am I a man?" She asked with genuine confusion, before giggling softly, "Right, I’m pretending to be my cousin. You can all call me Thaddeus Douglas, that’s who I am to you all!" She pointed to nothing in particular, her words slurring with a silly grin on her lips.

Then, she made to leave the bed.

But her legs were too weak to hold her up and she swayed and fell on her knees.

"Ouch," She cried softly, then looked up again and squinted her eyes, "Where am I?"

She couldn’t remember anything that happened last night, and there was a dull throb at the back of her head.

"Where am I?" She whispered again, trying to get up.

She managed to secure her legs firmly on the ground, but her rolling eyes were the real problem. She took another step forward, hoping to reach the wall at the end of the room that seemed very close to her.

She extended both hands, flaring them with the hope of touching the wall.

Just then, she heard the sound of a door opening, but there were no footsteps. She narrowed her eyes in the direction of the noise and caught sight of a blurry figure approaching.

The only feature she could properly make out was blue eyes.

Sylas?

"You’re a male again," He spoke, erasing any doubt from her mind that it wasn’t him.

A cheeky grin appeared on her lips, "I’m always male,"

"Hm," He stopped in front of her, then tilted his head a bit, "Can you see me?"

"Yes!" She exclaimed.

He waved a hand in front of her eyes, "How many fingers am I holding up?"

She blinked, "Uhm...Twenty five..."

"Your drunkenness isn’t getting any better,"

"It’s not?" She paused with a serious look, "Celeste said I could remain like this for five days,"

"You mentioned that before," He said and took her arm, leading her to the bathroom.

She felt a surge of cold electricity where he touched her, gently swallowing.

"I did? When?"

"Don’t worry about it,"

They stepped into the bathroom and she awkwardly stood there as he laid out instructions to open her mouth, and in seconds, he was brushing her teeth for her.

He was standing directly behind her so she leaned back on him, while his hands did the work. He ordered her to spit out the foamy paste, which she did, then he helped her rinse her mouth.

"Professor?" She called softly once they were done.

He didn’t answer at first, and she could feel him staring at her.

"Yes...," He paused again, "Venom?"

"How did I get here?"

"I brought you here myself,"

"Why?"

"If I didn’t, you’d be on your way back to the North right now,"

Her stomach fell, "What do you mean?"

"Do you remember anything that happened last night?"

She shook her head.

"Then don’t think about it," He said and took her hand to lead her out of the bathroom, but she pulled back a little, stopping him.

"What is it?"

"Shower," She said, "I stink,"

"I can bear it," He said and made to leave again but she pulled back.

"I need to take a shower," She groaned.

"How? You can’t even stand on your own!"

"Right...," She drawled with a sad look, then an idea popped into her head, "Have you showered? We can shower together. That should solve it, right?"

She felt his hand tighten around hers at her words, "No!" He replied, his tone a little huskier.

"Why?"

He didn’t say anything.

"Why?!" She pushed.

"Stop asking and get back to bed. You’re drunk!"

"I can’t. I stink," She pouted.

"You don’t stink," He groaned.

"I usually take my baths in the morning, and it’s morning. I also have to get ready for class, or that cold-blooded Professor is gonna subject me to some mental punishment again,"

"You don’t need to go to class," He hissed.

"Yes, I do. Or Professor Sylas..." She paused and smiled again, "Wait, you’re Sylas, aren’t you?"

"If you don’t start walking, I’m gonna toss you over my shoulders," He warned.

"If you do that I’m gonna puke all over you," She slurred, "Could you help me take off my shirt?"

"You’re not taking a bath!" He hissed again, louder this time.

"Why?!" She fired back.

"Because I can’t handle that!" He yelled back, clearly agitated, "I could barely get any sleep knowing you were in the same house as I was, so taking off your clothes is out of the options right now!" His breath came out fast.

She could feel his clutched fingers around her arm trembling, and looked up at him. Her expression softened, and she dearly wished she could see what he looked like at this moment.

Her lips parted, and she whispered, "You don’t have to,"

She felt him stiffen, and even his breathing stopped.

"You don’t have to handle it. Take a bath with me,"