Oh Hex No

Erik was left stunned and dazed when Serena kissed him out of nowhere, then promptly ran out of the room. It shouldn't have felt as nice as it did, but he wasn't going to deny it felt right and had his heart pounding so hard in his chest that it threatened to blow right up.

Montague snapped him back to his senses with a lazy "mew", and he ran after Serena as fast as he could without taking a tumble down the stairs. She was barefoot and trudging through the snow, and Erik suddenly found himself pulling his wand out and flicking it at the snow around her feet. The snow turned to ice and pinned her to the ground, and she shrieked in surprise as she fell over.

"Sorry!" Erik called out. "You're really fast and the alcohol makes running hard."

He ran to catch up to her and helped her to her feet. She glared daggers at him.

"I don't teach you these spells so you can use them against me," she said.

"Sorry," Erik repeated, though he couldn't help a small smile creeping on his face. "But you have to admit, it was pretty good. Right?"

"Yeah, it was slick," she said, annoyed. "You're still a moron, though."

He lifted her slightly so she was standing on top of his shoes rather than having her bare feet in the snow, and she turned bright red at how close he was holding her. They were quiet for a moment, but this time Erik closed the gap and pulled her into a lingering kiss. He wasn't sure what had come over him, but he wasn't sure he could ever look at Serena without a slight flutter in his stomach again. Now Serena was the one who looked dazed.

"You don't hate me?" she asked softly.

"No," Erik said. "Of course I don't. I'm just... not good enough for you."

"How could you say that?" she said. "You treat me so well. I'm not so shallow to throw that aside because of where you come from."

"What if I never amount to anything?" Erik grimaced. "And I fail the exam and I-"

"You won't fail," she interupted. "And you're going to do great things. But even if you did fail and ended up working in a fish market somewhere, I'd still think highly of you."

There was a beat of silence and Serena brushed some snowflakes from Erik's hair with a soft smile. He was about to lean in and kiss her again when a screech came from nearby and startled them both. It sounded like nails on a chalkboard, and was followed by a man's scream.

"We should go inside," Erik said.

"What?" Serena frowned. "No, we have to go see. What if someone needs our help?"

She didn't give Erik much a chance to argue before running off again. He cursed under his breath and followed her. They turned the corner and Erik spotted the creature before Serena did. He grabbed her arm and yanked her back so they could hide behind the wall.

It was too late to help anyone. A man lay on the ground, practically in shreds. It was hard to see, but Erik realized it was one of the Academy's professors, Professor Tamill. His neck was cut so deep that he had nearly been decapitated. The creature they had seen before stood over him, razor sharp claws dripping with blood.

Serena clasped a hand over her mouth and turned pale at the gruesome sight, pressing herself close to Erik. Living in a rough area, Erik had seen dead bodies before. Usually they came from drug use or bar fights. This was new and horrific, even for him.

He stayed still and held his breath, watching as the creature rolled Tamill onto his side in the pool of blood. Then it backed away, and a figure in a dark cloak stepped forward from the shadows. It was just a man, though his face was obscured. A gloved hand dug through Tamill's pockets and took out a folded piece of paper.

He opened the paper and read it, then made a scoffing noise and lit a match. As he set fire to the paper, he suddenly whipped his head in the direction of where Serena and Erik were hiding. They had been caught.

The cloaked man dropped the paper and ran, and the creature suddenly turned on Erik and Serena. Erik pulled her close and backed up, but the creature had them backed into a corner. Serena whimpered as it bared its razor sharp teeth and started to creep closer, but some shouting voices in the distance distracted it. It suddenly melted into the shadows of the wall and disappeared. Erik finally exhaled, wiping sweat from his forehead.

"We have to get out of here," he told Serena. "If we're seen here, we'll be blamed."

She shakily agreed and they ran as fast as they could back to her room, before anyone saw them. Once they were safely inside, Erik sank into a chair. Serena was holding herself and looked like she was about to throw up.

"I can't believe this," she said.

"I can," Erik grumbled. "I'm not allowed to have nice moments. Someone always has to ruin it."

"Erik, this is serious," she said.

"Yeah," he agreed. "It's seriously not our business. Clearly that creature is not acting on its own accord. It's being controlled by that cloaked man, and he has some kind of fight with the academy. Whatever was on that paper seemed to be important enough to him that he'd kill for it."

"This paper."

Serena held up a singed paper from her pocket, and Erik's eyes widened when he realized it was the one the man had lit a match to.

"I grabbed it when we ran," she said, handing it to Erik. "It looks like some kind of notice, but most of it is burned."

Erik examined the note, then nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I know what it is," he said. "It's a notice of exile. I recognize the stamp in the corner."

"Exile?"

"The stamp comes from the same department that keeps finding loopholes to keep me out of school," Erik explained. "It's sort of like 'quality control' for the people who live and work around here. If someone ticks them off, they can pin some stupid misdemeanor on you and send you away. I've been able to dodge them because I'm technically still enrolled as a student."

"So whoever this cloaked man was lives here," Serena said. "He lives here, but they were trying to send him away."

"Tamill must be on the deciding council," Erik said. "He probably had the notice because he was going to deliver it. The man could have just taken the notice, but he decided to make that bloodbath to make a point."

"If the notice was an official decision made by multiple people, there must be a record of it," Serena said. "Right? We can report it."

"What can we report?" Erik asked. "No one else saw the creature or the man. As far as they know, Tamill was killed in a robbery gone wrong. You already tried telling them about the creature and they sent you away. Remember?"

"You're right," Serena sighed. "Maybe we can find it ourselves. If we get into the records."

"No offense," Erik said dully, "But as pretty as your Bellwood name is, I'm pretty sure that even someone with your influence isn't allowed to casually sort through city government files."

"Maybe not casually," she said. "Maybe... sneakily?"

"Absolutely not," Erik said. "I'm ending this conversation here. You are tired, you just saw a horrific scene, and there is a lot of champagne in your system. You are in no position to be making decisions. Especially decisions about breaking into city hall to track down a murderer."

"But-"

"I'm not letting you get near that thing," Erik insisted. "It'll take your head off, and then what am I supposed to do with myself? I'd be mortified."

"Because you care?" Serena asked, cracking a smile.

"Yes. Because I care. Deeply."

"Okay," she said, though Erik wasn't too convinced she was over it. "You're right, I think I just need some sleep."

"Good," Erik said.

He picked up his jacket from where it was draped on a chair, and Serena frowned.

"Are you leaving?" she asked.

"I thought you were going to bed," he said.

"I am," she said sheepishly. "I guess I was hoping you could stay with me tonight."

"Here?" Erik said, face going blank. "In your room?"

"I don't really want you walking home alone," she said. "And If I'm going to be honest, I don't really want to be alone right now either."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm very sure."

Erik hesitated, then sighed. It still felt inappropriate, but he supposed propriety was out the window at this point. Besides, he didn't want to be alone either. Spending the night holding Serena was much more appealing than going to his creaky, uncomfortable bed at home and hoping no one attacked him in his sleep.

"Alright," he said finally. "But don't tell your grandfather. He might kill me."

Serena just laughed softly and disappeared into a bathroom to change out of her dress. Erik started to unbutton his shirt and carefully removed the cufflinks holding his sleeves in place. He looked at them before gently placing them in her jewelry box for her. All things considered, it wasn't that bad of a night.