Chapter Text
It’s early October in chilly autumn. where the sky is dull but the trees bright with orange and yellow and the air is crisp, Alex can almost taste it. he could never forget, how could he?, because that’s when he met HIM .
“Who’s the new guy?”. Josh asks, as they take their seats for breakfast, on cold hard benches.
Alex, previously staring at the slop on his plate with mild disinterest, looks up and takes a sharp intake of breath. As he locates icy blue eyes across the hall, with his dull green ones.
“I don’t know”./p>
he mumbles absently, but he doesn’t look away from the boy, Alex can’t help but think he looks like a fairy tale, like a beautiful prince in a story book, hair as black as a ravens wing, lips as red as blood and skin as pale as snow.
but it’s when those eyes meet his. he’s filled with an overwhelmingly dark energy, pulsating all around his body, he feels his soul ripping and splitting apart,that he instantly knows, this fairy tale has no happy endings.
Its when Josh speaks again that Alex’s gaze rips away from the dark haired boy. “shame you have to share your room”.
“what?”. Alex mumbles confused, as if he wasn’t hearing him correctly.
Josh continues to chew his large mouthful of porridge, before audibly swallowing. “well, I saw them put an extra bed in your room before”.
Alex now slightly irritated, replies instantaneously “that’s bollocks!”.
Alex feels a mix of panic and irritation bubble within him, as his breath quickens, while his gaze reaches across the room, to eye up his now, new roommate, watching the boy eat his toast.
somewhere in the background, he hears Josh physically shrinking behind him as he mumbles. “well they did”.
Alex snaps away and stands abruptly. “SIR!? , sir? can I have permission to leave please?”.
a white haired professor with deep wrinkles sighs as he turns to look at the outburst. “and where do you need to go, mr Forbes.”
“to the bathroom”. Alex reply is breathless and almost desperate.
“can’t it wait boy?”. the old professor replies as he takes a huge spoonful of porridge.
out the corner of his eye, Alex spots headmaster Forbes, his father staring directly at him, with what can only be described as disappointment, radiating off of him, nothing out of the ordinary there, alex keeps up the starting contest while replying with a smug tone “well it’s quite hard to say sir, it’s quite urgent business”.
fed up with the conversation already and mouth full of food the professor waved him off .
Now having permission, Alex didn’t wait he dashed off like his life depended on it, and maybe it did, out the dinning hall and across to the dormitory’s he cursed, the endless polished stairs, he ran up, straight to the top floor and Into his room.
Alex smashed open the door and what he saw filled him with rage. the once empty desk and bed on the right side of the room now filled with books, dark blue bedding folded on the middle of the bed neatly and a brown leather suitcase.
he rushed to it, crouched down and immediately opened it up, as if it was begging to be seen, as if knowing what to look for, he lifted up half the clothes and books and a bunch of plastic wrap and took a look inside and there it was.
the proof Alex needed to justify his feelings of distain, there laying lifeless, a black, very dead cat with its mouth wide open, almost instantly the smell of cold and chemical ticked his nose and Alex wrinkles in disgust.
Fucking freak he thought. what kind of sick fu… “do you mind?” Alex jumps out of his head and looks up, to see the freak himself, standing in the door way, eyes so cold it almost sends a chill through him.
As he stands up and backs away from the, would be leather coffin. The dark haired boy walks over and locks the case back up as Alex walks to the door.
he passes the entrance, then turns and their eyes lock, for a split second, Alex’s heart lurches in his chest and whatever venom on the end of his tongue, he was going to spit at the boy, all he can get out of his mouth, is a meek “ don’t get too comfortable”. as he stomps out to the hallway, mind racing and feet heavy..
Classes go quicker than usual, but that’s no surprise to Alex, as he’s not even once bothered to pay attention, barely noticing even changing classrooms.
how can he be expected to concentrate with flashes of red lips, in his mind being pulled into a arrogant grin, like HE knows something Alex doesn’t.
it’s when he catches himself thinking, about how those lips might taste on his tongue, when the lunch bell rings and Alex pushes that thought away.
already deciding to skip 5th period today, alex flings his black leather book bag over his shoulder, proceeding towards the old storage room located just outside of his english class room.
When he arrives he sees Josh, sitting down at the tattered table , fiddling with a paper funnel and raj across the room, feet up and nose in a book. Raj only hangs out with us because he’s Josh’s roommate, he’s not like Josh.
he doesn’t like to push the limits, but it’s better to keep him close than have him snitch on us, he thinks (keep your friends close and your, potential enemies closer).
“So what’s he like?”
“Hm” Alex is pulled away from his thoughts, a bit dazed by the question but thinks allowed “weird”. gathering what’s left of his thoughts he then continues “ he’s got this collection of stuffed animals”.
Alex can’t manage to choke down the disgust in his voice as he leans against the table.
“Isn’t he a bit old for that” josh mused, while he starts to poor gunpowder into the funnel.
“real animals, you dick!”
“cool” raj mumbles, barely paying attention, eyes not leaving his book.
“Well anyways, it’s been hard to get any dirt on him”. Josh absentmindedly continued on, while he’s separating the powder into individual bits of foil.
twisting the tops of them up, leaving them looking like little stiff peaked meringues, ready to explode when thrown.
Pulling away from his book, raj looks up at the boys “ Nigel Colbie”. “That’s his name, I heard some guys at lunch saying he used to be a day boy at st. Edward’s, but he had some family issues at home”
Josh and raj continued their conversation, but Alex had stopped listening after hearing his name completely zoning them out.
“Nigel” he whispered under his breath, the name sounding wrong in his mouth, but sweet on his lips, like a kiss of death or maybe a kiss of life, because in that moment, Alex couldn’t help but think, he’s felt dead his whole meaningless life, but now maybe for the first time, he feels alive.