Cobweb Head

e i g h t

I flung myself back, hid my face and drew a hand out in a poor sort of defence. "If you dare take anything out of my fucking brain I will personally sabotage any of your chances at joining your freaky cult!"

There was a moment of silence where my eyes were clenched shut and nothing but heavy breaths split the air.

I drew my arm away and took several steps back after seeing the silver ring still trained on me. Leo's face was fixed in a hard expression. His fist was shaking and the wound continued to bleed. Blood had trickled in harsh red lines down to his fingertips.

His chest lifted and fell with ragged breaths, and for a moment his brows knit together as if in pain. He was in pain. "What did - what did you see?"

I breathed out. My heart still felt like the desperate wings of a baby bird that'd just been dropped from the nest. "Not much."

He thrust his fist out further, where a moonlit shine caught on the face of the ring. I went to move back but met the edge of the desk instead. "You're lying."

I pinched my lips into a thin line, searching for anything useful in the room. I didn't know if I wanted a weapon or a bargaining chip or something entirely different, I just needed something to get me out of this situation. There was nothing but scattered clothes and books.

"I followed you." I said, immediately regretting it. No going back now. "I followed you on the..." I searched my mind for what the headmaster had said, snapping my fingers in recognition. "The fourth hunt."

Leo gulped. "That's why you were awake when I got to the dorm?"

"You wanted to take something out of my – my head. I saw it happen to a student who'd been sleeping." My words were drawled and slick with venom. I couldn't help it. The thought of someone messing with my head made my blood run cold. "I know all about you and your cult and your cultist buddies."

"The Frights are not a cult!"

I stepped forward, testing my luck. Leo didn't have it in him to actually hurt me. At least, that's what I hoped. "A-ha! It's called the Frights?"

I remembered now; Headmaster Grimm had called them the Frights. I had thought it was just some funky slang I hadn't been aware of. Looking back, the Headmaster definitely did not seem like the person to use funky slang.

He dropped his arm and drew his hands to his head, clenching fists over chunks of hair as he chewed against his lip. The blood dampened his curls. "Shit, shit, shit."

I had never heard Leo swear before. It didn't sound like a proper word when he said it.

He was pacing and my eyes were still on the ring. I took another wary step forward. "What was that thing?" My words travelled with my breath.

But he didn't reply. He was biting his nails, a sudden panic twisting his expression. He had barely given the gash in his arm a second glance.

My mind went back to Leo's fear, the one I'd heard on my second day. I'm scared I won't be enough for the Frights. This was it - if he was panicking this much because of how much I knew, it had to be coming true.

"The Frights are not a cult." He said again, looking me in the eye.

I hardened my expression. "What are they, then?"

He sighed and rubbed the hand that wasn't bloodied down his face. "We're an Order, and we take nightmares, nothing anyone would want." He lifted his ring, and I flinched back out of instinct, heat crawling up my neck after realising he wasn't using it against me. "These trap them - we're in full control as long as we wear them."