Cobweb Head

t e n

The whole way into town, Leo's stare searched my face. It was only when we entered a diner, the sweet smell of maple syrup warming my mouth, that I stared right back at him.

"Quit watching me." I said, which came out more gruff than I'd intended. We slid into a red booth - the table was sticky as I rested my elbows along it.

"I'm not - I mean, yeah, I am, but-" He broke off. He was tapping his blunt nails across the tacky tabletop. "I need to talk to you about the fifth hunt."

I picked up a laminated menu, red and white checkered patterns displayed across the pale pink page. Maple soaked waffles? Fuck yeah.

"There are five hunts left after the next one, after which we will be judged." He continued, a worried line forming between his knitted eyebrows, and a dimple burrowed deeper into his cheek.

I looked up to see a waitress leaning her elbows against the front bench. Her hands were covering flushed cheeks, and the slump in her shoulders convinced me of her exhaustion.

"After that, we will either take a solemn oath of silence not to speak of it or join their ranks."

I raised my brows with a small pout of my lips. There was a scattered group of people occupying the surrounding booths, a clouded set of faces staring away from us. "Sounds a little bit like a cult if you ask me..."

He ignored my comment. "After that, if I get in, I'll train to hunt down rogue nightmares."

"But you use nightmares for yourselves."

He shrugged, lazily twirling a black curl around his finger like a dark ring of smoke. "Fight fire with fire."

I frowned - that didn't sound right, but I supposed there wasn't much else they could use.

Outside, the air was sprinkled with a light downpour, mottling the streets with shallow puddles. The town of Watercliff was small, hugged by redwood trees on all sides and decorated with aged shops and residential houses. I adjusted the drooping collar of my shirt - I'd ignored Leo's protests and had changed into the jeans anyway, as well as keeping the faded red shirt on.

The waitress I'd seen before stopped next to our booth, short white apron pulled over a red shirt and a stale look tugging her lips down as she drew out her notepad. "What'll it be?"

I was quick to grumble something about waffles, and Leo leaned forward with a chin perched against his hand. A boyish smile creased his lips. "A stack of pancakes would be great, thanks."

The girl tucked a strand of honey-blonde hair behind her ear, and her expression didn't look so dry anymore. She smiled with a hand still behind her ear - there was something in the way her eyes pinched in the corners that I couldn't quite place. "It'll be right up."

What the fuck just happened?

Suddenly the girl was smiling, a hand hovering over her lips, a chest caved inward as another hand was pressed over her heart. This was not the exhausted waitress I'd seen just moments before.

"What did you just do?" I leaned forward, still watching as she vanished behind a corner.

"What?" Leo's eyebrows were raised, and shadows flitted across his brown skin as a car drove passed, sending a spray of puddle water on the nearest sidewalk.

"You just made that waitress smile like-like..." The words became stuck in my throat.

"Whoa, Will, are you jealous?" He arched a brow with a downturned smile, a dark head tilted sluggishly to the side as he bit down against his bottom lip.

My cheeks reddened, and with a scowl, I responded. "No - fuck you, shut up."

When Leo had said a stack of pancakes, I'd thought he'd meant two or three, not the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Our food arrived not long after, and my jaw hung slack. Was this what Leo ate like, or the whole of America?

Once the grinning waitress had left, Leo continued. "The fifth hunt is happening tomorrow night - I'll return to my dorm to pick you up after headmaster Grimm gathers us, and then you'll direct me to the strongest nightmares."

I nodded - I could taste the sweet scent of the waffles on the plate in front of me. "And what are you going to do for my shadow problem?"

He paused from shovelling a large chunk of honey-soaked pancake into his mouth. "I'll, uh, check the archives - maybe I could also find something on your... ability?"

I sharpened my gaze. "You're going to do it tonight?"

"Yeah, sure." His words were muffled through a mouthful of food.

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When we got back from begrudgingly being shown around town, the sun was starting its slow descent into the ground and the ashen clouds had started to fade.

I passed the school's oval as I took towards the dorm wing, and could see the fierce game of Lacrosse happening across the dirtied green field. I felt my stomach twist itself into a harsh red knot - I missed home, where I had a footy team of my own. We'd just entered the finals when I'd left.

I felt a hand clamp down on my shoulder in the small space where my collar could not cover. The skin was warm against my own. "How'd you like Watercliff?"

Leo still smelt like honey and maple and butter, and his untamed hair was windswept to the side from when he'd opened the car window on the way back to Windsor's.

I shrugged his hand off my shoulder with a subtle shiver. "Fine - you've got to promise me you'll search the archives tonight."

I was still watching the Lacrosse players, and an eruption of cheers split the cold air as the ball clashed with the net. The student who'd taken the shot pulled his helmet off, wringing a hand through dampened blond hair and thrusting his Lacrosse stick towards the pale blue sky.

"I already said I'd do it." We were passing the field. "You might wanna exercise your weird fear-reading abilities; tomorrow night is going to be a long hunt."

I scowled. "It doesn't work like that, asshole."

He lifted his hands up in defence. "Maybe if you'd just give me a little proof, I'd understand it a little better."

I was silent - my mind felt clouded, thoughts combating each other like the sound of clashing swords, as if my head had been stuffed with dust.

I released a breath. "You'll get your proof tomorrow."