“Is this really the only club room available?” Thanatos asks, crossing his arms and frowning.

“Aw, I think it’s nice! Even if it is. . . tiny?” Jonny retorts with an optimistic smile. Rebecca sighs, and she magics the door shut with a wave of her hand.

Tiny is certainly a fitting word. The room is a former storage room with another closet inside of it, but on the back wall are two large windows that match those in the hallway. There is a single rectangular, white table with two white chairs on either short side of it. Where the third chair should be, instead, is a desk with it’s back towards the window. An officer chair completes the setup. The room has no other decorations or signs of use.

Rebecca strides to the right side chair and takes her seat. “It’s the best I could do,” she says. “All official clubrooms are already booked, and we need to keep this discreet, so I had some of the Rugby boys move the stuff in here out and swap it with some of the old student council room furniture.” With a smirk, she crosses her legs. “I organized the rest myself.”

Jonny takes his seat opposite of Rebecca and leans back, propping his feet up on the corner of the table. “Hell yeah, dude!” Rebecca knocks his feet off with the back of her hand. He laughs. “It almost feels like a real club, but I’m surprised you didn’t take the desk, Becca.”

“Of course I wouldn’t, I’m--” Rebecca shoots up, her face flaring red. She slams her hands down. “Excuse me, did you just call me Becca?!”

Thanatos rolls his eyes and takes the desk seat for himself, pulling out files from his bag and arranging them neatly. He also places his laptop, ready to take notes, but as he tries to pull up the program, Jonny rushes to hide behind him.

“Woah, calm down! It’s just a nickname!”

Rebecca points, accusatory, at him, other hand fisted and resting against her hip. “You’re getting far too comfortable, Greenwell! Referring to me so casually. . . I’m your student council president!”

Jonny leans over Thanatos’ shoulder, forcing him to curl in as the taller’s chest presses to the back of his head. He groans, but Jonny doesn’t notice.

“C’mon!” Jonny exclaims. “We’ve gotta be friends by now, especially if we’re gonna do this as a team. What’s wrong with Becky?” He pauses in though, fingers tapping against the desk. “Actually, maybe that’s too girly for you. . . Becky, then?”

Rebecca gasps. “That’s worse! Far too American!”

“Bex?”

“Excuse you, do you take me for some punk delinquent?!”

Thanatos finally huffs, and he pushes Jonny off of him. “Enough, both of you. Just settle on something and move on.”

Rebecca and Jonny both look at him, and say, “Oh, like what?” Rebecca is far more angry, but Jonny’s voice is genuinely curious. They continue to stare at him, and Thanatos licks his teeth.

“I don’t know. . . Rob, then?”

Jonny absolutely beams while Rebecca looks positively disgusted with the notion, but before she can argue, Jonny is rushing back to his seat. He raps his fist lightly on the table like a judge’s gavel.

“Rob it is! Oh, that’s so good.”

Thanatos gestures to Rebecca’s seat. “Well, Rob, if you would sit then.”

Producing the most flustered, frustrated noise she can muster, Rebecca sits down and crosses her arms. She glares at Jonny, but he’s rather immune to it at this point, so she gives up and kisses her teeth.

“With that out of the way, I suppose this ‘official meeting’ can begin,” says Thanatos, air-quoting. He finally gets his note-taking sorted, and he hands each of them one of the two black files. Rebecca’s energy vanishes quickly. “Jonny, Ms. Hawthorne and I have already seen them-- I in more detail --so I’ll warn you now, it’s. . . not a pleasant sight, but you know more about the victim in that folder than either of us.”

Jonny’s enthusiasm, too, fades, and he glances down at the folder. Bracing himself, he opens it, but Rebecca and Thanatos are surprised to see him so. . . unphased by it. Instead, Jonny drags a hand down is face and sets the stack of photos aside. “Kelcey. . . Are these real? For real, real?”

“Unfortunately,” Thanatos confirms. “Both died in lecture halls, as confirmed by Ms. Hawthorne, and both met their fate as Mrs. Waurelt and I had suspected.”

Jonny clenches his fists on the table. “Necromancy.”

Thanatos nods. “Correct. This particular spell is a necromantic curse called ‘To Déntro tou Thanátou’, having its origins from Greek necromancy tomes found in pieces across Europe. It roughly translates to ‘The Tree of Death’.”

A heavy pause falls over them as Thanatos gives the two time to think. Rebecca breaks the silence first, tracing her fingers along Dottie’s photographed back. “So when Sibylla said for you to ‘watch your back’, this is what she meant, isn’t it?”

“Wait,” Jonny adds. “So this is what’s familiar to you?”

Thanatos sighs, and he rests his elbows on his desk. The other two eye the way he bites the inside of his lip. “Yes,” he confirms. “I’ve dealt with it in the past. It’s an incredibly strong, lethal spell only performable by powerful necromancers. Whoever we’re dealing with is to be taken much more seriously than I initially suspected.”

“It’s no wonder Headmaster Waurelt kept this hidden, then.” Jonny scans the reports as he speaks. “Besides reputation, imagine the kinda panic we’d have if everyone found out someone so dangerous were actually here.”

Rebecca nods in agreement. “These photos could get out if she wasn’t or we aren’t careful.”

“If she really cared about her students more than the school’s profitability,” Thanatos starts, and Rebecca’s frown deepens. “She would’ve shown them to me in private. Thinking I can track a necromancer with no cause of death shows how little she really knows.”

“Watch how you speak about her, Briar! She’s doing the best she can. . .” Rebecca trails off, but it doesn’t take his past as a detective to see the doubt blooming in her eyes. “Anyway, now we know, so how do we stop them?”

“I told you this before, in the library, didn’t I? We need to find our next victim.” Thanatos types away at his keyboard.

“It’s probably Angie, then, yeah?” Jonny asks. “She fits the bill almost to a tee. We just gotta check and see if she has the tree on her back, and if she does, then we watch her like a hawk.”

“We can’t use one of our students as bait . What if we’re not there to stop the curse in time?” Rebecca holds up one of the photos and points to it. “We can’t let this happen to another girl!”

Thanatos sighs. “Assuming the date pattern holds true, there’s still precisely two weeks left until our deadline: October 27th. So far, both of the other girls have died on the last Friday of every month.” He turns his laptop around, displaying a calendar. “Assume each curse starts within a week post the previous victim’s death, then it’s about halfway finished on our next victim; seeing the mark on the next target will be easy.”

Jonny hums. “So, we just need to check Angie’s back?”

“Basically. And every other redhead girl who matches the profile.”

“That’s up to Rob, then, since she’s the only girl here, and I don’t think either of us are getting lucky with a lady anytime soon.”

Rebecca crosses her legs over the other way. “Or, idiot , we can just ask Sibylla. Surely, she can catch a glimpse of her own suitemate coming out of the shower. If Angelica doesn’t have it, then I’ll try looking elsewhere.”

Thanatos pulls out his phone. “I’ll let her know.”

“Oh, also,” Rebecca continues. “When I was in Mrs. Waurelt’s office, I found a hidden study. That’s where the files were kept. I didn’t see anything the girl’s owned, nor did I have time to check, but I doubt it’s in there.”

He nods as he texts. “Then, we’ll find some other way to obtain one of their belongings. Risking another stunt like that so soon would be less than ideal.”

“I could try talking to Kelcey’s friends again!” Jonny suggests excitedly. “Maybe they’ve got something.”

“By all means, go for it.”

A long, old bell rings across campus, and all three of them stop in their tracks.

Jonny scratches his neck. “Ah, man. Do we have to stop? I have Alchemy II, and if I can avoid it, all the better.”

“Absolutely not!” Rebecca rises from her seat, placing everything back into her file and then doing the same for Jonny. She taps them against the table to straighten them before returning them to Thanatos. Thanatos puts away his belongings as well, files included. “Both of you get to your classes. I may tolerate being ordered around in an investigation, but I won’t tolerate my students being truant.”

Both boys roll their eyes, but they follow her lead to the door. Thanatos waits for them to go first before shutting the door behind them. Rebecca locks it then hands him the key.

“I suppose then, our first meeting is adjourned.”

Jonny watches the sunset from their dorm’s sofa, tossing the citrine up out of a newly formed habit. Being in his casual clothes instead of that stuffy uniform always feels so much better on his skin, and fuzzy socks are always the best. He listens, half-interested, to whatever is on the TV, but it’s drowned out mostly by the sound of cooking in the kitchenette.

“Whatcha making?” he calls.

“Poorman’s pasta,” Thanatos responds, and Jonny misses catching the citrine. It falls to the couch. He laughs, confused.

“What?” He hops up and approaches Thanatos, who is only in a grey t-shirt and black jeans, from behind, leaning over his shoulder. His height makes it easy. “What the hell is ‘poorman’s pasta’?”

Inside the pot on their induction plate is nothing but fettuccine noodles. There’s no sauce in sight, nor are there a lot of spices; only garlic, salt, and pepper rest on the counter. Thanatos stirs the noodles before turning off the plate and reaching for the strainer.

“It’s noodles with parmesan cheese. That’s it. Cheap and easy.” Thanatos strains the noodles in the sink before dumping them in the pot. He grabs the bottle of finely grated parmesan and aggressively shakes plenty of it into the pot. “Sib and I eat this all the time at home.”

“Like all the time? Do you ever make real food?”

“This is real food, Jonathan. Some days, it’s all we can afford. That or sixty-three pence ramen.” The cheese melts as he talks. “Bowls.”

Jonny grabs two bowls out of the cabinet, little plastic things, and Thanatos pours in the cheesy noodles. He shakes some garlic powder on top. Jonny, despite his words, feels his mouth watering. Thanatos hands him a fork, and Jonny sticks it in for a bite and brings it to his mouth.

“Bone appetit,” Jonny says, butchering the phrase. He chews, and for something so simple, it’s actually quite nice.

Thanatos snorts.

Jonny pauses, swallows, and gestures with his fork. “Did-- Did you just laugh?”

Thanatos looks away, grabbing his own bowl and retreating to the couch. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Also, it’s bon appetít , by the way.”

“What did I say?” Jonny blinks, but he rushes to join his roommate on their sofa. He eats another hearty mouthful of pasta.

“You said appetit, emphasis on the tit.”

Jonny snickers and slaps his leg. “Tit. That’s never not a funny word.”

Thanatos eats much more slowly, eyes on the TV. “I suppose so.”

Jonny hasn’t seen him this relaxed since he got here, but it’s not saying much. He can see the dark circles, the stiffness in his shoulders, the persistent furrow to his brow. But Jonny doesn’t say anything. He just lets the two of them relax and enjoy their dinner together.

Once Thanatos is done, long after Jonny, however, Jonny says something.

“Hey, maybe you should take a shower first tonight. Y’know, get all the gunk off and get a good night’s sleep.” He rests his arm on Thanatos’ shoulder. “Leave the dirty dishes to me, bro.”

Thanatos sighs and brushes his arm away. He stands. “There’s still too much to do.” Jonny stands with him.

“C’mon, it won’t hurt you to take a break! You’ve been at this non-stop all week, especially since Rob got you those files.” He starts pushing Thanatos to the bathroom.

“Jonny--!” Thanatos tries to protest, but Jonny is stronger than he anticipated. They’re at the closed door. “Leave it be! Go do the dishes!”

Jonny grabs the hem of Thanatos’ shirt and pulls up, rolling his eyes. The leverage forces Thanatos’ hands onto the door with a hitch of his breath.

“Jonathan!” Thanatos yells, and Jonny looks back to Thanatos, startled. At first he checks his roommate’s expression, concerned, but then bright red catches his gaze.

His fingers holding up most of Thanatos’ shirt, the other’ back is revealed in full view. All of the humour and delight from before sinks out of his body and into the floorboards. He hears Thanatos’ fingers scratch the wooden door as they curl into fists. Jonny steps back. Thanatos doesn’t move.

“Dude. . . your back!” Jonny gasps in horror. Crawling along Thanatos’ spine from the base upwards are red scars, starting all together like the trunk of a tree before branching out as they move upwards. They almost reach his neck but stop short just before. Against the olive of Thanatos’ skin, they’re hauntingly beautiful.

“I told you--” Thanatos says, low and dangerous. “--to leave it be.”

Jonny bites his lip. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I--”

Thanatos pulls his shirt off the rest of the way, and he folds it carefully. He opens the bathroom door. “That shower sounds like an excellent idea, now.”

As Thanatos is walking inside, Jonny grabs him by his always-bandaged arm. Thanatos flinches. “Wait, Toasty!” Thanatos stops. Jonny swallows. “Please, hold on just a second.”

Hesitantly, Thanatos turns around, but he refuses to look at Jonny. “Make it quick.”

“I really am sorry. Are. . . are you okay? Those scars, they’re the same as the girls, aren’t they?” His hand shifts from the other’s shoulder to Thanatos’ side, where he can see one of the branches begin to wrap around.

Thanatos shudders, but he nods. “They are. I’m fine. Don’t touch them.” Jonny pulls away, but only a little. He looks like he accidentally stepped on a dog’s foot.

“Sorry. . .”

“It’s,” he sighs. “It’s fine. You meant no harm. These scars are old, so it’s not like they hurt, but they’re sensitive.”

It’s awkward, too quiet now, but the way Jonny fidgets only makes it worse. Thanatos takes his wrist and turns his palm upside. He puts his t-shirt in it. Jonny grasps it gently.

“Please, Thanatos, would you tell me what happened? Is this why it’s familiar to you?” He gasps. “Is this why you were so upset last week?”

Thanatos quirks a brow. “Intuitive.” He looks into the bathroom. “But that’s none of your business; can we leave it at that?”

Jonny nods solemnly. “At least tell me if there’s a way to stop it?”

“There is.” He pulls away, and Jonny lets him. “Only a strong necromancer can cast the spell, and just the same, only a strong necromancer can do something about it.”

“Then who did it for you?”

Thanatos doesn’t answer. Jonny rubs his arm. He looks at Thanatos’ shirt and laughs nervously.

“Okay, I’ll, uh, leave you alone then. Sorry. I’m sorry.”

With one last glance over his shoulder, Thanatos offers him a weak approximation of a smile. “Stop apologizing. Go do the dishes and throw that in my hamper.” He steps inside. “And pull up that one movie you were rambling about this morning at breakfast.”

Jonny’s entire body relaxes, and he smiles back. With a hearty salute, he says, “Yes, sir!”

The shower was certainly worth it, Thanatos decides afterwards. He can’t remember the last time he took a shower this long, this peacefully. For once, he didn’t even set a timer. The feeling lasts even as he puts on pajamas and sits next to Jonny on the sofa. Jonny brings him a blanket and some popcorn, not for a moment curbing his wordy enthusiasm about the movie, even as he presses play.

He doesn’t remember when he fell asleep, but he wakes up the next morning in his own bed, covered a little clumsily, to the familiar sound of Jonny snoring. He runs his fingers along his back and shivers; it could’ve been worse, he supposes. Someone was bound to find out, might as well be a guy like Jonny. Maybe he’ll tell Rebecca at some point, too, but for now, this is okay.

Although, once he leaves, it won’t matter anyway. With a sigh, he turns over to face the wall and curl in on himself. The sooner he can get this over with, the better.