Eleanor was beyond confused, thoughts tumbling over their own feet as she watched Thalia hum happily as she unpacked her suitcase. To a stranger, she would have seemed completely at ease, hair bouncing on her shoulders as she danced along to the quiet melody leaving her lips. But Eleanor knew better than that, years of knowing the girl allowing her to look past the facade and see the little things. Like how her voice slightly wavered as she hummed, or how her eyes never landed on one thing for too long. How her hands shook so violently that she often resorted to stuffing them into the back pocket of her jeans. Thalia wasn't wearing school uniform. And then there was what Flynn had said, which was beyond strange. And the way she had reacted. The way Flynn had reacted. Thalia had dragged Eleanor out from behind the frozen form of Flynn before either of them could protest, running off down the corridor just as his shouts had begun to rise in volume.

He had had to stop chasing them upon their entry of the corridor that contained the girls' dormitories. Thalia had dragged Eleanor all the way there. Her arm was still a bit sore.

Thalia Blake was one of the only students in the academy that didn't give a damn about financial status. She had been orphaned at the age of thirteen and taken into the foster care of a couple who owned an incredibly successful lawyer firm. Coming to the school only a year after her transaction, she had still held the core belief that looking down on others because of a lack of money was wrong. She had never told Eleanor of her first family. Or what happened to them. She was Eleanor's first real friend.

Before she freaking disappeared with no warning whatsoever.

Sarah, the cat, was looking most disturbed by the intrusion of another person in her territory, sitting on Eleanor's desk staring at the bed almost incredulously. She was watching Thalia's every move, observing in pure horror as the suitcase was emptied onto her spot of the duvet. The disgusted look on the animal's face brought a smile to Eleanor's lips, momentarily bringing her out of her previous state of confusion.

She reached out to scratch the cat behind her fluffy little ears, smiling a little when Sarah rubbed her head against her hand, purring. That cat loved attention as much as all the other kids at this school.

Eleanor turned her attention back to Thalia, eyebrows furrowing in concern as she watched her friend's cool demeanour melt into a quivering mess, whole form shaking as she pulled a notebook from one of the pockets of her suitcase. Eleanor could have sworn that Thalia's breathing was getting louder. Faster. Trembling. Whole body trembling.

Eleanor made a move to go towards her, taking cautious steps. It didn't matter that she had abruptly disappeared. Nor that she had reappeared just as suddenly. Because this was her friend. The girl who had listened to the songs she had written for Brendan and encouraged her to show them to him. The girl who had held her in her arms as she cried from all the glares and hatred she had been receiving in the corridors. The girl who had taken her out for a muffin when some of the other girls had stolen her book of song lyrics and made her watch as they giggled and laughed, reading them out in a mocking voice. Years of friendship wouldn't waver after one mistake. Besides, she had to have a good reason for leaving, right?

Thalia dropped the book.

Eleanor immediately ran around to pick it up for her, worry for her friend heightening as she saw a lone tear make its way down the deep chocolate of her skin. Her hands were shaking beyond comprehension now and she was sucking her bottom lip between her two front teeth. Her lip was trembling in its vice-like captivity. Eleanor kept her eyes fixed on hers as she gently placed the book onto the bed. "Are you okay, Thalia?"

Thalia's eyes suddenly welled up with tears, the liquid shining in the dim light of the room as it pooled in the space between her eyelids. Her shaking hands transformed into quivering fists as her posture suddenly became rigid. Her lip was released from captivity. "I...I can't do this." She deflated like a balloon that had suffered the touch of a sharp needle, sobs escaping her parted lips as an incredibly confused Eleanor bundled the smaller girl up in her arms.

This only made Thalia cry harder, figure now heaving with her own emotion as she buried herself further into Eleanor's chest. Eleanor used one of her hands to gently rub her back, not really having any idea what was going on but feeling the need to comfort her friend nonetheless. She rested her head on top of Thalia's, whispering, "it'll be okay," every once in a while in hopes of consoling her clearly distraught friend.

"No...no, no it won't."

Eleanor shook her head as it rested on top of Thalia's, continuing to rub soothing circles on her back as her friend continued to shake in her arms. If Eleanor hadn't been so concerned for her friend, she would have had the audacity to call the situation alarming. But she was too caught up in her worry for Thalia to care about that right now. In fact, it physically pained her to see the girl cry. She had only seen her shed tears once before. And that was when her foster mother had hit her for the first time. Eleanor hadn't even known how to handle that let alone this: when she had no idea what the source of the problem was. She never had been good with tears that weren't her own.

"N...no, Eleanor. You don't understand. I...I...you're going to die."

Eleanor froze.

Every muscle in her body was tense, pulled tight by invisible puppet strings that forced her to play their game. She felt her whole body suddenly become immobile, mind momentarily stopping in its turning as it met a speedbump in the road ahead. An error in the code it was processing. It wasn't something that it knew how to process, not having a programmed reaction as to how to proceed after the news this new information. 

"W...what?" Her tone wasn't one of shock, for it was information that she already knew. The word was spoken softly, more of a stalling process as she waited for the rusty wheels of her brain to continue in their turning.

Thalia pulled out of her arms at something akin to lightning speed, eyes wide and outwardly horrified as her mouth opened in what looked like astonishment. Her hands then came up to her mouth, shaking far more violently now with her eyes wider than ever and filled to the brim with tears. She had begun to slowly shake her head, breath hastily quickening once more as she began to shake her head more vigorously. 

Eleanor could do nothing but stand and watch with the utmost concern as Thalia backed herself up against the wall. "No. No, no, no, no. No," Thalia kept chanting under her breath like some kind of sacred mantra, hands coming up to the fuzz that was her hair and netting themselves inside the unruly locks.

Not knowing what else to do, Eleanor stepped forwards towards her friend, alarmed when she seemed too caught up in her hysterics to notice her approaching figure. Reaching out slowly so as not to frighten her further, Eleanor softly placed her hands on Thalia's shoulders.

Thalia jumped.

But her eyes met Eleanor's.

Eleanor smiled, directly meeting her roommate's gaze. "It's okay." Her voice hadn't wavered, soft and soothing as she watched Thalia begin to frantically shake her head once more. "I know. I know I'm going to die, Thalia. You don't need to worry about me." And it was the complete truth. She didn't want people fretting about her death. For it was pointless. If it was going to happen, it was going to happen and she didn't want the people she loved wasting their time trying to stop it. If she could continue to ignore her numbered days, so could they. She didn't want pitiful glances and false love to be her last days of breathing. Which is why she had kept her mouth shut about the whole thing. But...somehow...somehow Thalia knew. How was that possible?

Thalia was still staring at her, wide-eyed and fearful. She was shaking in Eleanor's arms. "B...but how is that possible? I...I...did he find you? I...Eleanor, please don't tell me he found you. He...he can't have. He...he promised me. He...he promised not to..." Her voice was barely a whisper, so quiet that Eleanor had to strain her ears to hear it. And she tried not to show the level of alarm that the words caused her. The way she spoke...the level of fear. It was almost as if...almost as if she had been threatened. But why would anyone threaten Thalia? Did this have something to do with her mysterious death caller? It had to be, didn't it? But...wouldn't that mean...what if he was this he she spoke of? Didn't that...didn't that make him really dangerous? Because it took a lot to frighten Thalia Blake. 

He hadn't seemed dangerous. 

But perhaps that's what made him all the more dangerous. 

Deciding that it was best to question Thalia when she was in a better state of mind, she switched off the bedroom light, engulfing both the girls in darkness. Apart from the sliver of light provided by the moon through the gap in the curtains. She smiled, although she doubted Thalia could see her. "Let's go to bed, shall we? I don't know about you, but I'm incredibly tired. We'll talk about this in the morning, I promise."

"But you're o...okay?"

"I'm fine, Thalia. I'm not going to die without your presence."

She didn't laugh.

"I promise, I'm fine. Should we go to bed now?"