WARNING: mentions of suicide and abuse

. . . ⇢ ˗ˏˋ [ EUNOIA ] ࿐ྂ
chapter four.

previously:

"this just seems a little weird if you ask me. what if it wasn't even meant for you?"

"well it won't hurt to see." margot shrugged as the bus stopped at the entrance to nevermore.

"just meet me on the quad at 7:30. don't be late." she said, pointing at xavier. he nodded, saluting.

_________

CHECKING the time, margot sighed impatiently. it was 7:35 and xavier still hadn't shown up. if he didn't arrive in the next five minutes, she would leave without him. at least 10 minutes had passed, so margot started making her way down the stairs.

she heard footsteps run up behind her. turning, she was met with an out of breath xavier, covered in paint. he bent over, catching his breath. "sorry- time got away from me."

"i can see that. anyways, it doesn't matter. come on, we need to go." she said, walking to the front door. she turned the handle, pulling the door open slowly, it creaking louder. margot winced, opening it all the way.

after successfully closing the door with little noise, the two were off towards crackstone's crypt. they arrived just at 8pm. margot looked over at xavier, "here, if i need anything, i'll be able to contact you with this." she handed him a walkie-talkie.

"wait- i'm going in with you." xavier protested.

"you can't. you have to stay out here and make sure no one shows up." she told him.

he drew out a long sigh, not liking the plan, but knew that someone should keep watch, seeing as they were technically trespassing. "fine, but be careful."

margot nodded, "i will. i promise." she smiled assuringly, before opening the entrance to the crypt. the door slammed shut behind her, making the room turn pitch black. at once, an array of candles were lit, but no one appeared to be with her.

"hello..?" margot slowly stepped forward, taking in all of her surroundings. she ran her hand along the walls, noticing the writing on it. it seemed to be latin or something, a language that she had never had the interest in learning.

"glad you could make it." a voice came out of nowhere, startling the girl. she turned around quickly, seeing a boy standing in the corner. margot squinted, having a hard time seeing because of the dim candlelight.

the boy emerged from the dark corner, walking closer to her. "already forgot about me, margot?"

as he came into her line of vision, she realized who he was, "rowan? what are you doing here?"

the girl drew her hands her side, clenching them into fists. the pair had previously ended on a bad note, seeing as the last time they had been in each other's presence, rowan was minutes away from suffocating the girl to death.

he had thought of the girl as a threat, for when she had first came to nevermore, rowan was no longer the most intelligent or the one people talked about—even if it was just people making fun of him.

"just wanted to catch up, you know? for old times sake." the boy smiled heinously, running his fingers along the coffin lying in the middle of the room.

margot eyed him, "don't give me that. were you the one who gave me that note?"

rowan turned around, as if he was looking for other people, "obviously! do you see anyone else in here?"

"whatever. what kind of 'answers' can you give me?" she asked, keeping her distance. her hand was on the walkie in case she needed to alert xavier.

"i will, but first, i need something from you." he told her.

margot raises her eyebrow, "what could you possibly want from me?"

"get my name cleared. you're the one who got me expelled from nevermore academy in the first place." he crossed his arms over his chest.

"you almost killed me! i am not getting you back into nevermore." she spat.

"well, i tried. it was nice seeing you again, margot. say hi to tyler for me next time he goes into hyde mode." rowan started walking towards the door to the crypt.

"wait!" she sighed, "i'll see what i can do.. just tell me what you know."

rowan smiled, turning around towards the girl, "tyler doesn't have a master, which means he doesn't have control of the hyde. anything that makes him even slightly scared or stressed will unleash it."

margot immediately remembered back to when she made tyler get into the storage chest, remembering how uncomfortable he looked getting inside.

"his mother used to attend nevermore academy you know. her name was francoise. she didn't have a master either, so without being able to control her hyde, she went insane, and eventually committed suicide."

"how do you know all of this?" she asked the boy.

rowan ignored her question, raising his eyebrow, "i have a feeling that tyler wants you as his master."

margot was floored, "you do know that he tried to kill me don't you? why would he want me as his master."

"maybe he's developed an emotional attachment to you. have you given him any reason to?" he asked, genuinely interested.

"i just helped him with his injuries after finding him alone in the woods. i thought he got beat up." she said, not seeing any harm in what she had done.

"you probably made him feel safe, which isn't something he feels quite often seeing how his home life is." he explained.

"what do you mean?" margot furrowed her brows in confusion.

"oh you haven't heard? his dad pretty much blames him for his mom killing herself, seeing as her hyde came out after tyler was born. he's almost always seen with random bruises and cuts, but no one ever mentions it because his dad is the sheriff."

her eyes widened, chills covering her body. she wondered if sherif galpin's words, "i am doing something about it," had a more darker meaning to them than she had recently thought.

"i-i have to go." margot backed away towards the door in a hurry.

before rowan could even attempt to stop her, she had already sprinted out of the crypt. she ran straight into xavier, who grabbed onto her arms, stabilizing her.

"whoa, mars. what went on in there?" his face was full of concern as he looked between her and the crypt door.

"i think tyler is in danger. we need to go." she rushed.

"hold on, you're planning on helping this guy?" anger flashed in his eyes ever so slightly.

"look, i don't have time to explain. i just know that his dad may be planning to do something to hurt him." she started walking off, leaving him behind.

"margot, wait! what are you expecting to even do? do you even know where he lives?" xavier caught up with her. she didn't want to admit it, but he was being the rational one at the moment.

she took a deep breath, "no i don't know where he lives..." she paused, thinking, "but i know someone who does." she ran back into the crypt, spotting rowan, who was now sitting on the floor, tapping his fingers on his knees, absentmindedly.

"yeah, thought you'd be back." he grinned.

"margot, why did you-" xavier ran in, anger waving over him upon seeing the boy with glasses. "i swear if you-" he pointed at the boy, walking up towards him.

"yeah, yeah. i didn't do anything to her. i just answered her questions." rowan grabbed xavier's finger, turning it away from his face.

"you need show me where tyler lives." margot demanded.

scoffing, "why would i do that?" rowan asked.

"do you want back into nevermore or not?" she crossed her arms over her chest.

the boy straightened, "fine, but you can't tell anyone i helped you. it would ruin my creditably."