Soulmates - chapter 3
Will had not went to his dorm shortly after being left alone in the yard. After lunch, the students had been allowed to go to their dorms and umpack their things, settling in the dorm they would occupy for a whole year. After the boy had calmed down, he managed to get to the kennel. Even with high walls, the school administrators worried about the safety of their students and kept guard dogs that got stuck in the kennel during the day and at night they were released.
Will realized early on that he preferred the company of a dog than the company of a person. They were less complicated. It was not rare to see him in the kennel taking care of the dogs, helping to feed them, or just quiet sitting and looking at them.
They were four black Mastiffs, all beautiful and friendly, but his preferred one was Winston, the smallest one. He was clumsy and very affectionate with Will (only with Will). The boy liked to stroke his head. It was soothing.
Once the boy was alone, he sat on a bench in front of the cages of the dogs and he finally collapsed. Will began to weep bitterly, the shock finally doing its job. The boy was trembling from head to toe.
He could still hear the words that Gary has said: "You will be my bitch.".
What Will had done so wrong after all? He searched his memory for an answer to this question not being able to find any. There was simply no reason why Gary had decided that Will would be his target. He remembered all the fear he felt when Gary threatened him.
"You will be my bitch." This phrase was echoing in his head.
Will had already been humiliated by Gary in all possible ways. Would he have the courage to ...
He didn't know and didn't want to imagine what would have happened if Hannibal had not showed up on time. Will remembered the blond-tall boy. The intimidating tone he used to threaten Gary and the other Orcs. Hannibal had helped him, but at the same time he seemed so ... so ... dangerous.
Will saw a predator in those eyes, equal to or worse than Gary. A Wolf . Will still couldn't understand why he had bothered to help him when he could have stood still and juswatched the show. With a chill in the spine, Will came to the conclusion that Hannibal was plotting something terrible. If the boy took into account the marvelous story he had heard in the cafeteria, he could believe that Hannibal was capable of much worse. Will decided he didn't want to know. He would avoid Hannibal at any cost. That would be difficult since they shared the dorm, but ignore bad things and pretend he was invisible were skills that every nerd develops.
When the boy looked at his watch, it was already late afternoon. He left the kennel and walked to the building where the dorms were finding none of the bullies in the way. He climbed the stairs to his floor, praying that Hannibal was not there. He wanted peace, he wanted to lie down on his bed and forget that this terrible day had happened. He didn't want to have to keep looking over his shoulder all the time. He knew one thing: He didn'd trusted Hannibal.
But such things do not happen the way we want, so when Will had opened the door of the room 270, hewalked into a scene that later he would remember fondly. The blond boy were lying in his respective bed, reclined on pillows. He was reading a book. He wore jeans and a black cotton shirt with a picture of a rock band that Will did not know. There was music playing, or at least, Will believed that noise coming out of the MP3 player o Hannibal's nightstand were music somehow. That was a Count ? That was a European Young Noble ? At most he looked like a punk without a penny. Hannibal Lecter was a walking contradiction.
Apparently, he had already unpacked his bags, because his side of the room was already organized and his personal belongings such as books, CDs and some decorative items had already found theis places on the shelves of the bookcase.
Once the blonde saw Will standing there at the doorway he put the book aside and straightened.
"Hello William. Do you feel better?" Hannibal said with a friendly smile.
Will looked up and nodded. He ran his hand nervously in his dark curls and hissed. He felt butterflies in his stomach when he saw Hannibal there. It was an embarrassing situation.
The boy went to his bed where his bags were still waiting to be undone. Will unfastened the first one and began to empty it.
"Do you need help?" Hannibal asked rising from where he was and taking a step toward the dark haired boy.
That was unintentional. Will had taken a step back reflexively terrified, hitting his legs on his desk when he saw Hannibal move in his direction. He saw that Hannibal had stopped in the middle of the room. He could say that Hannibal was surprised by this reaction. Will himself was surprised by this reaction.
Will looked away and stared at his shoes. His fists were clenched, his whole posture was tense. What Will was waiting for? That Hannibal had decided he wanted to play with the puppy Will ? Will had seen this film so many times he wouldn't be surprised if it were the truth. The boy was forced to look at Hannibal's face. The warm smile he wore had vanished, replaced by a serious expression. The scarlet eyes sparkled and once again, Will saw a predator in his eyes.
"Whatever." Hannibal said seriously and went back to his bed, lying down and leaning back against the pillows before picking up his book and returning to reading.
Will let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and relaxed a little when he noticed Hannibal seemed to be ignoring him, but you can never fully relax when you are in the Wolf's Lair.
The boy went back to unpacking, removing everything from inside the backpacks and putting everything in its proper place. As he did it, he looked at Hannibal with his peripheral vision, realizing intrigued that Hannibal wasn't turning the pages of the book, he only pretended to read. But why?
Once Will finished unpacking everything, he grabbed his pajamas and a towel and went to the bathroom that was right there in the dorm to take a bath. All he wanted was to take a hot bath and sleep until the end of the world. The boy took the bath, leaving plenty of hot water falling on his back, as if the water from the shower was enough to take his fears away. When Will finally came out of the bathroom, Hannibal was not in the room, his book was on the shelf and his MP3 Player was off.
Will breathed heavily and collapsed on his bed.
He saw nothing that night.