FABIAN'S POV

Is it… stalking… to lie awake just to watch a girl sleep peacefully?

Because if it is, then call me a stalker. I just can't take my eyes off of her.

For the last few hours, I've slept mildly, but most of my consciousness has been spent watching KT. She's beautiful, the way she sleeps. Her brown hair flows down her back. Ever since she's started straightening it, it's moved out of her face and accentuated her brown eyes. I'd never noticed how lovely they were before we got together. I miss having her awake, talking to me in that sweet voice. She's so easy, so fun to talk to.

I try to fall asleep and remove my swirling thoughts of KT from my mind. In the process, I realize Cassidy never came to me to tell me her round of guarding was complete. I told her to guard for 15 minutes; it's been much longer than that.

Yes. An excuse to talk to KT.

"KT," I whisper as I nudge her with my elbow. She stirs groggily.

"Cassidy isn't back from guarding. We need to find her."

KT swings her arm at me, groaning, and almost hits me in my nose. "Mrow," she mumbles, which I assume to mean 'no.'

"KT!" I whisper, but slightly louder. "She's missing. Please, get up!" I urge.

Eventually, her foggy mind clears and she comprehends what I'm saying. We lock nervous eyes and dash out of the classroom.

Her hand intertwines with mine. It's moist from sweat. I know she is fearful as to what has happened.

We scamper through the darkened corridors until we hear a faint sound from our rear. Immediately, we turn in the opposite direction, following our only lead. The sound grows louder as we round corners, and I can associate the sound with a simple word - scream.

The screaming grows as we encroach on it's destination. Backstage of the drama studio, Eddie is thrashing uncontrollably on the hard floor, his hands pressed tightly against his forehead. Horrible screams and shouts egress from his mouth.

I turn fearfully to a teary-eyed Cassidy.

"What happened?" I ask.

She gazes at me, frightened. "I don't know! We were… guarding and he just screams and falls onto the floor! Is this an Osirian thing? I-I've never seen this happen!"

As she concludes speaking, Eddie's perpetual screaming stops abruptly. His hands loosen their grip on his forehead. I sigh in relief, all is calm.

Nope, I'm wrong.

After his brisk moment of calmness, something stirs inside him. His body, now sprawled across the floor, begins to fidget and shake, harder and harder. His eyes are open, but he does not show any signs of begin conscious of any of this. What frightens me most is when his mouth starts to foam and he chokes.

"KT!" I yell. "Wake Patricia!" She dashes off in the direction of the French classroom. Cassidy runs to me, burying her face in my shirt. I want to look away the way she is, but I can't just leave him there.

A horrible, blood curdling scream is released from Eddie's mouth. I am taken aback and trip over a chair, Cassidy falling on top of me.
That's it. I can't pretend this isn't happening anymore. I begin to encroach on Eddie, get close to him to see if I can help.

"Eddie?" I say as I kneel next to him. Off in the distance, a terrible voice cackles.

"Who are you?" I demand. "What do you want?"

The cackling grows louder, and I know whatever it is is nearing me.

Eddie is still shaking relentlessly, and my fear is escalating profusely. Now the crazed howling sounds close enough to be next to me. A dark shadow crosses my line of vision; I whisk around to see what it is, but nothing becomes visible. I feel sweat roll down my forehead.

"HAHA!" A nasty voice bellows. Black smoke swirls in front of me. I fortunately hear footsteps from down the hall, and I know KT is finally back with Patricia.

Patricia bounds to the stage. When she sees Eddie, she cries out in terror and lunges toward him so hastily, that KT barely has time to hold her back.

The smoke begins to condense and build up. Suddenly, a face emerges from within the depths of the smoke and I trip over myself in surprise. The face is followed by wispy limbs and eventually forms a whole body.

Kahn's body.

My heart rate slows when I realize she's asleep; her eyelids are shut even though she is standing erect. Though she may not be conscious to hurt us, she is significantly more frightening asleep. Her dark hair droops lazily around her face and her tight red dress is wrinkled and frayed. Even her eyes have dark circles around them. No, wait, not dark circles.

She has the Eye of Horus around her eyes.

"Guys," I begin to say until the others run into the room.

"Fabian, what's going on?" Jerome asks nervously as he clutches Joy. "We heard screaming." His gaze shifts to Eddie, and I see his eyes widen. Patricia is sobbing in a chair, and KT is attempting to comfort her. Eddie still hasn't awoken from his unconscious thrashing.

Joy screams. Her voice carries enough that Kahn's branded eyes shoot open.

"OSIRIAN!" she hisses. She extends bony, nimble fingers towards Eddie. They're curved and close together, and I realize what she is doing. She is about to strangle Eddie.

"NO!" I yell and lunge at her. My body lands atop hers and I yell, "Get him out of here!" to KT. She nods her assent and rushes to drag a limp Eddie off the stage with Patricia at her side. I am still on top of Madame, fighting to keep her down. She thrashes and hisses, and all at once, scrapes my cheek.

"Gah!" I exclaim in pain. I am forced to loosen my grip on her right shoulder and use that hand to cup my bloody cheek. "Everyone, leave! Get out of here!"

"No!" A small voice shrieks from behind to crowd of Sibunas. It's Liam. "I-we're not leaving you like this!"

I'm astounded at Liam's bravery and outspokenness. But the shock lasts for only a minute, for I have to focus on keeping Madame down to ensure everyone's safe departure. In my attempt to send everyone on their way, Liam defies my request and rushes to the stage to help pin Madame.

"Don't-hurt-my-FRIENDS!" he yells, punching Madame angrily. He tackles her, and I stand up abruptly, watching blood stream from Madame's now bruised mouth. I had no idea Liam had this side to him.

Apparently, that wasn't all I didn't know about him. With his strength exerting and anger boiling, his eyes glow with fearsomeness. I mean literally glow. They begin to light up a dull yellow, then a shimmering gold.

Cassidy is standing by me, watching in horror, her hands cupped over her mouth. She gazes in terror at Liam's display of strength. I glance at my friends, and sure enough, they're just as shocked.

I, too, begin to grow dumbfounded by Liam. With one last surge of strength, Liam raises a glowing fist into the air, and plunges straight into Madame's chest.

I am bewildered. Blood spouts out of Madame's mouth, and Cassidy, Joy, and Amber scream. I thrust an arm in front of Cassidy protectively, and Jerome pulls Joy close to him. Beck does the same to Amber as I did to Cassidy. Willow and Alfie hold hands and pant. Even Callan pushes Mara out of the way. But throughout it all, none of us make a sound; we're all bewildered by Liam's unexpected display of strength.

Liam turns to face us. His knuckles are covered in blood, and I can't tell if it's Madame's or his own. In the corner of my eye, I see a bloody Kahn gasping for air. The Eye of Horus I noticed are now running down her cheeks in a grey and black puddle.

"I-I…" Liam's frightful voice fades. He sobs and dashes out of the room.

KT, I think. I leave everyone slack jawed and exit the drama studio. KT is just outside, her gaze following Liam, who's running in the opposite direction. I am tempted to follow him, but I need to make sure Eddie and Patricia are alright.

"Has he stopped shaking?" I ask in a low whisper so Patricia cannot hear.

"He just did. Actually, I heard some loud bellow from inside, which, now seeing him run that way, I can only guess came from Liam. But as soon as he shouted, Eddie just stopped squirming," KT says.

"That's… that's because the scream you heard was him shouting as he punched Madame and knocked her unconscious…" I explain.

"So… Madame was making him act like that?"

"What else would've?"

A strangled gasp emits from in front of me. Eddie shoots upright, coughing and choking. He wraps his arms around Patricia and whispers something inaudible into her ear. She nods, then kisses him passionately.

"Liam!" I exclaim as I remember the events a few minutes prior. I kiss KT on the cheek and dash in the direction Liam ran off into.

"Liam!" I call amidst the dark corridors. "Liam!" I feel like giving up, assume he's left, until I hear faint weeping down another corridor.

Liam is sitting with his knees pulled to his chest, sobbing into his arms.

"L-liam?" I inquire hesitantly. "Is something wrong?"

"Get away from me!" he snaps. "I don't want to hurt you!"

I am conflicted in this moment. I do not know if I should comfort him or run away. After all, I've seen what he can do to a god, imagine what he could do to me.

I shudder.

Even with a pounding chest, I kneel down beside him. "Hey," I whisper. "What's wrong?"

He gazes at me with glassy eyes. In this instant, he looks like a baby seal crying for its mother. He is vulnerable, weak. And I want to know why. My inquisitive senses are kicking into gear.

"I-I don't want to talk about it. You'll hate me… you'll think I'm- you'll think I'm a monster."

"But I don't think that," I say. "I think what you did back there was so brave. It was astounding."

"No. It's exactly how I got kicked out of my last three schools."

Well that was unexpected.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

Liam breathes deeply, each exhale expelling with a rough shakiness to it. "Fine. Here