How to Make a Sinner Sleep - Chapter 73: Chapter 73

Kaden sighed, sitting on the stage to the theater. It was a small hall located in a separate building, decadent and luxurious with an ancient history built into its sturdy walls. Night had already fallen as he waited in the dark space, ceilings curved high above his head.
The heavy double doors creaked as somebody pushed them wide, stepping inside while the faint light from outside brushed the floor.
"Chauvet."
Noah raised a candle, looking to see if anybody else had arrived. He approached Kaden, stepping past the rows of seats, gaze fixated on the man on the stage.
Kaden smiled, tilting his head. "I forgot to bring a candle, so isn't it a blessing that you're the first to arrive, dearest Bellamy?"
"We could've walked over together."
"It's safer we didn't."
Niklas, the morning after Arlo's visit, finished explaining his secret mission for the Misfits of Obscurity. There was an underground meeting set to occur the following evening, when the towns and people had long gone to sleep.
The meeting this time was unique, a dress code was required. Absurdity meets more absurdity, Niklas had claimed, informing the necessity of a costume.
A character must be played in the grand circus.
Therefore, they agreed to meet in the theater and change into outfits of Nicola's choosing. She was, after all, involved in many events within the Academy. It wouldn't be odd to see her wandering, even if it was this late at night.
The door opened again, and Niklas slipped through. Nicola followed behind with a gentle smile. "You're all here."
"It's tragic, Nicola, that he's coerced to join his strange group." said Kaden, jumping down from the stage.
Niklas protested, "If it's strange and you're part of it, what does that make you?"
"A sweetheart." replied the other blandly. "For keeping you company despite your strangeness."
"Nonsense. I have Noah."
Kaden raised his brows, tilting his head back to meet the dragon's gaze. "Would he have you, Bellamy?"
Noah stared back calmly, noticing the insistence in Kaden's eyes. "He wouldn't."
"Hey now, you forced him to say that!"
"I did no such thing."
"You literally interlocked eyes and shared some sort of mind-reading moment, did you not? I witnessed it! The Pres did too, mind you."
Nicola laughed into her hands softly, helpless. "I apologize, Kaden, but I admittedly did see some of the supposed 'interlocking eyes' moment."
Kaden decided to change the topic. With Nicola on his silly friend's side, the chances of winning the argument became increasingly slim. "Do you have our outfits prepped, Nicola? Please tell me you have a clown's attire for him."
"I do have a clown's outfit." She turned, rummaging through a large trunk that was settled against the stage. Her fingers wrapped around a delicate fabric, black and white clothes, as she smiled apologetically. "However, this was meant for you, Kaden."
"...Nicola, have I done something to turn you against me?"
"You haven't. Please try it on."
"Are you certain?"
"Undoubtedly."
Reluctantly, Kaden accepted the outfit while he heard an annoying snicker of laughter behind him.
Thankfully, it was fairly plain for a clown's attire, likely thanks to her understanding. One half white, the other black, with deep red buttons and red streaking the sleeves like long claw marks.
Nicola seemed satisfied by the fit, handing him his skeleton mask that had gone through a few altercations. There was burgundy powder dusted along the edge, and a mixture of black and red by the eye slits.
Once he fastened it on, she leaned in and painted a stroke of red in upward lines, drawing a ridiculous red smile on his lips.
Kaden gazed at her through his mask. "You appear to be enjoying yourself, Nicola."
"Costume is one of my many passions, and you happen to be a wonderful model, Kaden." explained the woman gently, although there was some teasing in her voice. "It suits you."
"Now I wonder, is that an insult or a compliment?"
"It's whatever would please you."
"Sly." he remarked.
Mirth curved her gentle eyes. "That would be you, Mr. Fox."
Kaden lamented on how both the student president and his dragon were being horribly influenced by Niklas, earning a light laugh from the former. One after the other, they changed into their assigned costumes.
Niklas, dressed in draping dark robes that were lined with a sequence of stars, and a light dusting of sparkles that made him shimmer, was a fortune teller.
Noah, in slim pants and a white blouse with billowed sleeves that pinched at the wrists, had his hair combed into a small ponytail and a book tucked under his arm. A poet, Kaden knew immediately.
The three turned to the stage where Nicola had disappeared to, changing into her own costume behind the security of the curtains.
Clang— Clang—
There was the sound of heavy metal, and then the thudding steps of somebody moving forward. Due to the theater space, the sound echoed around them, bouncing from wall to wall.
The woman had her hair mused and tied high into a messy ponytail, decked in heavy silver armour, a gleaming metal sword hanging at her belt. The skull mask resting on her head had long horns that curved behind her.
She adjusted the armour so that it clattered less; the sound became increasingly faint.
Niklas gave a slow, enthusiastic applause. "Welcome to the Misfits, Ms. Ram."
Nicola smiled, a mere costume unable to mask her gentleness. "Ms. Ram hardly sounds as powerful as our lovely Fox and Wolf."
"Mr. Bunny would love to exchange masks with you, I'm certain." noted Kaden, nodding to Niklas, who moved his hands, as if eager to tear off his mask in exchange.
"Ah, unfortunately, I'm afraid I'm not as suited for that mask."
"Now, is that a compliment or not?"
"Which would you prefer?"
"A compliment to myself, and an insult to Niklas. Always."
"That can be arranged."
They shared a smile while a certain voice complained behind them, though Niklas too couldn't help the curve of his lips. Splitting into pairs, Kaden set off through the Academy with Noah.
The patrols had grown more serious, senior students and professors roaming the gardens and path walks for retreating students. It was safer to leave through the Academy, rather than around.
The clown and poet crept quietly through the dark hallways, peeking around a corner. One door was cracked a sliver—Raymond's office.
"Should we go around?" whispered Kaden, before shaking his head. "That'd eat away time. We need to make haste."
"We'll pass them," agreed Noah.
As their light steps passed the door, a murmur of words slipped by Kaden's ear.
"...Creatures of Distortion."
He halted, shadow obscured by the dark. Through the slits of his bone mask, a pair of startling green eyes spun to the open door.
"Will the past repeat itself, Alex? Is there no salvation for the Blessed?"
Alexander was quiet, as he always was, but a deathly hollow made his voice empty, sorrowful. "I do not know. Our old friend's journal is missing. In the wrong hands, anything is possible."
Raymond jerked, a pen clattering onto the table. "That journal? I thought they buried it, burned it." Something slumped into the chair, scraping against the ground. "It was a shame that he was so desperate, that he forced a tragedy only to meet with tragedy."
"Do not pity the dead, nor the fools, Ray. Once a man had dug their grave, they have chosen to lie in it as well. If they aren't prepared to do so, then they cannot call traitor when somebody pushes them into it."
"Can you be so cruel? Knowing that once we walked alongside him?"
"This is reality. Don't be foolish, Ray. For your brilliant mind, stupidity doesn't suit you. You know why I say as I do."
A heavy, regretful sigh escaped Raymond's mouth. The candlelight in their room flickered dimly, their murmured conversation elusive to those outside.
It was meant for the ears of only two.
"You're right, Alex. You always are."
Alexander was quiet, walking over to the desk as he leaned against the polished wood, gaze gentler. "I'm sorry, Ray." He flicked one of the thick curls in his friend's hair, a grey streak running through them. "We're getting old. We cannot be as reckless as we once were."
"Another one?" Raymond excitedly clutched his head, as if he could pull out the grey hair and examine it. "There's nothing terrible about aging."
"And I didn't mean to imply otherwise."
"Precisely, old friend, I knew you would understand! The beauty of aging, it's your body that transforms, a manifestation of the time you've lived, and—"
In the midst of Raymond's enthusiastic ramblings, the previous topic long abandoned in his distraction, the faintest creak came from outside.
Alexander's head lightly turned to the door, prompting his friend to pause.
"Alex? What're you looking at? Perhaps an animal, a shadow, ah, a ghost is entirely possible too, considering the Academy's history? Or was it a student... oh, a student! We must chase after them—"
"An animal." interrupted the professor, steely grey gaze fixated on the ajar door. "It was merely an animal. There'll be no chasing."
He lifted himself off the table, striding to the open door as he pulled it wider slightly. Silence drowned the hallways, abandoned of any life as shadows filled every corner. He turned his head, staring off into the darkness before turning, closing the door entirely.
In the hallway, a dragon pressed against a certain sinner, his leg wedged between the other's, flattened against the wall.
His eyes adjusted to the dark quickly, already having a good vision at night, pupils contracting. The moment Alexander had turned his head, Noah had seen it, standing closest to the sliver of space.
They'd dashed off to the corner—for once, Noah was thankful that Kaden's steps were so light, and his were comparably so if he tried.
But Alexander was a crafty mind, behind his quiet and firm exterior. It was one thing to be caught by Raymond, who would lecture and then get distracted by his own mind. Alexander, Noah didn't know what sort of man he was.
"He closed the door." muttered Noah by Kaden's ear, certain that a red flush had likely crept around the rounded lobes. "I apologize, Chauvet."
Kaden, now used to having the dragon's body by his, shamelessly wondered, "Apologizing, Bellamy? When you claim the little space on my bed every night?"
"I'm not apologetic for that."
"What if I'm deeply distraught about it?"
Noah took a step back, his boots making a slight sound when he wasn't trying to prevent it. He cocked his head, peering through the bone mask. "Are you?"
"I'm suggesting a possibility."
"I'm asking you to affirm whether it's a certainty or not."
"I'll think about it, dearest doggy." smiled Kaden, hearing the touch of annoyance in Noah's voice. "I'd almost forgotten—we aren't ourselves, tonight."
Noah shook his head in exasperation, turning his body slightly while waiting for Kaden to walk to his side. Dressed in a loose shirt and fitted pants, he seemed like a leisurely noble, ready to read a book in his garden. "Let's go then, Fox."
Kaden stared at him, his eyes also adjusting slightly. His lips tilted slightly, amusement dancing in the greens of his gaze. "Do you know what you look like, Mr. Doggy?"
"I'm supposing you're about to tell me."
"I am. You look like a playboy. A flirt. Somebody who would look at women, and men, I presume, and win their hearts with a cold glance."
"...if I could win a heart with a glance, I wouldn't stop looking."
"Looking at what?" Kaden paused, his lips parting slightly as he suddenly walked past the dragon, once again mourning the olden days, when Noah was so easy to tease. "Don't answer that."
The dragon raised his eyebrows as he trailed behind calmly, shoulders pulled back. "Why not? What do you think I'm looking at, sly fox?"
"I wouldn't know." came the reply, a beat too fast.
"Want to know?"
"Definitely not. I respect your privacy."
"Don't." Noah caught up as they left the premise, successfully retreating to the edge of the Academy's walls, where the patrols had already passed. "If it's you, continue to invade my privacy as you please."
"Do you hear yourself, little doggy? You're going to stroke my ego."
"It's something you lack. There's no harm in that."
Kaden tilted his head, wedging his foot in a small space in the wall. It was perfect to climb for somebody skilled enough. Arms straining, he pulled himself up, probing the wall for another ledge to hold on to.
It was a tall wall, taller than the ones that circled around the front gates of the Academy. That was likely the reason for more lax patrols.
He worked his way quickly up the wall, Noah following more slowly behind. Kaden crouched at the top, holding out an open hand.
"Care for some help, oh darling dragon?"
Noah looked at the waiting palm, and then at the slight smugness of a certain fool. Then, without hesitation, he reached out and grabbed it. Kaden secured his foot among the jagged spikes that ran along the top, pulling Noah up.
They both heaved, some tiredness washing over them. Crawling a wall that wasn't made to climb was no simple feat.
"You're surprisingly—huff, I thought you'd find it easy."
Noah rubbed his sore arm, shaking his head. "I don't doubt my strength, but knowing how to climb a wall and not knowing makes a difference."
Kaden found that logic made sense, and so he remained silent without disagreeing. Once they'd regained their breath, they carefully weaved their bodies around the jagged spikes along the wall, polished to sharpness.
It was more secure than the last night he scaled the wall—what were they trying to protect the Academy from? Or perhaps, what were they trying to keep inside?
Kaden frowned, reaching into his pockets to feel a cold metal gliding between his fingers. The gold coin provided a sense of relief that he hadn't needed in a while, but the coldness soothed his discomfort.
It was like a lucky coin, as if making a wish would make it come true. But still, he couldn't remember who gave it to him.
After managing to crawl back down the wall, leaping off for the last surface area, they waited for the other pair to arrive. Expectedly, it took an extra half hour of time for Niklas to slide down the wall, wriggling down.
They'd left earlier, predicting this.
Even Nicola had gracefully climbed down with extreme skill, despite the metal she wore, managing to make minimal noise.
Kaden crossed his arms as Niklas tumbled into the dirt beside him. The former glanced down sideways.
"Success!" grinned the man, blue eyes twinkling.
"This is a success?"
"Absolutely. No broken bones, right?"
Kaden considered it, thinking of Niklas' fitness ability. "You're right."
Briefly, as the four waited for the carriage requested by the Night Carriage services, Kaden gave an elusive inquiry of the professors' conversation they encountered. Niklas knew nothing, whether it was a beast or a creature, or if it were a phenomenon.
Nicola hesitated. "Allow me to think over it, Kaden, and I may have an answer for you. I must reorganize my thoughts first."
"Of course. If it's something you can't say, then there's no need to say it."
Niklas too had suggested, "I'll ask one of my friends to look into it? I have friends with the Fae, the Elves, all sorts of species that would likely know more than what we can know alone."
"Befriending all species, Sir Bunny? Are you starting a revolution?" ,
Niklas grinned. "Naturally, Mr. Fox. A revolution of all those beautiful, beauties in all shapes, sizes, species." He nudged Kaden's arm slyly, and the other shrugged him away. "Care to join? You can take the role of a cynical beauty."
"I'm a devoted man, Bunny."
"To whom, I ask while knowing." Niklas winked—or offered another one of his eye spasms—to Noah.
Noah stared quietly. He seemed to be debating whether he wanted to jump back over the walls again, or feel pleased by Niklas' implication. Before he could decide, a soundless carriage rolled up behind them.
It waited silently, the old carriage carrying an air of mystery. The driver's face was entirely obscured, even with Kaden's adjusted vision.
They made no greeting as the four filled the space inside. The long crack of a whip snapped against the air, and two pitch black horses kicked their hooves at the sound, racing into the night.