How to Make a Sinner Sleep - Chapter 9: Chapter 9

"There are many different species that exist in our reality. Ones that we've heard and seen, and those that scurry under our radar, known by few."
The professor spoke calmly, fascination and deep knowledge buried within his words. Professor Alexander was a man who'd once been an adventurer, exploring the continent in search of different variants of life.
He'd retired once he reached his prime, too old to go trudging through mossy swamps, or scaling dangerous cliffs.
"Of course, you are all aware of the most common species. Humans, Elves, Dragons, Dwarves and Fairies. Well-known because their ability or their cruelty puts them in a position higher than others."
Chalk screeched against the blackboard as he wrote the words, circling 'dragons'.
"The rarest, but most powerful in terms of ability, are the dragons. However, few are blessed with that blood. We have a few students in the Academy, who you may or may not have met. Here, we gather diversity and share teachings for all species."
Nicola peered at Kaden's notes with bright eyes, praise flickering over her stare. She leaned in to whisper, "Please show me these later."
"...student president, what're you doing in this class?"
"I'm relaxing." she answered simply with a smile. "You can't expect me to be working and studying all the time, right? Regardless, I'd always been curious in this class but never quite applied for it, so here I am."
There was a tap on Kaden's back, and he glanced over cautiously, moving away from the touch. An amused gaze stared back at him in the form of lazy crimson eyes.
"May I also take a look at your notes, dear classmate?"
Danger echoed in Kaden's mind as he narrowed his eyes at the careless curve of a smile. He moved back an inch more, his actions not going escaped by the man behind him.
"Are you perhaps, scared of me?" wondered the other curiously, widening his smile. "I wonder why? Have I done something to offend you?"
Nicola's eyes flickered over to Kaden worriedly—the other looked as if he'd seen something terribly wrong. And even she felt goosebumps line her arms under the watchful red gaze.
Kaden could tell immediately, having played the role of a heartless maniac for so long. Half of him had already gone mad, twisting his personality into whatever it currently was, and that was how he could be absolutely certain.
Because crazy could see crazy.
And this man before him was the real deal. A true, venomous creature, waiting patiently with laughter on his lips to wrap around his target.
Kaden's laugh came out forced, as he raised his chin. "And with what right are you asking to use my notes?"
"Well, my classmate rights, I suppose."
"I refuse."
Kaden almost flinched, feeling as if the atmosphere had constricted, making his lungs choke and body tremble under the weight of it all.
"Do you?"
Then a blink, and suddenly the pressure vanished as if it was never there and the other waved his hand, resting his chin between open palms. "I guess there's nothing I can do about it then. What a shame."
Suddenly, Nicola gasped. "Aren't you... I apologize for my rudeness, your highness." She slowly begun to lower her head, and Kaden frowned, displeased.
Her sudden formality made him quickly realize who this person was—likely a member of royalty from a neighboring kingdom.
Nevertheless, Kaden remained calm in his seat smiling vaguely. "The Academy doesn't judge based off class or race, remember, student president? The only exception would be if some disobeying student were to enforce that rule..."
The other shook his head, raising it in mock surrender. "I wouldn't dare go against the rules of this school. I've never been one for formalities, regardless. My name is Lux, and I'll keep my country a temporary secret."
Nicola nodded with understanding and gave him a gentle smile. "I am Nicola. Nicola Akasha."
"Wonderful to meet you," He bent forward and lifted her hand to press a kiss onto the top. Then, he slowly turned to Kaden. "And you?"
"Kaden." answered the man curtly, still cautious.
"Ah, the darling royalty, is it?"
Although the previous demure had disappeared like a passing dream, almost as if he'd imagined it—Kaden definitely recognized the sly glint in those eyes.
A vision that had seen and indulged in countless cruelties.
Kaden turned away to focus on the board again, ignoring the gaze that bore into his back without rest. Thankfully, the lesson coupled with Alexander's story-telling way of explaining easily distracted him from his earlier unease.
"I believe there is an exploration for the first year students sometime in the upcoming weeks." said the Professor. "The Eastern Forests contain some of the most wonderfully unique creatures, who prefer keeping to themselves and shy away from humans."
He fell silent for a moment in contemplation before shaking his head. "That isn't to say there are no dangers, but encountering a violent species is unlikely."
Drawing a long line across the board, he labeled one end red, and the other blue. "We, of the speaking races, or at least, we who communicate in the similar tongue, have formed a method of ranking species."
A swipe of the chalk, and he sectioned off the line into several parts.
"There is no such thing as a friendly species. Humans are cautious to elves, and elves are cautious to humans. While we all coexist, being from different births and lands in this very classroom, each group is wary of the other."
"Regardless, we have two categories on the simplest scale. 'Blue' species are neutral, and will not attack you. 'Red' species are the most dangerous, ones you should immediately turn away from."
He circled the middle. 'In the center, 'Purple' species are those who will act violently only on certain occasions. Of course, the scale is much more complex, but I believe this will suffice for you students to be cautious."
A hand raised into the air. "Professor, how would I go about learning the differences?"
Alexander gave a vague chuckle. "There is no other way than to read, and to experience. I recommend taking a look over the books in the library to be best prepared for any situation."
"Is interacting with other species dangerous?" Another person called out.
"Hands please, if you would like to ask a question." said Alexander before shaking his head. "However, I believe that not interacting would be more dangerous. To live in a world unknown, believing that what you understand is enough, would be a grand mistake."
"Curiosity is both a gift and a curse. Yet we exist to learn, from our very birth to the day we die. We never stop learning."
The class was getting noisy loud, with hushed whispers of discussion between the students. Alexander made no move to silence anybody, instead choosing to quietly listen from where he stood, answering any questions that were posed.
"We should be careful though, right? Because other species are really dangerous." Somebody asked.
Alexander thought about it and smiled. "To other species, it may be you that's the dangerous one. So yes, be careful, but worry less about being harmed and more about doing something that will harm them."
"Because it's only in disturbing another creature's reality that they would attack."
"That's too cryptic!"
Another relaxed laugh. "I'm old. I have the right to be cryptic."
The discussion continued going until the end of class, and Kaden's notebook was filled with pages and pages of ideas that came from the professor, his own mind and the students.
Even within the school, discrimination was plain as day. But discriminating against another was stupid—for their blood, or for their place of birth.
Their appearance, their differences; every single thing seemed to be made to be judged and critiqued.
What was the point of that?
He started in the direction of the library after parting ways with Nicola, who reluctantly sulked back to her duties as student president.
Honestly, Kaden wasn't the largest fan of reading. Most of his reading had been done through bloody noses and sleepless nights in order to catch up—no, to surpass his peers. The stress of becoming the best, and knowing there'd always be somebody better.
And now he couldn't help but wonder what the point of all the studying, the information that was now nothing but a hazy memory.
He didn't quite understand the joy of getting lost in pages, though much of his reading had been non-fiction.
Pushing the doors open to the expansive library, a heavily funded area in the Academy with two equally luxurious floors and thousands of books. It was beautiful, aching with history and words, a silence blanketed over to smother all outside sounds.
It was rather peaceful, the scene of old wood and paper, and the warm pulse of orange light hanging on the crystal chandeliers to light the area. He wandered around, looking at the section labels above before finding the one on 'monsters/species'.
A monster generally referred to a dangerous species, to begin with. Some books solely focused on the violent side of the unknown, while others on the unique abilities of each.
He grabbed a few books down, specifically ones involving the Eastern Forest, and found a seat in the back corner to read.
Nobody even spared him a glance.
And Kaden found great comfort in knowing that fact.
Until he happily placed his large stack of books down, and a low, forever gloomy voice spoke out to him.
"For somebody insistent on hiding themselves from me," started the tone gruffly, slightly hoarse from not speaking for a while. "You seem to enjoy following me around."
Noah's disinterested stare lifted from the stack of paper before him, a pen in his hand and a small selection of books at his other side, looking quite comfortable.
Kaden paused. "Although stalking you is my recent, beloved pastime, I intended to read today."
"I didn't know you could read." came the sarcastic, flat response.
"And I didn't know you could write." Actually, he did, because Noah had told him so and Kaden couldn't have forgotten that fact—but that wasn't the point. "Yet here we are."
He sighed, turning around. He'd chosen the corner because it was the furthest away from others, away from preying eyes. And Kaden really did want to study up, in the case something happened during the exploration.
"Wait."
The studious sinner raised an eyebrow curiously. "Already begging for me back, Bellamy?"
Noah stared at him, unamused and pointed a finger towards his feet. "You're stepping on one of my papers."
"Oh."
Was it too late to dig a hole, bury Noah, and then run away to another country?
Kaden bent down, sliding his fingers carefully to smoothen out the wrinkles—not that paper could really be completely smoothed out. The effort was there, in the very least.
His eyes caught on some words, and suddenly he was simply standing there, unmoving, eyes flickering through line and line non-stop. Word after word, knitted together to form a lyrical sentence, that connected and wove together to form a paragraph.
It was like magic, in the most realistic sense.
For the first time, Kaden learned what it meant to be 'lost in words', as visuals painted across his mind to match the imagery represented in the writing.
It wasn't that Noah was the most wonderful writer he'd ever come across, or the most experience or well-learned. Nothing of the sort.
But there was a certain charm of the straightforward descriptions, slotted together with hints of subtle emotion, that spoke to Kaden.
He felt a little drunk on the emotions that weren't even his own, flipping over the paper to continue reading.
Noah watched the changing expressions on the other's handsome face—the parted lips and dazed eyes, warmed by the gentle hue of the old library—and lowered his raised hand that had been ready to take the page back.
If there were three things to dislike about Kaden Chauvet, one would have to be that he felt so genuinely for other's passions, that it was hard to push him away.
But it made the dragon ever more conflicted.
Which was the real him?
Noah watched in silence for several moments before calling out with a new softness to his voice,
"Do you like reading?"
Kaden snapped out of the scene, blinking in a haze. "No, no I don't read often. At least, what I read isn't like this. It's all non-fiction, things I read to learn."
He wasn't even thinking about keeping up a sarcastic farce as he walked over, looking down at the other sheets of paper like a hopeful animal, ears perked. "...of course, that isn't to say I hate reading. May I..."
"You can."
Noah considered reminding Kaden that his facade has dropped, lest the latter panic about it later and resort to his old teasings, and to perhaps regain his solitude.
But he didn't.
And he wasn't entirely sure why.
Kaden almost slid over, settling into the chair next to Noah as he picked up the papers. It was an entire story, half written out, so he slotted the page he picked up in accordance with the numbers—because yes, Noah numbered the pages in an organized manner.
He lost himself in the moment, in between crinkled pages.
And Noah lost himself in watching Kaden read his passion.
It was exciting—set in modern times best described as Kaden's second life, carrying similar concepts of futuristic technology that didn't currently exist. It practically dripped in imagination, in strange, ridiculous ideas that somehow made sense.
A cursed pair of friends, an adventure through time and space as they, forcefully separated, searched for each other.
A foolish wizard from another world, a perverted detective from the past, and all sorts of characters whose unique personalities shone through.
And it was funny, because it was so hard to figure people out in reality, while in books, characters had such depth to their personalities, exposed to a reader.
He let out a breath when he was finished reading, stuck on a cliffhanger. "I'm curious what happens next. Let me continue when you add another section."
Noah raised an eyebrow. "Did you like it?"
"Like it? I loved it." Then, he jolted upright and cleared his throat. "Well, I haven't read much to compare it to, but it's quite good. I'll be honest with that."
"Is that so?"
"Whatever you write, I'll read it."
Noah's calm, sharp gaze widened impossibly for such an expressionless man, and something snapped. Like a string that had been pulled taut. Kaden didn't know how to describe it, but he watched Noah process the words slowly.
"Even if it's terrible?"
The day had been long with his classes, arrogantly striding through the halls with tension lining his straight legs, pretending to be blind to the stares that dug at him. Kaden had passed Reed, too, watching the man settle in with the crowd naturally, a smile on his face.
And really, pretending to be somebody else was tiring.
Kaden didn't feel like lying anymore, today.
"Even if it's terrible." Then, after a beat, he added solemnly, "Though I would tell you that it's terrible when I finished. With an excessive amount of critique."
"I can attempt to tolerate your chattering."
"The correct answer is 'thank you'."
Noah stared down at the papers, shuffling it back into a neat pile. Slowly, words melting with the warm glow from above, he said, "This would be my first novel, when I'm completed."
"Really?" Kaden nodded—they were still young.
Hardly eighteen, yet to decide what they wanted to do with their lives. Well, other than the other circumstances he didn't want to think about right now.
"So promise me."
"Promise you what?"
"To be my first reader."
Noah wasn't entirely certain of why he said what he did, but considering that there was no taking back words (he didn't believe in regretting words spoken) he simply waited.
Kaden blinked in surprise, suddenly recognizing how close the other person sat, and how his eyes weren't actually completely black—they were a dark, stormy grey vortex that reflected the light off the surroundings.
Strands of his black-white hair had been tucked behind to read, while the other half dangled loosely over his smooth forehead. Noah always had this way of looking at the world without expectation or judgement, walking on a different plane from all others, in his own reality.
But right then, there was no mistaking the person percieved in that sharpened gaze.
Kaden couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. Here he was, with the man who'd end up hating him—his executioner.
Yet he smiled playfully.
"Sure. I promise you, I'll be your first reader."
And Noah's stone face melted under the soft hint of a small smile.