Rickenbacker three-thirteen was devoid of life.
“Eva?” Juliana called out.
There was no response.
Juliana didn’t expect one. She checked the bathroom and even the small closet, just in case. Empty.
Good.
After a student brought Professor Twillie a note stating that Eva was ill, Juliana quickly confirmed that she hadn’t looked good during lunch. For all she knew, it was true. The black-haired girl barely touched her food. Juliana didn’t expect it to be true, but it was a possibility.
That Eva was gone now meant it was a lie.
Juliana couldn’t be more pleased.
She moved over to the windows and shut the blinds. That would at least keep Eva from blinking into the room. It wouldn’t stop her from walking through the front door, but hopefully Juliana wouldn’t have to worry about that.
Papers covered the top of Eva’s desk; most were covered in uncharged runes. Juliana ignored them and pulled open the top drawer. Pens, fountain pens, vials of the expensive ink Eva used on her high quality runes, sticky notes, other regular desk things.
The high quality runes had been Juliana’s idea. Eva used them in three-thirteen, but she hadn’t used them anywhere else. When she got completely swamped between school and replacing the last set of envelopes for other dorms, Juliana suggested she offer the longer lasting runes at a price just under what it would cost to renew the regular runes over the same amount of time.
They accepted both a one time fee and a monthly recurring payment. Most people decided to switch over.
Of course, they had to spend money on expensive ink now. Eva felt the lowered workload was worth it.
That didn’t bother Juliana at all, it was no money off her back. Eva procured the ink on her own.
Rummaging through Eva’s things felt a tad bad and a lot dangerous. Not just because she had no idea what Eva would do if the girl found out, but also because of her trip to Eva’s prison. If she put any protections on her things similar to the wards at her other home, Juliana might just wind up with a missing limb in the morning.
She was counting on the hope that Eva wouldn’t want to accidentally cause harm to her roommates or to Zoe during room inspections if she happened to look in a drawer.
That thought made Juliana pause. She carefully replaced the papers and books in the drawer. Once back exactly how she found them, she slid the drawer shut.
Eva wouldn’t just leave things lying around that she didn’t want other people to see.
Juliana glanced around the room. There were really no good hiding spots for anything. Her drawers under the bed contained the skirts Eva liked so much and some tee-shirts. Maybe a pair of pants or two. The roof was smooth, no ceiling tiles to hide things in.
Everywhere else was a public place. The fridge, cupboards, drawers and closets in the bathroom. Not where Juliana would want to hide things that could get her tossed into prison, or worse.
Juliana slumped down on her own bed. None of the dangerous books would be in the dorm. If Eva had any at all, they would be in the book bag she carried almost everywhere. Everything else would be at the prison.
Even if Juliana could run as fast as Arachne without tiring over the course of an hour, the prison was too far off for a quick visit. Not to mention that, at least tonight, it was where Eva most likely was.
The sudden realization that she wouldn’t find anything interesting sapped her motivation. She was ready for sleep without even changing, showering, or even eating dinner. Everyone else would be at dinner, she offered to go check on Eva to get to snooping.
Juliana curled up beneath her covers. Her eyes shut as she started to drift into a drowsy state.
A tap at the window stopped her descent into sleep.
She tried to ignore it and go back to sleep.
It tapped again, louder than before.
Juliana groaned as she sat up.
The windows rattled with the force of the next tap.
Something made her stomach turn. A subtle smell, or tingle in the air. Juliana jumped out of her bed, gripping her wand. She backed away from her window.
Shards of broken glass flew into the room, tearing through the bed and area Juliana had just been standing in.
Juliana ducked low. She shielded her head with the metal bracers on her arms.
The slap of raw steak hitting a cutting board brought her attention back to the window. She peeked out between the small gap in her arms.
Something crawled into her room. A bag of red meat the size of a small person with a few white bones protruding from it slipped into the room, flopping onto the floor as it crested the windowsill. A second then a third followed it.
They just lay there, squirming in a pile between her and Shalise’s bed.
