tsatsm

[tsatsm]

[chapter 1: before the storm]

The chill of the morning quickly dissipated into the scorching summer heat on the 14th of February, 1900, with the boys of the Marble Hills College eagerly and unabashedly giving and receiving love letters from their would be suitors. 

It was a tradition of sorts, one Will Doherty, the oldest son of the college’s headmaster, presented some odd years ago as a jest at first, which quickly grew roots and only became more elaborate as the years went by. 

Today was also the day of the much expected trip to Hanging Rock, a mountain not too far from the college itself, where their annual picnic was held as a way to let the schoolboys loose for an afternoon before heading back to the order and familiarity of the college.

The first to wake up was, as usual, the light sleeping Karl Haas, whom the previous night had been haunted by terrible nightmares and wondrous dreams. 

Samuel P. Nabel, his roomate and close companion, found him reading tarot cards once he awoke much later that morn. “Any good news from your friends on the other side?” was all he needed to say to push poor Karl out of his trance like state and back into reality. 

His eyes were sunken from lack of sleep and his hand shook, holding a familiar card to the Nabel boy. Upright tower. He remembered that one being either particularly nasty or particularly good, and by the looks of his roomate, the former one was truer in this circumstance. 

“It- it represents chaos and change..” Karl said quietly, to which Samuel sighed. His broad shoulders slumped as he waddled his way out of the now terribly warm bed and stretched. 

“Well, it can’t be all that bad, old chap. I’m guessing the only chaos and change happening today is we finally get a few crumbs of freedom for the afternoon.” He smiled. “Besides, we also have a few interesting things to look forward to excluding that. Like figuring out who exactly wrote to me in their love letter this year. I already have a few guesses.”

The Haas boy nodded, his blue and brown eyes looking away from him at that moment, blush creeping onto his ears. Samuel instantly took notice, and concern spread across his face like ants over a newly rotting apple. He placed his hand over the boy’s forehead,“Are you feeling unwell? Should I call a teacher or the headmaster-”

The sudden movement away surprised Samuel, and Karl practically leapt away from the touch. “No, it’s.. it’s just too damn warm. In here. We should get ready, to not make the others wait.”

He hopped off his bed with little grace, but he still landed on his feet, so it was a small success. “Besides, if we doddle, we’d have less time on the rock.”

“I guess.. not like that place is interesting in any way, shape or form..” Sam watched as his friend poured some water into the basin to freshen himself up.

“Well, I like it.”

“Only because of the spiritual bullcrap you generally like. It’s a rock that’s been there forever, and it’ll be there long after all the humans are gone off the planet.” He could hear small giggles between the cool splashes of water infused with rose petals.

“That’s why I like it so much.” Karl’s voice became so quiet it’d be considered a breath, if even that. “It’s waited all these years- all these forevers- just for us.”

Though he did not see it, the Nabel boy’s concern hadn’t faded away with those words. They did the complete opposite, in fact. Even if Karl would never see the face, he could still feel something off with Samuel. Dressing up for the day without peaking had become a chore all on its own, now that the boy’s poor hormones worked against him in every aspect possible. To distract from this, Karl’s eyes focused on the tower tarot card, squinting ever so slightly before he was brought back by Samuel’s excited voice. He knew what had to be done today.

                                                        [...]

George Welford had never slept in before. He wasn’t the most timely fellow of his class, that was true, but he was never so late his slacker friend Dorian Thatcher had to be the one to knock on his door to make sure he was up and about. 

The boy’s raspy voice from all the secret cigarettes he’d smoked on the roof, coupled with his rather obnoxious banging on the door, made George painfully aware that he was, in fact, late. 

Cursing himself for being so careless, he dressed up quickly, almost forgetting to put his black gloves on before being seen outside his room, and opened the door. The blond boy with rather long, unkempt hair that morning, smiled mischievously as he spoke, “You’re gonna miss the trip at this rate, idiot. As a fellow lazy man, I only saw it fit that I try to pull you out of that dreadful slumber of yours once and for all.. at least for today.” The devilish wink did not go unnoticed by the shorter brunet, who rolled his eyes so hard they hurt by the end of this.

“Only because I had a dreadful sleep last night. Must’ve been that Haas boy working his witchcrafts on me-”

“To make you fall for him?” Dorian rudely interrupted as George’s face flashed pink. “Or to fall for someone else who paid him to do a little spell on you?”

“You absolute fiend! I’m sure he has no such- such idiotic knowledge! By God, you embarrass me every day by saying nonsense as if your life depended on it.”

“Well, maybe it does. Don’t you like it when I-” The boys quickly turned at the sound of something whooshing through the narrow opening between the door and the bed. The two looked at each other, then back at the strange card, curiosity filling the room like honey, ever viscous and ever present. “..Do you know what that is or..?” Dorian was the first to make a sound.

George, slowly, picked the card up, brows knit tightly. It was unmistakably from Haas’ little tarot collection, the picture depicted a tower burning and collapsing, people jumping or falling to their deaths. “What the hell..?” The name of the card was ‘the tower’, and its number was sixteen written in bold roman numerals.

“Ominous. I love it. We should probably give this back, right, George?” The Thatcher boy looked at the slightly frightened companion who just nodded along, not listening one bit. “Or.. we could burn it. Teach him a lesson for messing with us, yeah?” George’s head shot up in relief, as though he’d just now figured out what to do and how to do it. “I’ll be right back. You wait for me in the lunchroom, yeah? This shouldn’t take long.” He was already halfway out the door when Dorian realised what was happening.

  “Wh- hey, where are you going, leaving me in your room like I’m some pervert!” He closed the door behind him, but he was no match for the running boy. Frozen in place, Dorian grit his teeth ever so slightly. “..It’s for William, isn’t it?” He spoke all too quietly at the dead air.

                                                       [...]

“-And besides, it’s not my fault dad enrolled me here a year earlier. Now I have to wait a whole year before I get the chance to see High Rock up close!” Thomas fidgeted as William brushed his baby brother’s golden hair carefully. “And then you’ll be last year, so you’ll probably be too busy-”

“Tommy.” His brother shushed, “You can still go to High Rock without me, you know that?” William’s laugh sounded almost like bells to Thomas, always surprising him despite knowing him his entire life. “And besides, it’s high time you find friends of your own. Friends besides me and father and the calculus professor.”

“It’s not my fault Mr Talbott simply likes me more than the rest.” He stated proudly, eyes and smile shining like the crests of Orion. “I bet I’ll be his favorite soon enough.”

“I’m sure you are already, but..” William looked to the ground, still combing carefully, “I won’t be here for much longer. ..At the college, I mean. And I’m worried you’ll only stay by my side and never come out of your shell.”

As Thomas looked at their shared mirror, he couldn’t help but notice the gap between him and his brother. William, the tall, intelligent and charismatic leader of every group he is in, and.. Tommy. The younger brother with no potential and too big shoes to fill. “..I’ll try, Will.”

“That’s all I’m asking of you.” With a quick hug and a light ruffling of hair, he smiled again. “Now, don’t forget your gloves or father will be furious.”

The younger Doherty boy laughed, taking his ironed gloves off the dressing table, noticing all the strange gadgets and trinkets his brother had collected over the years. Most were stones, all pretty shapes and wild colors, all things he knew nothing of but knew that it made William happy, so he was content with just that. Carefully, he picked up the shimmering fool’s gold and twirled it in his hand. “What’s this one for?”

William, now without glasses, turned and made a small huff. “I told you a million times already, Tommy. It’s for confidence.” He pointed to the thicker book on his nightstand. “Any more questions you have, Miss Hannah Rose has all the answers for you.” His slender arms looked ridiculous in that puffy shirt that they called a part of their school uniform, Thomas thought to himself. 

A quiet knock filled the room, and before William had the time to even open his mouth, the Welford boy rushed in, holding up a card with a weird drawing on it. The younger boy tried to squint to see the illustration better before George gave it over to Wilbur, “Can you help me with this? I’m not sure who it belongs to.”

A deep, terrible silence befell the Doherty room, one where the awful heat simply added to the bad feeling pooling down in the pit of Thomas’ gut. Something seems wrong today, and it was only the morning. Sure, it had become a normal part of the day for a boy or two to come into his and William’s room for advice or a chat, but this.. didn’t feel like any of the other times.

“Tommy, can you wait for me in the lunchroom? I’ll be down shortly.” With a soft, comforting smile only his brother could do, Thomas had no choice but to nod and leave the room as quickly as possible, still holding on to the fool’s gold. 

It was for courage, after all.