80: STARS

Silence answers me.

Is he asleep in there? Or is he even in there at all? I knock again, listening closer for any sound. Nothing. I glance at Rosa questioningly, and she gives me a nod. I take a deep breath before opening the door.

It’s empty.

William Ravenstone is not in here.

I walk in, and a shiver wrecks through my body. It’s so cold in here, because the air conditioner has been left on full blast and all the two windows in the room are open, letting in the chilly night air.

I look around the space. It’s so different from his room back in the Acadia Academy dorms. First off, it’s gigantic, furnished with a king sized bed, a walk-in wardrobe, a workspace, a bookshelf on the far wall, and a chandelier. But it lacks… life. There are no chessboards, or plants, or a cat named after a chess prodigy, or sketches on the desk. The whole room could’ve simply been copied from a home magazine and pasted in real life.

I turn to Rosa, and she’s already looking at me. I swallow the small sense o