PATROL :: Light Up the Sky :: OPEN

12 May 1922
Friday
11:00 pm
Clear sky, Full moon

Patrols were a necessary evil of being a prefect. Some nights, it was like torture. All she wanted was her bed or the warmth of her common room. Tonight, it wasn’t so bad. There was a meteor shower lighting up the sky, a new light passing over the sky every few seconds. The weather was warm, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, a full moon sat on the horizon lighting up the night while meteors put on a show.

Technically, her patrol was almost over for the night. Easing into past curfew territory, but she was so in awe of the display playing out in the skies she didn’t care. As a prefect on patrol, she should actually be actively patrolling. Walking around the area to make sure no one was out when they shouldn’t be. But she couldn’t pull her eyes away from the light show above her.

The small, light, footsteps coming up the stairs didn’t register in Tilly’s mind. A gasp left her lips as a particularly bright flash went across the sky. “Wow.” she said, quietly in awe of what nature was capable of.

The creak of the door caught her attention. While laying on the ground on the top off the roof, Tilly rose to her elbows to see who was coming up the stairs. Even if she was caught, maybe she could play it off as extra credit for Astronomy. She wasn’t above telling a fib if it got her out of trouble. “Hello? Who’s there?”

Sleep continued to be a fickle thing, splotchy and inconsistent. The potions helped, if she didn't forget to get a new batch from the Hospital Wing. As it turned out, last night had been her last one and naturally she had forgotten to stop by.

It was fine though, she would go tomorrow.

After months of nights wrecked by nightmares, meals missed by bone-deep exhaustion, Maevie had lost enough weight to ring alarm bells in at least one professor. When tiredness had pulled her under during yet another lesson, head slamming against the desk with a hollow thwack, she had finally been made to get checked over by the nurse.

It's been a few weeks now and she felt better, but even though sleep was possible again — however artificial — the memories had clawed their way out. They lingered in her conscience now, seared into the fabric of her mind, never quite gone. Maevie continued to ignore and whitewash.

But what had been so easy, suddenly pulled on the reigns much more insistently.

Tonight, she wandered.

It was the first time she was out after curfew, finally breaking the promise she had made to her mother. But the threat of evil men was gone, that's what people kept saying and what the papers wrote. Her mum wouldn't find out and it was only this once, Maevie eased her guilty conscience. The only thing she had to fear were professors on patrol.

And tattling ghosts.

Her path through the abandoned corridors or the castle was uninterrupted though.

The door to the rooftops opened on a creak that broke the quiet of night, stirring a shadow further down. Maevie gasped in surprise, heart jumping into a startled rhythm. She considered to run. If she was quick enough, maybe she had a chance of evading whoever it was she had run into.

“Hello? Who’s there?”

Relief flooded in, cancelling that plan before it had fully formed. She knew that voice.

"Hey Tilly", Maevie greeted, walking up to the other girl's side. The door fell shut with a soft thud. "I thought you were a professor for a second. What are you doing up here?"

Without waiting for invitation, she sat down.

"Hey Tilly, I thought you were a professor for a second. What are you doing up here?"

The voice from the shadows didn’t match the person in her head, but thankfully it was Maevie and not the Headmaster joining her on the rooftop. She was much happier with the 2nd year addition.

“Hey Maevie. You know, working hard at patrolling the towers. I take my duties as prefect very very seriously.” The force in which she stressed the words ‘very,’ made them lose their strength. In actuality she didn’t take the job seriously at all. Unless she was in the greenhouse, then she would toss anyone in detention for messing with the plants.

“Come, sit, join me in my star gazing. There’s a meteor shower tonight, it’s been quite the show.”

Tilly rested her hands behind her head and got comfortable again waiting for more shooting stars to make an appearance. It was mesmerizing. Her mind wandered to topics she could talk to Maevie about, not knowing the girl super well, but also liking her immensely. One piece of news stuck in her mind, although it might not be a subject she wanted to talk about.

“I got a letter from Everleigh today. Well, Not really a letter. It’s a scribble drawing. Her caregiver is great, sending us all things from her from time to time.” After her cousin’s worsening condition, and the realization that her father was performing memory charms on his daughter, Ever and Alice were taken out of their parents' care and sent to live with Tilly and their Grandfather Bertram.

The morning after they arrived, Bram got to work getting Ever the care she desperately needed, but it had proved too much for home care and she had been sent to St Mungo's as a permanent resident. The care she received was top notch, but there were no guarantees that Ever would ever get her mind back.

“I miss her so much. Not the new sad Ever, but Everleigh, from before. How are you doing with everything? If you don’t want to talk about it though, that’s totally ok, I shouldn’t have asked.”

“Hey Maevie. You know, working hard at patrolling the towers. I take my duties as prefect very very seriously. Come, sit, join me in my star gazing. There’s a meteor shower tonight, it’s been quite the show.”

Maevie chuckled delightedly as she settled down next to Tilly. It was a real advantage to have two friends that both functioned as Prefects and that both didn't care about that at all. Benji was the same. She wondered why the school hadn't chosen more dutiful students but on second thought, it was better this way.

For her at least.

As she laid back too, gaze towards the dark night sky, Maevie searched for the meteors Tilly mentioned. "I've never seen a meteor," she commented, feeling excited. Maybe there was a reason for her forgetfulness — something that had wanted her to find her way up here and witness this.

“I got a letter from Everleigh today. Well, Not really a letter. It’s a scribble drawing. Her caregiver is great, sending us all things from her from time to time.”

Her head swivelled to look at Tilly, the carefree smile dying on her lips.

The thought of Ever still sent a shower of guilt and pain through her body. She couldn't help but feel bad. Why did Ever have to have so much trouble while she got to live her life like normal? Why was a few nightmares all she had to deal with while Ever had changed into a completely different person?

Something about it didn't feel right. As though she had cheated and hadn't told Ever how to do the same. Her own pain didn't equal Ever's and the guilt ate her up too, alongside those nightmares that came to visit.

“I miss her so much. Not the new sad Ever, but Everleigh, from before. How are you doing with everything? If you don’t want to talk about it though, that’s totally ok, I shouldn’t have asked.”

A lump grew in her stomach, heavy and nauseating. She looked back up at the stars, that passing whoosh of a dying light suddenly not as exciting as she thought it would be. "I'm okay," Maevie shrugged, fingers playing with the hem of her sweater. "I wish Ever would be okay too. Is she...doing better?" Hopeful eyes turned back towards Tilly. Maybe leaving school and staying with her family had improved Ever's state of mind.

The meteors kept streaking across the sky, keeping Tilly’s attention on the sky. It was easy to lose yourself in the wonder of it. What was up there, in the stars? Who else was laying down watching the show play out across the dark sky?

Tilly finally got up the courage to ask Mae about how she was doing, over a year past the events of the dark tower. She felt bad, she should have asked sooner. She was so young when she was taken, having dealt with the torture better than Ever, granted, Ever had extenuating circumstance.

"I'm okay. I wish Ever would be okay too. Is she...doing better?” The shooting stars were coming less and less. Now spread out to Ever ten to fifteen seconds. Tilly sighed, and turned her head to Maevie, wishing Ever was laying there with them, talking and laughing.

“No, not really if I’m being honest. To be fair, her issues aren't just from the Dark Tower. Come to find out there were some things going on at home. My Uncle, her father, is not a nice man. So, while she was trying to heal from the Tower, he was making everything so much worse.”

Family business being what it was, she didn’t go into great details, but she wouldn’t cover for the asshole either. She was long past thinking he was worth protecting. He could rot in hell for all Tilly cared.

“Over Easter, Ever and Alice came to live with my Grandpa and I. He has been granted temporary emergency guardianship. Gramps is finally getting Ever the help she needs. Therapy, healers, whatever it takes to help. Things weren’t great when we left. I’m hoping things will be better when we break for summer. It’s just so hard.”

A few more streaks went over the night sky, catching her attention once again. “If you ever need anything, I’m here. I know I wasn’t up in that tower, but I'm here if you ever want to talk.”

The sky lit up with a particularly large meteor, leaving a trail of green light behind it. Her eyes got large watching it cross from the East to the West. “Wow, that one was massive. Are you doing anything fun for the summer?” She asked, as the sky went quiet, changing the subject. Not everyone wanted to relive their worst memories, so she was giving the girl an out, just in case.

Another wave of sadness washes away the flicker of hope.

Tilly's words leave no room for any doubt that Ever was doing terrible. Maevie felt guilty all over again. While her mum and brother had done everything they could to make her feel better, Ever had to endure a father that held no such love for his child.

She couldn't understand it. Why things had to be so unfair and cruel, why one child was loved and another wasn't. Why bad things happened and why evil men existed.

Her eyes found back to the sky, a new heaviness weighing down on her chest.

Her thoughts had trailed to her friend from time to time, wondering and hoping. When their encounter in the trophy room had brought some light back to Ever's eyes, Maevie had been so happy. She really had thought that would be it, the turning point.

But the upturn hadn't lasted long.

Still, she felt grateful that her friend had finally found a new home, a better home. Where people actually cared and helped her. She only prayed it wasn't too late...

“If you ever need anything, I’m here. I know I wasn’t up in that tower, but I'm here if you ever want to talk.”

A low smile chased some of the gloom from her face as Maevie looked around. "Thanks, Tilly. I appreciate that." A ripple of gratitude rolled through her. She really was lucky to have all these people around her, this place to feel at home in.

The glow of a massive meteor lighting up the sky pulled her attention and she gasped with delight. "That one was nifty!" And just as easily as that, the dreary mood was gone and replaced by the cheer never too far. "My mum and I are going to visit my brother in London!", she told excitedly. "He's studying engineering there and has his own apartment. So we'll come over and see the city and everything. And you? Maybe we can visit Ever together!"