Ciaran wasn’t keen on returning to school on Monday. Yet, running away from the situation wouldn’t solve any problems. He left the house in the morning, taking in the cold morning air with a sigh. As he walked on to the street, he realized a known figure walking down towards him. 

“What are you doing here so early in the morning?”, Ciaran asked, visibly irritated. This was the last place he expected to run into Mael in the morning. 

“Walking to school, what else?” The young man stopped before Ciaran and shrugged. 

Ciaran raised his eyebrows. “Coming from out of the woods?” That was definitely strange, wasn’t it? 

“I’m living there.” Mael still wasn’t more talkative than Friday. But his explanation didn’t make any sense.

“You're living in the woods? What are you? A wild wolf?” Honestly, who would believe something like that?

“Not in the woods. Davis mansion.” With this explanation, Mael resumed his walk as if it were tiring to further clear up the misunderstanding. 

“Wait, you’re living in Davis mansion, really?” Ciaran caught up to him. That was unexpected. The mansion had been abandoned for so long, he never thought someone might end up living there.

There was a ton of questions on his tongue and he wanted to ask all of them. But he didn’t wish to burden Mael in the morning. With all the trouble awaiting him in school, he didn’t wish to start with an argument before reaching the battlefield. Should he fall back to let Mael walk in peace? 

Hesitating, he stopped and wanted to let the other build up the distance. Instead, Mael stopped and turned around to look at him. “Aren’t you going to school, too?” 

“Oh? I am, but I thought you wanted to walk in peace so early in the morning.” The last thing Ciaran expected was him to actually wait or invite him to tag along. Hadn’t he started walking because he wanted to get rid of him? Had he misread him?

“I don’t mind”, Mael declared. Well, if he went through the trouble to say it, he might as well take him up on his invitation. 

Ciaran caught up again and walked beside him. Maybe it wasn’t the worst that could happen? It was a chance to get to know the new player of the team better. As long as he managed to get him to talk, at least. Also, there was something else he wanted to say after he had the weekend to think over it.

“Mael? Actually, I’d like to thank you. For yesterday, you know?” As soon as Ciaran realized he had his undivided attention, he spoke up. “You were the only one that neither pitied me, nor gossiped about me, as far as I can tell. It might be just that you're new, and you didn’t feel like getting involved. But still - it was nice to have at least one person who wasn’t throwing glances in my direction. Well, apart from the intense gazes you always seem to have.” 

Mael snorted, so Ciaran expected a mean retort. Instead, the following words made him blink. “There is no need to thank me for basic courtesy.”

That was basic courtesy for him? Was that the reason he stayed, even after hearing about the shower situation? Ciaran didn’t feel any savvier than before when it came to Mael. What was going on in his head? 

The rest of their walk passed in silence. Still, it was pleasant to not be completely alone as they reached the school ground. The first gazes were on him asap, with all the whispering from Friday reoccurring. 

Was Pierce inside already? He wanted to avoid running into him. It wasn’t Pierce that walked up to them, though. 

“Hey, Ciaran. Have you heard already?” Logan stopped before him, studying Ciaran’s facials.

“Morning, Logan. Heard what exactly?”, Ciaran asked. 

“So, you didn’t.” Logan scratched his neck. He only did this twice in Ciaran’s proximity. Once, when he turned down his confession and the second time when he tried to tell the team their funds were cut. “I didn’t expect to be the one to tell you, but it’s better if you know it before walking into the minefield.” 

Minefield? That description fitted school today, yet Ciaran couldn’t shake off the impression something else had happened. Maybe Pierce started badmouthing him or shared some of the secrets he had told him?

“Pierce is dead.” Logan had decided to storm the castle head-on. For what felt like eternity, Ciaran had trouble to perceive the weight of these words.

“What? What do you mean, Pierce is dead?”, he asked. Sure, he had cursed him in thoughts, but he never wished for him to die. At least not in all earnest. What had happened? 

“I don’t know all the details, to be honest, but school is already talking about it nonstop. Some call it a karmic revenge for what he did to you,” Logan explained. “As you probably know, he tends to be a heavy drinker if he’s out with his teammates. Last Saturday he went with the guys to his favorite club. All was well, but he had a few drinks too much, and he wasn’t walking straight. None of them knows exactly how it happened, but the guys who were with him said, he suddenly fell right on to the main street. Directly for a truck. The driver had no chance to hit the brakes anymore.”

Pierce had fallen onto the main street because he drank too much? “That’s awful. I mean, I was mad at him, but I never expected him to die.” A violent death no less. One could only hope it happened fast. 

As if Logan could guess what went through his mind, he cleared his throat. “People said, he was dead before the emergency doctor made it to the side. So, I guess it went fast for him. If that is some consolidation for you.”

“I don’t know. To be frank, I am uncertain if I should be happy about him being gone from my life for good or sad for the way he died.” As Ciaran realized how bad that made him sound, he shook his head. “I mean, of course I didn’t want him to dead. I’m just still hurt.” The first time he actually put this in words in front of someone. He didn’t feel comfortable with it, but he didn’t want Logan, of all people, to consider him to be some psychopath.

“It’s ok, I understand. He was awful to you last week. But everyone is still in shock, so maybe try to tune it down, alright? Some people might take it down the wrong pipe, you know?”, Logan suggested. 

Ciaran nodded, still trying to understand the actual implication. Pierce was gone. Right after he hurt him. On the same day, he had taken the strange postal out of the mailbox. This was a coincidence, wasn’t it? Of course, it had to be. How should the writer know beforehand that Pierce would have an accident?