Archives of The Damned

The flickering light did little to help my headache.

Wrapping up our last case early meant that we had relatively little backlog. Though it still demanded another sleepless night to sort through.

Three nights without proper sleep had already passed; one more wouldn’t make much difference. That exact sentiment was what had led us to the current predicament.

The false confidence had made my council members volunteer to lend me a hand as well, despite their exhausted states... That plan fell through soon enough.

Silas, our secretary, lay sprawled on the couch, his occasional snores grounding me through the drowsiness. Marcus, our treasurer, had passed out on his desk with his head cushioned between his arms. The only one truly attempting to power through it was Selena, our feared enforcer. Or at least she had been, till she took a bathroom break that still hadn’t ended.

She might’ve fallen asleep on the toilet.

Thankfully, the concoction she had brewed, one she had lovingly labeled coffee, still remained. My only true company in our otherwise silent council room.

...Snort.

Of course, that was if Silas’s occasional snores were to be ignored.

A glance at the shelves lining the walls made me rub the sleep from my eyes. Most of the faculty and student reports had already been sorted through; however, the twenty that remained loomed larger than ever in the face of my desire to grab a pillow.

Though if they weren’t dealt with before the sun rose, then I could kiss the few remaining hours of my weekend goodbye.

Grabbing the pile we had already sorted through, I stood to reach the opposite end of our office. The reports we had already stamped, whether with approval, suspicion, or the need for further investigation, still had to be filed away.

As such, the twenty untouched ones would have to wait a little. If it had been normal circumstances, then we might’ve left them arranged in a cabinet to be cleaned and categorized tomorrow. However, given that tomorrow was a working day with undeniably more unpredictability, everything had to be finalized today.

Moving from right to left, I pulled empty envelopes from the shelves to label with the date of inspection and sorted the papers quickly.

Much to be done, in relatively little time.

But a soft gust of wind made me pause.

The window was bolted shut, so the only other place the wind could’ve come from... was the door.

Which I had personally shut.

I didn’t waste much time.

Ducking while simultaneously launching two throwing knives, I kicked low, with no mercy, to trip whoever had chosen to step up behind me, whether it was a sleepy Silas bothering me with his “How much longer?” queries or an actual intruder.

A thud sounded as the person hit the ground.

One of the knives nicked the person’s wrist, while the other struck the shelf across the room. It was only when I faced them that I loosened my hold on the third one.

“...Late night?”

I paused, reeling at the sight of the one who had stumbled before me.

Drip.

Drip.

The blood dripping from his wrist slowly formed a small puddle by his foot, though that didn’t seem to deter him. The Black Mask covering the entirety of his face zapped what little sympathy I had to offer. Whether the hair atop his head was real or simply another illusion was the last of my worries as he picked himself up and stood to face me.

“The usual.”

I paused, not letting the sharp contours of his mask deter my stare, though the gouges where his eyes should’ve been let me know I was staring at the right spot.

“I see you’re here without approval.”

...And invitation.

Shrugging, unbothered, the masked man simply held out the page in his hand.

“If approval is such a necessity, I’ll get it right now. Though I’m not sure the Dean would appreciate being woken up at 2 a.m.”

If he had truly woken the Dean, the man would’ve gladly approved his visit without grumbling. However, if he went back and mentioned that he had been forced from the council room to wake the man up for a single warning, I’d have a rather annoying meeting to deal with tomorrow.

At this rate, sleep would have to wait until after the reprimand.

Not paying much mind to his bleeding wrist, he only urged the paper into my hands.

“You should take a look at it. Seems urgent.”

With a slanted glimpse his way, I flipped the page to read the three lines that immediately damned our next week.

It is here.

I’m sorry.

I didn’t mean for this to happen.

That can’t be good.

Trouble was already on the horizon.

With a sigh, I neatly folded the page and picked a few of our teddy-bear-themed bandages from a nearby drawer.

“Any idea when this was submitted?”

He stayed silent, head tilted down to stare at the olive branch, or Band-Aid, I held out for him.

His suspicion was warranted. I wouldn’t exactly trust the one who had stabbed me to patch me up as well.

“...No.”

That fit.

This being our first conversation ever, I had more questions than answers. Answers that I shouldn’t want. Ones with the ability to upend our present as it was.

So I settled for the reasonable ones. Knowing too much, especially in Thornehall, never ended well.

“This was in the Mask’s assembly room?”

He nodded once.

The silence stretched, heavy and strange, like the pause before something breaks.

And in that fragile stillness, I realized:

If it had been found in the Mask Assembly’s office, then a lot more was at stake.

There had been a potential break-in.

Into a place surrounded by more protection spells and warnings than the troubled summoning spots on campus.

Though the unusual delivery man was already enough to alert anyone in the know of the situation. The location and the circumstances surrounding this note were... dire, to say the least.

Someone had broken in.

Left an ominous note for the heirs to find.

...And started something we’d have to end.

Not to mention the ominous deliverer.

Black Gravemire.

The heir to the Gravemire family. The wearer of the Black Mask. Hence the alias: Black.

He stood perfectly still, gloved hand resting at his side as if the shallow cut on his wrist were a mere inconvenience rather than proof that I’d almost stabbed him. The dim lamplight gleamed against the hard planes of his mask, fractured by the faint gouges where his eyes should have been. They weren’t holes, just deep ridges carved into the metal.

“And I suppose none of your other members knows anything about it?”

I dropped my voice to a near whisper. Silas shifted on the couch, muttering incoherently in his sleep.

If any of them woke up to find an heir of the founding families in our council room at two in the morning, the same room they had once jokingly called our sanctuary, there would be chaos.

“I haven’t heard.”

His tone was quiet.

He wasn’t lying, but he wasn’t saying everything, either.

He watched me patch the shallow wound I’d caused, as if the motion itself were something fascinating. His attention made my skin prickle, but I ignored it, focusing on peeling the backing off the teddy-bear Band-Aid.

The absurdity of it, a man more than a head taller than me being treated with teddy-bear bandages, wasn’t lost on me.

“Hold still,” I murmured.

He obeyed, though I felt the subtle tension in his arm, a reminder that this was less an act of trust and more one of curiosity.

When I pressed the bandage against his skin, he tilted his head slightly.

“You patch up the people you stab?”

“Only when they bleed on my floor.”

The retort slipped out before I could stop it.

If he was amused, he didn’t show it again.

“This was found in the Mask Assembly’s office?” I repeated, not only for confirmation but also to drive home the complications in this scenario.

His nodded response had me resisting a sigh.

A break-in. Into the Assembly’s chamber, the one place more heavily warded than the Dean’s private sanctum. That kind of intrusion wasn’t merely bold. It was impossible. Or at least, it should’ve been.

Unless, of course, someone inside had allowed it...

I stopped my train of thought.

Some things were better left unsaid.

There were other peculiarities to be focused on.

Usually the one who led the Masks and spoke to us was the heir to the leading family, Vaerinox. Unlike the rest, the heir of Vaerinox wore a blend of all colors. A silent proclamation that he was above the rest.

We gave him a fitting name. Rainbow.

And he had been the only Mask to ever speak in our presence.

Black Gravemire... had never spoken.

Until tonight. There was something wrong about that.

“You’re certain no one saw the intruder?”

His silence was answer enough. I leaned back against my desk, tapping my knuckles against the wood to keep myself awake.

The weariness that had been dull and steady earlier was now sharp and intrusive, amplified by the conversation’s weight.

“I see. Thank you for the warning. We’ll look into it tomorrow.”

I turned away to resume sorting the reports. The note in my pocket seemed to burn against my thigh, three short lines that carried more threat than a paragraph ever could.

I heard his footsteps shift. He hadn’t left.

“May I help you?”

“Isn’t it urgent?”

His question was pointed.

“No. This is the usual.”

“Usual?”

He tilted his head in the same observing way as before. I sighed before answering.

“Paranoia is common in Thornehall. Everyone sees omens in shadows when they study curses for too long.”

He didn’t reply. Instead, he wandered closer, fingers brushing over one of the shelves that lined the wall.

“You shouldn’t be here,” I said finally, earning a mere shrug in response.

That was the trouble with Masks. They moved like they owned the air. And inside the academy, they most likely did.

“May I know if there’s anything else I can help you with?”

“...You’ve been spry in dealing with prior cases... but you seem more lax now.”

The statement landed cold.

I froze.

The noose around my neck tightened.

He was testing me.

The air felt colder. I could hear Silas’s slow breathing behind me, Marcus’s faint snore, two reminders of how fragile this peace was. If either of them woke, if they saw this man standing here, the silent peace would fracture.

“The process differs for each.”

My voice came out even, calm.

“And while I wouldn’t mind rushing into whatever this note may be pointing toward, the fact remains that my council and I have just wrapped up a week-long case and require rest.”

He made a low sound and reached for Silas’s pen, spinning it idly between his fingers. The motion was smooth, practiced.

“Is that all?” he asked, clearly more curious than anything else. Maybe because none of the Masks had ever seen our investigation procedure up close before.

“I’ll fill out the request form for permission to investigate tonight and ask the guards to keep watch. Once they bring back something of substance, we’ll act on it immediately, given that our request gets approved first thing this week.”

He paused his fidgeting.

“So it all comes back to the request form.”

“Yes.”

“Very well, then.”

He straightened. The faintest sound of leather brushing fabric marked the motion.

“I’ll have it approved.”

What?

That startled me out of my exhaustion.

“No need.”

He tilted his head, expression unreadable beneath the blackened steel.

“Pardon the harshness, but your presence will only complicate things in the long run.”

He shrugged, placed Silas’s pen back down, and walked to the door.

A simple wave of his hand was all I got before the door shut behind him.

Only then did I realize I’d been holding my breath.

The silence he left behind was oppressive, almost tangible.

The flickering light above hummed faintly. I pressed my fingers against my temple, trying to ease the tension clawing its way up my spine.

“What is it?”

The sleepy drawl nearly made me jump.

Silas sat up on the couch, hair sticking in every direction, eyes half-lidded.

“Just the reports,” I said, shrugging and gesturing toward the twenty that still remained.

He frowned, rubbing his eyes.

“What time is it?”

I glanced at the clock and grimaced.

“Almost three.”

“What?”

Standing in a hurry, he clutched his head with a groan and waited for the dizzy spell to subside.

“Let’s finish this quickly, Faye. You gotta get some rest too.”

Nodding, I mumbled my thanks.

Not mentioning the note that rested heavy in my pocket and the person who had been there just moments ago.

Hi everyone!

Here’s an image that’s kind of similar to what I’m hoping for. Except the mask covers their whole face.



And here's a layout of their Council Room to make imagining scenes easier. In reality, it's less spacious than this XD.

Doing the best I can with powerpoint.