That night was tough.  After the Headmaster aired all of Ambrose's laundry for everyone to hear, Caleb found it hard to sleep.  He was worried.  He wanted to go after Ambrose but in his current condition, he was unable to do so.  He remembered Sam telling him to give Ambrose time, let him mull things over.  One thing Caleb learned was that the Headmaster had ways of getting through to people and using it as a lesson to be learned.  He was in the hospital bed looking out the window wondering what would happen the next day, wondering if another life would be snuffed out like a candle flame.  Thoughts plagued his mind, but none more so than the well being of Ambrose.  He prayed that he was okay but he wondered what was going through his mind.  He had never seen the Headmaster read into someone like that before, it was scary to witness, but he was sure it was even more terrifying to be on the receiving end.

Sam spent most of the night with Ariana in the forbidden section of the library, but it was becoming harder to pinpoint exactly what the creature was.  Neither of them had seen it yet, but perhaps if they could trap it or lure it to see for themselves they would be able to come up with a plan to get rid of it.  Ariana was tired and Sam decided to let her spend the night in her dorm.

Caleb eventually fell asleep with his mind on Ambrose.  He would go check on him first thing in the morning.  

The sun rose filling the sky with light.  The smell of breakfast filled the cafe and the halls leading to it.  Caleb's eyes slowly opened but his arm quickly shot up to shield his eyes from the invading sun.  He groaned as he crawled out of the infirmary bed and made his way to the shower.  He was good to be able to move again, but he was careful not to agitate his healing wounds.  When he emerged from the shower the Headmaster was waiting for him.

"My guess is you need clothes right?" He said holding a pair of pants, underwear and a shirt.  Caleb smiled and walked slowly over to the bed to grab the clothes.  

"Thank you," he said as he pulled on the shirt.  He only had a towel wrapped around him and a shirt was welcome as was the underwear he pulled on before dropping the towel and pulling on the pants.  "Dad, why did you do what you did yesterday?"

"Oh, you're talking about my assessment of your boyfriend?" 

"He's...He's not my boyfriend," Caleb replied sitting on the edge of the bed.

"But that's not stopping you from going to check on him this early in the morning is it?" the Headmaster replied causing Caleb to sigh.

"I like him okay, it's just he doesn't like me so it's pointless," Caleb said looking up at the Headmaster who shook his head.

"Hmmm," he said strolling over to the door that led into the room.  "He's been through a lot Caleb, help him overcome, help him find resolve over his inner demons.  If you can do that you may have a chance."

Caleb shrugged his shoulders and stood up as the Headmaster left him alone.  The walk to Ambrose's room was a long and tiring one, but when he stood in front of the door, he knocked soundly and waited.

[@Catmint]