Going back to my regular life–relatively speaking–wasn’t easy.

It was night by the time I made it back and, to be honest, I didn’t feel like going back to my room. Odds were that Sadid would be in there with some guy or girl, maybe both, doing things that were definitely not safe for work.

So I found myself standing in front of my dorm room, staring at the empty hallway. Music and voices could be heard from most of the other rooms. For a minute I thought about going to Sofie’s, but I couldn’t do that. Not right now at least.

I ended up going upstairs. There were a couple of people partying in the living room, but the classroom, which comprised most of the left wing of the mansion, was empty. Nobody went there after hours.

It led to the office-slash-room of Professor Mystic, and they didn’t want to risk him waking up and shutting them down.

All of that to say, I would be alone there, and able to sleep through the night. I just had to set up an early time for my alarm, and I would be set to go. And it worked. I managed to sleep at about ten and woke up at around six.

A literal full night’s sleep, and I was back in my dorm room where Sadid was just putting on his shirt. And while I didn’t want to see him wearing only a shirt and underwear, he was thankfully alone.

“Hey man,” he said, looking through his wardrobe. “Sorry I keep locking you out. I promise this is the last time.”

“It’s fine.” It wasn’t. Not really. But I also knew his circumstances, or at least a barebones version. That was one of the things I hadn’t ever forgotten. And while that shouldn’t be enough to let him push me over, I did.

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It was kind of funny actually. I was annoyed with him, I’d always been annoyed with him, but I wasn’t as angry as I used to be. With the whole Macquoid situation sorted out, it was like my head was lighter. My thoughts were clearer. Clearer than they had been even before that situation.

“So, you slept at Sofie’s?”

“No, I-I crashed at a friend’s.”

“Just so you know, there was a girl looking for you,” he said suggestively. He pulled a pear of jeans from his closet, turning to me suggestively. “I have to say I tried flirting with her a bit, but she wanted only you.”

“Oh? Did she have a name?” I said as casually as I could. My brain flashed me images of Birgit, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up.

“Yeah,” he said, like it was obvious she did. “And a darn weird one too. It was like Bigrit? Brigit? Bi-”

“Birgit.” I said it under my breath but it was enough to stop him.

“Yeah, that was it!”

“I have to go.” Before I was even fully out of the room I had my phone out, calling Ahmed. Who was not picking up, damn it. Voicemail it was then. “Call Kent Smith, or at least gather whoever you trust. Call me as soon as you get this message.”

It was hard. I knew Charles well enough to be scared of any surprises. Especially since, even though I have my memories of both my lives, I still didn’t remember how he brought me back to life, or even how he made me lose my memory now.

He always had the game stacked in his favour. I hoped that by resolving things within myself we’d be able to get the drop on him, but I underestimated him. We were idiots to think he wouldn’t expect that–or at least plan for it.

Of course, there was always a chance I was wrong. Still, I couldn’t risk it.

I practically ran all the way to the train station, hurriedly getting a ticket and getting on the next train for the fifth mansion.

And I stood in front of it once more, looking up at it. It somehow looked even more intimidating this time. I took a deep breath, and I went in.