The end of the matter. For the moment

"All right then." Diana stands up without further fuss. "Get some sleep girls, we have orientation tomorrow; I know you went through this last year but there are some important changes that you need to be aware of." She makes eye contact with you before moving to the door and you have no doubt that she is not done with you.

You follow Ms. Naylor through the common area at the top of the stairs. Now that you are not hurrying to the rescue, you have time to take in the tiled floors, curtained window bays and murals that cover the walls of the stairwell. This dormitory looks more like a museum than a place to house almost sixty college students. As you follow Diana down the sweeping stairwell you become self-conscious about your bare feet and torso. Unlike last night, Ms. Naylor is wearing pajamas under her robe, but she looks as elegant as ever even with her hair held loosely over her right shoulder.

Once on the first floor, you turn to the right and make your way towards your rooms. Diana, as you suspected, is not done with you. She waits outside her door for you to reach her side.

"A word, please Mr. Hawkfeather?" You follow her into her office without protest. You have nothing to apologize for, nothing at all. As you enter her office she turns the lights on before leaning against her desk with her arms folded in obvious displeasure.

"I've got to say I'm concerned to find you upstairs, half-dressed surrounded by a bevy of students."

"One of the students was screaming bloody ****, Diana." You defend yourself, "what did you want me to do?"

"I appreciate your need to be a hero, Kyle," at least you are on a first name basis, even if you are being chewed out, "but this isn't a war zone. This is neither the first nor the last time that a student will have a nightmare and you can't go charging around like you're in a video game."

The more you think about what you just witnessed, the less you believe that Chanel had woken from her slumber by a nightmare. Too many pieces didn't quite fit, although you are still working out what is bothering you and don't have a shred of evidence to support any of your suspicions.