InsaneJournal

Judge Burnbridge was out already this morning, and one of the menservants showed him upstairs towards Fabian's study. He knew his way already, so hardly needed to be show the way, but when he entered the room he was surprised that Fabian wasn't already there. He frowned, setting down his book bag on the table and looking about. There was no sign of the boy, or that the little study had been used yet that day. Everything was still neatly put away as it had been by maids. And then he heard voices down the hall, the voice of the Burnbrige's housekeeper.

He frowned, stepping out the room and glancing down the corridor, following the sound. It seemed to be coming from one particular room, and he tapped carefully on the door before opening it. Fabian was there, in front of a roaring fire, even though the weather was hardly cold outside. He seemed paler, shivery, wrapped only in sheets, naked aside of that. Reuben felt his pulse quicken and his mouth dry and he felt disgusted with himself. Instead, he stepped into the room, the thick steam clearing his mind but making breathing difficult.  "Fabian?" He asked, glancing from the boy laid before the fire to the large tin bath, ice-cubes floating about in the water. "Fabian, what's wrong?"