LOGINAvaThe first thing I heard was a low, tired voice, reading words I couldn't quite catch yet. My body felt heavy under the sheets, pinning me to the bed. I could hear the steady rasp of my own breathing. My open eyes blinked dryly in the dim light.I opened my eyes wider. A small, pale room with a c
AvaDad let go of the shackle and sat back, his face relaxing from the concentration. He was quiet for a long moment. Then his eyes met mine."Baby," he said gently, "do you want to know what happened?"Something in his tone made my chest tighten. I had a feeling that this was a truth I wasn't ready
AvaHe stepped out of the blackness, edging closer, until I could finally see him. Unbelievable. He was so young, the age he was when...when he died. His warm brown eyes, both of them, looked at me with a fond smile.I stared, my mouth hanging open, unable to make a sound. My dad. Standing in front
LeviI settled into the chair by her bed and took her hand in mine, rubbing my thumb over the back of it. "Hey, Ava. It's Levi," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "I just talked to Sofia. We had some things to say to each other."I sat there, rubbing her hand, trying to find the words Maya and
LeviI sat with my father in his room, a week after Hilda's funeral. Some families had already packed up and left the pack after becoming human. Others had stayed, unsure of where else to go.My father wheezed beside me, the hiss of his oxygen tank an ever-present sound now. He was thinner, frail, h
MayaI zipped Sofia's dress as best I could with my good hand. The collar was tricky. I fiddled clumsily with the small metal fastening. "There, perfect," I said, releasing the dress and stepping back.Sofia blinked hard at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was pulled back in a neat bun. The dr
SofiaThe girls’ bathroom on this floor always smelled like one of those dollar store air fresheners that was supposed to cover up something much worse and only made it more noticeable, like a perfume-laced corpse.I guided Ava there with a hand under her elbow. She didn’t resist, but she didn’t wal
SofiaBeen back on a school ground, it reminded me of how time had a way of falling apart—classes would go on, papers getting assigned, even saw some other poor bastard throw up in the lounge at two a.m., but inside our dorm room it was always the same hour: frozen, sterile, an two degrees colder th
SofiaI listened to the monitors. I listened to the laughter in the hallway, someone’s music playing down the corridor, the dull thud of a party three doors over. Normal college sounds. Normal life happening all around us.I thought about reaching for Ava’s hand, maybe lacing our fingers together li
SofiaThe hallway snapped back to silent the instant the RA pivoted and left us behind.Hilda’s face hadn’t changed, but her whole posture did—her arms slack, hands open, eyes shifting from Ava (my back, actually) to me and back again. Her body radiated restraint, like she was holding herself in che







