LOGINALEXANDER “This is getting ridiculous.”“That’s your opening line?” Alexis shoots back.“It’s accurate.”“It’s lazy.”I glance at her.“You’re alive, aren’t you? Be grateful I’m not opening with something worse.”She rolls her eyes.“Focus.”“I am focused.”“No,” she says, scanning the crowd ahead of us, “you’re irritated.”“Same thing.”“Not even close.”I exhale slowly.Because she’s right.Again.Annoying.But right.The campus is too full.And that’s exactly the problem.Because under all these movement and voices.There’s something else.Something wrong.“You feel it?” I ask.“Yes.”“How many?”She tilts her head slightly.Listening.Not with her ears.With something deeper.“More than three,” she says.“Less than ten.”“Spread out?”“Yes.”“Organized?”A pause.“…no.”That makes me frown.Because disorganized threats?They’re harder to predict.Harder to control.Harder to contain.“They’re testing again,” I mutter.“Not testing,” Alexis corrects quietly.“Escalating.”Of cours
LIRA"Arrghhh"I know it before the pain even starts.Before the tightening.Before the shift inside me that doesn’t feel like movement but it t feels like awakening.I pause mid-step.The hallway stretches too long in front of me.Too quiet.Too still.“Aristotle,” I call.He stops immediately.Turns.Sees my face.And everything in him sharpens.“What is it?”I inhale.But it doesn’t help.“It’s early.”“How early?”“Too early.”Silence.The pain hits.It’s not gradual.It doesn’t build.It strikes.Sharp.Violent.Like something inside me just clawed its way forward—Demanding space.Demanding control.I gasp.My knees nearly buckle but "It hurts so bad." I hyperventilate“Hey...”Aristotle is in front of me instantly.Hands on my arms.Steady.Firm.Not panicking.Thank God he's not because I might actually lose control.“It’s happening,” I say through clenched teeth.“No,” he replies immediately.“It’s not supposed to—”“I didn’t ask what it’s supposed to do,” I snap.“I’m telli
LIRA"Arrghhh"I know it before the pain even starts.Before the tightening.Before the shift inside me that doesn’t feel like movement but it t feels like awakening.I pause mid-step.The hallway stretches too long in front of me.Too quiet.Too still.“Aristotle,” I call.He stops immediately.Turns.Sees my face.And everything in him sharpens.“What is it?”I inhale.But it doesn’t help.“It’s early.”“How early?”“Too early.”Silence.The pain hits.It’s not gradual.It doesn’t build.It strikes.Sharp.Violent.Like something inside me just clawed its way forward—Demanding space.Demanding control.I gasp.My knees nearly buckle but "It hurts so bad." I hyperventilate“Hey...”Aristotle is in front of me instantly.Hands on my arms.Steady.Firm.Not panicking.Thank God he's not because I might actually lose control.“It’s happening,” I say through clenched teeth.“No,” he replies immediately.“It’s not supposed to—”“I didn’t ask what it’s supposed to do,” I snap.“I’m telli
ARISTOTLE “You’re staring.”“I’m calculating.”Lira doesn’t even look at me.“Of course you are,” she mutters.We’re walking through the eastern ridge at night and she isn’t really pleased with me.“You’re overthinking,” she adds.“I always overthink.”“And yet you still make reckless decisions.”I smirk.“Only when it matters.”That earns me a glance.Sharp.Assessing.Still not fully trusting.My gaze drops briefly to her stomach which is very much advanced now.“You’re doing it again,” she says.“Doing what?”“Thinking too loud.”“I don’t think out loud.”“You do around me.”“…that’s unfortunate.”She almost smiles.Almost.“Relax,” I say after a moment.“We’re close.”“To what?” she asks.“To safety.”She stops walking.I don’t.Not immediately.But I feel it.The hesitation.The resistance.So I turn.Look at her.Really look.“You trust them?” she asks.“Yes.”“Completely?”“Yes.”“You trust anyone completely?”I tilt my head slightly.“Very few.”“And they’re among them?”“Yes
ARENA"No, I won’t go down this way....not in this life."I don’t scream.Not because it doesn’t hurt.Not because I’m not falling.But because I refuse to give her that satisfaction.Wind tears past my ears.Violent.Relentless.The cliff disappears above me, sky shrinking.Darkness risingThere’s silence.Pain explodes in my ribs.Everything shatters—Bone.Breath.Thought.I hit rock—Hard—Then roll again until I stop.Broken.Twisted.Still.Silence.Heavy.Crushing.I lie there.Unable to move.Unable to breathe properly.“Pathetic.”The voice slithers through the air.Cold.Familiar.Not mine.Never mine.But always there.I close my eyes.“I didn’t lose,” I rasp.“You fell.”“I slipped.”“You failed.”My fingers twitch.Barely.But enough.“I’m not dead.”A soft laugh.Dark.Satisfied.“Not yet.”Something shifts.Around me.Through me.Inside me.The shadow moves.Not gently.Not kindly.It forces itself deeper.Wrapping.Binding.Fixing.Breaking and rebuilding.My back arch
ALEXIS“I’m doing it.”Silence.“No.”I roll my eyes.“That wasn’t a discussion, Aretha.”“It should be,” she snaps, arms folded. “You don’t just wake up and decide to enter a talent hunt like it’s a normal day.”“It is a normal day.”“Nothing about you is normal.”“Thank you,” I reply sweetly.“That wasn’t a compliment.”“I still accept it.”Alexander leans against the wall, watching us like this is mildly entertaining.“You’re both missing the point,” he says.“Oh good,” I mutter. “He’s about to say something annoyingly logical.”He smirks slightly.“I always do.”“Say it,” I sigh.“If she wants attention,” he continues, nodding toward me, “this is the fastest way to get it.”“Exactly,” I say.Aretha groans.“That’s the problem.”“No,” I correct, stepping forward.“That’s the bait.”Silence.Immediate.Because now—Now they understand.“You’re drawing them out,” Alexander says.“Yes.”“Using yourself.”“Yes.”“Reckless.”“Effective.”“And if something goes wrong?” Aretha asks quietl
CASSAIN For a few seconds I just sit there staring at her as she sits comfortably on my lap in the passenger seat like she didn’t just casually reveal she went to visit the one man I trust less than a snake in a room full of rats.Her silver hair glows faintly under the parking lot lights.Her bar
CASSAIN Hockey is quite simple; you skate, you fight, and you win. That’s the rule. At least it used to be. Today, everything feels wrong. The arena is already roaring when I walk into the locker room. The noise of over eighty thousand fans resounds through the concrete walls like distant th
CASSAIN "Why exactly am I doing this again Lucian?" He laughs "Because your mother says if you don't she'd have you by your balls and she meant it." I chuckle and adjust my jacket slightly then sit. The moderator nods. “Thank you all for coming. Cassain will answer a few questions regarding t
EVELESSA "Where is Koel? Who did he go out with?"A mother always knows somewhere deep inside the bones when something is wrong.I wake up before dawn, my heart pounding like I’ve just run a mile.For a second I don’t know why.Then I feel it."Get up now." Aretha says and I sit wide awake.Somet







