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
CASSAINI'm awake before she is, I always wake up to her intoxicating smell first.Her shape under covers stirs slightly, limbs caught mid-dream struggle. Evelessa lies still now, turned toward the wall, fabric twisted at her feet as if pulled too tight during restless hours. Air hangs without soun
EVELLESSA“Stop pacing.”My foot hangs in the air as I turn sharp eyes toward Aretha. "Pacing isn’t what I’m doing."“You’ve crossed the room twelve times,” she says, sitting cross-legged on my bed, scrolling through her phone. “If this were a crime scene, there’d be footprints.”“I’m thinking.”“Y
EVELLESSAI wake up warm and cosy as I stretch in bliss, for one stupid, half-asleep second, I forget everything.Then I feel it.An arm around my waist and a very pronounced hard on poking my behind and my body freezes as I suddenly remember that I am with Cassain.He is breathing slow and even al
CASSAINI keep my hand lightly on her back as I guide her toward my car not because I don’t want to touch her but because if I do it the way I want to, I won’t stop at all.“Aretha,” I say without turning, already opening the passenger door for Eve. “Give us some space.” She means well and she shar







