"I earned it? How?" My voice cracked. I could feel tears threatening to spill. I was never good at arguments—this was how it always ended: me, falling apart.
"Have you even asked how I've been? How I'm coping with this power I never wanted? One that was forced on me because of you! You were the one who wanted us to visit the school in the first place! You brought this curse! You rot everything you touch, Zinnia. You destroy every place you go!" Her voice trembled with rage, and the moment the words left her mouth, she froze. She knew she'd gone too far.
The fire in me died instantly. It was like someone poured cold water over burning coals. My heart dropped. I couldn't believe my best friend thought I was poison. I didn't even have the strength to argue. "You shouldn't have come to help me then," I muttered.
She reached for me, maybe to apologize, maybe to take it back. I stepped back. "Go away. Go live your perfect life. Forget I ever existed." My voice broke as I folded my arms, trying to hold the pieces together.
This wasn't our first fight, but it had never felt like this—this much hate, this much hurt. I wanted to scream at her, force her to take it all back. I wanted to hit her and then hug her, just so I could cry in her arms. But I didn't move.
She glanced at Liam, who remained silent. "What? Are you going to give me a lecture too?" she snapped, then stormed toward the exit. "If anyone follows me, I swear it'll be your last day!" she shouted without looking back. Liam shrugged innocently "What did I do?"
We heard shouting again—more fighting. Liam went to check it out. Shawn placed a hand on my shoulder and whispered, "She loves you, you know."
I nodded, trying to swallow the sobs. "She didn't mean it. I know."
"I've seen her panic for you, Zinnia. Maybe this power's messing with her head." He was still speaking when more yelling drew our attention.
We realized the entire hall had broken into chaos. Students were fighting in every corner.
"Or maybe something else is messing with everyone's head," Shawn said, eyes narrowing.
We noticed a few students standing apart from the crowd, calm and confused. Upon asking, a girl with short curly hair told us she hadn't had any drinks, and neither had the others standing with her.
Liam, lost in the crowd trying to break up fights, had been pulled into one himself. Shawn dashed off to confront the bartender while I grabbed the mic from the dj and shouted over the blaring music.
"Stop fighting! All of you, listen to me!" Silence fell. "Or you'll regret it later!"
Someone in the back shouted, "Why should we care what you say?"
"Because if you don't, I'll freeze every one of you. Don't forget who I am." I met his eyes, steady and cold.
Shawn returned and leaned in, whispering something. I turned to the crowd.
"Someone spiked the drinks. Whatever's in it—it's making us fight each other. Whether it's a distraction or a joke, it ends now!"
Whispers rippled through the room. No one seemed suspicious, but the fear settled.
"Please, stay inside," I said and gave the mic back. Then we went with the bartender in the wine storage. He confirmed someone had broken into the supply room. We asked for a sample to show Mrs. Leonardo.
But before we left, I saw something on the ground just outside—Cris's necklace I gave when we were little.
But she? She was gone.
I rushed to the head office, trembling, and handed over the sample and the necklace. Mrs. Leonardo examined them carefully, then told us to return to our rooms.
Later, in my room, the guilt tore at me.
"This is all my fault," I said, burying my face in my hands.
"No, it's not," Liam said gently. "She probably feels just as awful as you do."
I turned to Shawn. "Why didn't the drink affect you?"
Before he could answer, footsteps approached. The door was already open, and Mrs. Leonardo stepped inside, followed by Ryan holding a tray with three small glasses of green liquid.
"You won't like this," she said, "but you need to drink it."
"I'm fine," Shawn said, but then downed it anyway. He clutched his stomach, trying to play it off.
Liam drank it without flinching.
Shawn stared at him. "How are you so calm?"
"I was raised on corn," Liam deadpanned. "No salt, no sugar."
"Who eats corn with sugar?" Shawn groaned, then ran to the bathroom and retched.
Mrs. Leonardo sat with us. "We're investigating what's happening and why students are disappearing."
"I'm coming with you," I said, standing.
"You won't," she replied calmly.
"I wasn't asking." I downed the drink in one gulp. My lips went numb. I collapsed onto the bed.
"Neither was I," she said softly, already leaving the room.
As I drifted out, I saw Liam slump beside me. When I woke up, he sat upright, dazed.
"I think we got—" I was still speaking when he cut me off.
"Drugged," Liam finished for me.
"Where's Shawn?" I sat up fast.
"Guys?" His voice echoed from the bathroom. We peeked in and found him lying in the tub, legs hanging out, waving like it was completely normal.
We didn't wait. We headed straight for the head office. We weren't there for explanations. We already knew the truth. The potion had cleared our minds.
"We need to talk about Cris," I told Mrs. Leonardo.
"You're wrong about Robin," she said. "She's rude, but she's not a killer. She's missing too. The night Maddie vanished. Every time a student disappears, we find their belongings left behind—almost like a calling card."
"Is there a serial killer among us?" Shawn squinted.
Liam approached the desk. "Can I see the items?"
She handed over a box. Liam pulled the items out, one by one, then froze. "No... no, no, no." He backed away, pale.
"What is it?" I asked, stepping forward, but he didn't answer. He turned and walked out.
"What happened to him?" Mrs. Leonardo looked at me.
Shawn stayed silent, staring at the objects. "Do you have a magnet?"
"Magnet or Magnetic Item?" She scanned the drawers.
"Anything would work as long as it attracts metal such as iron!" He urged.
"Shawn! Your phone!" I exclaimed.
"Right!" He took his phone out and hovered the speaker side over the items. Every single one responded.
"They're metal," he said, voice low. "All of them."
He looked up. "Our enemy is a she. And she's not Robin."
"Who is she?" Mrs. Leonardo asked.
Shawn stepped back. "Obscure. We're in grave danger."
His voice cracked as he said it. The thought that *Obscure* had taken Cris made his skin crawl—made mine burn.
And I...
I knew nothing.
I'd never asked what they went through. Never asked what she saw. What she survived.
But it was too late.
So back in the room, I turned to Shawn. Demanded the truth.
He told me. Every brutal, breathless detail.
By the end, I couldn't speak.
I covered my mouth, choking back a cry.
Cris was gone. I may never see her again.
Then the sound came—
A deep, shattering crack.
We ran.
Cris's door had exploded. Bricks warped, shifting to create a wall, covering the frame.
Within seconds, it disappeared.
As if it had never been there.
Ryan stood still, his voice a whisper:
"The door collapses when a student leaves this world."
I'd heard it before.
But not like this.
Not when it was *her*.
I couldn't breathe.
"I wanted to say sorry!" I screamed—at Ryan, at the door, at the silence, at myself.
Everything I should've said. Everything I never would now.
Too late.
She was gone.
To be continued...