"Pick two, Sandra," Tracy grinned as she glanced at Lisandra, who immediately frowned, staring down at the recently played card—a number '2' printed at both the top and bottom.
"God, I hate this game," Lisandra groaned with a scowl before reluctantly reaching for the deck and picking up the required number of cards.
"Says the loser," Ashley laughed, playing a red '4' to continue the sequence.
"Star? Really? Ugh," Tracy complained when she realized she didn't possess the shape Ashley had just played. To avoid drawing more cards, she placed down a special card she had been saving for an emergency. "I need... Circle," she announced after playing her 'I need' card, then glanced at Lisandra with a deliberate, knowing look.
Lisandra glared absolute hellfire at Tracy before proceeding to pick up yet another card, as she didn't have the requested shape in her hand.
"Oh dear, do I have circle, ummm," Ashley made an exaggerated expression of confusion, pursing her lips in mock deep thought. She glanced at Tracy, who instantly felt a familiar dread wash over her.
"No, please," Tracy grimaced as Ashley began sorting through the three separate stacks of cards in her hand.
"I am SO sorry, sweetheart, but pick six," Ashley announced with a sinister laugh as she dropped a combination of cards that forced the maximum draw penalty.
"ARGH!" Tracy rolled on the ground in pure frustration. After everything she had done to avoid picking up cards, she had ended up stacking a whole six all at once!
While the three young women played their boisterous card game in one corner of the common room, something entirely different was unfolding at a nearby table.
"A bipedal Ferosis," Jason answered with a huge grin spreading across his face, confident in his answer.
Angelica glanced at him, then back at the slip of paper she had written on, and finally, back at him before a genuine smile broke through her expression. "Correct," she confirmed, showing him the content of the paper.
"Don't underestimate me, Angelica. I do read, you know," he flaunted with a playful smirk, and she nodded in acknowledgment.
"You're so right. How can I forget what a genius you are? You've got me all figured out," she said, raising her hands in mock surrender before smoothly standing up. Jason frowned slightly; he recognized this particular movement pattern.
"Since you are so smart, you should be able to answer this simple question," she purred. Her finger slowly glided across the table surface as she approached him. When she reached his position, she didn't stop in front of him but walked around and stood directly behind his chair.
"What question?" Jason asked, despite being the number one victim of her constant antics and relentless teasing. He knew exactly what was coming. But here's the thing: knowing you were going to die on Friday didn't automatically mean you would survive just because you had advance warning. That was the exact situation he found himself in right now.
"What is that essential thing that all humans cannot do without?" she breathed directly into his ear. One of her hands began lightly tracing his chest, while the other made a two-finger walking motion that traveled down from his shoulder to his forearm and back up again.
"F-food?" Jason, who was now under immense pressure, found it quite difficult to concentrate on the actual color of the ceiling.
"Oh? So you know. Well, that's good," she praised, her voice dropping to that deliberate, intimate tone. "A young man needs food to grow fully into a man, and you certainly need it, too." Her head came to rest lightly on his shoulder as she spoke.
"So?" Jason prompted, knowing he was walking straight into whatever trap she had meticulously set.
She grinned at his question, then held his chin with her other hand, forcing him to turn and look directly into her eyes. "My— OUCH!" She was about to finish her reply when a hand suddenly grabbed her by the hair and yanked her backward with force.
"Annabelle," she groaned in immediate irritation, rubbing her scalp.
"You horny bitch, stop trying to seduce him already! At this point, if you both are left alone for just five minutes, you might end up r@ping him!" Anna glared at Angelica, who was aggressively attempting to fix her suddenly disheveled hair.
"So what if I do? It's not like he would mind," Angelica said casually, then turned to look at Jason, who had no idea how to join this conversation or escape from it. "Right, Jay? You wouldn't mind, would you?" She purred, biting her lower lip in that deliberate, provocative way of hers.
Jason froze for a moment before regaining his composure and giving an unnecessary, clearing cough to buy himself time. "What is this 'rape' word again? I've been hearing it a lot recently, but I don't know what it means," he asked. Anna rolled her eyes dramatically, while Angelica just shrugged off the question.
"Oh~ Silly me. How could I forget? You probably have never had someone explain its meaning in detail," she said, shaking her head in what appeared to be staged pity. "But don't you worry. I will take it upon myself to enlighten you. I won't stop until it's carved into your brain, and you fully understand it," she grinned, already moving back toward him before he could fully process the renewed threat.
"Guys," a voice suddenly interrupted them. They all turned toward Lisandra, who was lying flat on the floor after suffering a bitter defeat in the card game.
"Is it just me, or has Selene finally gone crazy?" she asked, leaning forward on her elbows to glance at all of them.
"Wait, don't tell me she approached you too," Ashley started to say, dropping her cards. Lisandra gave her a completely blank look in response.
"Approached? She practically attacked me," Lisandra corrected sharply, and the mood in the room immediately shifted as every smile vanished, replaced by a deep frown.
"Okay, this is getting out of hand," Tracy added, sitting up with genuine concern in her voice.
"What's she mad about this time?" Anna asked, joining the conversation, but the three card players stared at her as if she were an idiot for even asking the question.
"What?" Anna shifted uncomfortably, disturbed by the judgmental looks they were giving her.
"What else would Selene bother us for if not that treacherous scum?" Lisandra stated, using the obvious tone one would use when stating a fact of nature.
Tracy gave an exasperated sigh before adding, "At this point, I am fully convinced he used some kind of mind control on her because it makes zero sense why she would like that fool so much." She let herself fall back to the ground, her lips pursed as she blew on a few stray strands of hair that had fallen across her face.
"Like?" Lisandra suddenly sat up straight and sent Tracy a dry look. "Girl, that bitch is obsessed. Obsessed with a capital O," she said, massaging her neck to ease the sudden tension there.
"And crazy. Don't forget crazy," Ashley added with a cold, annoyed expression.
"Wait, what exactly happened?" Jason interjected, his voice cutting through the banter. Lisandra sat up properly before glancing his way to find him looking genuinely concerned about the situation.
"After the club yesterday, I was heading back to my dorm when she suddenly showed up from nowhere, spewing nonsense about what we said happened to Eren not being what really happened. Then she attacked me," Lisandra explained with a weary sigh, rolling her shoulder to ease the stiffness. "I don't know if it's me who's gotten rusty, or if she's grown to a whole new level of strength," she continued with a thoughtful frown. "If a senior hadn't intervened at that critical moment, she would have seriously injured me."
Jason's frown deepened at that revelation. "I... think I should talk to her myself. Maybe she would listen to me," he suggested, though his tone was far from confident.
Lisandra just sighed and laid back down on the ground. "Don't bother with her, Jay. She's just throwing a tantrum. It'll be over soon."
Angelica, who had been quiet throughout this entire exchange with her face resting comfortably on Jason's chest, suddenly looked up. "By the way, where's Anna?" she asked.
Just then, everyone else in the room noticed her absence as well, because she had definitely been there just moments ago. "You're right. She was just here," someone said in confusion.
Angelica's frown deepened even more as a suspicious thought crossed her mind. 'Just what are you up to, Anna?'
....
...
..
.
"Ugh," Annabelle muttered while standing alone in a pristine white bathroom stall somewhere in the building.
She unbuttoned her top and pulled it down enough to fully reveal her bare back. She then turned around carefully, craning her neck to look over her shoulder at the mirror. A distinctive mark on her back was glowing faintly with an eerie, cerulean light.
"Sigh. It's this feeling again... What's that bastard doing now?" she whispered to herself, staring intently at the mark, a powerful mix of frustration and deep-seated concern coloring her expression.