Jane didn’t normally socialize after school, but she followed a schedule to make her absence less obvious. Two days going equaled one day resting. Then she would go once, drop once, and loop it again.

  But tonight was a rare night where she broke that cycle.

  The room looked the same as every other day. Wood panels lined the wall behind the leather sofa, and antique lamps placed on the side table, casting just enough light to soften every face.

  “Don’t you have the play to finish?” Rose slumped in her usual spot, her index finger lingering near her lips, drawing attention to her faint smile.

  “Yes…, but I want to relax a bit,” Jane said. Her sentence ended on a high note, a weak assurance that no one believed.

  “Here, let me help,” Alice said. She jumped onto the armrest, her body almost collapsing into Jane’s lap as she reached out to grab Jane’s cheeks and shook them. “Relax your jaw and hum out.”

  “Uhm… uhm…” Jane followed along, her stomach squeezing tight as the sound pushed out of her chest.

  Alice let go and went back to sitting beside Amelia, but not before rewarding herself with a pinch to Jane’s cheek before she left.

  Ouch. They liked to do that.

  Jane rubbed her face and wiggled her jaw. Helpful, but painful also.

  The room settled into a quiet moment. Rose kept that same faint smile on her face, her eyes stayed on Jane, gently encouraging her to speak. “What do you want to know?”

  “The other two days of the event,” Jane said, holding her breath to keep her voice even. “What do you do?”

  If the welcoming day was already a feasting ball, then an event to celebrate the new year had to be bigger. The worst thing she could think of that deserved a censor in the book, was a sacrifice ritual.

  Rose stared at Jane’s hands. They held onto each other on her thighs, her thumb pressed deep into the hollow between her two fingers. Then, words slowly poured from Rose’s lips.

  “The second day is the hunt.”

  “The what?” Jane leaned forward, her mouth hanging open. She looked like she wanted to jump on Rose.

  “The hunt.” A smile started to bloom on Rose’s face. “That’s the day we hunt you.”

  Her voice was soft and gentle, with a little tune at the end, making it sound so innocent. But the excitement was pouring from her eyes, like a long-awaited moment that had finally arrived.

  Not a—fucking–gain.

  Jane gasped for air, her ribs straining against her skin as her lungs struggled to fill. All of this had been a trick. A nest for her to fall into. Be friends with her, take her in as an associate, securing her a slot for the hunt.

  The edges of the room started to blur, blood rushing to her head, leaving her hands and feet cold. She felt the usual sharp and spicy heat spread across the bridge of her nose.

  Two plus two is four. Four times six is twenty-four. Do not cry, Jane. Five times fifty-six is—

  “Look at her nostrils,” Amelia giggled, leaning into Alice’s shoulder and clutching her stomach. “They’re exploding.”

  The sentence landed right at that unfortunate moment when everyone in the room stopped talking. Every breath, every thought was magnified under a telescope. Things that had been suppressed slowly rose to the surface.

  How could she forget Amelia? The one that wrapped her in a spare dress, pushed her into danger, while she went out with her boyfriend.

  “What are you laughing at?” Jane said, the heat caught up to her voice, her heart banging in her chest. The space between her eyelids narrowed as her gaze pinned on Amelia.

  Amelia’s smile cracked. A chill ran down her spine.

  Everybody liked to tease Jane. At first, Amelia didn’t understand why, why did a girl who had just joined get the spot she tried for years, until she joined them.

  Looking at her body crawling under the desk, going around class asking for permission to get into people’s bags was fun. Acting like they misunderstood what she said was satisfying.

  But nothing compared to when they mention the name.

  Ryan.

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  Jane’s eyes went blank every time she heard it, then, she tried to cover her distractions by opening her eyes wide, as if she had listened.

  They all thought Jane killed him, but Amelia didn’t think so. She’d better not.

  Eventually, they gave her notebook back, they always did. The same was supposed to happen this time.

  Amelia crossed her arms over her chest, trying to salvage her pride. Her lips pursed into a familiar pout, and from them the familiar words.

  “You’re not fun.”

  Alice darted an eye to Alina but her sister had already looked at Jane. They saw how Jane’s body turned rigid even before this, and they knew she was going to break.

  “Sorry,” Jane smirked, her voice carrying clearly through the room. ”I have more to worry about other than getting fucked by my boyfriend.”

  All of them had their eyes wide open. This was the first time they heard that word from her mouth.

  Jane stood up from her chair, an unreal sensation rising beneath as her feet touched the ground. Her back turned on them as she walked closer and closer to the door. She could no longer see their expression but it didn’t matter.

  None of them mattered anymore.

  The room fell back to its usual rhythm. Jane had once asked them, “Aren’t you scared talking about all this in the room?” But when everyone had a secret to spill, they all became insignificant. Stories went in one ear and out the other, nothing ever stuck. And so, this moment passed just as quickly.

  Not for everyone, however.

  “Well, there goes our plan of introducing her to Peter,” Alice said, turning to Amelia for a reaction. “What? Don’t tell me you get offended that easily.” Alice smirked. Finally, someone said it, what they had all been thinking, but was too lowly to come out of their mouth.

  “Peter? What Peter?”

  Rose’s voice pierced the air, breaking Alice's smile. Her head tilted slightly, her face relaxed, still holding onto the lingering amusement she had just gained.

  Shit. Alice’s eyes darted to Alina. She could read the meaning behind Alina’s stares easily. What have you done?

  “Peter Anderson,” Alice said. Her voice turned high as she smiled under the weight of their stares. “He wants to meet Jane. I thought it would bring more fun... no harm.” She shrugged her shoulders, as if it could dust off what she had done.

  That little voice in Alice’s head that had told her not to agree to his offer grew louder as she watched Rose play with the ring on her finger.

  Peter Anderson. A name that sounded like it came straight out of a fairytale, if the prince didn’t kick his princesses out of the castle after one night. As the third son of a biomedical firm, so it seemed, he sure had a lot of free time.

  Two of a kind recognized each other. He sat there alone, one hand holding his glass, the other resting lazily on the armrest. He met her gaze head-on, almost as if he had known she would look, and raised his glass toward her, a faint smile crossing his thin lips.

  She was the one to cut eye contact first. Annoying.

  They usually had their own territories in the underground maze, though occasionally their paths would cross. She hadn’t thought much of it when his figure briefly entered her peripheral vision earlier, but it turned out nothing was concidental.

  He had been watching the whole time.

  The soft sound of Rose exhaling through her nose became loud in Alice’s ears. Alice bent her head even lower, staring at her shoes to avoid the boiling pot.

  Rose was clean. What was hers could only be used by her. She didn’t like sharing, not even with her sister. Her eyes drifted into the distance for a moment before recovering its usual state. She wasn’t known as such, however. If anyone desired her toys, she would simply give them away when she had already done playing. It was easy, the moment someone eyed her things, she got bored.

  They became contaminated.

  A brief heat rose in her chest. Should she take Jane back after everything was settled? She hadn’t met such a person so catered to her taste in a long time. At the same time, she couldn’t help but be curious about the outcome, whether Jane could bring her any more surprises.

  Rose rubbed her temples. Why was she even bothered? That girl wasn’t the first one, and wouldn’t be the last.

  She stood up from her seat and looked down at Alice, whose head was still bent, exposing the whorl of her hair. A feature believed to belong to naughty kids.

  “Not again,” Rose said. Her face was cold but she wasn't angry. Him reaching out to Jane was just a matter of time. The more she tried to stop, the more he wanted to join.

  With that, Rose left the room. Alina didn’t follow. She knew her responsibility.

  Not long after, another figure stood up and passed by their area. Amelia was still pressed back in her seat, but when that familiar scent drifted past, her eyes couldn’t help but follow. Her head turned while her hand gripped the fabric of her dress to stop herself from reaching out.

  “What did he promise you?” Alina said. Her eyes stayed locked on Alice, catching a subtle movement on the left side of Alice’s jacket…

  Whoosh.

  Before Alice could even open her mouth to answer, Alina had gripped her arm tight. She had no other choice but to pull her hand out of the pocket, making way for Alina to reach inside.

  A round pill sat in the middle of her palm, so small it almost vanished against her skin. Immune to all kinds of human drugs, this tiny white dot was their only way to experience that high. It was made from the toxin of a specific kind of vampire, either extracted from blood or drained directly from the fangs, like how humans forced a snake to bite into a membrane.

  Based on the pure, chalky color, this was the latter.

  On its surface was a little scratch mark, a sign of Alice’s desperate, last-second attempt to crush it before Alina could find out. She would have succeeded, had she not been so hesitant.

  Alina rolled the little pill between her thumb and index finger. Then, with a squeeze, it crumbled into fairy dust.

  Alice's eyes widened. That was ten thousand dollars right there, paid out by her own pocket money! Yes, he only gave her a chance to buy it, along with a discount. Alice sighed; she shouldn’t have saved it for later.

  Alina turned and walked first, leaving Alice to follow behind like a sad tail. She glanced at Amelia, who was still sitting there like a pile of clothes. In that fleeting glance was undeniable contempt.

  Alice could talk about fashion and the latest scandals with Amelia, but Alina had no such patience. They all agree on one thing though, not everyone could climb like her, not everyone was that desperate.

  To them, Amelia had truly served no purpose, until that night they saw her sitting there, waiting for Jane after she was confronted by James. They watched how Jane reached a hand out to Amelia, but little did she know, Amelia only stayed behind because she saw an opportunity, a golden ticket to enter their world.

  The ending was near. Finally, the number of their group could be reduced back down to three.

  Or, perhaps… four, if forgiveness worked both ways.