Everything was in a haze, shielded in a thick fog that made it nearly impossible to even see the door on the opposite side of the room. Ferain didn’t know how long she’d been standing in the shower, but it had to have been a while to create such a thick, opaque atmosphere. She was facing the wall, her arms outstretched and her palms pressed firmly against the tiles to keep herself straight and steady. The pouring waters from the showerhead soaked her hair and ran down the contours of her lithe, pale figure. Streams flowed down her back, her sides, her front, and whenever the flow reached the grooves of her old wounds, they appeared more prominent than ever. The previous night was still fresh in her mind. The rage she felt, the sense of betrayal, the loss of a friend, it all overcame her.
Thinking back on the night before, she recalled her reckless assault on the glass, trying to make Yarin see her, hoping to make him hear her. She wanted his words, and not the ones he gave, but the ones that now… would never be spoken. Fera prayed relentlessly for this to all be a mistake, for it to be one massive nightmare that never actually happened, but the truth seemed to be far from what her hopes portrayed. What solidified it the most was the look in his eyes. He was guilty of something, be it the murders, or something just as equally bad in his mind. But no matter what it was, the fact of the matter remained. He was not innocent. Tangled locks of brown hair fell around her face and clung to whatever drenched flesh it could find, be it her back or her shoulders, but she ignored them, as she’d done for the last however many minutes that had passed.
Her golden eyes opened slowly and Fera let out a quiet sigh of release. Yesterday was not today. All of those many months before were not the present. Yarin had told her to move on, to forget about all of it, to live her life. It would not be easy to do this, but she needed to take that first step at some point. This was not the way to live, in fear and anger and confusion. Young she may be, but the hardships her life had dealt her did manage to teach Ferain one important lesson. The now should be cherished, and what’s more, the friends she had in the now were the most significant thing she had to be grateful for. Ferain’s eyes peered through the fog, staring at the wooden door of the bathroom to imagine the girl somewhere beyond it.
“I can’t keep hurting her.” Fera murmured. Carefully, she fell into the wall behind her and slid easily down into a sitting position, the oncoming waterfall still running over her head and cascading around her body. With a quiet breath, Ferain nodded her head. “I can’t keep being mopey. As Yarin said, what’s done is done. It’s over now. He’s caught, the year’s almost over, and I’m still here. I have Anita, Maple, Victor… Lilipa. I can’t keep up this type of attitude anymore.” Ferain raised a shaking hand and clenched it into a fist to steady it. “Starting today. I have to put this behind me the best I can. It’s over.” she repeated, praying that it was true.
After turning the shower off, she dressed herself in a pair of baggy jeans with several ancient tears in the legs, a black t-shirt, and her dad’s old red flannel that fit her like an oversized coat. Her final touches were tying the indigo ribbon she’d received from Anita around her right wrist, and pulling the crystal necklace that once belonged to her mother over her head. Once clothed, she wiped her hand across the bathroom mirror to see her reflection, foggy and distorted from the hazy glass, but visible enough to faintly make it out. Noticing the straight, neutral expression she normally wore, Fera tried to smile. She made this face a lot this year, possibly more than she’d done in her entire life up to this point, but still, seeing it in her reflection made for a strange sight. It made her chuckle, in a scoffing sort of way. Ferain tried again, and this time, the expression seemed purer, more meaningful, and she was at last satisfied with it. Satisfied enough to allow herself to leave the confines of the restroom.
As she stepped out into the hall of her apartment, she saw that Anita’s door was open to the right, and from within she heard cheerful humming. It wasn’t a song she recognized, but that was to be expected. Ferain couldn’t possibly know every song Anita had in her repertoire. Anita was many things, one of which seemed to be an encyclopedia of music ranging from the previous year to even classics from before the war all those many years ago. It was sort of… bizarre, in its own right. Ferain, who’d always cared little for things like music, found it odd that somebody her age would have such a keen interest in it, even things from so long ago that they might as well be considered ancient history at this point. Fera, unable to fight her curiosity away, stepped into the doorway and leaned against the wooden frame.
“What’s up?” she asked.
Anita jumped and pressed her hand to her chest. “Goodness, Fera, you can’t sneak up on me like that. How are you always so quiet?”
“Comes naturally.” Fera said, grinning. “So, what’s got you in such a good mood? I know you like this holiday, but…” Fera paused when she saw a couple of large boxes sitting on Anita’s bed. “What’s in those?”
“Glad you asked, partner of mine. Come, come… I’ll show you.” Anita beckoned her forward with a wave of her hand. “They just arrived this morning. A few minutes ago, in fact. I was getting anxious that they wouldn’t get here on time. This one’s yours,” Anita said, pointing to the box on the left edge of the mattress.
“Mine?”
“Yes, yes, now hurry up and look. I’m dying to hear what you think?”
Fera shook her head and stepped towards the cardboard container. She saw that the packaging tape had already been split and one of the flaps was open. Ferain opened the top the rest of the way and she saw a collection of things inside, all of which looked expensive. What she pulled out after delving her hand inside only proved her right. It was a pair of high quality pants that seemed to be an exact fit for her. The black fabric was soft, but felt extremely durable between her fingers, and the stitching was flawless. After setting it down on the bed, she next removed a white tunic that had puffy sleeves near the ends, like something straight from some fantasy novel. When she found the custom leather vest that had a howling wolf embossed on the right breast, she was able to form the conclusion that this was something from a fantasy novel. It looked like something a common person would wear if they lived in some rural village in the middle of some ancient kingdom.
“There’s a bow too. No arrows though, sadly.” said Anita, and sure enough, Fera found it sitting at the bottom of the box, with a pair of leather, calf-high boots nestled in the corner on top of it.
“What is all of this?” Fera asked. She knew the answer, but her stunned stupor caused her to blurt out the question as she explained the contents of the box once more.
“Your Halloween costume, silly.”
“This must’ve cost a fortune. Anita, I told you we didn’t have to go crazy on this. I’m only going to wear it once.”
“You don’t know that. What if you get sent back in time somehow and this is all you were allowed to bring with you?”
“Even you couldn’t ever think that would happen,” Fera murmured.
“Besides, it’s my parents’ money, not mine. They probably won’t even notice it’s gone. I had Regi get it all in order and send it as soon as possible.” Anita continued, apparently not hearing Fera’s previous statement. “So, what do you think?” she then questioned.
“I mean… I like it, but…”
“What?” Anita said, sounding concerned as she set down a small jar of what looked like gray makeup. “Did I mess up?”
“No, Anita, it’s just…” Fera shook her head. “I love it, I really do. Honestly, I’m a bit worried about ruining it. I’ve never worn something so expensive before.”
“Don’t even think about that, ‘kay? Just put the price right out of your pretty little head. It’s my treat, and I think we both deserve to spoil ourselves a little bit, don’t you?” Anita grabbed another cup of makeup or dye from her box and stared at it in the light coming in from the window beside her bed. “We’ve been through a lot this year. A lot of firsts were taken from me because of everything that happened. My first birthday with a real friend, my first time enjoying a school year… I want to make up for it today.” Anita set the jar down and then smiled at Ferain. “I want to have a little fun tonight. We’ve been in short supply of that, especially the last few months. I feel like since your advancement test, things have just gone a bit downhill all over the city. The world’s been getting darker, things have gotten a bit more serious. We have two events left, tonight, and the festival at the end of the year. If those are our last chances to make some good memories this year, I want to jump on it.”
“Then I’ll jump too.” Fera promised. She raised up the bow and gave a light pull on the drawstring. “Let’s have some fun tonight, just you and me.”
“Really?” said Anita, flashing a wicked grin. “Just us two, huh? Tonight? Alone, maybe?”
“Shut up” Fera laughed, throwing the white tunic towards her partner, who caught it easily.
“What?” asked Anita. “I was just imagining a lovely walk through the haunted house. What were you thinking of?”
Fera giggled while setting the bow down. After Anita threw her back the shirt, she noticed her partner pulling out another vial of some scarlet liquid that looked a lot like blood. “Anita? What are you dressing up as?”
“Oh, you’ll see. Originally, I wanted to go as a matching pair, you know. I would’ve been like you, but a bit different, of course. But once I got the idea for this, I couldn’t shake it. You’ll see it later, promise, but for now, I think I need to start getting things ready. It’s gonna take a while to put together.”
“Put together?” thought Fera, imagining some kind of robot or some sort of transforming outfit. Puzzled and quite curious, she allowed herself to be escorted from the room by Anita, her own costume in hand.
“We’ll be leaving around three or four. I know the stuff at the school doesn’t really start until six but they’re doing all kinds of events before then, like a big feast and stuff. Make sure you’re ready by then.” explained Anita.
“What about you? Is it really going to take that long?”
“Yep, afraid so. After sleeping in today, we only have a couple of hours and I really have to get a jump on this. Bye now.” Anita closed the door in her face and Fera could hear the hasty mutterings from the other side.
“Might as well get something to eat, then.” Fera thought, heading to her room to set the box of costume supplies down on her bed.
The hours passed with Fera spending it in her room on her phone. She wasn’t really doing anything on it, mostly just staring at the blank, black screen. For some reason, her grandmother crossed her mind while holding the phone up. The woman who was afraid of her, who treated her like some uncontainable creature, appeared in her thoughts for the first time since leaving her behind on the docks. There were obviously little moments where she remembered the woman or mentioned her in conversation, but this was different. She realized that her grandmother never tried to call her or check in on her. Even for that person, it was unusual. To some extent, it saddened Ferain. She didn’t like her grandmother, but she was the last living relative Ferain had. Her father had a brother, but he died as a child, and her mother was an only child. There were no cousins, no aunts or uncles, just her mom’s mother. She assumed that her father had living parents, but she’d never met them, not once in her life. After the incident ten years ago, she doubted she ever would.
It was literally just her grandmother, and now it felt as if she was being discarded once and for all. This left many questions up in the air. Her parents’ home, the place she lived alone in for the last ten years, was paid for by her grandmother. If she had finally disowned Ferain, where would she live when she returned from Olirian? Not to mention, unless she was given her independence by her guardian, she, as a minor, could not technically be on her own. The only reason it had worked out for this long was because on paper, the old woman was her guardian and caretaker. The final question, however, the one that ate her up the most on the inside was one she never thought she’d ask herself. This was because she thought she always knew the answer, and was always willing to give it without hesitation, but now… she wasn’t so sure.
“Do I even care anymore?” she questioned aloud. “So what? I’ve always wanted to be rid of her, almost as much as she wanted me gone. I should be happy, then, if she finally wrote me off. Maybe I can go stay with Anita over the break and come back with her next year. I wonder if she’d like that.”
Ferain clicked the flat button on the side of her smartphone, bringing life to the screen. When she noticed the time, she sat up and stretched her arms into the air. Deciding it was time to get ready herself, she began stripping out of her old clothes and changing into her costume. Somehow, it all fit perfectly. Nothing was overly tight. In fact, it was all comfortably snug. It honestly fit better than any of the other clothing she owned, new or otherwise. Standing in the mirror, she was all dressed up in the pants, the white tunic, and she was in the process of tying the strings on the vest to keep it in place. Her wild bangs fell in front of her eyes, though mostly over her right one, seeing as she brushed it that way all the time, and the rest of her incessantly rebellious hair fell around her head and back in a spiky mess. She smiled at her reflection and then pulled the blue crystal out from under her shirt and vest, letting it swing freely over all of it.
Finally, she picked up the bow and pulled it over her head so that the string ran diagonally across her chest. It wasn’t the most comfortable thing to do, but she didn’t think holding it all night would be any better. Plus, she hoped she could get used to it over the course of the night. By the time she’d finished, it was about four in the afternoon, and as punctual as always, Anita was knocking excitedly on her door.
“Come on out, Fera, I want to see. You have changed already, right?”
“Coming.” Fera called back.
She slid off of her bed and started for the door, where she could hear Anita’s anticipating mumbles from the other side. She took a breath, shook her head in an amused fashion, and opened the barrier between them. At once, Anita’s appearance took her breath away. It wasn’t because it was stunningly beautiful or anything like that. It was simply that surprising, that unexpected, that her partner would pick such an outfit. She was wearing a short, tattered black dress, one that had tears and holes in seventy percent of its surface. Beneath it, her legs were covered by equally destroyed tights that had a spiderweb pattern, and the long silver hair that fell around her back and shoulders was no longer straight. It was matted and puffy and covered in dark stains that looked like she’d dove headfirst into a pile of mud or moist soil.
The makeup around her eyes and on her face consisted of blacks and purples. Fera also noticed that some portions of her skin had been painted to varying colors, such as deep indigos and light pinks. In between every color change was a seam, drawn on her skin by some sort of marker or makeup. Her neck was where Ferain found the blood-colored fluids she’d seen earlier in the vial. What looked like a freshly stolen chunk of flesh was on the right side, near her collarbone, and blood was all around the area, going as far as to drip down under the collar of her ruined dress.
“Do you like it?” Anita asked.
“A bit excessive…” Fera said. “But it’s very awesome.” Fera quickly added, noticing Anita’s concerned expression returning again. This seemed to cheer her up at once, seeing as she clapped and then lunged at Fera for a tight embrace.
“You look really cool too. Oh, that reminds me. You have one more piece that was packaged in with my stuff. I'll go grab it and then we can leave.
What Anita came back with was a heavy black poncho with a hood at the collar. Fera didn’t know how exactly it matched the rest of her outfit, but Anita said that it suited her and that was why she picked it out. There was literally no reason to argue against wearing it, so Ferain pulled it over head, resituated her bow, and followed Anita from their home. It was an interesting walk to the school this time around. What felt like a hundred or so students all seemed to be walking their direction, which in and of itself was not the difference. The oddity of it lay in the change of attire. In place of their usual uniforms, everyone was wearing something unique and fitting for the holiday. There were students dressed up as ghouls and ghosts, hags and wizards, knights and peasants. Zombies, skeletons, elves of varying kinds, nothing Fera could think of was excluded. There was a little bit of everything in the mix, ranging from sci-fi to pure medieval fantasy, and all that was between them. Apparently, more people than just Anita were excited about the feast and other games before the real festivities started, like the haunted house and whatever other attractions that were put together.
Anita locked arms with Fera while they walked down the winding concrete pathways of the school grounds, and what’s more, she began waving at some of the passing students. These people stared, waved back, whispered under their breath about various things Ferain could only begin to imagine. They could have been rumors of her relationship with Anita, or they could have been the old mutterings of her status as an outcast and the various reasons for that. In the end, her attention was drawn away from all of her worrying when Anita clung tighter to her arm and pressed herself closer.
“What are you so nervous about, Ferain?” asked Anita.
“They’re staring at us.” Fera pointed out.
“They’re always staring at something, right? Besides, what’s the harm? Everyone already knows we’re a couple and the rumors about you haven't stopped since our first day here.”
“Not everyone knows.” Fera mumbled. “But they will now.”
“And what’s so wrong about that?” her partner asked playfully. “We are in a relationship, you know. I mean, we should be able to do things like… I don’t know… This.” Anita leaned in and kissed her on the cheek, causing a rush of embarrassment and excitement to rise within her. Anita laughed and kissed her again. “You blush too easily.”
“You’re one to talk.” Fera stated, expecting her partner to be equally red in the face. However when she glanced to her right, she was reminded that Anita’s face was currently covered in her zombie makeup. “That’s cheating.”
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“Is not. It’s part of the holiday spirit.” Anita then skipped ahead and spun on her heels to face her. “Also, Hirigaya, there are no rules so it’s impossible to cheat.” Anita hopped, spun around in midair, and stared out at the school in front of her. “So, where should we go first?”
“I hear the cafeteria has some good food at the moment.” came a girl’s voice from behind them.
When Fera glanced over her shoulder, she saw Mamane walking up with a person on either side of her, though the younger one was admittedly a bit behind as well, as if he was taking cover behind her. Mamane was wearing a nurse’s uniform, which was fitting for her ideal future career. Though, Fera didn’t think the shortness of her dress and the revealed back would be accepted from an actual hospital, or even the school, for that matter. The person behind her was her younger brother, Marrow, who was dressed up in a fancy black suit with a sleek mask that only covered the area around his eyes. He looked a bit like a thief, but the kind that were suave and gentleman-like. He even had white gloves on as well, giving addition to the fanciness of his attire. As for the other person, it was the lightning-wielder she met the other day, Tianna Haze.
She was wearing military fatigues, ones that were urban gray with a digital camouflage pattern. The sleeves were rolled up on the unbuttoned jacket, revealing her forearms, and along with that was something Fera failed to notice before. Inked into the flesh of her right forearm was a spiraling series of tattoos, starting just above her wrist and disappearing under the sleeve to possibly go all the way up to her shoulder. Some words were scribed in places, intermingling with the almost tribal pattern. Accompanying this was the black band with its silver plaque that Ferain did manage to spot during their previous encounter. Both of the girls looked happy as ever to greet her and Anita, but Marrow on the other hand, looked away, deciding to keep to himself.
“Hey, you two.” said Tianna, waving her tattooed arm in greeting.
“Hi.” Fera replied, smiling at first, but losing this gleeful expression when her eyes found Marrow again. “Marrow?” she said questionably, trying to get his attention.
“Leave me be, Prodigy. I’m only here because my sister dragged me along. Don’t expect me to talk to you.”
“But you just did.” Mamane pointed out while patting his head and ruffling his hair. Marrow growled, shoved his hands into his pockets, and started walking away. “I’m going to grab a bite to eat.”
“Make sure you save me some!” his sister called after him. She sighed afterwards, watching him vanish into the crowd all the while. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with him.”
“At least he said anything.” Anita stated. “That’s a start, I think.”
“Not with him,” said Fera. “Not until he says anything nice, anyway.”
“He’ll come around,” said Mae. “So, what are you two doing here so early for? Oh, and nice costumes by the by. Forgot to compliment you on your choices.”
“Yeah, it really suits you.” Tianna mentioned, stepping closer to Fera while raising her wriggling hands in front of her. “Ow!” she uttered, after her hands were both swatted down by a quick slap from Mamane, who seemed to be her keeper in some way. “I still think you would have looked better with a leash and a collar… Oh, and definitely a tail. A long, fluffy one, and I think I even have– Ouch!” she cried again, when again another slap was sent towards her head this time.
“Don’t bring that thing up, got it? They’re still too young.” Mae scolded.
“They’re old enough, and besides, it’s not–”
“No buts, no besides, no nothing.”
“Fiiine. I was just thinking–”
“I know what you were thinking.” Mae interrupted again, continuing to shut down Tianna’s excuses before she even had the chance to complete them. Mamane glanced at Fera. “Sorry again. My partner doesn’t know when to quit.”
“Partner?” asked Anita.
“Yep yep.” Tianna butt in. “We’ve been roomies since the first year, and we’ve been the best of friends since the second.”
“The second? Not the first?” came Fera.
“Our first year was a bit… rocky.” Mamane said unassuredly.
“That’s putting it lightly. We wanted to kill each other. How many times did we argue that first year?” said Tianna.
“Too many to count, that’s for sure. It’s all water under the bridge now, of course, but yeah, there was a time when I couldn't stand her. Too much energy, too much determination to fly by the seat of her pants, if you know what I mean.” said Mamane.
“Yeah, Mae’s a bit more calm, cool, collected, you know?” said Tianna.
“And you’re a bit too free all the time,” said Mamane.
Fera noticed that they both had a nostalgic glimmer in their eyes as they lost themselves in four years of memories. “But, like we said, best of friends now. I’d trust her with my life.”
“What changed?” asked Anita.
“Hmm, what indeed?” said Tianna, pressing a finger to her chin. She appeared to be struggling to find an answer when Mamane chimed in.
“We grew up, I guess. I know we’re still young, I mean, we're only just recently nineteen, but people can change a lot in a short period of time under the right circumstances. By the time we came back for our second year, I believe we both just saw how pointless all of our bickering was.”
“To be honest, I don’t even remember what we used to fight about,” said Tianna.
“Oh, that I remember clearly.” Mamane stated. “You never took out the garbage, you would just leave your dirty clothes all over the place, and…” Mamane stopped, cleared her throat, and smiled. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter anymore. What matters is–”
“Mae!” came a boys’ voice, one that was dressed as some sort of knight with silver plates of armor in several places. “Mae, we need your help with something really fast. It won’t take long, just some misunderstanding about where…” The boy stopped, taking note of Fera’s and Anita’s presence before approaching Mamane and whispering the rest. He stepped away and Mae nodded.
“Alright, I’ll head over there, but today is supposed to be a day with my brother. After this, it’s up to the rest of you to keep things running smoothly.”
“Of course, ma’am.” the boy said nervously before hurrying off.
“Sorry, guys.” she apologized. “I have to see to something so I’ll say goodbye for now. We put a lot of time into this so I hope you enjoy it.” she gave a wave and started after the boy who was currently shoving his way through the crowds like his life depended on it.
“Bye bye.” Tianna said next, giving a wink and holding up a peace sign with her marked arm.
“Hey, Tianna.” Fera said before she had the chance to leave.
“Yeah?”
“Those tattoos, are they real?”
“Oh ho. Curious, are you?” Tianna rolled up a bit more of her sleeve. “It goes up to my shoulder and down my back. My dad had the left half of it.”
“Had?” Fera wondered. Fortunately, this was not a question she needed to say aloud after hearing what Tianna said next.
“He died during his service to the military. This is his too.” Tianna said, showing off the black band. “It was his badge, or identification while in the army. Plus, it has half of his favorite saying. There is no fight not worth fighting.” she said, before raising her arm. “When innocence is what’s at stake.” she finished, running a finger along the words in her tattoo. “I got it when I was a little girl, blah blah blah.”
“Blah?” repeated Anita.
“Well, I don’t want to bore you with all of that.” said Tianna. “Plus, it would seriously bring down the mood if we talked about ghosts and the deceased. No need to dredge up sleeping dogs, yeah? I have to go now, so you two take care. And, Ferain, we’ll talk again before the end of the year, I promise. I want to get your contact stuff and all of that. We’ll be best friends before you know it. Bye again.”
Before either girl could even contemplate an argument, Tianna had run off after her partner. Anita complained about how weird the people at this school were for the hundredth time in the last couple of months, as it was always her favorite thing to complain about, and they soon headed for the cafeteria to grab a bite to eat. As the world continued spinning, time continued ticking on. The afternoon sun that had been warming them all from overhead was beginning to sink, and an abundance of newcomers were finally arriving.
“As if there weren’t enough already.” Fera complained, watching from the roof as what looked like an army of costumed soldiers marched through the checkpoints into the school grounds.
Watching this from up on high really put the number of attending students into a perspective she’d never noticed before. It was actually astounding that this many people were even able to fit in the school. She watched for people she knew, like Maple or, with any luck, Lilipa, but she couldn’t make out every student that was lost in the crowd. Eventually, they did run into Maple, who was dressed up in an outfit a bit too revealing for Fera’s tastes. It was a fur skirt that showed almost every inch of her legs, to the point that it might as well have been a swimsuit for all the good it did covering her. As for her chest, it was a cropped top that revealed some of her midriff, but not all of it. All along her body, which Ferain had never actually seen before now, she saw what looked like scars cut into her flesh.
There were all jagged stripes that, despite looking similar to old wounds, resembled a more wild version of a tiger’s pelt. These imperfect stripes ran along her arms, back, sides, and legs. The only places free of these spiky scarred patterns were her hands, feet, and face. Some of her other features consisted of a real feline tail waving behind her, one that matched her light reddish-brown hair color, two feline ears that sat atop her head, and slitted pupils that also matched those of a cat. When Maple smiled their way, Fera also noticed four fangs where her human canines would have been, but these were always there. It was still a side-effect of her power, but a permanent one that she could not change. Besides the markings and the fangs, everything else was thankfully dismissable.
Victor was also with her, wearing what looked like a werewolf costume, which surprisingly matched his oversized, muscular stature extremely well. They didn’t stick around long, since Fera wanted to spend the night mostly alone with Anita. She was happy to have more friends, there was no way she wouldn’t be, but tonight… Tonight, she wanted to forget them for the briefest of moments. Tonight, it would just be her, her partner, and whatever entertainment they could find with one another’s company. Around eight at night, roughly four hours after arriving there, Ferain had eaten her fill, and had gone through most of the attractions. There really weren’t many, but for what they lacked in quantity, Mamane and her friends made up for in quality.
There were a few games like hide and seek in the gym, which was one of the scariest things Ferain had ever done. It was near pitch black in there, with each person only allowed to use a personal LED bulb that barely lit up three feet around them. It was too dim, and the operators of the game had a kill switch that could turn off any light they wanted at any time. Ferain found herself lost in complete darkness after her light randomly quit illuminating what little space she had for comfort and solace. She wasn’t completely afraid of the dark, per se, but it was still terrifying in certain situations, specifically ones like this. Then there was a game that some of the students called ‘Hunter’. This was played across the entirety of the campus except for the interiors, since they were all being utilized already for other games and events.
All participants except for one were given a disc to clip to their belts or body. The excluded player was given three discs and an item that was similar to a laser pointer and mounted to their wrist. These discs were targets that, when hit by the laser pointer, would send a small electrical shock to the player, taking points from a fake health bar that appeared on their school bands for the duration of the game. This excluded player was the hunter and had to eliminate the other participants before they were taken out by the others, who could find these laser pointers in various places around the school. Ferain did not win any of these games, but she had a blast playing them. Anita did a second round of Hunter when she convinced one of the players to give her their turn, which surprised Fera that the persuasion attempt even worked at all.
While Anita played the remainder of her round somewhere on the school campus, Fera found a bench to sit on by the main building of the academy. From within, she could hear people laughing and screaming, seeing as Mamane’s group turned the entirety of the main structure into a large haunted manor. Ferain didn’t know what was inside there, but it must’ve been terrifying if the faces of a few exiting students could be believed. This was the last game on their agenda, and Fera agreed to wait outside until Anita was done with her second round, then they would go through it together. That was the plan, anyway, but as Ferain should have expected, things hardly ever went according to plan.
“Fera!” Anita screamed. The voice sounded like it came from every direction at once, like it was within her head and without, but most importantly, it sounded like it was in agony. “Fera! Help me!”
Unable to see her own expression, she had no way of knowing that her yellow-topaz eyes had gone blank, like all sense of awareness had gone out of them. The sound became clearer as she looked around, and she was able to narrow the voice down to the main building, the haunted house. Her name was called out again, and this time, it sent a chill up her spine that almost made her body tremble in fear. She wasn’t afraid of the place itself, or the idea of what was waiting for her inside it. What frightened her the most was the state of Anita when she inevitably found her, and how hard it would be to control herself when she found whatever there was to find. Fera started walking hastily towards the school, her vision growing more unfocused by the second. Her gaze did not shift from her destination and her body did not waver from its path, no matter what was obstructing it.
She bumped into, and shoved past, a number of people that were all sending complaints her way as she pressed onward, all the while hearing the screams of terror and pleas for help from her partner. It was like a ringing in her ears that would not go away, a pain in the back of her mind that pulsed with every beat of her heart, an itch that was beneath the skin so it could not be reached or satisfied. In fact, it only grew in intensity as she grew closer. The screams grew louder, and her brain grew more and more narrow-minded.
“Ferain! Please, I can’t take it anymore! Help!”
“Anita!” Fera cried out, her legs starting to pick up speed.
She began running now, throwing people out of her way as she rushed forward. One person grabbed her arm aggressively after she pushed past, causing her to look back with her empty, glazed eyes of bright gold and silverish moonlight. They glowed briefly, appearing as if they were completely yellow with no pupils or any hints of the black that could usually be found there. It was like somebody shone a light behind a hazed piece of glass, making it appear foggy. There was a bright flash of blue and white lightning, a cry of pain, a falling boy as smoke rose from his reddening hand. The look she gave him was not one of her own making or choosing. It was evil, empty, merciless. It was the look of the killer everybody suspected she was. Without a second glance for the agonized wails of the student she’d just harmed, she continued once more.
Even her hearing was becoming tunneled, only taking note of Anita’s constant pleas. It was relentless, and when she forced her way through the doors of the academy’s main hall, it was almost deafening.
“Ferain! Hurry!” Anita pleaded, crying out the words into the echoing void that Ferain’s mind was diminishing to.
Her eyes glowed again, lightning coursed around her lithe body, and she used all of her speed to bound through the halls towards the stairwell on the right side of the corridor. The central one was blocked off by decorations and a flow of people participating in the haunted house. Ferain had no time for it. While they were having fun, her precious sun was being harmed and extinguished. She had to move, she had to reach her before it was too late. Blue streaks of static followed her zigzagging path with every blinding, near-instantaneous leap she made towards her target. She didn’t have time to open the door, she couldn't even waste those few precious seconds it would take to stop and perform such a task. She flipped, driving her feet into the metal and forcing it off of its hinges, breaking the wall with it. Both her and the door flew so fast, so hard, that it buried itself into the opposite wall of the narrow stairwell, and she even remained stuck to it for a split second before launching herself up to the next landing.
“Fera! I need you!”
“I’m coming!” Ferain howled.
The world was growing shaky around her, and her vision was actually starting to blur now. Things were starting to flow into her mind, things that terrified her. Anita’s death, her return to loneliness, Yarin’s monstrous silhouette, recent fears she’d been worrying over since coming to the school. But there were older fears as well, deeper, more ingrained traumas that were being forced back up from the depths she’d buried them within. The sound of a gun, the smell of its powder intertwining with fried, roasting flesh, and an old pain where the bullets had found their marks. As she reached the third floor, a shiver of fright violently ran through her and she crashed into the wall. The concrete exploded and caved in, leaving a crater and a cloud of dust behind as she hit the floor. A few coughs escaped her and when she looked up, she saw her father standing over her, his gun in his hand, a wicked smile plain on his face.
“Bye, Ferain.” he said coldly.
“Wait!” she screamed, but it was too late. The gun went off, Fera screamed, but it wasn’t her that was hurt this time. A massive web of blue and white static erupted, caught the bullet, and threw the haunting image of her father into the railing of the stairs.
“Fera! Help me! Please!” Anita screamed again.
Fera’s senses were being overwhelmed and she felt too afraid to move. Her body crackled and shivered, and her mind continued its descent into madness. There was almost no shine left in her eyes now. They were nothing but dull, empty spheres of glassy yellow. Remembering the task at hand, she rose unsteadily to her feet. Her father grabbed her wrist, moaning from his resting place in the dented portion of metal railing. Without even looking at him, she swung and drove the back of her electrified hand into his cheek, filling the corridor with blue light, and a dull thud as his body hit the ground. She stumbled while holding her head with her right hand, using her left to push the door open as well as support herself on it.
When the metal barrier creaked and pushed outward, she nearly fell to the floor when the only thing keeping her up moved away. If not for Anita’s constant cries for help, she might not have been able to continue. Two more steps in, Fera did drop, despite all of her best efforts. She fell to her knees, her hair falling around her face and shoulders.
“Ferain.” came a soft, gentle voice. Her mother’s voice. She looked upwards, and through her curtain of messy, spiky bangs, she saw the charred corpse of what used to be her mother. Now, it was nothing but bits of blackened flesh and bubbling skin. Her head was scorched and bald, and a very minute portion of her face was burned away to bone. “Why did you do this to me? Why?”
“No.” Fera cried, falling backwards and attempting to crawl away from the oncoming corpse. It held out its hand and she saw that some of the fingers were melting still, the flesh oozing and dripping towards the ground to reveal everything that lay beneath, from tense, pinkish muscles to the clean white of bone as the blood was burned away from its pearly surface. “I didn’t. It was an accident.”
“I will never forgive you. You are no daughter of mine.” Harriet said, reaching for her throat. Ferain’s back hit the already closed door to the stairwell, seeing as they close on their own. Her mother’s bony, muscly hand was just about to reach her, just about to grab her. In half a breath, Fera would feel the grip of those skinny, ivory colored appendages. “You don’t deserve to wear that necklace. You don’t deserve to live.”
“Enough!” Fera screamed, pushing her hands forward and sending forth an explosive blast of electricity.
It ran through the hall, from ceiling to walls to floor, like it was some sort of scanner running along the surfaces. Connecting the moving waves on the surfaces were arcing strands of power that went from floor to ceiling and back again. They snapped, broke apart, and reconnected repeatedly as they ran the entire length of the corridor. She heard screams in the distance, but the only one she had ears for was Anita’s, who should be up on this floor somewhere. The screams were the loudest here, and she honestly didn’t think she could make it up another flight of stairs. She was too panicked, too afraid. It was even getting to the point where she could no longer feel her quivering legs, but she forced herself to stand, bid herself to move. Anita needed saving, and she was the only one that could do it. She ran forward, shoving another reaching hand away. There were dozens of people in the hall now, most bearing the burned face of her mother, but some donning the grinning expression of her gun-toting father.
“Fera! I can’t hold on any longer!” Anita cried, but she would need to wail no longer. Fera found the door, heard the voice coming from the other side. She shoved her way inside and saw… She saw…
“Nothing?” Fera choked, taking a step into the room. Her glazed over eyes were wide in confusion and shock and terror. There were only empty desks, the moonlight slipping in through the glass panes on the opposite side of the room, and a clear space in the center where her partner should have been. “Anita?” she whimpered. “Anita?” The door closed behind her, but she paid no mind to it. All was quiet now. There were no screams, no agonized cries, no pleading groans. It was silent, all except for her raspy, choked breathing. She held up a hand to the center of the room, as if Anita was standing there and all she had to do was reach out and take her hand. “Where are you?” she asked pleadingly, praying that it wasn’t too late.
“Goodnight.” somebody whispered behind her. Before Fera had the chance to turn around, she felt a powerful hit to the side of her head. Her wavy vision blackened entirely, leaving her alone in a dark emptiness before she even felt the ground meet her lifeless body.