“Mana, will you slow down and tell me what happened?” asked Ferain, as Mana was hurrying down the narrow streets of the second-smallest district.

Mana was breathing heavily, but she seemed too deranged, as much as Fera hated the idea of that word being used for one of her closest friends, to do any sort of answering for any of her questions. The city was going by in a blur, not because of their speed, though that was part of it, but because her attention was being pulled in too many directions to take note of anything in particular. As quickly as possible, they crossed the checkpoint into District-C, and finally stopped after they rounded a corner, where Mana pinned Fera against a wall and had a crazed look in her gold-bronze eyes.

“I know you’re confused, Fera, I know that, but we need to keep moving.”

“Fine, but when we get wherever it is you’re taking me, I want answers.”

“And I’ll give them to you, but… You’ll see. Just hurry up.”

Mana turned and started running, and now, Fera followed without having her arm nearly ripped from her body. They made better time, but when they did eventually reach the alley that was their destination, Ferain regretted ever leaving her home. The scene was a disaster. The walls were scorched and trash bins were thrown about haphazardly, most of which were damaged in some way. What caused a breathless horror to build up within her body was not any of these, however, it was the lone figure slumped against a concrete wall, their head drooped to the side and blood dribbling from the corner of their mouth.

It was a young girl, perhaps a second-year from the academy, and she was still wearing the mandatory uniform, as if she had been stopped on her way to school. The only difference from the usual outfit was that the center of the shirt had been ripped away, or more like burned. Some of the girl’s small breasts were visible, and in between them was a gaping hole. That was when Ferain noticed the trail of smeared blood and the crater that had a collection of gooey, organic material engrained in its center, as if it had been mixed in with the material during construction, or painted on later. Fera stumbled back and clapped a hand to her mouth, trying to avoid retching up her breakfast as the sight fully sank in.

At once, the smell of roasting flesh filled her nose and the distant memories of voices started growing clearer in her mind. Sporadic cracks of electricity started jumping around her body as she shook her head and dropped to her knees. Mana was curled up against the opposite wall, burying her face in her hands, probably trying to avoid staring at the corpse as much as possible. For Ferain though, it was too late. Now, she saw a mixture of this new body and the charred remains of her mother, which was a ghost she hadn’t been visited by in many weeks, possibly even months.

“Mana… You didn’t…” Ferain choked, still fighting the urge to empty her stomach on the pavement.

“Not me.” Mana quietly replied. “I saw it though. I saw the killer. I saw it happen.” she added, almost gagging as her eyes lifted enough to see the body. As quick as lightning, her face was hidden behind her hands again, and her whole body was trembling.

“Why did you bring me here?” Ferain questioned, glaring at her friend, if she actually was that.

Her ‘friend’, especially this one in particular, would know full well that Ferain needed to be far away from any of these crime scenes. She’d already almost been blamed for the first two murders, and Agent Cross Key, Mana’s adoptive father, was still hounding her every so often about her whereabouts and reminding her of her need to always travel in pairs. Still, despite being practically cleared of suspicions, she was still forbidden from traveling around without a companion. With that being the case, knowing all of this, she could not fathom why Mana would bring her to a murder scene. Mana sucked in air and sounded strained as she attempted to speak again.

“I didn’t know what to do.” she cried. “You’re the only person I could go to. Cross was right, I can’t do this. I can’t handle it.” Her eyes shifted to their respective corners and they went unfocused as the body was reflected in the golden lenses. “What do I do?”

“Why not call your father?” Fera inquired, making sure she didn’t look either, or she might actually throw up. One more glimpse of the grisly scene might be the final straw before her breaking point.

“Cross. I can’t. I couldn't.” Mana ranted, before taking in fistfuls of her short hair and gritting her teeth. “They were there, I fought them. I could have stopped them. What do I even say to him? How could I ever apologize for how terribly I failed him? Wha– Ah!” she gasped, jumping and looking at Fera, whose face was soaked in sweat and eyes were illuminated, as if they were backlit. She had a hand raised and blue sparks ran around her fingers like webs.

“Snap out of it.” she growled, feeling guilty since she was so close to falling apart herself. Even now, her mother’s burned face was so clear in her mind, it was as if it was right in front of her, staring into her eyes with the empty sockets that were left behind after her own had been melted from them. “Take a breath, start explaining, and we’ll go from there.” said Fera through panting breaths, while struggling to keep her powers at bay and her mind in the present.

“W-where should I start?” Mana questioned.

“This girl. The murder. What happened?”

Mana swallowed deeply and looked at the body again. “Her name is Giana Singer. She was a friend in my class. She mentioned that she thought somebody was following her lately and asked if I could go with her while she walked home. She didn’t want to be alone so I told her I would. She knew that I was helping with the case and felt safer with me around, plus, she thought it might help both of us if she was really being trailed. That was early last night. But… nothing happened. Nobody showed up, and she made it home safely. I didn’t go home. I kept watch. She left again earlier this morning. I was being cautious so I followed her here, hoping that nothing would happen again, praying that she was just being paranoid, but…”

“They showed up.” Fera interjected, allowing Mana a few seconds to catch her breath.

Mana nodded slowly and then looked away from her friend’s drooping corpse. “He attacked her, threw her into the wall.”

“He?” asked Ferain.

“The voice… It belonged to a man, but he was wearing dark clothes and some sort of mask. I didn’t see his face. After he made his move, I rushed out and tried helping. We fought but he got the better of me. He even knocked me out. When I came to, I was lying on my stomach and in front of me was Giana, held up against the wall, and his hand was through her chest. When he pulled it free, she slid down and I… I froze up. He saw me, I saw him, and I just let him leave.” she said, her voice breaking and sounding terribly hollow. “God, what did I do? How could I… I told Cross I couldn’t… I told him!” Mana screamed, yanking on her hair, and Fera suspected that she was just a few seconds from ripping it out, and her scalp along with it.

“Mana, you need to calm down.”

“Calm?!” Mana bellowed, and when she raised her head, her irises were glowing. This frightened Ferain for multiple reasons, but the primary one being Mana’s power itself. Mana’s abilities were… unique, and pretty bizarre, even by wielder standards. Her power was like a mystery bag, meaning she never knew exactly what she was going to pull out of it. Ferain suspected that Mana had some control over this, but that wouldn't help her protect herself if something took her by surprise. Also, her friend could not be trusted at the moment, not in her state of mind, when she was acting so unhinged… so broken. “How can I be calm?” she continued, tearfully.

“I don’t know how, but you have to be. You need to take a breath, and we need to call somebody to deal with this. I’ll call Cross, just sit there quietly and try to collect yourself.”

Mana nodded frantically before burying her face in her hands again, all while pulling her knees close to her chest. Seeing Mana like this, it was like seeing the strongest person in the world crying. It was a horrendous sight, and it felt like an invasion of privacy. Mana was always so upbeat, always so happy, but this view only showed Ferain a broken, terrified little girl that was carrying more responsibility than she could withstand.

“She finally broke under its weight.” Fera thought, eyeing her sobbing companion with pity, and feeling helpless when it came to easing that burden. She tapped the band on her left wrist and the black panel on the top came to life, revealing a screen that she quickly swiped through with her finger. In seconds, she heard a ringing and an old voice eventually came through.

“Ms. Hirigaya, you don’t normally call me. Is everything okay?” asked Cross Key, with his gruff, gravelly voice.

“Can you track my band?” she asked, somewhat hastily despite trying to keep her voice as calm as she could make it.

“I can’t. If I could do that, I wouldn’t need you to be with somebody at all times to give you an alibi. The headmaster is working on a system to be implemented that will change that but–”

“Then I’ll send you a nearby address or something but you need to get here fast.” Fera interrupted, her tone rising as her nerves were rapidly coming unwound again. “There’s another body.” she finished.

It wasn’t long before the scene was more crowded than was comfortable for her, though it’s not like she’d been comfortable before they all arrived. If anything, it did bring along some relief when the cops and paramedics appeared on scene. Shortly after the emergency vehicles came, Cross came walking around a corner with his usual aged jeans and old leather jacket. His short, wild hair lacked any real remaining color, as the few strands of black that persisted were far outnumbered by the overtaking army of gray. His ragged beard was the same way, and this, coupled with the wrinkles around his eyes and on his forehead, showed that he was a man losing what was left of his youth, and it was happening rapidly. Protruding from his mouth was a black-papered cigarette that had a blue ring near the end between his lips, but Ferain knew that it wasn’t actually a real cigarette. It was a collection of herbs that helped tame out of control powers, essentially making them easy to deal with.

When he approached, he said not a word to Ferain, and instead strolled directly to Mana, who was still slumped against a wall in a balled up position. The look in his usually hard, cold eyes of gray changed to something loving and concerned. It was a soft expression, one that Fera had only seen from one other person in recent memory, and that was Guji Hakamura whenever he looked at her.

“Hey, kid.” Cross muttered, reaching for her.

“I messed up.” Mana cried, squeezing herself harder and making herself smaller. Like this, there was little difference between her and a young child. Even her size didn’t matter when she was curled up like she was.

“You tried your best.” Cross told her warmly.

“I failed. I wasn’t good enough.” The sobs were coming back to her, as Fera knew they would. She hadn’t seen these two together often, but the way Mana spoke of Cross clearly told her how highly she regarded this man.

“Here, take one of these.” Cross said, offering her one of the black sticks from a container he pulled from his jacket’s inner pocket. Mana seemed to refuse at first, but Cross took her hand, forced it open, and placed the cigarette in her palm. “Your powers are running loose. If you’re not careful, you might hurt somebody. Smoke the damn thing and calm your nerves, got me?”

He, like Mana, spoke with the accent from the Crown Nation, the now combined country that was once known as Europe before the war that changed everything about the world. Unlike Mana, whose accent wasn’t all that thick, Cross’ was. He was easily understandable, but it was still odd hearing it so frequently. It was an accent she would be hearing a lot in the coming hours, during her inevitable questioning with the old agent. Ferain gave them their space, and made sure to keep her silence unless she was spoken to. This was between Cross, Mana, and the rest of the people on site. Ferain, for all intents and purposes, was an outsider at the moment.

She looked at the still quivering figure of her friend, took note of how broken she appeared, how lost she was, sitting there with that lit black stick hanging loosely in her lips, and she felt something then. There was a kinship between them, especially now, with this image forever burned in her mind. It was how Ferain had felt for most of her life. Lost, alone, scared, and like she was nothing but a failure or a waste of breath. It was a terrible feeling, one that she did not wish on any other person, especially one as sweet as Mana. Hours went by, the scene was cleared of everything, body and all, and Ferain found herself exactly where she expected to be eventually that day. The room had dull, gray walls, a large rectangular window that she knew was a one-way mirror, and a metal table, at which she sat.

She’d been left alone for several minutes now, since being abandoned there by Agent Key. The room was silent, all except for the solemn, quiet breaths she took every so often, when she remembered that she had to breathe. There was also a clock hanging on the wall beside the table, letting out its quiet ticking as each second relentlessly passed. Fera ran a hand through her tangles of hair and contemplated everything that had happened since that morning. It almost made her laugh… almost. The idea that her biggest worry just a few short hours ago were her confused emotions over her partner, and now those just seemed like a pebble that’d been tossed into the deepest depths of the ocean. Somebody was murdered again, Mana had been involved, and she saw the body at the very place it happened. Compared to that, a pondering of romantic interest just didn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things.

That was when Anita popped back into her mind for the first time since leaving her that morning. What would she say to her? How would she explain this situation so it didn’t make her friend worry more? How could she convince Anita that she was still okay after seeing something so terrifying and traumatizing? As if on cue, her band began to play a tune that was set to be Anita’s ringtone. Fera took a breath as she rested her left arm on the table, staring at the black accessory and its brightened screen. Anita’s name was on it, as well as a picture of her that Fera took some time ago. One more breath later, Fera found the courage to answer the call. She put on a smile and saw Anita’s face on the screen. Her expression was not warm or cheerful, it was worried and fearful.

“Hey, Anita.” Fera said, making her tone sound as upbeat as she could, despite the churning that remained in her gut and the pain in her heart that she was struggling to fight off.

“Ferain, are you okay? Where are you?”

“I’m fine.” Fera said assuredly. “Mana wanted me to come visit Cross real quick but he’s been a bit tied up.” Fera’s smile faltered at once, and even though it was back in half a second, she was concerned that this was enough time for Anita to notice her lie. She didn’t like lying, not to anybody, but especially not to the person she loved more than anybody else in this world.

“Are you sure? I was at the food court a bit ago and saw the news on the TV there. They mentioned that another body’s been found. Ferain, you are actually fine, right? You’re not in trouble?”

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“I couldn’t be better, but I appreciate you worrying. Really, it’s–” Fera was interrupted by the sound of the door creaking open and then latching shut.

“What was that?” asked Anita.

“Agent Key. I have to go. I’ll explain more when I get back home, okay? Enjoy the rest of your shopping trip.”

“Alright, Ferain. Bye. I… I’ll see you later.”

Fera smiled, nodded, and hung up the call. Cross took a seat across from her and moved the cigarette out of his mouth to flick some of the ash into a tray he carried in his other hand. The ashtray found a place beside his right hand, which held the cigarette, and his eyes found a target to latch onto, that being Fera’s youthful face. He eyed her curiously for a brief spell, before shaking his head.

“I have no reason to suspect you this time, Hirigaya, so consider yourself lucky.”

“How’s Mana?” Fera asked, ignoring what Cross had said, but using his speech as a sign that it was okay for her to talk as well.

“She’s fine. Tired, quite upset, but she’ll live. More than what I can say for Ms. Singer, I'm afraid. Nasty way to die, that. I’m sorry you had to see it.” He sounded genuine in his apology, and in his soft, more docile tone. He never showed much emotion in the way he spoke, but this moment of sympathy almost made him seem more human than usual. “There are a few things I want to discuss with you. First off, I want to talk about the girl, Giana Singer. Did you know her?”

“No.” Fera replied coldly. “I thought she was a second-year, but Mana said she was a classmate of hers. That’s all I know.”

“That’s not everything, actually.” Cross said. “Mana wouldn't tell me what happened, but she did tell me that she relayed the information to you before you called. Would you care to explain it all?”

Ferain gave a brief nod of her head and, to the best of her ability, retold everything Mana said to her, starting Friday afternoon and ending at the present, when Mana dragged Ferain to the scene. It was a hard retelling, as with every word, the images of the body surged back to mind. Of course, with that disturbing scene came her own past nightmares, all combining somehow into an even worse image that would be a hard one to discard before sleeping that night. That is, if she managed to sleep at all.

“She should have updated me on what she was doing.” said Cross, putting his cigarette out in the ceramic tray beside him. “I was wondering why I hadn’t heard from her in a while. To think she would do something so rash on her own.”

“She wants approval. She wants to prove that she can do it.” Fera muttered, though she wasn’t certain why the words had formed, or why they passed her lips.

“I know.” Cross stated, nodding his head. “Well, I thank you for your cooperation, Hirigaya. That is all I needed from you.”

“Wasn’t there anything else, sir? You said there were a few things to talk about. What else was there?”

“Nothing at all, kid. It was a slip of the tongue.”

Ferain knew he was lying, but she didn’t think arguing with this man was a good idea. Besides, she was free to go, and she did have to get back home before Anita really started worrying. An overly concerned Anita could be an incredibly dangerous thing, and the truth was, she felt ill from her lie. The first thing she wanted to do was to make that right as soon as possible.

“Good day, then.” Fera said, rising from her seat and sliding the chair back towards the table.

“Ferain.” Cross said, stopping her. “Thank you for keeping an eye on Mana. I know that she’s told you about her involvement. I don’t think she told you everything, but you’re aware that she’s been helping me. I think it’s time to take her off of the case. It’s too much for her to handle. Keep an eye on her for me. She’ll be down about it for a while. She’ll feel like she’s disappointed me.”

“Has she?” asked Ferain.

“No. Quite the opposite, in fact. It’s not easy, carrying burdens like this. My job… hell, my life, has been nothing but hardships. I was a soldier in my younger years, fighting in the small, worthless territories that fall outside of the major threes’ radars. I’ve seen a lot of death from those days, and even more after I returned and became a cop. Then I lost my family, but I had to keep going. Means to say, I’ve been through enough to know the toll this takes on a person. Mana has always wanted to do what I do, ever since she was a kid. It’s not even entirely that I don’t think she’s capable. It’s more that I don’t want this life for her. People aren’t the same after they’ve seen more of what you’ve seen today. It’s not a change I want her to go through.”

“Are you really that different?” asked Ferain. “You know, different from the rest of us?”

“That scene today, how did that make you feel?” he asked her. “Sick? Disgusted? Terrified, maybe? Do you know what I felt? I felt nothing. I’m afraid that the only person I will ever truly care about again is Mana. After all I’ve seen, I could watch the world burn, and even happily burn with it without feeling a thing. Those types of things strip a person of humanity, and sometimes even their morality. Mana’s a kind girl, caring, and always supportive of those around her. She’s easily loved, and is quick to give out love. Just try to make sure she stays that way, if you don’t mind.”

Fera thought about all he said and eventually nodded her head in agreement. “Alright. She’s my friend anyway, I was never planning on abandoning her.”

“No, or you probably would not have stayed with her this morning. You’re a good soul, Hirigaya, just as I knew from the start. I’ll have one of the guys take you home. You still can’t be going around alone just yet.”

“Thank you, sir.” Fera said before leaving the room at last.

A cop walked her back to her dorm, and left her alone when they made it to the lobby. He was a silent man, one that she took little notice of during the trip thanks to everything else that happened. Mainly, it was the image of Giana Singer, and the giant hole that was left in her chest. Even now, many hours later, the memory caused her to tremble and her body to grow cold to the touch. That night would definitely be another sleepless one. Ferain entered the lobby, started walking towards the elevator, and when she arrived, the doors slid open. Kiko was slouching on the other side, his hands in their usual places, and his eyes half-closed so that it looked almost like he was sleep-walking.

“Ferain.” he said in a way of greeting. “All alone, are you? Wow, it’s been some time since I’ve seen you without a friend nearby.” Kiko continued, giving her a hungry look-over, but not in the same hungry way that he stared at Anita. With Anita, she was like a fine specimen, a delicacy to be savored and enjoyed. Right now, with Fera, it resembled the way a predator stared at an easy meal.

“Won’t be alone for long. Anita’s expecting me in a few minutes.”

“Is she?” asked Kiko, stepping out of the elevator and closer to Ferain. For some reason, she started feeling frightened. Kiko was her friend… had been for months, but there was something sinister about him right now, something she didn’t like one bit. This newfound fear actually caused her to take a cautious step back, but that only seemed to bring Kiko closer. “As it happens, Anita just came to our room not too long ago to ask about you.”

“Quit the games, Kiko.” said Fera. “I just talked to her an hour ago and I told her where I was.”

“I see. She must’ve forgotten, then. Worried, she was. Should’ve seen her.” Kiko continued, stepping closer again. Fera wanted to stand her ground, and she wanted to think that she was just being overly paranoid after the day’s events, but her frayed nerves gave out and she took a step to the side. She hoped that he would keep going towards the door if she was out of the way, but instead, he stopped and glared at her, keeping that same starving wickedness in his sleepy eyes and lazy grin. “I would be worried too, if I was her. Another body, hmm? A girl, was it? It’s all over the news now, and with you being so closely involved all the time, I’d be worried about poor Anny’s heart stopping from concern.”

He stepped closer and Fera backed up into one of the columns that rose to the ceiling. She was cornered, and she felt like one wrong move might mean her death. It was an uneasy feeling to have from a person she called ‘friend’ for so long. This character that he was playing now, it was entirely different from the one she knew, and it honestly scared her so much that her legs were shaking. She jumped as a hand slammed into the column beside her head and Kiko leaned in close enough so that his mouth was next to her cheek.

“You’re pretty cute in your own right, Prodigy. Truth is though, I’ve always had an eye for you. Small, frail, helpless as you are, it stirs something in me. Your pretty little face helps too, of course.” She felt his breath on her cheek before it shifted to her neck. She lost her own breath for half a heartbeat but quickly found enough courage to shove him away. He stumbled back, laughed, and held up his hands in surrender. “Relax, Sparky, just joking around. Damn, can’t even have a little fun anymore without everyone getting violent. Very well, I’ll leave you be. Goodnight, Ferain, have some pleasant dreams.”

“Where are you going?” Fera asked, despite her shaking body and racing mind.

Kiko looked back at her over his shoulder and smirked. “That’s none of your business.” He returned his hands to his pockets and left through the door of the dormitory.

She curled her fingers into clenched fists as she watched him leave, wondering who this boy really was and how serious he had been just now. That was not the Kiko she knew, and this other side of him terrified her. After a moment of staring at the empty lobby and the backside of the closed wooden door, she decided it was best to let the odd encounter fall into a slumber within the back of her mind. It was something to be pulled back out at a later date, as the present had more pressing matters to deal with. Anita was the first one, and then there was Mana’s situation, as well as her problems with Raven and Marrow at school. Kiko’s strange behavior would just have to wait for the time being.

She returned to her room on the tenth floor of the dormitory, and upon entering, she was met by the smells of cooking meat and some sort of pasta. Over the course of the year, Anita had gotten quite proficient in cooking, whenever she didn’t have some new flavor of instant ramen to take up her practice time. She slid out of her boots, pulled her hat from her back pocket and tossed it on the pair of them, and stretched her arms into the air as she left the entryway.

“Hey, Anita.” she said, walking past the entrance to the kitchen, and past the little archway cut-out, she saw her partner working over the stove.

“Fera, you’re back, and just in time too. Dinner will be done soon.”

“It’s only about five, Anita. We’re having dinner already?”

“I wanted to get it done early today. It’s… special.” Anita said, before smiling.

“How so?” asked Fera.

“No need to worry about that. We’ll discuss it in a bit, don’t you mind. So, how was your day with Mana?”

The question Fera knew was inevitable came up unexpectedly soon. Anita seemed to be in a good mood, despite having been abandoned by her best friend on a day they had planned for weeks, and Fera did not want to risk ruining it. However, the question was asked, and Fera was inclined to give an honest answer this time. She leaned in the archway of the kitchen, held her left arm with her right hand, and sucked in a shallow breath.

“Mana took me to the murder scene this morning.”

Ferain expected a lot of different things, though she didn’t know which was more plausible. She thought Anita might choke on air and gasp from the shock of it. She expected her partner to get angry at either her or Mana, partially for the lie, and partially for the stupidity of it. What happened was not far from those, or any of the other possibilities Fera saw. There was a quiet squeak, the clattering of silverware as the utensil in Anita’s hand fell to the tiled floor, and then there was silence for what felt like an eternity.

“She did what?” muttered Anita, after collecting herself.

“She saw it happen… the murder, I mean. She fought the guy but couldn't stop him. She brought me for… To be honest, I don’t really know what she brought me there for. She said she didn’t know what to do and that she needed my help, but… Anyway, everything is fine and Cross even let me go without too much of a hassle this time.”

“Why did you lie to me?” Anita questioned. This was the next inevitable question that Ferain was equally unprepared to answer.

“I don’t know.” Fera murmured. “Maybe I didn’t want to worry you. You already sounded scared enough and a lot happened, I wasn’t really thinking straight.”

Anita bobbed her head, bent down to pick up the utensil she dropped, and set it down on the counter upon straightening up. She fussed around with the food and stove dials for a moment before nodding her head at her work. “All set. Now we just have to wait. In the meantime…” she said, walking over to Fera and grabbing her wrist. “You’re coming with me. It just has to sit for a bit and it’ll be done. I’d say we have about ten or so minutes and I want to talk with you.”

Fera was pulled behind her, just like how she was dragged in Mana’s wake earlier that morning. This time, however, instead of leaving the apartment, they went further in, back towards Anita’s room. The door was already open, but this changed as soon as both girls entered. Anita shut it and then turned to face Ferain.

“You asked why this day was special. I never told you so I didn’t expect you to know. I wanted it to be a surprise. It’s my birthday today.”

Ferain’s eyes went wide and she instantly felt a thousand times worse than she had moments earlier. Fera never cared for her birthday, so when it came and passed earlier that month, it meant nothing to her, but Anita might’ve been different in her opinion to the day. Maybe it was a really special occasion for her, and if so, Fera had ruined it by running off on their plans.

“I know we didn’t do anything for your birthday, so I thought it would be nice if we celebrated both days on mine. It’s why I was so intent on going out today. Don’t get me wrong, I never really celebrated it before, but since we’re both new to all of this, I figured it would be a good thing to do together.”

“It would’ve been. Anita, I’m so sorry.” Fera said before gritting her teeth.

“Don’t apologize. I understand why you went, and I approved of it. Mana needed your help, and if it’s as serious as another victim, what’s my birthday plans in comparison?”

“It’s still wrong.” argued Fera, feeling that she should be chastised for her actions. She felt like Anita should be angrier with her, and almost wished that she was. But she only saw content on Anita’s face, and maybe a bit of her usual thinking expression.

“Look, nevermind all of that, okay? We still have some time tonight, and I got us a cake to share. Also… I got you something else. I was going to wait until after dinner and dessert, but you seem a bit down. A present might do you some good, right?” Anita said, before walking over to her bed. She reached under her pillow and pulled out a small black box. She beckoned Fera over and smiled as she passed it to her. “Go on, open it. Don’t get your hopes up though, it’s nothing too crazy.”

Fera stared at the box, stunned by its very existence. This was her first present of any kind since her mother gave her the blue crystal necklace all those years ago. It was light in her hands, and as small as the little boxes she saw on television that usually housed engagement rings. She opened it slowly and saw… an empty box.

“Anita, there’s nothing in there.” she said, but the moment she looked up, she was met by another touch of both mild wetness and intoxicating warmth.

This time, it wasn’t on her cheek, it was on her lips. Her eyes closed as Anita kissed her, and she let it continue happening. During their brief connection, she felt something wrap tightly around her right wrist and when they broke apart, she saw a ribbon tied there, right behind the blue one she always wore now. This new addition had black outlines and an inner band of deep purple. Stamped onto both ends of the ribbon was a silver outline that looked like a sleeping wolf, curled up and resting peacefully. It was the brand’s mark, the logo for the company that made the tiny accessory, but with this design, it added to the charm of it. She looked up again, expecting to see Anita standing there, blushing and smiling and hopefully willing to explain what she had just done, but her partner was not there. In her confusion, she failed to notice that Anita walked past her, and was already stepping into the hallway.

They didn’t talk much during dinner, but that was okay by Ferain. It wasn’t like she was upset by what happened, she simply needed some time to process it. Anita kissed her, and it was in a way that implied other, deeper feelings. When dinner was over, they shared the cake, a vanilla one that was covered in chocolate icing, which was apparently Anita’s favorite kind. Everything seemed back to normal then. They laughed a bit, talked a lot, and eventually, they went to bed in their own rooms, as they did every night. Actually, Ferain took a hot shower first, but that was primarily because of how unclean the morning had left her feeling. She needed clean clothes, a clean body, before she could even attempt to fall asleep.

As far-fetched as she thought it was, her drowsiness won out, and she was left in a near-comatose state from exhaustion. However, while that defied her expectations, the nightmares made up for that little sliver of hope that things might not be going the way she thought. She dreamed of her mother, of Giana, and then of others sharing their fates. She saw her friends, all lying dead in the same position Giana’s body was left, cold and lifeless as blood ran down their fronts and dribbled from the corners of their mouths. Their expressions were left frozen, forever carrying the final looks of fear and unanticipated, but perhaps welcome, death. In the end, before she darted awake, she saw her father standing in front of her current self, holding the same gun he had all those years ago.

His lips moved but she could not hear his words. The rain fell but it made no sound in the puddles around her. Her mother was nowhere to be seen, and her screams did not exist. It was Fera, as she was presently, and her father, as he was on that day. There was nothing else but cold, damp walls, and a filthy ground of soiled concrete and puddles of collected rainwater. The gun went off, and then it fired again, causing Ferain to sit up hastily as she screamed. She was covered in sweat, her breathing was fast and shallow, and for a split second, she almost thought she felt her old scars stinging, like some sort of phantom pain from the long ago recollection. From that point, she knew further sleep would be impossible.