WINTER

I wanted to take a second to stare at my reflection in the broken mirror in front of me, but there was no time. My dress was ripped and the long, shimmering skirt that went down to my ankles has been ripped off, threads hanging loose as they fall down to my feet. I was barefoot, and my feet were filthy and in pain, but I was trying not to think about that.

I was trying to think about whether there was a way out.

I could see my nostrils flaring in the broken mirror; blood smeared on my forehead. Bits and pieces of my reflection stared back at me, a kaleidoscope of disappointment.

“We have to leave, Athena,” Kylan said. His face was bloodied too. I thought his nose might be broken, but he hadn’t complained. He never complained. There was silence all around us, enveloping us, its certainty washing over us like death.

It was going to happen. And it was going to happen soon, it whispered at us, unencumbered by what the school normally sounded like. No elevators, no steps, no sounds.

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Nothing except the sound of our own breaths.

“He’s right,” Puck said. He was standing guard by the door, craning his neck to look back at me, his green eyes shining while his jaw hardened. I didn’t think I had seen him afraid before, but he seemed afraid then. I could hear the waver in his voice as he spoke. “We have to go.”

“This is pointless,” Dom said, quietly. I turned to look at him and I felt all their gazes on me, suddenly aware of what I was doing.

“Tell him that he should be out there, helping us find a way out,” Rory said, quietly, more to himself than to any of us. His voice sounded like honey, melodic, with a lilt at the end. Just like it always did. But when I looked at him, his eyes were wide, there were beads of sweat on his forehead, and I didn’t think I had ever seen him look so panicked before.

I swallowed, trying to maintain my composure. It was not easy, but I knew that if I fell apart, they would all fall apart too. “He can hear you, Rory,” I said. “You know that.”

“Fuck you,” Dom said to Rory, practically darting through the room in a run, and sticking his middle finger up at him. “Fuck you. I wish you could see me, you prick.”

“Boys, can you all just…quiet down for a second?” I asked. “I need to think.”

“Too late,” Puck said, stumbling back slightly as the double door was pushed open by a gust of wind.

I felt a shiver going down my spine.

They had found us.

And there was no way out.