I had a strange dream.
I was sitting on a grassy hill, watching the sun coming up over the horizon. I was holding hands with someone, but I couldn’t turn my head to look at them. I couldn’t move. I knew I was badly hurt, but I didn’t feel any pain. I just felt strangely at peace.
Someone spoke to me- a boy? I couldn’t see him properly, either.
Then he disappeared, and a few seconds later, there was a thunderous shockwave, and a blinding light encompassed everything around us… and then darkness.
…Wake up, dumbass. You’re late for school.
Oh, shit.
I jolted awake, sitting up straight. Immediately, I felt a weight crash in my shoulder- Isla, who was fast asleep. Her hand was intertwined with mine.
When had that happened?
Tsk, tsk. Don’t you remember what you two did last night?
Very clearly. We just talked about stuff.
No loyalty to Sophia.
Daylight streamed through the window. I fished my phone out of the pocket of my shorts and checked the time- 10:57. I was beyond late for school. I looked down at Isla, who had drool leaking out of the corner of her mouth.
I suppressed the urge to laugh and switched my phone to the camera app, taking a photo. As I did, I noticed something peculiar in the frame of the shot- a golden butterfly.
I lowered my phone and observed it fluttering around. It wasn’t tiny, either- maybe around the size of my palm.
It fluttered around the room for a bit before coming towards us. I watched as it hovered above Isla’s head for a bit, then settled down in her hair, just above her ear. It felt like it was looking straight at me, watching me. As I observed it, I realized part of its right wing was missing- as if tiny pieces of it had fallen off, one by one.
I slowly reached out towards it. As I did, it inched towards me, glowing a little brighter as the distance closed.
Isla’s eyes slowly opened. She blinked slowly, and the butterfly disappeared. We held each other’s gaze.
“Huh.”
We both flinched. Peeking through a crack in the door was Mom, who took note of the whole scenario and came to a perfect misunderstanding.
“Sorry, I’ll come back later.” She closed the door.
We stared at the door for a few seconds before Isla glanced down and flung herself away from me, falling off the bed and onto the floor with a thunk. She slowly peeked out from the back of the bed and glared at me, if it was somehow all my fault.
“Good morning,” I greeted.
After I changed the bandage on my leg and we awkwardly brushed our teeth together, we made our way to the stairs. Ramona and Ken both had already left for school, so I guess now would be the time where we had the ‘serious conversation.’
“For the record, I still don’t like you,” Isla said on the steps.
“That’s fine. I don’t like me either.” As we reached the bottom of the steps, I glanced at the shoe rack by the entrance. There was an additional pair of woman’s shoes I recognized.
“Our neighbour’s here,” I realized.
“The one who had the police over?” Isla asked.
I nodded, a sinking feeling in my stomach. That feeling only got worse when we walked into the kitchen and I saw her- Mrs. Forth, who was staring into an untouched cup of coffee as my mom sat across from her, looking concerned.
As we walked in, Mom stiffened. “Uh, Michael, could you actually-”
Mrs. Forth turned to face us. Her eyes were baggy and bloodshot, her greying brown hair in disarray. She tried to muster up a faint smile as she saw me, but the corners of her mouth seemed to refuse. What made it worse was the thing only I could see- a noose tied around her neck, but not connected to anything… yet.
Then she looked at Isla, and her eyes widened.
“I see.” Mrs. Forth looked back at my mom. “This is why you were trying to get me to leave, isn’t it?”
“Naomi, it’s not her fault-”
“I would never say it was.” My neighbour picked up her cup of coffee, and it trembled so badly it spilled onto the saucer it’d been placed on. “I’m not a child, Sara. I knew the risks when my daughter told me who she was up against.”
I glanced back at Isla, who had gone completely pale, as if she’d seen a ghost.
“You guys have met?” I asked, confused.
“No, but…” She swallowed. “She looks just like-”
“My name is Naomi Forth,” Mrs. Forth began. “Ruth’s mother. We need to talk about your meeting with my daughter.”
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Northeast Academy wasn’t like any of the other high schools in the city- or any city, honestly. You could tell as soon as you arrived at its front gates, armed with security guards who kept a close eye on students entering and exiting the campus grounds. The school itself was fairly large, outfitted with tennis and basketball courts, a large gymnasium, a greenhouse, and a pool suitable for competition.
The students were especially different- an awkward blend of kids from a variety of financial backgrounds. Northeast was technically a public school, but it was funded by the city’s wealthiest and brightest, who sent their kids there for the best treatment and education that the city had to offer. As a result, after September had passed, a social hierarchy more severe than most high schools had formed, based on both wealth and reputation.
At the very top of that hierarchy, naturally, stood Sophia Prentice, the academy’s ‘princess’. Out of the entire student population, she was unmatched- a beautiful, well spoken top student, vice president of student council, and the star of the school’s gymnastics team. Not only that, but she came from a sophisticated and wealthy family- her mother was the Commissioner of Police, and her father was the city’s mayor and an influential businessman. But outside of classes, it was rare to see her or even speak to her, as if she could disappear into thin air.
There were also many other students of note- for example, the mysterious, all-knowing Yusuf, the violent yet flirtatious transfer student Renee, and Quentin Blake, the silver tongued, well-liked student council treasurer.
While Sophia was considered the top of the social food chain, Quentin was a very close second simply due to how well connected and well spoken he was. He was also known for helping out the student population however he could, whenever he could.
Which was exactly why Jacob was heading to him for advice. Even if it was kind of intimidating.
During lunchtime, a lot of the student council members tended to flock to their office on the academy’s fifth floor. It was a set of double doors relatively secluded from the rest of the building, down a long hallway that made approaching even more nerve wracking.
Technically, the office was considered a place of refuge for students, provided that they knocked first. But that didn’t mean you could just waltz right in, especially someone like Jacob. He tiptoed the length of the hall without making a sound, as if he was afraid of getting caught.
Just as he reached out to knock, the door’s handle turned, and Jacob jumped out of his skin, falling back onto his butt as the door opened. Quentin’s brown hair and blue eyes peeked out from inside.
“...Jacob Yu, right?” Quentin frowned. “You here to steal the president’s wallet again?”
“N-no, of course not,” Jacob stammered. “I, uh, was hoping I could get your advice on some stuff.”
“You can relax, man. I won’t bite.” He opened the door fully. “This one might, though.”
Jacob stared incredulously. In Quentin’s right hand, suspended in the air, was a short girl with dark hair and light brown eyes, flailing around and trying to free herself from his grasp, unsuccessfully. She wore a black hoodie, washed out ripped jeans, and canvas sneakers. Somehow, Quentin was holding her whole weight up by the hood.
“Lemme go!” she protested. “I need to talk to Sophia!”
Quentin sighed. “I told you, Ramona, she isn’t here.”
“I’m not stupid! I know she’s on the roof!” Ramona yelled. “It’s important!” Then, Ramona stopped flailing, noticing Jacob. “Wait, aren’t you Quinn’s boyfriend? Uh, Jake?”
“I’m not her boyfriend,” Jacob said, feeling flustered. “And he literally just said my name’s Jacob, not Jake.”
Quentin closed the door behind him and lowered the girl to the ground. “Does your brother know you’re here?”
The girl crossed her arms, looking annoyed. “Why does that matter?”
Extending his hand, Quentin pulled Jacob to his feet, then turned back to Ramona. “I don’t know where you got the idea that Sophia’s on the roof, but she hasn’t been here all day, and no one is allowed on the roof. So get outta here.” He threw his arm around Jacob, who stiffened even more. “Me and Jacob gotta have a private guy talk, y’know?”
Ramona made a face. “Whatever,” she grumbled. “I’ll just wait down the hall for her to come out.” She walked off, leaving the two boys alone.
The student council room was fairly big and sported a lot of Victorian style furniture, with multiple cabinets, bookshelves full of important records, and a large coffee table surrounded by four sofas. At the back of the room was a large desk and a laptop used by the student council president, but the chair, along with the rest of the furniture in the room, sat empty. To the left of that desk was a metal door which Jacob assumed led into a storage room.
“Where’s everyone else?” Jacob asked, both surprised and relieved.
“They’ve all got plans. I’m the only one here today.” Quentin plopped down onto one of the sofas and gestured to the one opposite of him. Jacob gingerly took a seat, and tensed up as he noticed Quentin stared at him.
“Surprised you didn’t get expelled last year,” Quentin told him. “You stole a lot of stuff, man. What, a camera from the photography room, a guitar from the music room, a few of the teacher’s car keys…” He whistled in amazement. “And the old prez’s wallet, somehow. Man, he was pissed.”
Jacob scratched the back of his head, looking away. “Yeah, sorry about all that.”
He waved him off. “Water over the bridge or however that goes. You said you needed some advice?”
“Yeah, uh…” Jacob noticed some treats in the center of the table and nervously took one. “I… ugh, I need to get a girl a gift for her birthday, but I have no idea what to get her. And I really don’t want to screw it up.”
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Quentin blinked. “You… came all the way here to ask me for girl advice? Seriously?”
“I…” Embarrassed, Jacob hung his head. “I don’t know man. Sorry, this was stupid.” He stood up. “I’ll leave.”
“No, no, it’s fine, sit.” Quentin laughed, somehow making Jacob feel less tense. “Just, y’know, usually when people come in here and ask me for advice, it’s something super serious. Things like, ‘my family’s company is in major debt’ or ‘I might not be able to graduate next year because my GPA is so bad.’ It’s actually kind of refreshing to talk about normal high school stuff for once.”
Jacob sat back down. “I can’t even begin to imagine giving advice for important stuff like that. What if something goes wrong and they blame you for it?”
Quentin shrugged. “Anyways, I’m assuming you’re talking about that Quinn girl.”
“Yeah.” Jacob fidgeted in his seat. “I’ve known her for a while, but that’s the hard part. I feel like she doesn’t even see me as a guy. I’ve tried so many things, but I just… I don’t know. It’s hard because we’ve known each other for so long, I guess.”
“Huh.” Quentin frowned, playing with the dangling earring on his right ear. “This is bit more difficult for me, 'cause I'm more of a short term kind of person. Most guys only want to hook up, and all the girls I've been with, uh... let's just say they had some strange preferences."
“Uh…” Jacob wasn’t sure what to say to that. “I'm... sorry?"
“Don’t be. So, basically, you want to get her a gift that will make you think about you more seriously, right?”
“Yeah, but I have no clue what that could be. I’ve been thinking about it for more than a week, but it’s been driving me crazy.” Jacob sighed and flopped back against the couch. “I feel like if I get this wrong, we’ll be stuck as friends for the rest of our lives.”
“It’s not that serious,” Quentin reassured him. “Hm... maybe get her something that makes her think about you- something a little more sentimental. Don’t get something crazy or expensive unless you know for sure she likes grand gestures. Or money.”
“Something that makes her think about me…” Jacob frowned. “Wouldn’t any gift I get her make her think about me?”
“No, like…” Quentin thought for a second about how to phrase his idea. “Maybe something that reminds you both of something you did together, just as an example. You’ll know what it is when you see it.”
“Huh.” Jacob nodded slowly. “That’s actually not bad.”
Quentin grinned. “Right? Bonus points if it’s something practical.”
“Like something she can use?”
“Exactly! While you’re at it, if she likes sweets, you could get her some cake for the two of you to share. But uh- just two slices, y’know what I mean?”
“You’re a genius.” Jacob stood up, feeling confident. “Alright, I’ll head to the mall after school and start looking.”
“Awesome.” Quentin also stood up and walked him to the door, opening it for him. “Let me know how it goes later, alright?”
“Of course,” Jacob agreed. “But I might need more advice after.”
“And I’m happy to provide it.” Quentin glanced down the hall and sighed. “Do me a favour, though? Tell Ramona to go away, or I’m really going to call her brother.”
----------------------------------------
Ramona stared at her phone in irritation.
She’d tried her best to make her way to the roof to talk to Sophia, but the access to the roof was through the student council office. Why? She had no fucking clue, but none of the staircases went past the fifth floor, and the janitors all told her that the student council room had a door that led to the roof.
“No one is allowed up there either way,” they’d told her. “Not even Sophia Prentice.”
That’s a load of bullshit, Ramona had thought. She knew Sophia was up there- she just needed to find a way to climb to the top of the princess’ castle.
“Hey,” a voice spoke from behind her- the Jacob guy, a lanky Chinese kid with short hair and brown eyes.
She shot him a glare. “What?”
“Uh…” Jacob nervously opened his mouth to speak, then closed it and shook his head. “You know what, never mind. You, uh, seem busy.” He left, heading down the hallway.
Ramona watched him leave. Maybe he could help her sneak in somehow? No… Quentin wasn’t that stupid. He’d suspect something was up if Jacob came back right away and she was missing from the hallway.
She groaned in frustration, staring at Michael's text on her phone: find a way up, anyway.
“Easier said than done,” Ramona muttered. What was she supposed to do, knock him out?
“What is?”
Ramona’s heart nearly jumped out of her chest despite the softly spoken words. A pale girl with silvery hair and light brown eyes was staring at her curiously. She wore an oversized lavender sweater and black jeans.
“Eurielle.” Ramona swallowed nervously. “I, uh, like your sweater.” Ramona purposely left out the fact that lavender was her favourite colour. She also purposely left out the fact that Eurielle looked really good in it.
The girl smiled. “Thanks. I was actually looking for you.”
“For me?” Ramona’s heart went from jumping to skipping.
“Yup. I was wondering if you had any notes from yesterday’s chemistry class, since I was sick.” She glanced down the hall towards the student council room. “Though it seems like you’re busy with something else right now.”
“Yeah, I was trying to…” Ramona’s face lit up. “That’s it!” She grabbed Eurielle’s hands. “Can you ask your brother to bring Sophia downstairs so I can talk to her? Please please please please? Stupid Quentin won’t let me onto the roof even after I begged him.”
“Um…” Flustered, Eurielle gently pulled her hands away. “I can ask him, but I’m not sure she’ll come down.”
“It’s really important,” Ramona promised. “It’s about-” She winced. “Actually, I’m not allowed to tell you, but I promise she’ll want to hear it. Just ask him, please?”
“Okay, okay.” Eurielle pulled out her phone and began to type out a text. “What should I say that it’s about, then?”
“Just say I really need to talk to her,” Ramona told her. “Please? She’ll come down right away, she loves me.”
“She loves you?”
“I mean, uh… we’re really, really good friends,” Ramona corrected. “Super great friends. But just friends, obviously.”
Eurielle frowned. “No, I just, um… didn’t know you guys were ever close.”
God, please, kill me now, Ramona thought, cringing internally. She couldn’t figure out for the life of her why her brain had to go haywire whenever she spoke to this girl.
“Well, we were,” she explained. “But, after all that happened… you know.”
“I see.” Eurielle phone buzzed in her hand. “He says Sophia’s not in a good mood, that she wanted to be left alone. She’s not even answering his texts.”
“Well, what I have to tell her will fix that,” Ramona promised.
Eurielle typed out a few more texts, and the phone buzzed in reply. “He says there’s a secret way Sophia gets onto the roof if you’re willing to give it a try, but it’s really dangerous. He thinks it’s better for you to wait and see if you can find her after school.”
“After school?” Ramona shook her head. Sophia would disappear like a ghost and she’d have to wait until tomorrow. “Screw that. What’s the secret way?”
“Uh…” Eurielle blanched. “Are you… really sure?”
“Of course,” Ramona said confidently. “How bad could it possibly be?”
Immediately, Ramona knew it was going to be bad.
The ‘secret way’ that Sophia took to the roof wasn’t some hidden entrance in the principal’s office or a series of traps in a maze. Ramona honestly would have preferred that to this- climbing up onto the shed that housed the school’s emergency generators, then up onto the windowsill of a second floor classroom. From there, she’d have to do a running jump to the maintenance ladder and climb up to the roof.
For particularly athletic people, it would be a breeze. Ramona could picture the star gymnast Sophia or Michael, who was experienced with urban climbing, easily making it. But for Ramona, her head spun as she looked at how high up the ladder was. Her knees were shaking, and Eurielle immediately noticed.
“Are… are you going to be okay?” Eurielle fretted.
“Sure! Yeah! No problem,” Ramona lied, still shaking. “I can do this.”
Eurielle shook her head, putting her hand on her shoulder. “You don’t have to force yourself, Ramona.”
A memory popped in Ramona’s mind- Michael, who was looking down at her, a pained expression on his face. She had failed to even scratch him yet again, and despite being exhausted and injured, she’d wanted to keep going.
You don’t have to force yourself, he’d told her, with a patronizing tone. It's okay.
The memory irritated the hell out of her. She wasn't a stranger to failing. Not in the slightest. But no way in hell was she going to give up and see that look on his face again. Not for something as simple as this.
“...I’m not forcing myself," she muttered.
Eurielle blinked in surprise. “I-I’m sorry, I just- wait!”
Ramona sprinted up to the shed and began to scale the chainlink fence surrounding it. When she reached the top, she carefully balanced herself on the top of the metal bar at the top, then leaped on top of the metal shed. The roof was already dented from previous impacts, showing that something- or someone- had landed on it before.
The windowsill was pretty high up, especially for someone who was 5’2”, but Ramona sprinted across the roof, bent her knees, and leaped, swinging her arms for extra momentum. She managed to grab onto the edge of the windowsill and began to pull herself up.
“Ramona!” Eurielle yelled. “The window’s not-”
As she soon as she’d pulled herself up onto the windowsill, she found herself staring into a classroom. The blinds hadn’t been drawn closed, and there was a single student on the other side- a freshman guy, staring at her in shock.
“Uh…” Ramona waved awkwardly. “Hi?”
The guy slowly raised his hand and waved back. Then, he walked over to the blinds and closed them for her, concealing her from the few other students that were in there with him.
Ramona sighed in relief. “Thank god.” Whoever he was, she’d find a way to thank him later.
For now, she turned back towards the next step, the ladder- and realized she’d had absolutely no right to breathe that sigh of relief.
The ladder was so far out- far out enough that she’d have to run the length of the narrow windowsill into a running jump to maybe grab the bottom rungs of the ladder. If she messed it up, she’d plummet to the ground into the pavement. It would be alright if she could at least land on the shed as a failsafe, but the ladder was attached to the wall and the shed was further out from it, meaning that if Ramona fell…
She looked down at the ground and immediately felt dizzy. Desperate, random thoughts flooded her mind.
Why the fuck had she gone up here, again? There was no way she could do this. She clung to the wall, shivering uncontrollably. Her hand drifted to her pocket, wanting to call Michael to come help her down. Hell, he should be the one here climbing to the roof, not her. Why was she always responsible for helping with his problems?
“Ramona Collins!”
Slowly, Ramona forced her head to look back towards the ground, where Eurielle was standing, staring up at her. She didn’t look worried, or even mildly concerned. Instead, her eyes were shining, and Ramona could swear they looked almost bright red in the sunlight.
“You can do this!” Eurielle shouted confidently.
Ramona’s eyes widened. She pressed her forehead into the glass of the window, closed her eyes, and took a few deep breaths. Then, she carefully edged as far back on the windowsill as she could go, sprinted a few steps, and leaped with all her might.
Time almost seemed to slow as she flew through the air. Her hand just barely managed to grab the very bottom rung of the ladder, but she clutched onto it for dear life.
Despite being absolutely terrified, she looked down at Eurielle and grinned. “I did it!”
Then the ladder’s lock disengaged, and gravity began to plunge her towards the ground as the ladder extended downwards.
Ramona didn’t even have the time to scream, but she instinctively brought her knees up. Just before she would have hit the ground and broke her legs, the ladder stopped, locking in place, leaving her dangling less than an inch off the ground.
For once, she was very, very grateful that she was short.
Eurielle ran up in a panic. “Oh my god, oh my god. Are you alright?!”
“I’m great,” Ramona managed, swallowing the contents of her stomach. She was so dizzy she couldn’t see straight. “Just, uh… give me a moment to catch my breath… okay?”
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Vincent was pissed.
He couldn’t believe Michael wasn’t in school today. Even if he was in crutches from the knife he’d sunk into his thigh, he’d been looking forwards to jumping him with as many guys as he could gather, Demon and non-Demon.
Hell, it was the only reason he’d opted to not tell the executives about Michael’s stunt in the alleyway, so that he could get revenge without their interference. And also… so that he and his group wouldn’t get in even deeper shit for losing to a single high school kid. That was also important.
After realizing that Michael wasn’t at school, he had decided to look for Ramona, but he couldn’t find her anywhere at lunch. She wasn’t in the cafeteria, gym, or any of her classrooms. Other people stared at him pitifully as he passed them on crutches, and it irritated him.
“The fuck you looking at?!” he yelled at a group of students walking by. They jumped and quickly walked off, but the incident would likely also attract campus security, so he opted to head outside.
The Puppetmaster had told him a lot. He had big plans- bold, impressive plans that would change things in the city, and that would make the Demons way more powerful than they already were. And he’d wanted Vincent to be a part of it.
The words he’d spoken that night been completely right- it was time to replace the old guard. Jin Ikari was terrifying on his own, but he wasn’t ambitious, and he wasn’t cunning. Hell, he had let Isla run around like a headless chicken, spewing all the secrets she knew to Commissioner Prentice. It was time for real Demons to show this city what they had to fear.
Outside, Vincent stopped cold in his tracks as he spotted Ramona and another girl in the distance, slowly climbing up the maintenance ladder to the roof. He didn’t have a clue what they were doing or why they were doing it, but he did know that once the two of them were up there, they'd be isolated, with nowhere to go, and nowhere to run.
A grin spread across his face. He pulled out his cell phone, dialed a number, and spoke into it.
“Hey. It's time to get to work."