Chapter 22
Violet
I ran.
I didn't even think about where I was going. Didn't plan a route or consider my options. Just ran, my legs carrying me away from the List, away from the crowd, away from my own name written in elegant script on that damned parchment.
My lungs burned. My vision blurred. The campus rushed past in a smear of autumn colors and gray stone buildings.
“Violet! Wait!”
Jeremiah’s voice came from somewhere behind me. I didn't stop.
“Vee, please! Stop for a second!”
Footsteps pounded behind me. My friends, running after me. But I couldn't stop. If I did, it would all become real. I'd have to face what had just happened.
My name is on the List.
Twenty-four hours to run and hide.
Twenty-four hours to be hunted.
A hand caught my arm, pulling me to a stumbling halt. I whirled around, chest heaving, and found myself surrounded by Cherry, Ginny, Jeremiah, and Dylan. Their faces were flushed from running, eyes wide with worry.
“I can’t stop,” I gasped. “I need to—I have to—”
“Breathe,” Cherry said firmly, both hands on my shoulders now. “Just breathe for a second, okay?”
“There's no time. I need to get out of here, I need to—”
“Violet.” Jeremiah's voice cut through my panic. “Listen to us. Please.”
I forced myself to take a shaky breath, then another. The world slowly came back into focus. We were near the library, partially hidden by a cluster of oak trees. Students rushed past on the main path, but no one was paying attention to us.
“Okay,” I managed to choke out. “I'm listening.”
Cherry exchanged glances with the others, then looked back at me. “When I said you had to run, I didn’t mean for you to do it alone,” she said. “If you're running, so are we.”
I blinked. "What?”
“You heard her,” Jeremiah said, stepping closer. “We're with you. Every step of the way.”
“That's insane,” I said, shaking my head. “You can't—this isn't your problem. I don’t want any of you getting hurt!”
“One of our biggest mistakes last year was letting your sister be alone during the hunt,” Cherry interrupted, her voice tight with emotion.
“We thought we were helping by hiding her in that motel. But we left her vulnerable. Isolated.” Her eyes glistened.
“Never again. Not now that we know how bad it can get.”
I looked between them, seeing the determination in their faces. The guilt. The fierce protectiveness.
“We can serve as distractions,” Ginny said. “If a hunter gets close, we split up. Make a big scene. Draw them away from you and give you time to get distance.”
“Create confusion,” Dylan added. “It’ll make it harder for them to track you.”
“You guys...” My voice cracked. “This is dangerous. The Dionysus Club doesn't mess around. If they catch you helping me…”
“Then they catch us,” Jeremiah said with a shrug. “We're not letting you face this alone, Vee. That's final. And for god’s sake, pull your hood up. It’s already started, remember?”
I stared at them, overwhelmed. “Thank you,” I finally whispered, pulling my jacket hood up to cover my hair. “I don't... I don't know what to say.”
“Say you'll let us help,” Cherry said, squeezing my shoulders. “Say you won't try to ditch us and go it alone.”
I managed a weak smile despite the terror still coursing through my veins. “I won't ditch you.”
“Good.” Jeremiah straightened up and snapped his fingers.
“Okay, I’ve had a long time to think about what I’d do differently if I ever got a do-over with the hunt like this, so I’ve already got some stuff figured out.
The first problem is our phones. Remember how we got Cal a burner last year but kept our own? ”
The others nodded.
“Yeah,” Ginny said, tilting her head. “Do you think hunters track the phones of friends and family as well?”
“It’s possible. So, here’s what we need to do.
Ginny, I want you to take all of our phones—except Violet’s—to Lost and Found in the student admin building.
That way, if any hunters are tracking us to get to Violet, they’ll hit a dead end there,” he said.
“When you’re finished with that, go to the prepaid phone store on Merchant Street, where we got Cal’s burner last year.
Get one for each of us. It’s important we can communicate if we get separated at any point.
Oh, and use cash to pay. Meet us at the theater when you’re done. ”
Ginny nodded. “Got it.”
Jeremiah removed all the cash from his wallet and handed it to Ginny. Then he turned his focus to Dylan. “Dyl, do you remember how to get to my cousin’s place down in Harborview?”
Dylan nodded. “Yup. 17 Seabird Avenue, right?”
“Yes. Take Violet’s phone there. He’s on vacation right now, so he won’t be able to see you skulking around,” Jeremiah said.
“Just ditch the phone anywhere on the property, or around the house somewhere. It’s a big place, so once any hunters arrive, they’ll probably waste at least half an hour searching for Violet.
Plus they have to drive twenty minutes to get there in the first place. So that buys us more time.”
“Got it.” Dylan briskly nodded. “I’m assuming you want me to meet you at the theater afterwards too?”
“Yeah. Cherry and I will get Violet disguised while we figure out our next moves.”
Dylan and Ginny raced off in opposite directions, and Jeremiah put his arm around me.
“For the next five to ten minutes, I’m your boyfriend walking across campus with you,” he said, pulling his jacket hood high over his head so that it drooped over the top half of his face.
“And yes, I said walking. That’ll attract way less attention than a single girl running around. ”
Cherry nodded. “I’ll walk slightly ahead. Scope things out on our way to the theater.”
We started moving, Jeremiah's arm tight around my shoulders, his pace deliberately casual despite the tension radiating through his body.
I tried to match his energy, acting like we were just another couple heading to class, but it was impossible to ignore the crawling sensation between my shoulder blades, or the hyperawareness of every person we passed.
They're looking at me. They all know. They can see right through this.
“You're doing great,” Jeremiah murmured, low enough that only I could hear. “Just keep walking. Don't make eye contact with anyone.”
A group of girls walked past us, laughing about something. One of them glanced at me, and I was certain that recognition flashed in her eyes.
She knows. She saw the List. She's going to say something.
But the girl just kept walking, her attention already back on her friends.
“Breathe, Vee,” Jeremiah whispered.
I forced air into my lungs, but it felt like I was trying to breathe through a straw.
Ahead of us, Cherry moved with practiced ease, her posture relaxed, her gait unhurried. Every few seconds, she'd glance back to check on us, then continue scanning the paths ahead and to either side.
We passed the humanities building. The library. The student union. Finally, the theater building loomed ahead, its pale facade a beacon of relative safety. We were almost there.
“Oh shit,” Cherry hissed.
She'd stopped dead about ten feet ahead of us, her body rigid. Her gaze was fixed on something to our left.
I followed her line of sight and felt my blood turn to ice.
A figure in all black stood near a fountain. Black jacket, black pants, black mask covering the upper half of his face. He was scanning the area with methodical precision, his head turning slowly as he surveyed the students walking past.
A hunter.
My legs locked. I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe.
A shriek suddenly split the air.
A girl with blonde hair had spotted the hunter too. She stood frozen for half a second, her face white with terror, before she spun and ran. The hunter's head snapped toward her, and without hesitation, he took off after her, his long strides eating up the distance between them.
They disappeared around the corner of the science building, the girl's screams fading into the distance.
“Move,” Jeremiah said urgently. “Now.”
We hurried over to the theater building's side entrance, and Cherry yanked the door open and held it as Jeremiah and I rushed inside.
The door slammed shut behind us, and for a moment, we just stood there in the dim hallway, breathing hard.
“That was close,” Cherry said, her voice shaking slightly.
“It’s okay,” Jeremiah said, patting her on the shoulder. “He didn't even notice us. I’m pretty sure he was only looking for that girl.”
Cherry led us through the maze of corridors, past the main auditorium and several rehearsal spaces, until we reached a door marked Costume & Makeup - Authorized Personnel Only.
She pushed it open and ushered us inside.
The room was cluttered with racks of clothing, shelves of wigs and accessories, and a long counter lined with mirrors and makeup supplies. Cherry immediately locked the door behind us, then moved to the windows and pulled down the blackout shades.
“Okay,” she said, turning to face me. “Time for a transformation.”
She guided me to one of the chairs in front of the mirrors and started pulling pins from her hair. “First things first. That hair has to go. What are you wearing under your jacket?”
I unzipped it. “Just a t-shirt.”
“And jeans,” Jeremiah observed, already moving toward the clothing racks. “Basic, but way too recognizable, because half the campus already saw you in that outfit today.”
“Exactly,” Cherry said. “We need to make you look like a completely different person.”
“What if it doesn't work?” I murmured. “What if they still recognize me?”
Cherry's hands landed on my shoulders, firm and reassuring. “It will work,” she said. “People will only know it’s you if they get way up close to you. And we won’t let anyone get that close.”
For the next twenty minutes, she worked with focused intensity. She pinned my hair flat against my skull with the wig cap, then selected a choppy auburn wig from one of the shelves.
While she worked on blending the wig's hairline with foundation, Jeremiah held up various outfits from the costume racks.