Chapter 19
Dev
New girl was pissed.
She stormed out of the session with her fists clenched so tightly, she looked like she wanted to punch someone. I followed her out.
“Seph-“
“What?” she growled, spinning around, I paused. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
“Sorry. I just - I really hate guys like that.”
“Fair enough.” I said calmly.
Jess stepped toward us.
“Seph, I’m heading to the craft room. Do you want to come?” she asked quietly, flicking a glance between me and Seph like she was assessing a live grenade.
She didn’t trust me.
Good. She shouldn’t.
Click.
Her lighter rolled between her fingers — a nervous tic and a threat all at once.
“We have a craft room?” Seph asked, something in her face softening.
“We do,” I said. “Paint, crayons… nothing lethal, unfortunately.”
“Beads?”
“Maybe.” I shrugged.
For a heartbeat, she looked hopeful. Really hopeful. Then she rubbed her eyes and blinked it away like wanting soft things was something she wasn’t allowed.
“Maybe later, okay? Right now I think I need some air.”
Jess hesitated, eyes narrowing at me. She flicked the lighter again, thumb hovering.
Her fingers stilled on the metal — Jess’s version of a warning.
“I’m not going to hurt her, Jess. I’ll stay with her.”
Jess looked at Seph, clearly expecting her to argue.
But Seph just smiled.
“I’ll be fine. Dev is nice to me.”
“Nice?” I repeated, disgusted. “No one has ever called me nice.”
Something warm flickered in my chest — and I crushed it instantly. I was not nice.
Seph laughed. “Practically a sweetheart.”
…Okay, that stung.
“Ok. But come find me, ok? And no more crazies in our room.”
Seph saluted her. “I’ll try my best.”
I followed Seph as she walked outside to the front entrance steps.
She moved to a corner around the back of the veranda and climbed on to the barrier.
I sat beside her and we watched the people down below playing games or sitting in groups.
The sun was up and warm on my back. I removed my sweatshirt, getting hot.
But Seph kept hers on. Instead she just pulled on her sleeves.
“So.”
“So.”
“So, K wants to talk to you, you know.”
“I know.” She exhaled hard. “I just don’t know why he’s trying so damn hard now.”
“Maybe you should hear him out.”
“What if I don’t want to?” she snapped. “Why would I sit there just to get lectured or judged? He hasn’t exactly given a crap about me so far.”
“I don’t think that’s true.”
She turned to me, eyes sharp, wounded.
“Really? Then explain this: he disappeared. Three years ago. Right before Sable left. No real goodbye. No note. Nothing. Just gone. And I never heard a damn word from him again.”
Her voice cracked—barely, but enough.
“As soon as he knew she was going, I guess he had no more reason to stay.”
“Sable?”
“My sister.” Her jaw locked — like forcing the words out cost her something. “He was in love with her. Did you know that?”
I froze. Because no — I absolutely didn’t.
“…Are you sure?”
She let out a small, bitter laugh. “Very sure.”
I stayed quiet. Let her talk. She needed to get this out.
Her gaze unfocused, drifting to some far-off place only she could see. “We were neighbours. Back home. I’ve known him since I was twelve. I thought…”
She cut herself off.
“You thought?”
She gave me a small, brittle smile. “I thought he cared about me. I was a dumb kid.”
“You don’t think he cares now?” I asked carefully.
She shook her head. “If he does, it’s guilt. Or pity.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.” Her tone snapped clean in half. “I heard him. The day before he left, I walked in on them. He told her he’d always loved her. That he’d never loved anyone the way he loved her. He said—”
Her voice cracked — barely, but enough that something twisted in my chest.
She swallowed, pulling herself back together.
“To K, I was just this dumb little tagalong.” Her fingers curled tight in her sleeves. “I heard him tell Sable that. Before…”
She didn’t finish.
She didn’t need to.
“The truth is, he only talked to me to get to her. To Sable.” Her voice dropped, low and raw. “And now she’s gone. And I don’t need to be his pity friend, okay?”
She said it like she was laying bricks around her own heart, building the wall before anyone could touch the wound.
And for a second, I didn’t know whether I wanted to correct her — or kill him for making her believe that.
“I just want to do my time and get out of here. That’s it.”
“Where would you go? After this place?”
“I don’t know. Home. Back to my room. Back to nothing.”
“Don’t you want something more?” I asked her, curious despite myself.
She laughed — hollow, automatic. “Of course I do. Of course. But I’m not important. The best thing for everyone is if I just stay out of everyone’s way.”
“You don’t really believe that.”
“I don’t have much choice.”
“What about your parents?”
Her jaw clenched. “My parents.” She nodded once, raggedly.
“I’m an embarrassment to them, you know?
They didn’t want me to come here, but after what happened, they had no choice.
It was too public.” She rubbed her sleeve.
“Once I’m home, they’ll lock me up again, I’m sure. At this point… I’m used to it.”
“Seph…”
She forced a smile — small, brittle, heartbreaking. “You don’t have to talk to me, Dev. I shouldn’t be laying all this on you.”
She said it like she expected everyone to walk away eventually.
“I don’t mind,” I said. And I didn’t.
She smiled again. “Well, thanks. But you don’t need to worry about me. I’ll be fine. I promise – “
Something rumbled down in the courtyard. Someone screamed. I stood up and peered down.
People were running.
“What is it?” Seph asked, sliding on the fence.
“I don’t know.”
I hurried down the steps, Seph on my heels.
The air went metallic.
The screaming got louder.
“What the - “
Blood. I could sense it, like it was everywhere.
I automatically stepped in front of Seph.
“What is it?” She demanded.
“If I told you to run inside, would you?” I said tightly.
“No.”
Yeah. I knew she’d say that.
“Didn’t think so. Stay behind me.”
It was like a nightmare. The first body lay a few metres from us — blood everywhere. Fresh, sharp, wrong. It pooled around the fallen figure — boy? girl? I couldn’t even tell.
Ahead was another. I heard her whimpering, gurgling, choking on her own blood.
And leaning over her was… something.
I didn’t recognise them. They were so covered in blood, I couldn’t see the uniform.
It almost looked like they were naked.
And it was eating her.
It looked up, eyes fixed on us both. Eyes so deep red, they were black. Razor sharp teeth protruded from its jaws. It was a person – but not.
Flesh hung from its mouth in rivulets.
I’d seen a lot in this place. Nothing like this. A cold, animal dread crawled up my spine.
“Run Seph. Right now.”
“No!
“RUN!” I yelled, throwing my hands up.
Blood was everywhere. Easy to control. I blasted the creature back mid-lunge.
It struggled against my bonds like a mindless beast. I thickened the blood into ropy chains to hold it down. The thing roared, loud, feral. I threw it into a wall. It hit hard, splatting up the concrete. But still it tried to lunge again. It tried to fight.
It was strong. Stronger than it should’ve been. It broke free and hit me head on. I hit the ground. Wind was ripped from my chest.
“Dev!”
There was fear in her voice — real, sharp — and it cut through me worse than the hit.
“Get the fuck out of here, Seph!”
I was holding it above my head now, its maw opening and chomping, like it wanted to devour me. I forced my hands against its skin, burning its blood from the inside. It howled.
Then –
Seph shoved it off me. Hard. Way harder than she should’ve been able to. Something hit the floor by my head.
A glove.
What the fuck?
The creature seized on the ground like it was burning internally. Inhuman shrieks wailed from within it.
And all I could see was Seph’s bare hand latched on to its skin.
Seph, who refused to touch.
Her fingers were shaking.
Her face had gone completely bloodless.
She looked terrified — not just of the creature, but of herself, of whatever was pouring out of her —
but she didn’t let go.
And the creature—
It wasn’t just dying.
It was withering.
Its flesh caved in as if something vital was being drained out of it.
Its veins went dark, collapsing.
Its limbs jerked in sharp, frantic spasms.
Like it was being sucked dry from the inside out.
The air around them warped — a faint pull, almost a pressure, like the world itself didn’t know what she was.
Then—
I met her eyes. She was covered in blood. She was terrified.
“Go,” I rasped. I threw her glove down. “Go now.”
For a heartbeat she froze — like she didn’t want to leave me — and then she ran, disappearing into the woods across the courtyard.
I leapt onto the creature, pressing my hand to the same spot hers had touched, and burned whatever was left.
By the time the guards arrived, it was just me, a corpse, and a whole lot of questions.