A pretender.
You’re pretending, too. A half-breed with a human glamour.
I bite my lower lip, my fang sinking into flesh.
I reach my room and shuffle forward to slip my legs down through the vent, when I feel a tremor through my palms as they press to the metal. The lights ahead sway, disturbed.
What the fuck was that?
My hands tighten on the steel surface, and I shufflecloser to the edge when a breath hisses from the darkness. My gaze lifts, my fingers press tighter against the metal, and my body turns to stone. I stare at the swaying, creaking light as it increases speed.
The light swings back and forth.
Back and forth.
Back and forth.
When it strikes the ceiling and shatters, my heart stops. Darkness swallows the light, and with it, a sick feeling tightens in my chest.
The darkness moves—alive. My eyes narrow, and I lean forward slightly, as if that might help me to see, only to recoil. A jolt, like splintered glass, prickles up my back. A white glow breaks through the darkness with a hiss, spreading into a crescent moon shape. Shiny droplets of moisture trickle from a growing, jagged, toothy grin.
Fuck that.
I drop through the vent and onto my bed, the springs straining under my weight. Ignoring the noise I make, I grab the vent cover and slam it into place. The hissing sound becomes a high-pitched trill—the insectoid sounds drawing closer and piercing my ears.
I press the screws into place and start tightening each one frantically. Halfway through securing the second screw, the sound abruptly stops. Light bursts, and glass fragments slip through the cracks as I shrink down onto my bed.
Somethingis there. Over the vent.
My breath hitches, and I slap my hand over my mouth to keep quiet. Long black claws slide through the vent,curling around the grate, and a thick, transparent, almost bubble-like substance emerges.
Stunned, my body refuses to move. I am frozen in place as the substance oozes through the vent and drips onto my cheek, sliding down to my jaw, sticky and wet.
I lie flat on my bed, wishing the mattress would swallow me whole as the insect sounds—reminiscent of cicadas—rise again. Whatever it is, the shrill sound is ear-splitting. I slowly wonder if I am trapped in a dream because I can see Manni and Emily are sound asleep in their bunks.
The vent trembles above me. I flinch at the sound as the creature attempts to lift it. One of the screws rattles. The creature tries again, the rattling screw loosening with each lift. What little I had for lunch swells in my gut, and my voice lodges heavily in my throat.
Go away. Go away. Go away.
“Pleun lex!” The words “fuck off!” manage to slip out in vegodian, and with it comes sheer panic. The vegodian powers those in Cherry Bloom village possess are harnessed through language. In truth, I don’t know much about them. Mum had speculated that the nightwalker part of me killed my light, so while other children learned to harness vegodian power, I danced ballet. Still, I’d picked up some of the language.
The creature’s claws slacken and become swallowed up by the darkness. The sound fades, but as my shoulders slouch and I let out a relieved breath, a pricking sensation sharpens against my skin.
Jax’s vent.It’s unlocked.
I glance at the door, wondering if the Bleeders wouldbelieve that there is something in the airshaft. Or would they see that I’ve tampered with it and punish me instead?
Or worse. If I go out there, they are likely to kill me on the spot.
I can’t do anything until tomorrow. All I can do is hope thatthingdoesn’t try to open any other vents, and tomorrow, I’ll warn Jax.
Once my heart rate settles, I roll onto my side. Manni and Emily are still snoozing away in their beds.
With a deep breath, I shuffle off the bed, grab my deflated pillow, and for the first time in years, I prod a sleeping Cole and ask him to move over. Cole grunts as he shifts and gives me enough space for us to lie back-to-back.
I glare at the door to our room and listen for voices or signs of movement through Emily’s snoring.
I don’t sleep. I don’t even try.
