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, andwithout 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 markedCostume & 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. “Itwillwork,” she said. “People will only know it’s you if they getwayup 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.
“Too flashy,” Cherry said, glancing over. “We want her to blend in, not stand out.”
"Right." He put back a black leather jacket and pulled out something more subdued. “What about this?”
“Better. But keep looking.”
Cherry moved on to my face, using contouring to reshape my features. She made my nose look wider, my cheekbones less pronounced, my jawline softer. Then she added glasses.
“There,” she finally said, stepping back to examine her work. “Take a look.”
I turned to face the mirror and barely recognized the person staring back.
The auburn hair completely transformed me, and the slightly messy way Cherry had styled it made me look a lot edgier. The glasses added to the effect, and the subtle changes to my face structure made me look like someone else entirely.
“Wow,” I said breathlessly.
