Page 13 of Damsel in Disguise

My jaw tightens. If the university security processed this individual, a public administrative record would be generated. Local police would step in, and the highly encrypted entity I’m busy analyzing would vanish into the system before I could extract their purpose or their origin.

Inefficient. My fingers strike the keyboard, instantly overriding the campus radio frequencies.

I route a synthetic, high-priority emergency alert to the guard’s earpiece—a simulated server-room overheat warning in the adjacent library basement.

On screen, the guard stops dead in his tracks, presses his hand to his ear, and pivotally turns away from the figure’s hiding spot, sprinting toward the fictional hazard.

I watch through the camera as the cloaked silhouette lets out a visibly shuddering breath, completely unaware that the hand of the demon they’re hunting just reached out to protect them from discovery.

Don’t take it as the goodness of my heart.

I assumed it might be a prototype Synthètes the Triarch Dominion was planning to test in the real world.

I wasn’t expecting them to run the trail on me. Interesting.

We’ll see how far they can go before I remind them who leads the project Synthètes.

5. WRONG

ariella

Today is prom.

The word feels too soft for how heavy it sits in my chest.

I video-call my parents in the late afternoon, dress still draped over the back of my chair, makeup half-done.

“Hey mum,” I say softly the moment they pick up.

“Ari—” she doesn’t even finish saying my name but bursts into tears.

Dad holds her in his arms, smiling gently at me the way he does when he’s trying not to show it hits him harder than he lets on. “Guess you did prove me, ha?”

I flip my hair playfully. “Just like daddy.”

“Hey, I deserve some credits too, you witch,” Asher, who was leaning into the frame from somewhere behind them, jumps right into the camera over Dad’s shoulders.

His hair is messier than usual, sleeves rolled up like he’s been dragged away from work.

“Ow, you old man,” he complains, rubbing his abs since Dad just elbowed him hard, sending him tumbling backward.

Somehow, he and Dad fixed their relationship. I’m glad they did. It feels good to have unity within the family.

Mom finally looks at me with a soft smile on her face. “Please ignore mama. She’s just too emotional seeing her baby girl all grown up.”

“Aww, what will you do when you see me on the graduation day? It’s in two weeks from today, you know?”

Her lips wobble.

“Shit,” Asher and I mutter simultaneously while she’s burying her face in Dad’s chest again.

“Rosaline… Rose, baby, don’t cry,” he runs his hand through her hair. “It’s our daughter’s big day.”

“I know…”

Dad looks at me apologetically. “We’ll call you back later, okay?”

“Fix your makeup. You’re actually looking like a scary witch,” Asher says, to which I give him my middle finger.