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Bayla had always subconsciously held my wrist in clubs that had been too crowded. But right now she was walking along the wall, touching the stones as if she needed to hold on to something, looking back and forth frantically, while the last crowds of students pushed past us.

It finally became more relaxed in the large main corridor.

“Someone I'd like to buy a whiskey for that move,” came a laughing voice behind us, and Miles appeared next to me.

We all stared at my brother, who had just joined us in front of everyone – because there were still an unnatural number of people in the corridor.

Fortunately, the students were too distracted by the recent events, and there were no more Quatura, Senseque, or Ruisangors in sight.

Miles grinned gleefully, as if this action had just originated from his mind.

“Miles?” I asked with growing suspicion. “Was that you?”

Miles ran his fingers through his tousled hair, laughing.

“As creative as that was…” He looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “You know me. When I mess with someone...” He shook his head and shoved both hands into his pants pockets. “I don't hide behind a screen.”

“True, I almost forgot how attention-seeking you are,” I laughed.

Bayla smirked next to Julie, who was also smiling.

“That's a very unkind accusation for the underrated entertainer in me,” Miles replied, pretending to be outraged, with one hand on his chest, shaking his head in fake disappointment.

A shrill loudspeaker sound rang out.

“Attention!” yelled a high-pitched female voice – angry as fuck, it should be noted. “I demand that all students who value their place at Vanderwood come to the auditorium!” Harlow. Of course. Who else? “Immediately!”

I heard Miles sigh beside me.

“Let’s see how many new rules she’s added to her holy bible,” Bayla remarked sarcastically. “Maybe she’ll even send us a new book.”

Miles chuckled, holding a lighter in his hand, which he lit. “I promise you...” He lit it again, looked at the flame, and a red flicker darted through his eyes. “If that hacker is just talking bullshit, I'll be the one who makes sure all her rules turn to ashes overnight.”

Chapter 16

Kieran

Final Confrontation

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“Kieran,” I heard a familiar, nerve-wracking girl's voice behind me. “You're back.”

Jenny Bexley caught up with me, walking alongside me, completely out of breath, as we both made our way through the main corridor of the west wing, filled with students, on our way to the auditorium.

“How convenient,” she continued, smiling obsessively as she unlocked her iPad. “I need you for a second.”

When Jenny Bexley needed someone, what she really needed was information. Information I would probably never be able to give her.

Her brother, Oliver, and I had been in the same grade in high school, along with Ezra Campbell and Harry Jones. But later, at Vanderwood, I had met this annoying Bexley girl who had tried to hit on me for the first two years. Luckily that had stopped when she had met Ezra Campbell.

Only Ezra had bitten the dust some months ago, and I wondered if I was the only one who didn't believe it was an animal attack. Or rather, not that of a conventional animal.

I clenched my hands into fists, trying to suppress the burgeoning transformation.

No matter how often I tried to recall memories of that Halloween night, there were none.

“Okay… So, since you're part of the security team...”