There had to be cameras in the trees watching Lauren’s every step. She didn’t try to avoid them as she bounded downhill, vaulting logs and skimming over roots. She wouldn’t know what to look for, and it would take too much time. If BASTION wanted to intercept her, they could meet her at the bottom of the hill and question Vigilance with her. But the goal was to outpace them entirely.

  The steep hillside became a full-on cliff at multiple points. At the top, Lauren would take a breath and assess her options. But she was learning to listen to her body. Something inside her let her know that it could handle the obstacles. She had the dexterity. She would be fine. She grabbed the cliffsides like they were climbing walls and scaled down them. Her nails felt like they grew to better grab the sheer rock. Her grip was strong. When she was close enough, she’d jump to the ground or into the nearest tree to continue her descent.

  The ground began to even out as it became truly night. Lauren finished her sprint through the woods. Her eyes adjusted to the dark. It became almost as bright as daylight.

  Lauren skidded to a stop as the forest suddenly exited onto a street. She had reached the suburbs. The very end of them, where a few houses were nestled into the forest.

  She took off at a swift jog down the street. She had no idea how to get to Morgan Park from here, though it had to be somewhere close. If she turned on her phone again, they might have been waiting to receive the signal to swoop in on her. She had come this far. She had to get away from wherever they had last spotted her in the woods and find the park on her own.

  The neighborhood became more developed as she traveled downhill. Streetlights lit quiet blocks, most houses having signs of activity through the windows and curtains. Not many people out on the street. A few cars drove past.

  Finally, Lauren turned a corner and saw a man getting out of a car in front of a house. She jogged up to him. Despite having just run for an hour, she was hardly winded.

  “Excuse me sir,” she said, trying to look and feel like a neighborhood youth, “can you tell me where Morgan Park is?”

  The man was a bit startled by her. He blinked and stammered for a second.

  “Um, sure, it’s uh… about seven blocks that way,” he said, pointing over his car. “Take a left when you hit Colby. It’s right near the church. But miss, the park’s closed at night—"

  “Thank you sir,” Lauren said, jogging away.

  She found the park. It was essentially a field and a playground ringed with trees. Business lots surrounded it on three sides. Lauren approached the park from the direction of the suburbs, but decided to double back and go around to the taller buildings on the other side. Her destination was in her messages. BASTION had over an hour to set up an ambush for her here. She didn’t come this far to be intercepted. But what if they got to Vigilance? She had to hope they weren’t around.

  She scaled the side of a two-story business from an alleyway and climbed onto the roof. From there, maybe she could see anyone waiting for her in the park. She went to the front edge and tried to scope the scene out.

  The park was quiet and still. She waited for a minute. It seemed safe to approach. But then again, someone could have just been waiting to watch for her.

  “SoggyTomato?”

  The voice startled Lauren. She scrambled to her feet and turned around.

  A man in a blue and black bodysuit stepped toward her from the back of the roof. Lauren hadn’t heard him approach. It was him. Vigilance. The first real superhero she had ever met.

  “You’re SoggyTomato?”

  Lauren had forgot about her stupid username.

  “Yeah,” she said, stepping forward to meet him. “That’s me. I’m Lauren. I’m the one who messaged you.”

  Vigilance regarded her. He seemed wary. All superheroes were probably like that. Especially ones that got weird, unverified messages for help. He had on his black eye mask. It really didn’t cover much of his face. Lauren wondered how he kept a secret identity, especially with social media.

  “So, you’re a student at the superhero school?”

  Vigilance looked back the way she came, up the mountain looming over the area. He must’ve come because he was curious about it.

  “That’s right,” Lauren said. “I need your help. My sister’s missing somewhere in Pacific City.”

  Vigilance held up a hand to slow her down.

  “Your sister… she’s also a student?”

  Lauren shook her head. “No. We were separated. It’s a long story. I asked to meet with you because I was wondering if you had heard of a…” What was the term Hogan used? “…rogue super-scientist new to town. She does genetic experiments. She’s captured my sister. I need to find her.”

  Vigilance considered what she said in silence.

  “Have you talked to Agent Hogan?” Lauren asked. She at least wanted to know if he was checking all angles.

  Apparently Vigilance deemed her not a threat, because he sat down on the roof.

  “Kid, I haven’t talked to anyone from BASTION in weeks. I do what I can, but I’m small potatoes. My contact has… what do you kids say? Left me on read?”

  He groaned softly as he shifted his weight.

  “I guess they’re retiring me. Not that I blame them. I can only do so much with enhanced senses.” He looked up at Lauren. “I used to just be a support hero, you know? A sidekick, basically. I’m not the main act. I know I’m not. But that’s the kind of world we live in now, I guess. I hope you kids are good.”

  Wherever Vigilance’s mind was, it wasn’t here, on Lauren’s current situation. She didn’t want to snap, but she didn’t have all the time in the world either.

  “Vigilance, sir, I need information. Please. Do you know where I can find Dr. Smythe? Rogue super-scientist? Does biological experiments?”

  Lauren’s pleading finally seemed to grab him.

  “Hm? Right, sorry. Biological experiments… I’ve heard things are coming out of Intershore. Bad things. I’ve done some light scouting, but it’s nothing I’d approach myself. I’d get BASTION on it if they’d get back to me. Activity started maybe a week ago. Some kind of chop shop, a place where people go in and don’t come back out. At least not the same.”

  That could be it. That had to be it. It had to be them.

  “Where?” she breathed, not letting her excitement overwhelm her.

  “Kid,” Vigilance began, “I don’t care if you have powers, and you’re in school, do not go to this place by yourself. It’s bad news. Tell BASTION about it. Go bust it with a team of their commandos. I’ve been doing this for longer than you’ve been alive. I know bad vibes when I sense them. And I have great senses. Let me tell you, this place reeks of bad vibes.”

  “I will,” Lauren promised immediately. She didn’t know if it was a lie yet. “I’ll tell BASTION. We’ll bust it up. I’ll get them to call you back.”

  “Yeah. Sure. It’s somewhere around Alameda and 15th street. Probably in one of the old canneries. Good luck with it.” He stood and stretched. “I better hit the streets. My night’s just getting started.”

  “Thank you,” Lauren said.

  “Don’t get yourself killed, Lauren. Hope to see you out there fighting the good fight soon.” He looked back over his shoulder before he hopped off the roof. “Oh, do you need a cab or something?”

  “No.” She did, but he probably wouldn’t condone it if she gave the address he just gave her.

  “Alright, well, get home safe.”

  And with that, Lauren was alone.

  She looked up at the sky. No black helicopters shining a light down on her yet. No indication at all she was being looked for. She was getting way further than she expected. Why would BASTION at least not come find her at the park?

  She took out her phone from her pocket. She had an address. She could call Hogan and give it to him. Even if she was whisked away back to campus, he had to go check it.

  But what if she didn’t.

  She could go herself. Rescue Rachel. Kill Dr. Smythe. Burn her whole goddamn organization to the ground. Right now, Lauren was off the game board. An independent piece. As soon as she called Hogan, they’d never let her go again. Her and Rachel wouldn’t be free. Best case scenario, they’d be under Agent Dodd’s thumb until they were eighteen. Or maybe even longer. They could get out together, tonight. No expectations of putting themselves in danger to help others. Just freedom. And even if Rachel didn’t have powers like Lauren, she could provide for both of them. Someone would pay money to have Lauren work for them.

  Lauren put her phone back in her pocket. She’d stay invisible for now. If she needed help, it was only a button press away.

  For now, she had to get across town.

  Five minutes later, she was knocking on a door in the neighborhood. Some lights were still on in the house. It seemed like no one was going to answer for a moment, but there was shuffling inside, then the inner door creaked open.

  A man in a robe answered the door. He raised his eyebrow at seeing a teenage girl on his stoop at 10 at night.

  “Hi sir,” Lauren said. She tried to sound tired and slightly scared. “I’m really sorry to bother you, but I wandered too far from home, and my phone’s dead. I was wondering if I could use your phone, or you could call me a taxi. I just want to get home.”

  The man craned his head out and looked around, possibly to check if Lauren had any accomplices that would rush him.

  “…Alright.” He turned the porch light on. “I’ll call a cab. Do you mind waiting here?”

  “No problem.”

  Lauren sat on his porch. He peeked his head out again to tell her the cab was on its way, and to ask if she had money for it. Lauren assured him she did. In the chaos of the weekend, Adam hadn’t asked for his debit card back. She could probably afford a taxi to Maine.

  The cab pulled up. Lauren got in the back.

  “Alameda and 15th street, please.”

  The cabbie was a burly guy, yet in the dark night he was just a shadow in the front seat. He typed the address into his phone. He grumbled.

  “That’s all the way across town. Not to mind your business, but Intershore is no place for young women this late at night. And that part of it, not at any time.”

  “That’s where I need to go,” Lauren told him, locking eyes with the man through the rear-view mirror. “I have the money for it.”

  The cabbie shook his head. “Look, just gimme your parent’s address, or your boyfriend’s, wherever you should be tonight. I’ll take you free of charge.”

  “I should be where I told you,” Lauren insisted. Her nails dug into the back of the passenger seat. “If you won’t take me, I’ll find another cab to take my money.”

  “Fine, fine…” the cabbie said. He ran a hand through his stringy hair. “I’m a bad man for this. You better not be on the morning news.”

  The cab pulled away.

  They drove through streets mostly empty of traffic. It was only when they curved through one of the main hills of the city did other vehicles slow them down. Lauren had to trust this man was taking her to the address she gave. She had no way to check.

  The destination did seem to be all the way across town. Lauren fell into a lull. The cab passed so many houses and apartments. She wondered if Lucy was in one of them. She imagined her just happening to be looking out her window, seeing a cab pass by on the street. If Rachel was at the end of this ride, and they made it out together tonight, the goodbye hug she had with Lucy was going to be more permanent than they thought. Lucy didn’t deserve a friend who ran out on her after five days. The poor girl was going to be heartbroken. Lauren pictured her coming back in the morning, looking for Lauren, being worried. Asking Thalia about it. Being left alone with Grace and Harper. Wondering what happened to her. Maybe Lauren would see her on the news someday, in her costume saving lives. Maybe she’d find Lucy and buy her a drink. But all they could be for now was brief acquaintances. Rosewell was never going to be Lauren’s life. She had fallen too deep into it in just a few days. But now she was back in the real world. Where she and Rachel only had each other. As early as this morning, she was deluded that her life could be anything else.

  The frequency of potholes was the first sign that the streets were changing. Regular streetlights gradually gave way to neon bar signs and quiet, empty lots. Port docks went on for miles outside the left window. What houses there were stood hunched alone, dark and still in the middle of weed-choked lawns, or in bunches in the shadows of overpasses. Pawn shops, payday loaners, and clubs were the dominant forms of business here. This was the neglected part of town. Lauren knew its type well. They had reached Intershore.

  “No good thing happens here, girl,” the cabby warned again. “Say the word and I’ll take you back.”

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  Of course Lauren had found the most honest, moral cabbie in the city. Or maybe they were all like this out west.

  “Just keep going to where I said.”

  He didn’t protest further. Eventually, even the seedy lights disappeared behind them. Here, at the far end of the district, darkness was the rule, with only one lamp per few blocks providing a faint pool of light. Electrical wires hung low overhead. The buildings around them were husks with broken windows and graffitied walls. Some brick, others more modern but still dated. The air wafting through the window stunk with the lingering ghosts of rotted fish.

  The cab rolled to a stop at a street corner. The driver didn’t bother pulling over. Not even the sound of another vehicle could be heard.

  Lauren stuck the debit card into the reader without looking at the total.

  “I hope you know you’re being watched as we speak,” the cabbie warned over his shoulder. “You can’t see them, but there’s always eyes in a place like this. I hope they’re eyes you’re expecting.”

  Lauren anticipated more from the cabbie’s last warning. It was surprisingly subdued. And it was the only one that genuinely got to her a little, now that they were here.

  “I’ll be fine.”

  She tried to believe it. This wasn’t the time to start to doubt herself.

  She slipped out the door and onto the street. The cab u-turned and was gone back down the way it came. Its red taillights seemed to disappear faster than they should have. The darkness here was all-consuming. Even her night vision felt weaker.

  Lauren stood on the sidewalk and looked at the shadow-shapes of the buildings around her. None offered any clear sign of hosting an illicit laboratory. What had Vigilance meant when he said he scouted this place out? She should have had him be more specific.

  Lauren’s heart skipped a beat when the sound of clinking glass echoed down the street. A bone spike extended from inside her sleeve. For once, she was glad she could do that. Maybe keeping the thing inside her was a good idea. She could use some deadliness right now.

  Standing still felt bad, and she couldn’t detect anything, so she started walking down the street. Her left hand wrapped around the phone in her pocket. She thumbed the power button. With a short press, it would be on again. It was really starting to sink in she had willingly gone into a place a real-life superhero wouldn’t, without backup or sharing her location with anyone. Making a clean getaway suddenly didn’t feel so worth the risk. Maybe going back to Rosewell with Rachel wasn’t a terrible plan. At least there were regular meals there. Fresh beds.

  She reached the end of the next block. More decrepit buildings. More stinking breeze. And quiet.

  Except…

  Was that singing?

  There was a voice being carried on the wind. So faint, it might have just been in Lauren’s head. She paused and stopped breathing.

  There was singing. It was coming from the north, closer to the river. She could only hear when the voice rose in volume during the crescendos of whatever they were performing. Some operatic ballad. That didn’t seem Dr. Smythe’s style. She was a hummer. But it was something.

  Going against every instinct telling her to run back to the light, Lauren headed north.

  She followed the warbling voice until it was only muffled by a single building. It was a long brick place, two stories high, with windows mostly intact, surrounded by a corrugated fence. A window near the top was propped open. The voice clearly emanated from inside.

  Lauren hopped the fence, landing in a concrete lot. The side of the building had a faded design of a salmon curling in a spray of water. Probably an old cannery. There were doors leading inside, but that was too direct. Lauren wanted to get a look inside first. If the odds looked bad, she’d call Hogan. She’d decided it.

  The rough brick exterior wasn’t hard to climb. Her fingers grew sharp nails. They dug into the mortar, and she hauled herself upward.

  Lauren rolled onto the roof. There were skylights built in, just as she had been hoping. Inconstant light shifted through the glass into the dark space above the roof. Slowly, she made her way forward toward the edge of the windows.

  She peered through a grime-stained pane. The cannery building was indeed inhabited. Floodlights lit the space, casting harsh shadows across the scene. And what a grisly scene it was.

  The cannery had become some kind of nightmare operating floor. Piles of viscera and butchered flesh sat on steel tables and powered-down conveyor belts. Lauren could smell the stink of rot from here. It was much fresher than the omnipresent smell of fish. This meat was red. Crimson dripped into dried rivers that ran into the gutters lining the floor. The singing in some classical language was chorused by the barking, hooting, and baying of animals kept in cages against the wall. There was equipment here, too: surgical tools, saws, needles, and what looked like a chemistry station active with strange liquids.

  This wasn’t Dr. Smythe. It was too sloppy. She was a stringently clean woman. She was disinfectant, medical gloves, shiny surfaces. This place was a slaughterhouse.

  Chains rattled as someone, or something, moved through the space. The haunting singing voice paused. A much different voice answered the frenzied animals.

  “Yes, my darlings!” The voice was deep, guttural, strangely sweet. “Cry! Cry for your perfection! You know it is upon you in your animal psyche.”

  Lauren’s stomach turned. She felt like vomiting. This wasn’t the right place. She needed to leave.

  She started to back away from the skylight, but the sound of an opening door stopped her.

  “Doctor! I’m here to pick up my doggy!”

  The voice was young. Male. A teenage boy had just walked in. Lauren hovered out of morbid curiosity. She wondered what business would a teenage boy possibly have in this place.

  He stepped into the glare of one of the lights. The boy was shirtless. He had hair that went down to his shoulders in tangled locks. Things were strapped to his back. Was it a quiver and some kind of bow?

  “Ahh, my young client,” the guttural voice crooned. The figure it belonged to stomped into view. The person— the thing, was massive. It had to be at least ten feet tall. A white sheet covered its bulging, hunched back. A hood covered its head and arms as it gesticulated. Lauren couldn’t see any of its bare skin beneath its all-encompassing cloak from her vantage. But the sheet it wore was thin, and it looked like parts of its body writhed under the surface.

  The shirtless boy was unfazed by the thing’s, which was apparently a doctor, appearance.

  “You said little Cerberus would be ready by now. Is he?” the boy asked.

  The giant underneath the cloak tittered a laugh. “Yes! Yes! Such a loyal hound. It took to the spinal fusion wonderfully. Excellent muscle transfer. Heightened olfactory. Glorious creature. I’ll fetch him.”

  The giant tottered away back into the dark bowels.

  “This place is disgusting.”

  A girl’s voice. Lauren shifted her attention. She realized there were two others in the darkness beyond the floodlights, near the door. They must have come in with the boy. They were hard to make out through the grime, but the one who had spoke looked to be wearing something on her face. A mask that extended past the top of her head.

  “Sagi,” the boy warned, looking back at her. “Be polite. Dr. Chimera is hosting us in their workshop. You don’t want to be put in a cage, do you?”

  “I’d like to see them try. I don’t know why I agreed to fuckin’ come here. I’m gonna have to clean blood and shit off my boots when we get home. Probably literal shit.”

  The other figure with the girl was silent. They wore some kind of cloak.

  Dr. Chimera returned, led by a beast with a thick chain around its neck. Well, one of its necks. The thing that must have once been a normal dog was now a towering, multiheaded creature. It thrashed against its leash, three mouths barking and frothing, but the giant holding it was unfazed.

  “Here he is! A prime specimen. Should aid you excellently in your hunts. Do keep in mind, he’ll probably claim a chunk of whatever you send him after.”

  The boy kneeled in front of the dog, which seemed to calm before him. He petted its center snout.

  “He’ll have earned it.”

  “Yes! Yes!” Dr. Chimera exulted. “Would your friends like to meet your new pet?”

  “I am not touching that fucking thing,” the girl in the mask said. She tapped her foot impatiently. The other was silent.

  “I see. And what about the one on the roof?”

  The words pierced Lauren and held her in place. She froze in fear, like one of the floodlights had just been aimed at her.

  The boy stood. “Who?”

  “The girl on the roof. She arrived before you. I assumed she was with you, yes?”

  Lauren should have been gone by now. Gone five minutes ago, or as soon as the horrifying doctor mentioned her. But she didn’t move until the boy looked up and made eye contact with her. Then she ran.

  She threw herself off the roof, trusting her body to handle it. She bounced off the pavement, got her feet underneath her, and was away.

  She vaulted the fence like it wasn’t there. Her legs churned harder than she had ever pushed herself before. Behind her, she heard the cannery door slam open.

  “WE GOT A HUNT!” Bloodthirsty excitement in the boy’s voice. He howled into the night.

  Lauren was a block away in seconds. She ran faster than she thought possible. Dark shapes of buildings flew by. She cut through alleyways. Stayed away from the main streets. Kicked off walls to take sharp turns. She’d run all the way out of the district, back to the lively city streets. There was no way they should be able to catch her with how fast she moved. How long had it been since she started running? Thirty seconds? Ten? Sixty?

  She listened to her feet fall, splashing into puddles and kicking away trash. Shadows turned into the phantoms of movement behind and all around her.

  Then, the sound of her feet doubled. She wasn’t just hearing things. Someone was following her, slightly out of step. Their pace increased.

  Lauren turned her head as she sprinted down a long alley. It was the girl from the cannery, right beside her. She ran just as fast as Lauren, but her movements were casual, loping. The thing on her face was a crude bunny mask. It looked like it was carved from a ballistic mask that had been hacked away at and painted white. Pink ears shaped like machetes pointed skyward.

  “I have bad news,” the girl said as they ran together. “This night really isn’t gonna end well for you.”

  Pain ripped through Lauren’s shoulder. It wasn’t from the girl. Someone had shot her from behind. She stumbled.

  Lauren’s momentum carried her forward. She tumbled over a dozen feet, head over ass, palms scraping against wet ground to try and slow her crash. Her head hit the ground, rattling her, causing spots to form in her eyes.

  She finally came to a stop, face skidding across asphalt.

  The pain in her shoulder shredded all rational thought. There was only one thing left in her mind: survival. Lauren shot upwards, taking a defensive step back. She looked down at her right shoulder. An arrowhead had punched through it, red blooming around the wound. She gritted her teeth. It hurt goddamn bad. Her right arm felt useless. She couldn’t even twitch it without nearly screaming in pain.

  They had come to a stop in an empty lot where three buildings met. All the windows above them were dark. The girl in the bunny mask stood there, foot tapping, arms crossed. Besides her bunny mask, she wore loose pants that hung off one hip and a fur-lined vest that was zipped closed. Her arms were muscled. Gauze was wrapped around her hands.

  More footfalls came from the alley Lauren had just tumbled out of. The shirtless boy arrived, panting. A compound bow was in his hand. He had a quiver of more arrows on his back. From this angle, Lauren saw he was muscular too, abs and pecs clearly visible. His facial features were sharp. Eyes amber and bright, hungry. He looked at Lauren like a predator in front of wounded prey.

  “Goddamn, she’s fast,” the boy said to the bunny-masked girl.

  “No one’s faster than me,” bunny girl said.

  The third one, who was silent in the cannery, came walking out of the alley. She wore a body-concealing gray wool cloak. Underneath black hair, her face was covered by a beige mask that was featureless except for a large black sewing button attached to where her right eye would be.

  “Nice of you to join us, Maudlin,” the boy said.

  Lauren backed away from the trio. Her shoulder was screaming raw. Pain drowned her mind. She swallowed it down. An alleyway was to her left. But there was no way she could beat bunny girl to it, let alone lose her. Catching up to Lauren was a game to her. So Lauren would have to fight.

  She held out her left arm and extended a bone spike.

  Bow-boy held up his hands, a mocking smile on his face.

  “Woah! The girl’s got a weapon. What is that supposed to be, a little chipmunk claw? You gonna scratch me with that?”

  His smile died, and he snapped his fingers. “Usagi.”

  Lauren barely had time to turn her head before the bunny girl was next to her. A fist struck her jaw, knocking her off her feet. Lauren crumpled to the ground, landing on her wounded shoulder. She nearly blacked out from the pain. Her ears rung.

  Usagi grabbed Lauren’s jacket and hauled her up, just to slug her in the gut. But she didn’t let Lauren fall again. She punched her in the chest, then the face.

  Another hit to the face. Another. Usagi wasn’t just fast, but strong.

  Lauren watched as blood from her mouth painted the ground. Her left eye swole shut as knuckles bounced off it again and again. Lauren was thrown to the ground, just before a kick slammed into her ribs.

  Breath fled from her and only returned in small, sharps inhales.

  Lauren’s world was shrunk by pain. Her fingers twitched. Blood ran into her eye. She watched the feet gather around her. She was about to die here, in the dark alleyway, instead of lying in a safe bed in a building full of friends and allies. Why couldn’t she have just fucking listened.

  Usagi’s boot rose above Lauren’s skull.

  “What’s going on here?”

  The voice was as smooth, cold, and sharp as a hanging icicle. It sounded young and terribly aged at the same time. It cut through the haze of pain around Lauren’s mind and brought her fully into the present.

  The three around her hesitated. Usagi’s boot lowered.

  The boy spoke.

  “Lilith? What are you doing here?”

  He sounded nervous, like he was caught doing something he shouldn’t.

  Footsteps walked deliberately closer.

  “Oh, I’m always nearby when my friends are out playing.”

  The trio parted away from Lauren, leaving her crumpled against the wall. A pair of black boots entered her field of view. They led upwards into black leather pants containing a pair of slender legs.

  The new girl kneeled in front of Lauren. She was dressed in all black. Her skin was deathly pale, with the faintest ghostly green tinge to it. Lips black. The sclera of her eyes were black too, and her irises glowed an ethereal, unnatural green.

  She tilted her head as she regarded the broken girl in front of her. Her shadow-black hair pointed directly downward.

  “Who’s this poor little creature?”

  The boy stepped forward. “She was spying on us getting my dog from Dr. Chimera.”

  “I see.”

  A pale hand with black nails reached out and caressed hair away from Lauren’s cut brow. She could only see the girl, Lilith, through her eye that wasn’t swollen shut. Her jaw chattered from cold and pain. She wanted to go home. Back to the school. Back to the garage in Callis. Back to anywhere but here. This girl was not here to rescue her. That she knew.

  “What’s your name?” Lilith asked.

  Lauren struggled for a minute to get her mouth working.

  “L-L-Lauren.”

  The edges of Lilith’s lips curled upward.

  “Hi Lauren. You’re in a terrible predicament. But I’d like to know a little more about you. Where are you from?”

  What harm was there in telling this stranger anything about herself. Every moment not spent being beat to death right now was a win.

  “C…Callis.”

  “I haven’t heard of it.”

  “…good for you.”

  Lilith’s faint smile turned into a delighted grin full of neat, flawless teeth. She liked banter. Given how the others were shying away from their moment, Lilith was some kind of leader among these teens.

  “Lauren, are you a Rosewell student by chance?”

  Lauren tried to shift off her mangled shoulder. It didn’t really work. She didn’t know how this Lilith knew about Rosewell, but it didn’t seem like a good idea to confirm it.

  “N… n-never heard of it. Can’t you tell I’m s-street trash?”

  Lilith’s grin faded. Her tone became disappointed. A veil of softness over sharp words.

  “Oh, Lauren. Now you’re lying to me. Something you should know about me, I hate lying. I haven’t been able to lie for some time now. So I learned how to tell when others aren’t speaking the truth. And now I only have honest conversations.”

  She shifted from kneeling to sitting down, legs folded to the side. She chatted as if they were just two friends gossiping, and Lauren wasn’t bleeding internally.

  “Y’know, Lauren, I heard something about your school. I’m wondering if you can tell me if this is true. I heard… that Rosewell is so desperate for students, they actually accepted kids who don’t have any powers at all. That can’t be true, right?”

  The teens standing behind her snickered. Lilith didn’t wait for an answer.

  “How pathetic is that? I hope they get killed quickly to save you from the embarrassment. I mean, you’re not one of those powerless students, are you Lauren?”

  “She had some kind of natural weapon she waved around,” the boy said.

  “Ahh, I see,” Lilith said. “And I guess you’d have to have some durability to survive all this.” She gripped the arrow sticking out of Lauren’s shoulder and yanked on it.

  A scream ripped out of Lauren’s throat. It was a desperate, panicked, pained scream, free of any defiance or anger. Tears flowed down her face, mixing with the blood already there.

  “My, what a miserable sight you are,” Lilith said. Gone was any polite affect in her voice. “Still, I have a good feeling about you. I know people just by looking at them. It’s one of my gifts. You want to know what I see when I look at you, Lauren? A tenacious little weed. And if we let you go tonight, you’ll sprout up again. That’s when the real fun begins.”

  “We’re letting her go!” The boy complained. He stomped his foot and growled. “That’s not fair! She’s my hunt! We should string her up as a warning for the others.”

  Lilith stood and brushed herself off.

  “Y’know, for someone who wants to be called Trophy Hunter, you aren’t very sporting.”

  “I want my trophy.”

  His gaze was fierce until Lilith met it. Then he shrunk away, despite being a head taller than her.

  “Is that gonna make you feel big and strong? Murdering a teenage girl outnumbered in an alleyway? Coming home holding her severed head is gonna get all us bitches panting for you?”

  “No,” he said, petulant.

  Lilith shoved his bare chest and walked past him. “Go get your mangled dog and go home. You’re all done for the night. If the girl dies, then she dies. But I think she wants to live.”

  They each spared Lauren one last glance before turning and walking away.

  “I hope you and your friends don’t mind a bit of classic school rivalry, Lauren,” Lilith called over her shoulder. “There’s more of us where we came from. We’ll see you around town.”

  Lauren wheezed. She wasn’t in any state to process the girl’s parting words. All her warmth leaked out of her. Moving hurt. Existing hurt. But Lilith was right. She did want to live.

  She reached into her pocket and fumbled for the power button on her phone.