JAXTON

Jaxton entered the room with a look of exhaustion. It had been a long day of classes, not to mention... his exam...

As he trudged into his dorm, he didn't immediately become aware of another figure there, blending in with the darkness; only when he reached for the light switch did he feel that distinct gaze on him. However, he waited for the silvery voice to speak.

"Jaxton."

He flicked on the lights, unable to resist the desire to look at her. She stood, eyes weary but edged with concern. She wore dark clothes and held Iridescent in her hands with a protective grip.

He sensed that something was wrong but decided to speak of a joke instead to test the waters, "Fancy seeing you here."

She was hesitant, her ice-blue eyes shifting to the side, "I need to ask for your help."

He kept his smile on his face. "Fire away."

"Please don't be mad."

Her expression made him chuckle, "Okay, I promise."

She inhaled deeply, eyes meeting his. Her voice lowered to a whisper, "I need you to hide a body."

***

CASSANDRA

"A body, did you say?" Jaxton looked alarmed. "I haven't lost my ability to count yet, and I count three. Uno, dos, tres... three freaking bodies."

I shrugged, with one hand tucked under my elbow and the other gesturing with an abnormal casualness, "why bury one when you can bury three? Discount deal."

Vel almost stifled a laugh but held it back against the seriousness of the situation, while Jaxton simply stared at me with a look of disbelief. He held his temples with his fingers, "does anyone mind telling me what the heck is going on?"

Vel pursed her lips, "Jaxton... we... I..."

"Either you help us or you let the blood sink deeper into the wooden floor," I gestured, raising a brow.

He breathed a sigh, relenting, "I want to know one thing... did you two kill these people?"

Vel and I nodded once. I could see Jaxton hold his breath and the urge to ask further. He exhaled a breath, "and did they deserve it?"

"That's two things."

Jaxton shot me a glare and I surrendered.

"Answer the question."

I nodded fiercely and Vel followed, with more graceful bobs of her head.

Jaxton's glance went back to the bodies. "I want explanations after this is done."

"The question is how should this be done," I retorted. "We called you because the bodies were too heavy."

"Heavens," Jaxton cursed, "guess if you didn't need my labour, I wouldn't even know what's up with you two, am I right?"

Vel gulped but I stayed unfazed, "yes! Now get to work!"

"How do we get the bodies out?" Vel slipped in a question, which happens to be our main problem.

"Should we dump it over the cliff?" Jaxton suggested, looking out the balcony window. "Aaaaand your dorms are not at the cliffside."

Jaxton turned around, pulling on his black gloves. He examined the body nearest to him.

"Bloody- that was the lady we saw at the reception!" He shot a look at me and I remembered clearly which one he was talking about.

"You've been visiting us quite a lot these days, Miss Williams."

"Eyes and ears everywhere, Jaxton, that's what I meant," I pointed.

Jaxton examined the other two figures before he stood up, giving me a strange look. Vel was distracted by the bodies on the floor, but I was alert, staring at Jaxton's hinting glances. His emerald eyes flickered between Vel and the door. I responded with a secretive nod.

Jaxton cleared his throat, "Vel, I want you to go back to your dorm and get changed. Don't get seen. Then, bring some of your chemical powders and clean this room up."

"Leave no evidence, right?" Her voice sounded livelier, somehow more confident when she sensed that her brother had a plan. Except, I was pretty sure the plan was something else.

"Exactly," Jaxton said and gestured for the door, in which Vel followed his orders without a single doubt.

"So," I began once Vel went out of sight, "what's the plan?"

"Did you forget about your lovely sword, darling?" He had a teasing twinkle in the eye. I glanced down at Reflecta and my devil of a smile began blossoming on my face.

***

With Vel out of sight and away from the scene, I was able to use Reflecta's vine powers to transport the body down from my balcony door to the bottom, where Jaxton waited and kept a lookout. He hid in the darkness of the woods, controlling the shadows to cover up the bodies as I transported them horizontally down the building. Once they fell limp on the ground, Reflecta brought the grass alive and the tiny limbs flickered and carried the bodies to the woods like a tidal wave. It happens so we were blessed with a dark and cloudy night, and blessed that Jaxton had his shadow powers to camouflage the transport further.

The last body was done and I could see Jaxton hiding by some bushes. It was hard to tell that he was there, with his black clothing and his surroundings to shroud him. I would have lost him if I didn't watch him this entire time.

He was throwing hand gestures at me, trying to communicate. I threw a series of hand gestures back, but that only made him reply with another series of wild gestures. Let's be honest here, I had no idea what Jaxton was signalling.

"Cassie, where are the bodies?" Vel looked shocked at the, now, empty space.

I spared a glance over my shoulder and whispered, "sorted", before continuing my hand gesture battle with Jaxton.

Vel was standing next to me by then, "what's happening?"

"What's happening is that-" I threw up both hands and did a cursing gesture at him "-your brother can't communicate...!"

I threw another crazy hand gesture and Jaxton facepalmed his forehead.

Vel breathed, "why don't you two use earpieces?"

I suddenly stopped and turned to look at her flat, boring gaze, muttering a lame "oh".

With my hood on my head, my face bandana pulled to my mouth, I padded to the edge of the balcony. I tested the grip of my gloves, scanned my surroundings for people – there were none, good – and leapt over the railing.

Wind soared past my cheekbones as I silently aimed for the ground beneath me. I flipped, adjusting the weight of my body and landed like a feather on water. Check your surroundings... checked! I made a dash for the shadows.

Once I got there, I crept around a tree trunk, my eyes still adjusting to the dark. Jaxton probably fared better than me, being a shadowsman himself. As sudden as the night breeze, I felt a tight grip on my arm. I grabbed their wrist out of trained instinct, only to realise that it was Jaxton. He stared at me with furrowed brows under his similar hood and bandana.

"You took ages."

"Because apparently I had to pick up both of our common sense," I retorted. "What's with the crazy hand-throwing when we have earpieces?"

"I thought you would get it," he sighed quietly, "turns out your more of an egg than I thought."

"Scrambled or boiled?"

"Scrambled," he had a playful twinkle in his eye, "because your brain is a mush"

Jaxton grabbed my hand and with a gentle tug, I began to follow him into the woods. I couldn't see a thing, except an occasional green shine Reflecta gives off as the bodies are dragged behind us.

"Love, where are we eloping to?" I said, tone edged with mischief.

"Cliff-edge, where I say adios to you and these fellas."

I squeezed his hand, feeling his grip tighten on mine in response, "Jaxton, I have a better idea."

'Better idea' turned out to be Jaxton and I standing in the chilling part of the woods, in the centre of the clearing. The grassless area was only possible from the looming trees that shielded away any possible light. And if it weren't for Reflecta's shining blade, we would be standing in complete darkness. The bodies were laid in a line, parallel to each other.

Jaxton inched closer to me.

"Is poor Jaxton scared?" I couldn't help but leap at the opportunity to tease him.

He shot me a glare, pulling off his hood as I did a while ago. The hood was obstructing my side views and I needed as much visual as I could get in these type of surroundings. "This is a terrible idea."

"Don't worry! I've been here before."

Hearing this, he held a look of alarm, "what's up with you and overly dangerous adventures?"

"Look, it'll make the bodies go away clean, and I'm sure these beasts would appreciate the free meal."

"Let's hope the free meal doesn't turn out to be us," he retorted quietly.

We waited in silence for a while, the breeze quivering in the air. I checked the time. "Where are these Zenxs? Maybe we should do a provocative dance to attract them."

Jaxton couldn't help but give a chuckle, then attempted to cover it with a cough. "Nope."

I wanted to laugh with him, one part of me wanting to hear him chuckle again, except I heard movement. I dimmed my sword; the iridescent glow weakened. Jaxton widened his stance, holding both his sheath and sword in his hands.

"So... your company is here."

"Precisimo."

"Precisamente," Jaxton corrected.

I rolled my eyes, grin hidden behind my bandana as I threw him a cheeky look. "What are you? Auto-correct Spanish edition?"

"I learnt Spanish in high school," he shrugged, narrowing his eyes upon the approaching targets. "I must right a wrong."

"Dramatic much?"

"It feels good to speak like a superhero once in a while..." Jaxton's voice grew quiet when a stomp shook the earth.

We steadied our balance and inclined our heads to stare at the Zenxs that marched toward us.

"Slowly... back... away..." I said, taking silent steps back.

A Zenx went low to the bodies, angled its head to the side as though listening for something, its lips covered in flacks of blood. It made a sound, and it was not a sound I've heard them make before. Soon, the rest of them began to make the same sound.

"Something isn't right," Jaxton hissed.

The Zenxs, soon, turned their attention to us.

***

A/N

How lovely. We shall call it a "date".

L