I was kept in a room. This room had windows, desks, chairs, and a whiteboard. It had everything that resembled of a meeting room. One side of the meeting room was completely glass, so I could see people moving in and out, shuffling about their daily business.

This was an area where the management of the Academy worked. A place that no one would notice or take an interest in until... right now.

I tried my best to stay calm and I did that by studying the room, again and again, and occasionally studying the view outside.

I could not check my phone. They took it away and I didn't know what they were doing with it. My brain was mentally bringing up my phone screen and checking through everything. My photos, my texts, my apps, my internet history... it seemed that nothing can be used against me.

The door opened, the glass door giving a metallic crack before it slowly returned back to its original spot. Closed but unlocked.

Professor May stared at me calmly. She was composed, her face revealed no emotion. She neatened her hair and walked to a seat next to me. She decided not to take the seat on the opposite side, instead, she took a seat next to mine. I moved an inch away, mildly uncomforted by the proximity.

"My dear-"

"Cassandra."

She cleared her throat.

"If you won't tell me the truth, I will have to keep you here."

"There are a few things I'd like to correct. One, you can't keep me here, whether you like it or not. Two, I have told you and everyone involved, the truth. Three, I technically don't even know what you're talking about."

"About Ted's death."

"Ted was snooping around my dorm and he also tried to kill me during camp."

"And do you have any idea why?"

"I don't, Ma'am. Do you?"

Do you, Professor May? Because I have always known deep down Professor May was in all of this. Professor May was probably behind Ted's snooping and maybe even kidnapping, but Ted was dead, so what can I say? Professor May had other people doing the dirty work for her.

"I think this is something to do with Iridescent."

I tried my best to stay calm and to not reveal the change in my voice, I stayed quiet.

"Ted might be one of those who owned the Blades of Iridescent. These people are maniacs... they're insane. Anything they do doesn't make sense. They are monsters after all."

Don't defend. Don't defend.

"What do you think about all this?"

I nodded and said, "Cool."

"Cool? You think what those people are doing is cool?"

"No, I thought I was pretty cool to have eliminated one of those people you call 'monsters'. Oh, and in case you missed it, Ted. Ted was the baddie I got rid of. And just a disclaimer, in self-defence."

I waited for her response but were responses were random, slow and out of place. So often I found that I couldn't reply her, not because it had hit a secret I wanted to hide, but because of the... randomness. This irksome feeling of this incapability to place a finger on a single thing she has said. I didn't know what she was doing and it frightened me. For a moment, I listened to every question she thrown at me with immense concentration, in case I made a reply that pushed myself straight into her trap. For the next moment, I began to seriously doubt whether I was overanalysing the situation, maybe there was something else I was missing. And at last, I settled with her trying to stall time but for what reason?

Eventually, when Professor May found that she could say no more, she let me go.

I walked out of the building in a daze. When the sunlight hit me, I had narrowed my eyes a second too late and felt a ring of dizziness settle upon me. I raised my arm and stood still for a second. I could hear students walking by, I could hear the birds flutter right above my head, zooming past in a flash. When the dizziness faded, I felt a sense of calm again, temporarily forgetting the encounter with Professor May.

I turned to walk to the direction of the library, only to come face-to-face with Marty.

"Hey, I heard about Professor May, what happened?"

"Oh, it was nothing. I think she wanted to fill in some blanks, that's all," I said, curious as to how Marty heard.

"I need to ask you a favour, if you don't mind," Marty said.

"Uh, sure, what is it?"

"You'll know once we get there."

I followed Marty along and I sensed him picking up his pace.

"Is this something about Willow?" I tried.

He stiffened, "Y-yeah..."

Hearing Willow's name caught my breath, something better have not happened to poor Willow. I began picking up my pace, jogging along Marty. He must be worried and, given that Marty technically saved my life by giving me the vial, I needed to do my best to help him too.

Marty and I crossed the fields and streams, both of us landing softly in the woody parts of the campus. The clouds passed over our heads as the two of us moved swiftly and quickly in the trees. But the more I went, the more I grew alert of the scarceness of people in the area.

I began slowing down, pretending I was growing breathless except I only took my time observing where Marty was taking me.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm still weak from an injury."

"Oh, sorry," Marty turned around to walk toward me, touching me by the shoulder to give me a closer look. "Are you still on stitches? Sorry, I didn't know..."

I laughed, "Don't worry, I'm fine! Where are we going anyway? Are we almost there?"

Marty was looking at me in a strange way, his grip on my shoulder tightened but it didn't hurt me. I simply straightened and stared at him. "What's the matter?"

"I'm sorry, Cassie."

The shadows moved and stretched into the sky. It covered the light and surrounded us. I jerked my shoulder out of his grasp and moved a safer distance away, watching the shadows with a trained alertness. They hissed, edged with a mournful pitch, almost as though in requiem. They moved like waves, taking in the form of crows. As soon as they appeared, they aimed mercilessly for my weak spots. Marty was controlling all of this without even twitching his finger.

I dodged with a side-step, watching the crow cut past me. It's shadow wings scraped my cheeks, leaving me unscathed but I didn't lower my guard. The crows circled and soared for my chest. I shot the crows with a zap of frost, piercing its shadow skin. The shadow collapsed into a smokey form, only to swirl and revive itself back to its original form.

The crows gathered again and glided toward me on both sides. I drew up both hands and created an ice barrier. The first set of crows dismantled as they bashed onto my protective cage, their shrieks sounded like a mother wailing for the death of their children.

"I can't believe you would use your sister and trick me!"

Marty looked at me with sorrowful eyes but his face was faintly aloof. "It must be done."

He raised a hand and the force on my ice barrier grew stronger. I drew one arm in an arc, the ice extended past the shadow walls and allowed light to pierce through. Crows cawed and shied away from the sudden brightness.

Marty narrowed his eyes, he drew his palms together and closed the gap. We were surrounded by darkness once again.

I can't believe I trusted you! I wanted to scream but resorted to a different tactic. "I don't get it, this can't be who you are!"

"Actually," there was still sadness in his eyes, "this is exactly who I am. The devil that I had been hiding in this shell."

I uttered a groan as a crow flew through my ice barrier and skimmed past my waist. Another pecked at the ice but with one swallow of water, it dissipated.

"Why didn't you report me? When you found out who I really was?"

If Marty worked with people like Ted, then report me to Professor May and I would be a goner, but he didn't. He kept my secret for so long.

Marty looked up and the shadows above my head began to descend. It was going to crush me. My arms shook but with a pained cry, I pushed the ice barrier outwards and extended its blue glow against the darkness.

Marty's eyes rounded. He inched a step back and raised both arms to force the pressure back on me but my frost was crawling in different directions and the cawing crows began to call in distress rather in aggression.

I waved one arm and the water trailed along my limb and grew. Marty diced off the water in volume but I pivoted the liquid in another direction, catching him off-guard. It shot Marty in the chest but he only stumbled two steps back before he recovered with a sharp inhale of breath.

A line of crows flew by my feet, but I took a flip and leapt back. My weight growing light as I flew upwards against gravity. Marty drew his hand up, and the shadows above me forced me to float back down to the surface.

I aimed the sole of my feet toward Marty's head, shifting my weight to zoom straight toward him. Marty dodged to the side and I rolled to a stand, striking him on the side with a swipe of frost. The frost froze his wrist, turning it stiff but he melted it with a strike of dark shadow.

He clenched his fist and raised an arm, whacking my cheeks with his Shadow Shield. He nudged again, the Shadow Shield crashed into my body and knocked the wind out of me. I stumbled to the ground.

Before I could get up, Marty caught my extended wrist, threw it to the ground to divert my ice powers elsewhere. He shot his other arm on my neck, just below my chin, crushing my throat.

"Enough," he said between clenched teeth.

Out of habitual instinct, my mind went to Reflecta, her hilt digging into my hip. Nowadays, it should have been the only thing to remind me of her presence. Except, in that panicked moment, I thought I felt a very remote spark. It came as quickly as it went, dimming as though it was never there. A ghost haunting my heart and mind before it hushed its howls and vanished.

I resorted to another plan.

Kristen better be right.

I forced out a whimper, pretending I was in more pain than I really was.

"M-Marty..."

Marty's furrowed brow began to separate and the softness in his gaze grew evident. The arm on my neck grew less weighty. I took the chance, wiggled my body out and booted him on his jaw. He flew back with a groan. But when I scrambled to escape, he hugged my waist and I felt myself falling into a black hole.



***



I felt myself moving in liquid except, deep down, I knew the molecules were different. I could breathe and it was pleasantly cold, cooling the warmth on my skin. I didn't know if it was good or horrifying; one part of me seemed to think that the shadows weren't a bad place to be.

The arms around my waist tightened as we began to move quicker; the tightness of the grip gave me a sense that they were afraid to lose me in this dark pit. With an unknown force of floatation, I emerged from the hole and was thrown to the ground by gravity. I was distinctly aware of the different smell of air and the fact that I could see objects now. Trees, the clouds and Marty.

I launched straight into action, throwing myself on top of him and forcing him to stay on the ground. I drew water, letting it snake along my fingers and form a dagger in my palms. I let it fall, slicing the surface of Marty's neck as he shifted his head to the side. I did it again but Marty caught my wrist this time and our hands shook under the force we put against each other.

Marty uttered a sound as the blade inched closer to his neck. Then, he let out a strained, short chuckle, "Guess you knew."

"Knew what?"

"My feelings," he breathed.

I tried to push my sympathies away; using his affection towards me as a weapon was a matter of necessity. And, one must know, to understand the enemy is to bring death upon myself.

I pushed a bit harder and his grip on my wrist tightened. I could sense the shadows trying to rise — they were rising slower in match of Marty's exhaustion, and maybe even reluctance — and there were enough objects to block the light and create the perfect condition for shadows to grow.

"You were waiting for me outside the office."

"Yes," Marty clenched his jaw and flicked his gaze to the side, hoping for his shadow powers to work faster. I did the same, letting frost trail the ground to slow the growing shadows.

"Professor May put up a show at my troop."

Marty didn't reply. His grip didn't loosen either.

"She was stalling time but why!"

My ice dagger took its stab but Marty moved to the side and the dagger pierced the soil beside his skull. I caught one of his punches but I wasn't able to resist the weight he threw on me. I let out a grunt as I hit the ground. I no longer held the upper hand.

Shadows began covering parts of my body, their touch was icy to the core. I found I couldn't move my arms or legs, there was a restraint tying me down. I stared at Marty, wide-eyed and in fear.

I fell straight into the trap set up by someone I trusted.

He gazed back with gentle dark eyes. A weak, agonised smile as he watched the shadows slowly drown me.

"You are truly a force to be reckoned with, Cassie."

In frightful realisation, I noticed my breathing growing harsh, my vision growing murky and, as I stared at Marty's eyes, pleading in vain, I internally hoped and wished-