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Chapter Text

Ghoulish green light slipped in through every crack, every rift in the Hive’s jagged walls. Columns of rough, papery substance had been haphazardly constructed from the spit and blood of its inhabitants. The structure itself was winding; long staircases stretched up to nameless corridors, where the rustles and hisses of monsters echoed from the dark. As Jinu made his way up one such staircase, his feet hovering above the uneven ground, he could feel the eyes of his fellows on him, sharp and unblinking like a thousand blue spotlights.

It was impossible for any ordinary creature to navigate this hellish maze. One wrong turn led to another, and another, until the unfortunate soul met a pair of greedy claws. But Jinu, like the other changelings, had set in his mind a kind of map – an internal, instinctual compass that led to the flame at its center.

All roads led to Gwi-Ma, in one sense or another. Jinu was simply taking the most direct route.

Gwi-Ma resided in a grand throne room of sorts. It was the only place in the Hive that was fully illuminated by his azure-tinted fire. The changelings were drawn to him like moths; Jinu could see more blue spotlights peering out from dark corners. Occasionally, he would catch the flash of fangs, of the glint of a wing, but little more. At times such as these, the changelings hardly allowed themselves to be seen, especially by their merciless king.

“I- I’m sorry.” A hissing, trembling insectoid voice filled the massive space; it was so deathly quiet that the whisper echoed to Jinu’s ears. He could see, at the center of the chamber, a scrawny-looking changeling. She was clutching her hands in terror, her wings vibrating in place like a beetle. The cold light from Gwi-Ma’s flame cast her shadow across to where Jinu stood, a shadow speckled with bright spots due to the holes in her limbs. “The- The soul energy, it’s- The people, they’ve been- They’ve been guarding it so well.”

“Have they?” Gwi-Ma’s voice was deep, imposing, as dark as the Hive in which he resided. Jinu watched him contort as he spoke, something akin to a mouth splitting him in two. He watched the changeling swallow, heard the ripple of clicks and hisses from the invisible audience. “I understand.”

The changeling brightened up. “You- You do?”

“I understand that you are weak!” Gwi-Ma’s voice reached a terrifying roar. “Pathetic!” A burst of flame enveloped the changeling, engulfing her as she thrashed and screamed. Her wings caught fire like a scrap of paper, and her body disintegrated into a pile of blackened ash. “Useless!” His flames leapt, and a flash of brightness like lightning illuminated the changelings cowering in crevices. “All of you!” Jinu heard frantic squeals and hisses as the brilliance hit them, many flinching back or covering their eyes. He, on the contrary, remained perfectly still.

“Don’t you idiots understand?” Gwi-Ma snarled. “Without energy, without emotions, there is no Hive. There is nothing. You will be nothing.”

A smile tugged at the corner of Jinu’s lips, and he had to dutifully swallow it back. For such an imposing force, Gwi-Ma often tantrumed like a petulant child. As such, Jinu wanted to treat him like one.

One singular strum on his bipa was enough to silence the frantic hissing and clicking. “There once was a mighty changeling king,” he said softly, his gentle yet arresting voice sweeping through the room. Gwi-Ma’s attention was pulled from the ash before him. Jinu’s blue eyes twinkled. “Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.”

Another strum. His claws played expertly over the strings, demonstrating the command he held over the instrument that had spent so long in his care. “He was in total control. He feasted from souls. The world trembled when he roared.”

Jinu’s wings fluttered to life. Slowly, he floated down from the top of the staircase, the world silent apart from the gentle buzz of his flight. “But when the people guard their souls, all he does is starve. No emotions to stoke, so his flame begins to choke.” As quickly as he’d taken to the air, his feet found the earth again. “Just a whisper in the dark.”

This time, Jinu let himself smile, just a little, his jagged fangs peering out from between his lips. His voice grew more melodic with every word. 

“And will he let the fire go out?”

“Is this the end of him now?”

“Dying king with a crumbling crown.”

“Will he let the fire go out?”

When he finally stopped, Jinu could feel the heat of Gwi-Ma’s fire. He looked up, and there it was: the blinding near-white of the changeling king, fading out into a brilliant blue where his flames swirled and dissolved. It was impossible to discern any kind of emotion from the king’s unusual form, and yet Jinu could sense his underlying irritation like a ripple in the Hive Mind.

“You dare to mock your king, Jinu?” Gwi-Ma rumbled, his voice echoing from wall to wall. “I gave you that stupid thing. I could take it just as easily.”

Jinu took another step closer, his movements languid and elegant. He moved through the ashes of the changeling without so much as a glance. “I know.” His wings gave a small, nearly imperceptible twitch. “And I don’t come here to mock. Only to help.” Obediently, Jinu dipped his head, bowing respectfully to the flaming king. “To deliver you soul energy, just as you’ve asked.”

Gwi-Ma gave a low, humorless chuckle, his flames convulsing like a set of lungs. “Really?” His tone was snide, contemptuous. “You have energy to bring me? From where? How much? Is it scraps, like all the others?” Another convulsion, this time out of barely-concealed rage. “I grow tired of fast food; I need a meal.”

“And you will get one,” Jinu insisted, “from society’s most emotionally vulnerable.”

Gwi-Ma didn’t respond, as if it wasn’t obvious. 

“High schoolers,” Jinu added.

A roar of laughter echoed from Gwi-Ma, starting small, but rapidly thundering through the room. The other changelings, as if uncertain of how to react themselves, chimed in with a bout of nervous chittering.

“Now I know you’re mocking me,” Gwi-Ma said as his laughter died down. “Do you really think that you, of all people, would be capable of extracting emotion from teenagers?”

Jinu opened his arms and held them out at his sides. Right on cue, he heard the buzzing of wings – four sets, to be exact. “Without question.”

Gwi-Ma gave another dark chuckle. Jinu heard the soft sound of his four confidants landing beside him, accompanied by the silencing of their wings. “Very well,” Gwi-Ma said. Jinu could still hear the hint of skepticism in his voice. “I’ve already watched these insolent bugs fail miserably. What’s one more?”

Jinu let out a small hum. He smiled. His eyes narrowed. He would not fail. Not here. Not with this.

As if sensing his determination, Gwi-Ma spoke up again. “Since the moment you hatched, Jinu, you’ve never done a single thing that didn’t serve yourself.”

Jinu’s smile faded abruptly. For a brief moment, it was as if his sister and mother were right before him, groveling in the miserable gully of the Hive, their bodies already corroded with holes. He pushed that thought away. He couldn’t tell if that memory was Gwi-Ma’s doing, or if it had crawled up out of the dark all on its own.

“What is it this time?” Gwi-Ma’s voice broke through to Jinu, broke through the onslaught of memories that threatened to resurface. Jinu blinked the remnants away, his gaze hollow and fixed on the ground.

When he looked up again, his eyes glowed with a renewed sense of vigor and purpose. “I want to be absorbed into the Hive Mind,” he said.

“I want my memories erased.”

Chapter Text

The KHS halls were bustling with energy much more than usual this week. Students were coming in during lunch, after class… hell, even in the mornings before class began. Everywhere you looked, people were transporting instruments, discussing song ideas, putting out posters. There was a special kind of liveliness circulating through the school that Mira hadn’t seen since the Fall Formal.

It was the Musical Showcase, a brand-new school-wide event, that had everyone excited. KHS was notorious for its talented students, and music was no exception. Practically half the school had signed up, maybe more.

The gymnasium especially was packed. That’s where the stage was located, and it needed a lot of work to be ready for so many different bands to perform. Lights needed to be calibrated, curtains needed to be put up, and the wings needed a good cleaning. Volunteer students were hauling out bags of garbage and other unnecessary junk to either be thrown out or given away.

On the gym floor, plenty of bands had set themselves up painting posters, promoting both their individual groups and the event as a whole. Zoey and Mira were among them.

Zoey was sat back on her heels, eyes narrowed as she scrutinized the large painted poster that the two girls had been hard at work on for the past few hours. “Hmm… Yep, the blue and gold was definitely a good idea!” she said with a little nod of certainty. Her bangs bounced with every little jerk of her head, which made Mira smile. “Maybe we could add some little music notes in the background? Ooh, and we can put ‘Huntrix!’ in big letters along the top!”

Mira paused for a moment, her paintbrush half-submerged in a bucket of gold paint. “You sure, Zoey? I mean, we’re not exactly… Huntrix right now.” She set the paintbrush down and frowned. “And aren’t we meant to be hyping up the entire Showcase rather than just our band?”

Zoey shook her head vigorously, her face scrunching up in a show of indignance. “Mira, of course we’re still Huntrix! We’ll always be Huntrix, no matter what! We’re just… Huntrix minus one this time. That’s all.” She turned her attention back to the poster, framing it with her fingers. “You might have a point with that other thing, though. Maybe… ‘Musical Showcase’ at the top, ‘Huntrix’ down the side? Oh- How ‘bout a huge microphone in the middle? I was trying to think of an instrument that would represent all the bands participating, but almost everyone has at least one singer!”

Despite herself, Mira smiled again. It was nice seeing Zoey get so excited about this little event, even if she herself wasn’t really feeling it. Zoey was so excited, in fact, that she got paint on her cheek. Mira chuckled. “Why don’t you start on that while I grab you some napkins for those blue freckles you got?” she asked, rising to her feet.

Zoey blinked a few times, clearly surprised that she’d been so messy. “Hmm… Yeah, that would probably be smart,” she said, grinning just as big. She didn’t seem too bothered by the mess, instead reaching over for another paint brush.

Mira made her way over to the bathroom across the hall, grabbing a handful of napkins from the dispenser. She wished she could share Zoey’s optimism, but she knew that without Rumi, things wouldn’t be the same. It was hard, knowing that she wouldn’t be spending the year at KHS with Mira and Zoey; suddenly and without explanation, Celine had pulled her out of school to be homeschooled instead.

There wasn’t a day that went by where Mira didn’t miss her. Obviously, they still saw each other from time to time, so it wasn’t like Rumi was dead or anything like that. But, again, it wasn’t the same.

She returned to the gym, where Zoey was waiting with miraculously more paint on her face. Smothering another laugh, Mira helped her wipe it up. Zoey smiled gratefully before her expression softened.

“Hey, you okay?” Zoey must’ve seen the heavy look on Mira’s face. Silently, Mira cursed herself. Usually, she was really good at keeping a straight face, a habit she’d learned at home when she didn’t want to speak to her strict parents, but she should’ve known that Zoey was much more attuned to her emotions than that.

Sighing, Mira nodded. “Yeah, yeah. I’m good.” She tucked the dirty napkin in her pocket. “I just wish Rumi was here. She would’ve loved an event like this.”

Zoey nodded along in agreement. “I miss her too,” she admitted, and Mira saw a glimmer of sadness in her eyes. “Can you imagine how excited she would be to get to sing in front of the whole school?” Despite her clear sorrow, a bright smile made its way onto Zoey’s face. “Hey, maybe we can invite her to come watch! I’m sure Celine won’t mind rearranging their schedule a bit.”

Mira hummed quietly. “Maybe.”

Then, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Zoey was looking up at her with a serious expression. “No matter what, try to have fun with it, okay? Rumi or no Rumi, this is our last year at KHS. We gotta make it count.”

Mira laid her hand over Zoey’s and gave it a grateful squeeze. “I know,” she said, her voice a little heavy. She forced another smile. “I doubt you’d let me get away with sulking through this, anyway.”

Zoey grinned proudly, planting one hand firmly on her hip. “You got that right!” She looked like she wanted to say more, when something seemed to catch her eye. Mira followed her gaze and saw KHS’s principal, Principal Bobby, standing on stage.

“Testing? Testing? Oh- Okay, there we go.” Awkwardly, Bobby tapped the microphone in front of him, getting everyone’s attention. “Okay, microphones are working great! Awesome job, team!” He gave the sound crew a gleeful thumbs-up, which the tech students gladly returned.

“Right, okay! Good afternoon, everyone!” Bobby said, his cheerful voice ringing out through the now-quiet gymnasium. “I just wanted to let you all know how proud I am of all of you for participating in our first-ever Musical Showcase. Seriously, it’s going to be such a fantastic event because of all of you, and it’s going to help us raise so much money for our after-school programs!”

Principal Bobby’s words were met with cheers. The principal’s good attitude always seemed to lift everyone’s spirits, and even Mira couldn’t help but feel a little excited. Zoey was right; it wasn’t like they’d ever get this opportunity again. She had to make the most of it, even if it wasn’t ideal.

“Remember to make sure all your instruments are ready by Wednesday so we can get rehearsals rolling on Thursday,” Bobby went on. “Oh! And if you’re one of the wonderful people making a poster right now, be sure to spread them out! There’s still a pretty big lack of posters over by the science hallway. I wanna see these walls filled up!”

Another round of cheers. Mira rolled her eyes but smiled, and she heard Zoey giggling and clapping next to her. It was nice to see everyone in such good spirits; hopefully this event would be as successful as their principal was making it out to be.

Slowly, students began to disperse, heading out to hang up their posters. Zoey waved her arms over the one she and Mira had been working on. “I think she’s almost dry!” Zoey announced. “Wanna clean this stuff up and head over to the science hallway? It is a little out of the way of the school traffic, but… maybe that’s for the best.” She stared down at a golden smudge and winced.

Mira nudged her playfully. “Come on, Zoe, it looks fine! Anyone unlucky enough to have a bio class this semester will be overjoyed to see it.” She grinned and grabbed a cup of paint water and brushes. “I’ll go wash these off and meet you back here.”

– – –

Once Mira returned to the gym, the poster had dried enough for them to reasonably put it on the wall. The two girls made their way to the back of the school where the row of science classes was located. It was pretty surprising to see how many people were still around; school had officially ended a few hours ago, and usually people were in a rush to get home.

To be fair, Mira wasn’t. Any time spent outside her house was time spent well. Especially when she was with her friends.

God, she still missed Rumi so badly. They were well into the school year now, and Mira still hadn’t gotten used to her absence. She wondered if she ever would.

It seemed that, even after school hours, people still loved to block up the hallway by standing in unnecessarily large groups. Mira and Zoey pushed past them, and Mira shot a couple freshmen her best irritated glare, suppressing some much more colorful language in the process. Even still, she couldn’t help but pick up on a few bits of conversation from the students standing around them.

“Did you hear? Apparently there’s new seniors transferring to KHS!”

“New seniors?”

“Yeah, seniors.”

“Are they cute?”

“As if you could ever get with a senior!”

“I wonder if they know anything about the Fall Formal monster.”

“You mean the made-up monster that isn’t real? I’m sure they’re experts.”

“Oh, fuck off.”

Mira scoffed, immediately disinterested after hearing that. Apparently, there was some rumor circulating around about a creature that had popped up during the Fall Formal earlier this year. No one could give a proper description of it, or even an idea of what it had actually done. It just kind of became the amorphous, ambiguous, “scary KHS monster.” Quite frankly, it was one of the stupider things Mira had heard.

She remembered Rumi and Celine taking the rumors pretty seriously, though. So seriously, in fact, that Rumi had decided to gift her and Zoey these fancy, retractable, magical weapons: a wol-do and pair of shin-kal respectively. Rumi herself had a sword to match. Mira remembered Celine mentioning something about how they once belonged to her and her friends, but she hadn’t been paying too much attention to the older woman’s history lesson; she’d been more focused on how strange the gift was, and how on earth she was going to sneak a wholeass giant knife past her parents.

Although, in all fairness, Rumi’s family was rather strange. So if a gift like that had to come from anywhere, her household wasn’t the worst of places.

“How about here?” Zoey’s voice interrupted Mira’s thoughts. Looking up, Mira saw Zoey gesturing to a blank spot on the wall.

“Looks good to me.” Mira held the poster in place while Zoey taped each corner. After a moment, she stepped back to admire her work.

“There we are!” Zoey put her hands on her hips. It was a little crooked, but charming in its own right. “You know, you’re right. It actually doesn’t look half bad.”

Mira raised an eyebrow. “You say that like I’m ever wrong.”

Zoey laughed, flashing that brilliant smile of hers. She always seemed so happy; Mira wondered how she did it.

Then, Zoey glanced down at her phone. “Oh, shoot, next bus comes in ten minutes!” She tucked her phone away, suddenly looking a lot more frantic. “Sorry, Mira, I don’t mean to run off, but-”

“No, it’s alright. I get it.” Mira tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice; Zoey going home meant she had to go, too. “I’ll see you tomorrow, ‘kay?”

“‘Kay!” Zoey echoed back. She darted forward, giving Mira a quick yet aggressive hug that nearly knocked the taller girl over. When Zoey broke away, Mira could still feel the warmth in her chest.

“Cya, Mira!” Just like that, Zoey was hurrying out the door, her backpack halfway unzipped and her hair flying. Mira waved and watched her go, her feet rooted in place.

Once the door slammed shut, Mira lowered her hand. She lingered in the dingy hallway for another moment before giving herself a small shake. She made her way over to the front doors, where she would then walk a few blocks to her house. Despite dragging her feet, Mira knew there was no point in staying; she didn’t have any other close friends aside from Zoey and Rumi. She had no other place to really go.

Damn it, Rumi, why did you have to let Celine sweep you away this time? Mira thought, a hint of bitterness creeping in. Despite only spending her sophomore year with Rumi, she felt like they’d developed such a strong bond. Mira had gotten so used to seeing Rumi every day; now, moments spent alongside her were few and far between.

Chapter Text

It was lunchtime at KHS. Which Jinu knew because students were flocking to the cafeteria like their lives depended on it.

Getting himself and the other four changelings admitted to this school had been no problem at all. Changelings were expert shapeshifters; Jinu found it incredibly easy to hide his fangs, eyes, and patterns with a little bit of magic. Just like that, he appeared as human as anyone else: silky black hair, docile brown eyes, the whole bit. At first, it had been jarring to look into reflective surfaces and see a version of himself with pupils again, but he had quickly gotten used to it.

The school principal seemed incredibly friendly and eager to accept a new batch of students, and (apparently) the lack of actual parents appearing during the process wasn’t an issue. A couple of halfhearted little lies about family living abroad and they were in. Perhaps that had something to do with the fact that they were presenting as older students, though Jinu couldn’t be entirely sure; in all his years of observing humans from afar, he still couldn’t entirely understand their ways. And discovering that the school was holding their very first Musical Showcase? Well, that was just the cherry on top.

What he hadn’t anticipated as a problem, however, were his companions. The other four changelings he’d selected and trained for this mission were the best of the best. Somehow, they still managed to be the worst. 

It was very, very difficult to keep a low profile when your “friend group” kept running around like children unleashed in a candy shop. Thank Gwi-Ma they were hot; otherwise, they would’ve raised a lot more suspicion with their shenanigans.

Like right now, for example. Jinu had turned his back for one second, only to see Abby and Romance bickering again. He tried not to groan.

“Are you kidding me?” Romance was waving a piece of paper in front of Abby’s face, wearing an indignant expression. “What kind of stupid-ass bullshit is this? No one, and I mean no one, is going to listen to a song about soda.”

Offended, Abby snatched the paper back, turning up his nose with a scowl. “Well, I don’t see you contributing to this very important mission, now, do I?”

Romance waved his arms in the general direction of the other band members. “Uh, yeah, ‘cause Jinu’s already got a song for us! You didn’t notice everyone else minding their own business? Huh?” Mystery had stationed himself off to the side, humming to himself and fully committed to looking… well, mysterious, Jinu guessed. Meanwhile, Baby was diligently filling little plastic condiment cups with Cholula and downing them like shots.

With an irritable grumble, Jinu stepped between them. “Need I remind you why we’re here?” he asked, his lip twitching. “Gwi-Ma has tasked us with reaping the emotions of these temperamental teenagers. I do not need you acting like high schoolers on top of that. Unless you’d like to end up as a pile of ash on the floor?”

“So we go in there and piss them all off, yeah, yeah, I get it,” Abby muttered with a wave of his hand. “Stir up some trouble and feed off the negative energy.”

“Can we have lunch first?” Baby’s unusually deep voice chimed in out of nowhere. “I’m starving, and it’s Taco Tuesday.”

“What?” Romance’s eyes bugged out as if he’d just heard the wildest news of his entire life. “For real? Let me see!” He shoved his way past Baby and his empty hot sauce cups to stare intensely at a lunch poster on the wall.

Jinu was about ready to strangle them. “Can you all stop thinking with your stomachs for one second?” he snarled. “Once we’ve done this job, you can eat all the soul energy you want.”

– – –

The busy cafeteria probably wasn’t the best place to be crafting up lyrics, but try telling Zoey that when she was in the zone.

Mira was sitting with Zoey at a smaller table, one located at the far end of the room. Since there were only two of them, there was really no way to justify taking one of the bigger tables. Besides, this was their table, the one they’d sat at every year since they were awkward freshmen.

Of course, they’d had a few people wave politely at them, and Mira had waved back. It was kind of an unspoken thing at KHS – be nice to the people at the small table. Mira wasn’t sure if the other students felt bad for her and Zoey, or if they’d simply gained a bit of popularity through their music performances last year. Either way, despite being well-liked at school, Mira couldn’t think of anyone she was close with like Zoey and Rumi.

So she tried, to the best of her ability, to keep the slurping sounds of her ramyeon to a minimum as Zoey worked. Mira could see the little crease between Zoey’s brows that often formed when she was in such deep concentration. Her pen was flying across one of her million notebooks, and Mira could see her worrying at her bottom lip with her teeth. It was always charming to watch a master at work.

Zoey sighed, pausing for a moment to take a sip of her grape juice. “Man, this is tougher than I thought,” she said, tapping the end of her pen on the table rhythmically. “I guess I got so used to writing songs for three last year.”

Mira hummed sympathetically, mirroring Zoey’s tapping motion with the end of her chopstick. It was honestly kind of reassuring to hear Zoey struggling with Rumi’s absence, too; it made her feel less alone, or overly clingy, or anything like that.

“Don’t stress yourself out too much,” Mira reminded her gently. “The Musical Showcase is just for fun, that’s all.”

Zoey sighed. “Oh, I know. I just don’t want to disappoint you, that’s all. It is our last big performance in high school.” After a moment, her eyes twinkled. “So, should we sing a little ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,’ then? Maybe some ABCs, if we’re feelin’ spicy?”

Mira rolled her eyes. “I didn’t mean that, you dork,” she teased. Zoey snickered, and Mira passed over her ramyeon so Zoey could try a bite.

The loud slam of the cafeteria doors opening interrupted Zoey mid-noodle. Both girls turned their heads in surprise, and conversations died down in bewilderment at the sudden entrance. Immediately, Mira spotted the source of the noise: five boys she didn’t recognize, who looked old enough to be seniors, making their way slowly inside as if they owned the place.

Mira gritted her teeth, internally fuming. “Why those rude, entitled pieces of-”

Before she could get the word out, the boys started singing. Singing. In the middle of lunch hour. Their voices were slow and melodic, harmonizing beautifully despite the sheer number of them. They moved into the cafeteria, spreading out across the rows of tables.

Mira felt Zoey grab her arm. She turned to her friend and saw the absolutely appalled look on her face. “Mira- Oh my god, who is that?”

She was gesturing to the tallest of the strange quintet, a man with short pink hair and the most beautifully sculpted abs Mira had ever seen in her life. Her jaw fell open, and her eyes practically popped out of her head. Who on earth is this guy? she thought, equal parts baffled, annoyed, and impressed. No one else at KHS was built like that, holy hell.

Mira was so taken aback by this man’s insane muscles that she almost didn’t notice that the singing had evolved to include words. She shook her head, trying to snap out of it and listen.

“We heard you want to get together.” The man with the black hair seemed to be taking on the role of lead singer. His voice was smooth and level, ensnaring the cafeteria that had become his audience.

“We heard you want to rock the school.” Each of them seemed very suited to other people’s personal spaces, running their hands over hair or along the backs of seats. No one seemed to mind, shockingly. They all looked as Mira had felt just moments ago: enraptured.

“We thought of something that is better.” The rest of the boys continued to add on their melodic acapella, filling the room with the sounds of their perfect voices.

“Something that changes all the rules.”

Mira frowned. Maybe a little too perfect.

Across from her, Zoey was still watching the guy with the abs, her mouth agape. She was practically drooling. Mira grabbed her arm and shook her gently. “Zoey, babe, snap out of it for a sec,” Mira said. “Are you hearing these lyrics?”

“Here’s a chance to find your flame.” That same lead singer had cupped his hand under one student’s chin, tilting his head up to look him in the eyes before letting him go and gliding away again. 

“Are you a loser or a fighter?” Mira saw a look of contemplation appear on the student’s face, even from across the room.

Zoey frowned, watching the lead singer move away. “Oh,” she said softly. “That’s definitely… odd.”

“Me and you, you and me. Why don’t we see who is better?” Mira watched in shock as the boys gathered together again in the center of the cafeteria. Their movements were very much in sync, their gestures sweeping the crowd in almost uncanny harmony. Mira felt a prickle of unease beneath her skin, a gut feeling she couldn’t quite place.

“We don’t have to be one in the same thing.”

Who choreographed an entire dance number to perform at lunch?

“Oh, what’s so wrong with a little competition?”

And- Were they singing about-

“Are you afraid of failing the audition?”

As the song went on, more and more people seemed to be heading the boys’ words. Suddenly, students were glaring at each other with suspicion, their previous friendly conversation promptly forgotten. Mira saw a nearby table break out into a shouting match.

“I could beat you!” snapped a girl in a blue sundress.

The girl across from her sneered. She gave a sharp bark of laughter. “You wish!” Mira swore she’d seen them laughing together about five minutes ago. Meanwhile, the boys continued their little song, apparently ignorant of the chaos they were creating.

Or performatively ignorant, Mira thought. It really did seem like these strangers were stirring up trouble on purpose, though she could not for the life of her determine why.

“Mira!” It was Zoey’s turn to try and get her attention. Mira saw her pointing towards the lead singer again. “Did you see that?”

Mira narrowed her eyes and focused on the man in question, and for a moment she was confused. Then, she saw something – a ripple of movement, or color, or something, she wasn’t sure. It was as though he had a kind of mirage laying over his forearm, hiding some sort of strange, blueish pattern underneath.

“What the hell?” Mira whispered, not wanting to draw any of the boys’ attention. She glanced at Zoey for reassurance, only to be met with equal uncertainty and concern. The singing now was beginning to feel more like chanting.

“Let’s have a battle, battle, battle! Battle of the bands!” As the song drew to an end, the cafeteria erupted into a strange cacophony – part cheering, part bickering. Some students were eagerly thanking the strangers for their excellent performance, while others were far too busy hurling insults at their tablemates. At the center of it all, the five boys stood proudly, observing the chaos unfolding around them. Mira thought she saw another flicker of blue, this time in their eyes. She exchanged another glance with Zoey and nodded to the back door; thankfully, Zoey seemed to have the same idea. They gathered up their things and slipped out without being noticed.

“What just happened?” Zoey asked once they were safely outside the cafeteria. She looked as bewildered as she sounded. “I’ve never seen anything like that before. Who has the audacity to turn lunch into a concert?”

Mira scoffed. “Those boys, apparently.” She turned her head, glancing back at the cafeteria door. “I can’t believe how quickly the atmosphere just… changed. Did you hear what they were saying? It sounds like they’d rather turn the Musical Showcase into a competition.” She couldn’t think of any reason why anyone would want to do that, but for some reason it didn’t sit right with her.

“I’m more worried about those- those- Argh, I don’t even know what to call them. Illusions?” Zoey held her notebook to her chest anxiously. “Did you see their eyes, and their skin? I swear for a moment, one of them had fangs. They were like- like magicians, I think, only-”

“Fangs?” Mira gawked; she hadn’t noticed that. “Jesus, Zoey, you’d think you were describing a monster.”

Zoey paused for a moment, and Mira watched the fear in her eyes practically double. “You don’t think… they’re related to the Fall Formal monster, do you?”

Mira narrowed her eyes. Maybe, maybe not. Either way, there was definitely something supernatural going on with those boys. “I don’t know, Zoey,” she said. “But there’s something not right here, that’s for certain.”

Zoey fell silent for a moment. The air around them was tense; Mira didn’t like the thought there might be strange creatures in their school, playing out schemes she couldn’t even begin to understand. Even just the thought of one of them going after her or Zoey sent shivers down her spine.

“Should we tell Rumi?” 

Zoey’s voice caught Mira off guard. She blinked, turning to Zoey in surprise. “Rumi?”

Zoey nodded. She was still clutching her notebook like a lifeline, and her brow was furrowed again – not from concentration, but from fear. “I mean, I know she doesn’t go to KHS anymore, but I feel like… Well, if there really is something strange going on, the people most likely to know something about it are her and her step-mom.” Pausing, Zoey looked at the ground, before promptly looking back up at Mira, searching her gaze for reassurance. “Right? That’s not- stupid, is it?”

“No- No, you’re right.” Mira straightened up, casting another nervous glance back at the cafeteria door. They needed someone that would listen to them instead of dismissing them; Mira could trust Rumi with her whole heart. “If anyone knows anything about… whatever those things are, it’s Rumi and Celine.”