Rin: Aaron? AARON!

Aaron: What? Is something wrong?

Rin: Thank goodness… I thought you were asleep. Anyways, I got news. Bad news, unfortunately. You know Maya right?

Aaron: From sources, I know she used to be an enemy of the Order. Now, she's their friend right?

Rin: Correction — she was their friend.

Aaron: What? What do you mean?

Aaron: Wait a minute. The things you told me three days ago… for me at least...

Aaron: Maya's dead, isn't she?

...Rin is typing…

Rin: She is…

Aaron: Oh Irene… Are you okay? What happened?

Rin: I'm fine. I'm not sure about Maya's friends, however...

Rin: Well, a giant cat ripped open her throat. From what I heard, anything in the way of the cat's path was immediately removed after time ran out. She didn't even manage to say anything before she was murdered.

Aaron: My Irene…. That's horrible… I can't even imagine how her friends are feeling…

Rin: I do. Aiden blamed the person with his scarf and almost killed his friend from grief and anger. Now all their friends are ignoring him.

Aaron: He deserves it.

Rin: Aaron.

Aaron: Nobody deserves an excuse after trying to kill their own friends. It's just stupid.

Rin: I'm not even going to try to reason with you on this. Anyway, tossing that subject aside, I want, no, need you to promise me something.

Aaron: What is it?

...Rin is typing…

Rin: Don't tell anyone until you get to BeaconTown that Maya's dead.

Rin: I don't want the Old Order finding out Maya's dead because of the news.

Rin: Got it?

...Aaron is typing…

Aaron: Got it.

The fourth intermission was emotionally exhausting.

The Order and Gill were still furious with Aiden for almost killing Angel, and they refused to talk or look at him. Aiden didn't seem to notice this, as he stared absently at the wall in front of him.

Kate would have been glaring at him, but she was in the kitchen, which was where Angel locked herself in after the last Hunting Game, healing Angel's leg. Of course, that was after she healed everyone.

William, Tacey, Seri, and Anna went to the kitchen because a) the tension was too much for them, and b) Angel absolutely refused to let her friends in, so they wanted to keep her company.

Ann left to her room, claiming that she was going to sleep early, but Annabelle knew it was to research the shadows' kind because all of them never heard about the shadows that attacked them. She had samples of the shadows' black goop, so maybe she'll get some answers.

Mason went to bed early too, but Annabelle knew he wanted to avoid Ariza. Those two have been tense lately for reasons that Ann, Ariza, and Mason won't explain ("Give them some time," Ann had said. "I'm sure it'll work out." But she didn't seem so sure).

Ariza had pulled out her laptop from her bag to distract her from Maya's death, but she was fidgeting a lot and her fingers flew so fast, she kept making typos and swear every time.

Apparently, Rin had another brainstorm, because she had her hair in a messy bun, and was furiously writing on several pieces of paper. Her expression was so intense, Annabelle had to try her hardest not to crack up.

Annabelle and Adrian on the other hand, were both trying not to let the Persona Awakening from the kitchen faze them.

"She waking up, I can sense it," Adrian muttered. "I don't know who her Persona is, but she's waking up fast."

"Anger or the sense of protecting the innocent and her friends?" Rin asked in a whisper, not even stopping her writing.

"Both," Annabelle mumbled, low enough so that nobody except Rin can overhear, "she's really angry, at both Aiden and Her. She also wants to prevent anybody from getting killed again. But there's a problem. What will happen? Vivian is being suppressed somehow. What will happen to her if her Persona gets suppressed in the middle of the awakening? She might become one of the Lost."

"I don't know," Adrian said. He blinked and narrowed his eyes in frustration. "No, it's stopping. I don't know what's happening, but her Persona is being pushed down."

"What?!" Rin demanded, looking up. She noticed everyone looking over at her in confusion and signaled to them that it was nothing. When everyone turned back around, she whispered, "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I can feel it too," Annabelle admitted, "but if something's happening to her, we could hear it, and the Deviants would be running here, screaming about a problem by now if she became one of the Lost. She's alright."

"I see…" Rin frowned thoughtfully. Then she suddenly slammed down her quill, startling everyone, and said, "News is on. Let's see what's up."

"Are you sure you're okay?" William asked gently. When Kate shot him a look that screamed 'What are you doing?!', he mentally smacked himself. Of course, Angel wasn't okay. She just lost one of her friends. Heck, William doesn't even know what happened to the body. It was dragged away shortly after Angel stormed out.

William should know she wasn't okay. She sent the last few hours sobbing over her friend's death, screaming at Her for killing off her friend as Kate healed her leg, snapping at them every time they try to comfort her, and kept her face buried in her arms until Seri took out a few cookies and asked if she was hungry, which she was.

If Angel noticed the insensitivity, she didn't react, much to William's relief. She simply nibbled on raspberry cookies that Seri had given her (William still had no idea how Seri knew raspberry cookies were her favorite and can calm her down). Her silver eyes had dull into a dark gray, which occasionally flashed with anger or sorrow.

"I don't blame you for not being okay," Tacey said gently. "I know I won't be. I lost my grandma about a year ago."

Angel still didn't speak, but she hummed in acknowledgment. Perhaps she was so affected by Maya's death, she couldn't bring herself to speak. She leaned back and took a glass of water from Anna, looking tired and guarded. Then her eyes flashed gold.

William recoiled. So did Tacey and Kate. Anna and Seri's eyes widened. Then they turned to each other, each eye holding the same question:Did you see that?!

Gold was the same eye color as Her eyes, William thought, as Angel drank, oblivious to the silent conversation. He wondered what that meant. Would that mean something is corrupting Angel into something like Her? Could she be turning on them?

No, she wouldn't. William didn't know Angel very well, but she wouldn't team up with someone who killed one of her friends. She was too loyal. Her reaction to Maya's death proved that.

William signaled to the others to talk about the gold eyes later. They couldn't discuss this with Angel around. They understood immediately and looked away.

"They're arguing again," Seri said suddenly. She was standing near the sink, but she still looked shaken, and she kept glancing at Angel's eyes to make sure they were still her eyes. "I can hear them from here. It sounds like it's getting worse."

Kate shook her head, "I can hear them too. Somehow, the arguing is a lot worse than the silence." She looked as though she wanted to confront Aiden for losing control, but restrained herself.

"Should we stop them?" Anna said nervously. "It sounds like it's getting a bit out of hand…"

Angel shook her head and spoke up for the first time in hours. It made them jump. "You can stop Lukas, Gill, and Olivia, but you can't stop Jesse, Jace, Petra, or Axel." Her voice sounded hoarse from screaming and crying. "All of them are stubborn in their own way, but together they're unstoppable. I'll step in if it does get physical." Despite her words to not interfere, she glanced nervously outside.

William frowned. He hated fights. He was used to them (no thanks to Wilrus and Kate) but that doesn't mean he liked them. Plus, Angel spoke as though it happened every day. He looked outside and felt his eyes widen at the sight.

Jesse, Jace, Petra, and Axel were up to their feet, shouting at Aiden. William couldn't understand them, because they were shouting over each other so much, it was hard to hear bits of them. Lukas, Gill, and Olivia were up to their feet too, but they were trying to talk the four into stopping, but being shaken off every time. Annabelle and Adrian were warily watching the fight, looking ready to launch themselves off the couch to do who knows what. Ariza was at the back of the room, clutching her laptop like a lifeline. Renee was between the angry four and Aiden and was using her audiokinesis to shout over the four to try to get everyone stop, apologize to each other, and move on, but that clearly wasn't happening.

"ARGUING ABOUT MAYA'S DEATH IS NOT GOING TO HELP US GET OUT OF HERE. STOP. NOW!" She was shouting. It would have made William stop immediately, but Angel was right. The four were stubborn.

"They are getting physical," William said, watching with increasing horror as Jesse and Jace tried to get around Renee with their fists clenched. Angel didn't seem to hear it. She was too busy rubbing her head, gritting her teeth.

"Definitely physical," Tacey agreed. She shot Angel a look of concern and confusion. "Aren't you going to go stop them?" She poked Angel in the arm.

Angel snapped into attention immediately. "Huh? Oh, yeah." She said, her eyes flickering to gold, then back to silver.

Again?! William thought. Judging by his friends' faces, they noticed it too. He still doesn't know what it means.

She flicked something off her forehead that looked black, but it disappeared before they could get a good look at it. Then she walked outside.

William watched as Angel walked into the room, looking irritated. She tried talking a few times, then got frustrated when no one heard her. Heck, William couldn't hear her, and she was only a few feet away from him. It was then that Renee noticed her.

Renee didn't show any sign of surprise, but she snapped her fingers and stopped shouting. She must have manipulated the sound in Angel's vocal cords so that she could be heard. William covered his ears, knowing that it'll be loud.

Angel took a deep breath.

"ENOUGH!" She screamed. The shouting stopped, and everyone froze in place. "ARGUING ABOUT MAYA'S DEATH IS NOT GOING TO SOLVE THINGS—SO STOP THIS FOOLISHNESS AND GET OVER IT!"

William winced. Even with his ears covered, they were still ringing.

"Angel—" Aiden spoke up, but she shoved past him and ignored him. She must still be angry at him.

"MAYA JUST DIED—" Renee, who didn't seem affected by the shouting, though it may have to do with the headphones on her ears, shook out her bun and snapped her fingers again. "—and you all are arguing like little kids." Angel, whose voice was normal volume now, thank goodness, finished, her voice cracking up. "What will Maya think?"

"...Sorry Angel," Jesse said quietly after a long silence. "We just watched the news. They were talking to Ivor and the others about us and well, we got angry."

"That's an understatement," Angel said, sounding resigned. "But killing your friends and arguing are both not worth it. I thought you both already knew that."

William didn't understand what she meant, but Jesse and Petra did. They winced when Angel glanced at them when she finished.

She rubbed her temple and flicked the black thing off her forehead again. William saw Renee narrowed her eyes. "I'm going to bed. Today's been a long day and I really want rest and you guys are not helping."

"Sorry, Angel," All her friends except Aiden, who looked down, muttered.

"Good night!" Seri called from behind William, which made him jump. It was followed by, "Don't let the bedbugs bite!" from Anna.

Angel turned around so her friends couldn't see her face and smiled brightly, which give William hope.

William felt someone tap on his shoulder and turned around. It was Tacey, and the look on her face made his hope die immediately.

"That was monster goop, or shadow goop, or whatever Ann called it," She said quietly. She pointed to the black thing on the ground as everyone in the living room sat down.

William's eyes widened, so did Seri and Anna's. "It is?!"

Kate nodded, looking serious. "And we think," she pointed to Renee, Annabelle, and Adrian, who were staring at the shadow goop with suspicion and horror, "that we should tell them."

"You know, Angel," Maya said mildly. "I'm quite jealous of you."

Angel looked up from her book and raised an eyebrow. "Why? You have no reason to be jealous of me."

"Your sister is better than mine."

"Oh," Angel said, watching Maya wake away with a smirk, wondering what she was talking about. As far as Angel knew, Maya has no blood siblings. Aiden is her boyfriend, Gill and Lukas are more like her brothers, the rest of the Order are her friends, Petra is her best friend, and Angel is—

"Wait a minute, I'm your sister in all but blood," Angel said out loud. She closed her book and ran after Maya. "Maya, get back here, you turd!"

Maya's laughter sounded through the air as they ran through the town. Angel couldn't help but laugh too. It was just them for today. Everyone else was either busy or out for a few hours. The weather was perfect, the food was great, nothing can go wrong.

Except… it did.

The sun stopped shining. Waving townspeople vanished. Everything went silent. Angel stopped laughing and looked around. The atmosphere was green, and there were blood and coffins everywhere. Maya wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Maya?" Her voice echoed in the silence. "I swear, if you're doing this on purpose to scare me, it won't be pretty… Maya, this isn't funny—where are you? Maya, please, I'm really scared… come out!"

"WhY dIdN't YoU sAvE mE?..."

Angel turned around sharply. It was Maya. There were claw marks on her throat, she was crying tears of blood, and her icy blue eyes looked dead and scared.

"Maya…?"

"WhY wErEn'T yOu FaSt EnOuGh, AnGeL?..." 'Maya' spoke. She moved like a puppet and stepped towards Angel, who was too scared to run. "I tHoUgHt YoU wErE mY fRiEnD…"

"I…"

"YoU pRoMiSeD tHaT yOu'Ll PrOtEcT mE, AnGeL." 'Maya' continued stumbling towards Angel. "So WhY wErE yOu So SlOw?..."

"Maya, I'm sorry," Angel begged. "I tried to get to you as fast as I can, but the round was difficult—"

"No ExCuSeS…"

Maya lunged towards her, her eyes turning black, her hands reaching for her neck as Angel's scream echoed through the empty town.

A black rose blossomed on caramel skin.