Where did this summer go? One day, I'm chilling on the beach; the next, I'm putting the fall wreath on our door! I do apologize for the wait on this chapter. I know it's short, but I wanted to get this out today before you thought I disappeared! But anyway...enjoy the aftermath after Kory's crazy night*wet*dream! o_O

Chapter Thirteen - A Leadership in Question

The next morning, after that disastrous night of the winter ball, I stayed in bed for as long as possible, trying to make up for the night's lack of sleep. I pulled the bed's comforter over my head when I heard Rachel get up to prepare herself for what I assume was another full day of reading. I would have been perfectly happy if that was the case, but after a few minutes of listening to her shuffle her belongings around, I felt the vibration of her magic over me before my comforter was yanked off.

I groaned and instantly brought my hands to my face to block the harsh sunlight from my eyes. This was probably the only time I did not want to face the sun. I was surprised that it was even shining, considering it was winter, and I knew that the winters where the school resided rarely saw sunlight.

"You want to tell me what happened last night?" Rachel asked harshly without so much as a 'Good morning, Kory! Thank you for saving my life last night!'

"What do you mean?" I grumbled, my hands never leaving my face, and I refused to move from my position on the bed. "I thought it was obvious knowledge that the tanks of paint that were supposed to be for the prank were accidentally switched." At least, that was the conclusion that Miss Petrov told everyone.

I had to admit I was not in the best of moods, and I was aware that I may have appeared as 'grumpy' from Rachel's perspective. However, I was so exhausted that I could not care about how I spoke to others at that moment.

"I know that," She said, "But I want to hear from your point of view. Everyone was knocked out before we truly knew what was going on. You and Vic were the only two unaffected by the gas. How was it that you were not affected by it?"

"Respiratory bypass," I mumbled through my fingers.

"What?" Rachel asked.

"I can hold my breath for prolonged periods of time," I told her while slowly pushing myself from the bed and then swinging my legs over the bed's side. "It is useful for my kind whenever we enter other planets where the atmosphere has low oxygen levels."

"Ok, useful, I guess," She noted, "But did you see anyone else running away from the gym during the time of the prank? Anyone at the dance who looked out of place, or maybe they shouldn't have been there?"

"No," I shook my head, "I was more concerned with trying to stop the gas flow and getting others out instead of..." I paused. Why was she asking all these questions? This seemed out of character for her. She usually never shows this much concern or interest with...well...about anything. "Rachel, do you not think this was an accident?"

She stared blankly at me before saying, "I don't know. I'm finding it difficult to believe that a large paint tank can accidentally be switched to something toxic."

I may have expressed more excitement than I should when I rushed up to her to ask, "You think something strange is going on at the school as well, yes?"

"Well, besides the fact we are kind of freaks here," Rachel smirked, "I do sense a disturbance of emotions among...the Elites. There has always been tension among them, but there is more now."

"You can read minds?" I asked quickly. Suddenly, I felt horrified by my intrusive thoughts about the Elites' leader, and Rachel might know about it.

"Not necessarily," She said. "I'm an empath. In other words, I can sense others' emotions, especially if they are strong. But don't worry, I can turn it off so I'm not constantly invading your head by being around you. If that were the case, I would always be exhausted because your emotions are...a lot."

"Oh," I blushed. "I guess my people are known to be more in tune with their emotions and are fueled by them more than other species. My apologies if I caused you any discomfort."

"It's fine," Rachel shrugged, "I'm used to your emotions already."

Not wanting to know what she was 'used to', I quickly redirected our conversation to the more critical issue. "But the Elites...you said that tensions are high? Are they in some sort of disagreement with one another?"

"Disagreement. Worry. Anger. A little bit of fear. Jealously." Rachel raised her eyebrow at that last emotion and looked at me as if I knew what she was referring to. "Which I guess sums up all the emotions angsty teenagers go through. But there has been something darker that lies beneath those emotions. And it seems to get stronger with each passing week among them."

"Do you think they were behind what happened last night?" I asked eagerly. Finally, someone else was willing to listen to me or was not trying to silence me.

"I doubt it," Rachel shook her head. "Why would Vic try to rescue everyone then?"

"I suppose that is true," I said. My accusation was deflated in an instant. "But I did not see Dick there at the time when it happened. Nor Babs or the others." I was not sure about the 'others' part. I just knew that Dick was not there. I was too preoccupied with saving everyone instead of noting who was there.

"Oh," Rachel muttered softly. Her face gave off that uncomfortable look again. "About that...It's probably none of my business, and I shouldn't be telling you this, but-"

Rachel's phone rang, and we both jumped at the sound. She growled, whipped her phone out of her pocket, and barked, "What?"

"RACHEL! ARE YOU OK? IS KORY OK? WHY ARE YOU NOT RESPONDING TO MY TEXTS?" Gar's voice blared through the phone speakers so loud that Rachel had to keep her phone at arm's distance from her ear.

Once Gar had stopped yelling, Rachel brought the phone back to her ear and said, "You saw me last night after the incident, dumbass. And, of course, Kory is fine. She was the one who saved us all. I have been debriefing with her about it. That's why I haven't texted you back."

"You're debriefing without me?" I heard Gar whine. "You know I want to be part of solving the mystery as well!"

Rachel pinched between her eyes and squeezed them shut in annoyance before opening them again to tap on the phone screen. "We don't even know if there is a mystery to begin with, Sherlock."

"You're trying to be in denial, Rae." Gar's voice was amplified so I could hear him more clearly through the phone. "I've been telling you something fishy is happening in the town for weeks. And now, someone is trying to attack the school! We have to get to the bottom of this and stop whoever might be endangering the school. We could be the heroes and maybe be considered for the Young Justice program!"

"When has there been fish in the town?" I asked. This would be a strange addition to what should be known about Cold Springs.

"We're doomed," Rachel deadpanned.

"Kory, you're adorable, you know that?" Gar laughed. "That saying means something is strange or sus is going on."

"Sus?"

Rachel groaned, "New rule. Gar, you are not allowed to explain things to Kory unless you speak like a non-juvenile human being. And let's talk about this over breakfast. I didn't get to eat last night because of the incident, and I'm starting to get grumpy."

"So you're hungry all the time then." Gar teased.

"Shut up!" Rachel snapped. "We'll meet you in the dining hall in ten minutes. Bye."

We would have met him in ten minutes if we had not been stopped by every other person we passed as we walked to the dining hall to express their opinions or gratitude for the night before.

"You're a real hero, Kory!"

"Thank you for saving us!"

"Do you really think that Mikron is innocent?"

"You were so badass!"

"Why bother saving the runt? He was the one behind it all!"

"I heard that Wonder Woman is considering you to be her next sidekick!"

"You belong on the Justice League!"

"Can I have your number?"

Though I did not mind everyone approaching me, Rachel saw it as a threat getting to her breakfast and decided she had had enough of all their questions and comments. She began to tape every person's mouth shut who approached us with her magic before they started talking. That was until one girl in particular approached us.

I recognized her as the girl who had bullied Joseph shortly before he had been expelled. As Rachel was about to cast her magic on her, the girl raised her hand to deflect the spell with her own purple magic. Another warlock or sorceress or whatever humans call someone who has the ability to cast spells.

"I'm not trying to be annoying," She said. "I just want to talk to Kory about something that might interest her about last night."

"Then talk, Jinx," Rachel snapped. Her hunger was making her more and more irritable by the second.

"I was hoping to talk to her alone," the girl named Jinx said. "It's kind of a personal matter."

"It is fine, Rachel," I told my irritable friend. "I will meet you and Gar at the Dining hall."

Rachel glared at Jinx before returning to me to say, "I will wait for you by the fountain. Just don't be long."

"Ok," I responded. I was confused by her sudden overprotective nature.

Once Rachel floated over to where she said she would go, I turned back to Jinx. An awkward silence fell over us as soon as we were alone. I was not sure what I was supposed to say to the girl who I knew had terrorized Joseph in the past. The only thing I could get out was..."Hi?"

"Listen, Kory, um..." Jinx began nervously playing with the zipper on her winter jacket. "About last night...Mikron would never try to harm anybody intentionally. I mean, yeah, he meant to do the prank, but it was only supposed to be red paint to be sprayed on everyone and nothing else. We have no idea how those tanks got switched, so please don't think it was us."

The 'us' she was referring to was her and her friends I had caught bullying Joseph, so I could understand why she thought I suspected her as the one behind the attack. But I already knew it could not have been them. I was flattered that she felt the need to tell me this as if my opinion had some persuasion to the prosecution of the true enemy. Even though I did not have the influence, it was a sign that the students were beginning to trust me—even the bullies.

"I know," I reassured her. "I knew the moment I saw Mikron's look of distress when I found him in the boiler room."

Jinx let out a sigh of relief, "Ok, good. Look...I know we got off on the wrong foot when we first met, but I want to let you know that..." She stopped and started to zip and unzip her jacket repeatedly. "I was against the idea in the first place when Mikron informed us of his plans for the dance. I obviously didn't want to get my dress stained from his stupid prank."

"Of course," I chuckled a little at her remark, but I felt it was to avoid what she really wanted to say. "Jinx, is that all you wanted to tell me?"

The zipping and unzipping of her jacket increased in speed. "Well, actually...no. I couldn't help but notice that your date last night was R...er...I mean Xavier."

"You know Xavier?" I asked. My head cocking to the side curiously.

"Kind of," Jinx stuttered slightly. Her eyes were now looking at the ground. "He's...well...just be careful around him."

Her words were so low that I could barely hear her. Once I asked to clarify what she said, she rushed past me so she did not have to respond.

"Jinx!" I called after her, but she had already disappeared into the shadows of the corridors

"What was that all about?" Rachel asked as she floated by my side.

"I do not know," I told her honestly. The memory of Dick warning me about Xavier began to reappear in my mind, and I tried to push that thought away to something else. Like the way he leaned in to warn me. Then, the dream where our bodies were entwined in between silken bed covers.

No. Anything but that.

"Can we go to breakfast now?" Rachel asked impatiently. Her foot tapped furiously against the ground.

"Yes. Let us go," I said, silently vowing to myself that I would stop 'borrowing' the romance novels that Rachel had banned me from reading, as I believed some of the intimate scenes were beginning to affect my subconscious.

I mainly borrowed those books to feed my curiosity about how humans had sex. My kind tend to be very...sexual creatures, especially during the mating season. At least, that was what I had overheard from my elders when I was not supposed to, and they never went into detail on that since I was so young. So naturally, I am now curious to know what sex is like.

Of course, I was not planning to have sex with a human; That would be ridiculous regardless of what my subconscious was trying to tell me. I just wanted to know how mating was done on Earth for research purposes on humans. That was it.

Voices near us were beginning to be raised—angry voices. Then, the one person I was trying to stop thinking about materialized among the crowd of students starting to surround him.

I felt my stomach drop once I saw him. I was not ready to face him yet. The disturbing dream of him was still too fresh in my mind, and I was not about to show any weakness around him after the win I had over him the night before.

I was about to turn and run as fast as I could toward the dining hall until the angry voices registered in my head were, in fact, not from Dick and his Elites, but the voices were being directed to him.

"Where the hell were you last night?"

"What kind of student president are you? We all could have died!"

"You just bailed on us?"

They were all the same burning questions I had for him as well. And when I stopped to see how he would react, instead of the usual emotionless expression I expected from him, I could see the exhaustion on his face. His pale face appeared gray, and his eyes were full of... despair?

"What kind of student council are you running anyway?"

"You Elites are frauds. You don't care at all about our safety."

"Did your daddy pay someone off to have us all killed?"

That was the breaking point for him.

"SHUT UP!" Dick yelled. "Would all of you just shut the hell up? Do you really think that I would try to gas the entire school? My friends were in that gym as well!"

"Then where were you? Rumor has it that you were nowhere to be found during and after the attack."

Again, all perfect questions. But I could not find it in myself to join the angry mob. Something was wrong. I have never seen that face on Dick before. I could see the panic and distress in him. His usual self-righteous, stoic demeanor was breaking down.

He was in emotional pain.

I heard someone ask. "Are they even your friends? Or are they just pawns to you? Do you care about anybody else other than yourself?"

Dick growled and then announced to everybody. "You want me to step down as class president? Is that it? I know that is what you all are thinking. You think someone else would be able to protect you better."

I was unsure how he found me within the crowd, for I was trying to make myself discreet. But his eyes locked on mine when he said his last sentence. His expression was strange to me. I could not decide if it was anger or the look before someone was about to break down in tears.

"Fine," he said, his voice returning to an eerie calm tone. "If you want new leadership, you must prove that. You have to show me that the one to take my place has the strength to guard your lives."

"Wasn't last night enough to prove that?" Someone from the crowd asked.

"Yeah, we should vote to have Victor or Kory take your place!" Another exclaimed.

Several other students agreed with one another quite loudly at the same time, but I remained silent. This was what I wanted, right? But why was I not able to feel happy about it?

Dick seemed to ignore everyone's attempt at democracy. "Your so-called 'hero' got lucky last night without the actual assailant there to fight. I want to see how they hold up in a fight with real opponents."

He was refusing to acknowledge that I was the one to save everyone. How typical. And just as I was starting to feel a little worried for him...

"And since you all seem to think I'm some sort of fascist here," Dick continued. "I'll make this test an equal opportunity for everyone. This April, we will have a combat tournament for anyone who wishes to compete for my position. In this competition, you will be required to fight each student council member. The one who can achieve victory over each member will be the one proven to have sufficient skills to lead and train this sorry excuse of a school."

I can finally have my rematch with Babs? Glorious...

"Does that mean we'll finally be able to fight you, Dick? " One of my peers asked and broke me out of my fantasy of Babs yielding before me and announcing that she was too weak to fight against me any longer.

"If any one of you actually gets that far." Dick challenged. "And since this is a competition to measure everyone's raw ability, you will no longer be training with anyone on the student council. Again, this test is set to prove if you could survive without our leadership."

There was much rejoicing over not having to train with any Elites any more. I, however, did not share the same excitement. Could this mean I would no longer be training with Victor? I was really enjoying my time with him and the others in my small combat class. After spending so much time working with Victor, I had stopped viewing him as one of Dick's tyrant followers and was beginning to see him as more of a brotherly figure. It would be difficult to cease my training with him.

"You have a little over two months to prepare." Dick declared. And I did not think many of the students were listening any longer. The hope of the Elite's leadership being overthrown had captured their attention as everyone started to whisper excitingly to each other. But I was able to hear Dick's final remark when he said, "Good luck, Titans. You're going to need it."

"RACHEL! KORY!" I could hear Gar calling to us excitedly. He had found us apparently before reaching the dining hall. "Can you believe..."

Gar's voice seemed to fade from my attention as I watched Dick approach us with a furious Babs and a confused-looking Wally following close behind him. All the attention had been primarily targeted at Dick, and I did not even realize they were with him the whole time during his tournament announcement.

"It looks like you're getting what you want after all," Dick told me as soon as he was close enough for me to hear him, and as he walked past me, he muttered lowly. "The game is in your favor."

I said nothing and only blinked at him. Yes, it did appear that I was winning his little game now. But why did it feel wrong?

Have you ever watched a cartoon where a character has fire in their eyes when they are really angry about something? I have recently watched something like that with Gar, and I think Bab's expression might have been the perfect description of that the moment she looked at me before roughly bumping her shoulder against mine as she walked by. I was not sure what I did to deserve that. And when Wally walked by, he...gave me a timid smile?

What was happening in this school...this planet today?

I felt my arm getting tugged, and I immediately snapped my attention back to my friends.

"Earth to Kory!" Gar called at me. "You good?"

"Yes, I am here and good," I assured him. "I think I am just a little sleepy, is all. Shall we go to breakfast now?"

"Finally!" Croaked Rachel.

"Hangry, Rachey!" Gar teased, which granted him a swat over the head by Rachel.

Once we finally made it to the dining hall and after Rachel had a few bites of her breakfast so that she no longer snapped at Gar and me every five minutes, I revealed everything I had witnessed over the last several months. From Joseph's attack/expulsion to what I saw at the cave and the cloaked figures to discovering Hank's body at the clinic.

"Whoa, so you think someone in the town is turning people into zombies?" Gar asked. His eyes were as wide as saucers. I do not believe he blinked once as I told him about my frightening adventures.

"Keep your voice down!" Rachel warned. "And honestly, Gar. Zombies? This is not the dead coming back to life."

"We don't know that," Gar added. "That victim that Kory was talking about in the cave could have been somebody they dug up in a cemetery somewhere and brought it back to life as some wormy creature. It could be the same thing that happened to that spidery guy who attacked Joseph. Maybe that's what everyone is talking about when they say people are getting 'turned.'"

"Your descriptions of the victims amaze me," Rachel said sarcastically.

"Actually," I interjected, "I remember Jinx did mention something about zombies when she was bullying Joseph."

"Ha!" Gar wagged his toast in front of Rachel. "See, my zombie theory is not that far off."

Rachel groaned, "So Jinx and her friends know something's also happening. I think that they might be our first suspects to question. "

"I do not know," I shook my head. "I do not think they are the ones doing the turning. Jinx seemed quite sincere in confessing the prank and how it was not supposed to go the way it did last night, but she did seem quite frightened of...something."

"All the more reason to question them." Rachel said, "They must have an idea of who is doing it. And that same person could have been the one to switch out the tanks. They have to know something. Otherwise, they wouldn't be acting so shifty. And you had the perfect opportunity to ask her earlier today. Why didn't you ask her about the person they are so afraid of?"

The warnings of Xavier started filtering through my mind again, and I did not want to mention to Gar and Rachel that Jinx seemed afraid to talk about him. He could not be a suspect, though. He was in the gym with me during the prank. Why would he put himself in his own trap if he was the one to switch out the tanks?

"Kory?" I heard Rachel's voice trying to capture my attention.

"Oh, I am sorry!" I apologized, "Um...to be truthful, that did not cross my mind. When I overheard their conversation that day, I was still suspecting Dick might be the one behind all of this, so I was determined to find those answers myself."

Rachel gave me a stern look, "I don't think Dick is a suspect. Yes, he's an asshole, but..."

"He could be!" Gar blurted. "I mean, think about it, Rae! Why is he trying to control the students so much with all these stupid curfews, rules, and class schedules hand-picked by him? It could be that he's trying to keep us busy so we don't know what's happening. And Kory followed him to the cave, where she found the cloaked figures with their victim. Then, there is the whole him disappearing last night when the school was under attack. He's one of the common denominators here."

'He is," I said, "But I have yet to determine his role in all of this. He refuses to tell me anything, so I have no choice but to suspect him."

"Okay, okay," Rachel sighed. Facing defeat from two against one. "Dick's a suspect, but you're way better off trying to talk to Jinx and her friends first. Like you said, Dick told you he wouldn't give you answers easily."

"What is with that guy?" Gar asked. "Why does he feel the need to be so broody and mysterious? Does he know that makes him look more suspicious?"

Rachel shrugged. "By going off of his emotions, I think that's just how he is. He closes himself off to everyone, including his friends."

Gar raised an eyebrow. "So you have been reading his mind."

"His emotions," Rachel corrected. "Yes, I admit, I did suspect Dick at first as well, and I would regularly tap into his emotions to see if I could sense anything that would give me any hint to my suspicions."

"Were you able to find anything?" Gar asked eagerly.

"I already told you," Rachel said impatiently. "He closes his emotions off. Even to himself."

I am not quite an empath like Rachel, but I could tell that something was deeply troubling Dick when I saw him. I could tell that he was trying to hold back the pain he had felt so that no one would notice. But was he holding back so that he would not have to feel that pain for himself? I was suddenly starting to feel sympathy toward him. What traumatic event had happened to him that made him not want to face his emotions? Did he not realize that holding in his feelings is a self-destructive action?

"I do not wish to talk about Dick any longer."

Rachel and Gar simultaneously snapped their heads toward me, giving me a curious look. I thought I was thinking that to myself, but that thought must have slipped from my lips instead.

"We don't have to," Rachel told me. Her concern was clearly expressed, and she must have sensed my pity for him. "He should not be our primary concern anyway. Dick's going to do what he wants to do, and there's not much we can do to influence him with the little evidence that we have. So, let's try to talk to Jinx again. You're probably the best one to do that, Kory. Considering that she has already started opening up to you. You were right about her seeming to be scared about something. There is a lot of fear and anxiety among her and their friends. It's almost like they have gotten involved in something they regret and can't find a way out."

"Maybe that's why Jinx approached you," Gar noted. "She's trying to ask for help but is too afraid to give all the details in case the ring leader is listening."

"Would it be possible for the evil-doer to be one of the students at the school?" I asked.

"I don't think we should rule anybody out," said Rachel. "That includes the Elites and any school faculty. Remember, all the teachers had seemingly disappeared during last night's prank."

"Oh shit, that's right. I forgot about that!" said Gar. "Man, if this were a regular school where most of the students here had loving parents, there would be such a colossal lawsuit that even Wayne Enterprises wouldn't even be able to pay off. Hold on...you don't think Wayne Enterprises is somehow involved in this?"

"You really want to suspect, Dick, do you?" Rachel smirked at him.

"Think about it though!" Gar pressed. "I feel like Bruce Wayne would be raising hell right now if he found out that his son almost got killed at a school dance due to a prank going wrong, and there wasn't any supervision. I'm sure he must know now. News stations from Gotham City were here last night reporting it. And must I repeat that Dick was not in the gym when everything went down?"

"At this point, Gar, I don't know what's happening," Rachel sighed. "That's why we need to talk to Jinx to see if we can get more information from her. She's our best bet at the moment."

"I agree," I said. "I will find a way to talk to her this week."

"Great plan, team!" Cheered Gar while jumping to his feet. His breakfast plate was licked clean. "Until then, I have some major training to do. I'm going to plummet Victor in the spring tournament."

I promised myself that I would go and talk to Jinx that week, but there was something that I had to do first. That night, I decided to finally go and explore the area around the cave in the woods. I needed to find where the entrance was and investigate where the victim was held. I wanted to find some other evidence to tell the others and get us in the right direction before I approached Jinx and her friends. I knew this might have been a dangerous venture, so I did not inform Rachel and Gar of this plan.

I waited to ensure that Rachel was fully asleep before I slipped out of my bed, slightly crept to our window to open it, and quickly closed it before the cold winter air rushed in to wake Rachel. From our balcony, sturdy vines wrapped around the railings and led down to the ground so I could climb down. I had to be smart with where my hands and my footing were in order not to kick a window and accidentally wake up another student. Fortunately, I could hold on easily with my strength as I made my calculated movements down the vines. Once both my feet had touched the ground, I released a puff of white fog from my lips in relief.

The tricky part was over. Now, I just had to remember which direction the cave was. I closed my eyes to help me visualize Halloween night when I caught Dick sneaking away from the party. It was toward the east back entrance, and then he turned left and walked along the school's gate for a bit before entering the woods. That should be easy enough.

Letting out another puff of hot air, I trod along the path I had set in my head, and soon, I found myself at the tree line where Dick had dragged me out. Only this time, I would be coming back with some answers.

I heard a few tigs crack behind me and felt my blood freeze. Whipping around to get into a fighting stance, I watched a dog-shaped figure trotting up toward me. At first, I thought it might have been a wolf, knowing that a creature like that existed in the wild on Earth, and they could be hostile if they considered you a threat in their territory. But as soon as I saw its tail wagging behind him, I knew he was friendly.

"Gar?" I questioned the creature.

Gar had transformed back into a human and beamed at me. "You think you'll sneak out and go on an adventure without me? Think again! We're in this mystery together, Chica!"

"But how?" I stammered. "How did you know I was out here."

"You're terrible at sneaking out of places." I heard Rachel's drone above me before I watched her float down and place a hand on her hip.

"I thought I was quite stealthy." I defended.

"I sensed you were up to something," said Rachel. "So I pretended to fall asleep and waited for you to sneak out to follow you."

"And you let Gar know as well?" I asked incredulously. I had mixed emotions about this. For one, I was happy that my friends were finally aware of everything I had been forced to hide because keeping secrets is painful. On the other side of my emotions, I was fearful, for I could not guarantee their safety if we ran into anything dangerous, and I would never forgive myself if anything happened to them.

"You think he would let me live it down if we went investigating without inviting him?" Rachel asked. "And besides, we weren't going to let you go by yourself into those woods with a potential psychopath running around. It was bad enough that you were alone last time, and thank Azar that Dick found you before something bad might have happened to you."

"I could have handled myself that night," I mumbled offensively.

Rachel let out a strange snort that might have been a short laugh. "You told us you got lost."

"I would have found my way out eventually!" I retorted.

"Whatever." She said, and I could hear the eye roll in her favorite phrase.

"We're running out of moonlight, ladies!" Gar told us as he walked backward toward the tree line. "We have a cave to find and investigate."

I looked at Rachel and Gar, and I have never felt more proud to have such brave and incredible friends. I smiled and said, "Let's go."

Yep, sorry to leave you on a cliffhanger. I wanted to get this chapter out because I haven't posted for so long, and I want to dedicate the next chapter to pure spookiness and thrills. I had to get all the dialogue out so we could focus on some juicy action coming up—and right as the Halloween season is coming up. Perfect timing, right?

And I feel like I say this at the end of every chapter, but I appreciate all your reviews! It's fueling me to finish this story because I know people are reading it, and I can't let you down! This is kind of my test project to see how well this story is perceived before I decide to continue writing the series. 3