The two of us shove through the crowd, moving away from the mass of people around Taehyung until we see Jin standing near the edge of the group. People grin at him as they pass him, slapping his back or saying, “Nice job tonight, man,” as they move towards Taehyung. He gives them bland smiles back- until he sees me and Lucy and his face lights up.

“You were so good!” I squeal, launching myself at him. He yells in surprise as I wrap my arms around him, almost taking him to the ground.

“You’re wearing my jacket!” Jin grins.

“Dude, quit the team,” Lucy says, flicking his forehead. “You really hate this sport.”

“What are you talking about?” he tells her in a robotic voice. “I love lacrosse.”

“BS.”

“Maybe. But I’m happy you two are here. Did you have fun?”

“Yeah,” Lucy says.

The two of them turn to me expectantly.

“I’m not even going to wait for her answer,” Jin chuckles.

“It wasn’t... terrible,” I grimace. “The... some of it was cool. I liked finding you on the field.”

“Yeah, because I looked like I wanted to die.”

“Yeah, yeah. At least I showed up, doofus. In your jacket. You know how many looks I got? Some girl asked me where I bought this.”

“What was her response when you told her I gave it to you?”

“I actually told her I bought it on Ali Baba.”

Jin rolls his eyes. “Of course. Now there are going to be twenty people wearing my jacket.”

Lucy looks like she is scanning the crowd for something- someone. Jin and I exchange looks.

“He’s by Taehyung,” Jin coughs. Lucy looks at him in surprise.

“Who are you talking about?” she asks innocently. I roll my eyes.

“Don’t try and play that game. He’s...,”

. I hurriedly try and block Lucy’s line of vision. Unfortunately, I don’t succeed in doing so until after she’s seen Jimin stick his tongue in Mackenzie Zales’ mouth. Lucy’s shoulders deflate as she watches the crowd go wild as they passionately make out in front of everyone.

“Oh,” she says in a small voice.

“Lucy...,”

“Chill.” She lets out a short, nervous laugh. “It’s fine.”

“Are you... sure?”

“Yeah. Actually, uh, I think I have to go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll come with you,” I say quickly. “We’ll be right back.”

Jin nods, sympathetically patting Lucy’s back as we jostle through the crowd. Lucy looks absolutely expressionless, but I’ve spent enough time with her to know when she’s internally freaking out.

“I’m really sorry, dude,” I say as we head off the field and all the way down the hill to the restroom facilities.

“Don’t be. I don’t know what I was expecting. I know he’s a total boy.” She tilts her head back to the sky and sighs. “It’s okay.”

“I mean, at least we got to see Jin,” I tell her. She nods sadly. My heart breaks inside my chest and I wrap my arms around her.

“Me. You. Jin. Burgers, shakes, and fries. How does that sound?”

“Sounds great,” she says, forcing a smile.

The lights of the stadium slowly fade away behind us as we continue walking to the restrooms. I spot the small building in the distance; it is dark, shrouded in shadows, with no lights around it. My lip curls in distaste.

“If this place wasn’t creepy enough,” I mutter.

“Isn’t this a safety hazard?” Lucy says. “Like, the total lack of lighting?”

“Yeah. What the hell? This is so creepy.”

We finally arrive at the restrooms. Lucy quickly runs inside with a promise of, “I’ll be out soon,” while I idly wait outside. A chilly breeze nips at my skin and I draw Jin’s jacket closer around me; , it’s so cold, how do they play in this weather? Only stars twinkle in the inky black night sky- the moon is nowhere to be found.

Suddenly, an earsplitting, blood-curling scream rings through the air. My jaw drops in horror. It is the worst sound I have ever heard in my life. Banging on the door, I shout, “Lucy!”

“Holy ,” she says, running outside the bathroom. “Did you hear that?”

“That wasn’t you?” I sigh in relief. “Wait- who was that, then?”

Another scream tears through the air, causing Lucy and I to wince. Slowly, I become aware of another sound underneath the screeches... the sound of very human crying.

“Oh my god,” Lucy whispers, and we tear through the night, trying to locate the source of the noises. We haven’t run ten minutes until we find it: Sofia is passed out on the grass, tears streaking her cheeks, while the group of Anderson mothers I saw earlier circle around her. However, the mothers only remotely resemble their figures before; their short, clipped haircuts have disappeared, replaced with long tendrils of slimy black hair, the whites of their eyes have turned blood red, and their mouths have literally doubled in size.

“Banshees,” Lucy whispers. “We- we have to make a plan.”

“Do you know anything about banshees?” I say. “Their weaknesses? Or something?”

“No. I just remember their pictures.”

“.” I slowly withdraw the jade-amethyst blade I have tucked away under my jeans. “Okay, so our amulets should provide some protection. Let’s distract them, get Sofia, and run.”

“Alright. How do we distract them?”

Taking a deep breath, I step forward.

“I’ll distract them and make them chase me or something. You get her.”

“What? Joo, that’s-,”

“We don’t have another choice. I don’t know what they’re going to do if we don’t step in- dude, text Jin. Hopefully he sees the message and comes fast. Now let’s do this.”

“Joo-,”

I run out from behind the trees, my knife clenched behind my back. The banshees look up as I approach. Their lips curl in distaste.

“Well, well. Another Windsong brat.” Their voices sound a million times worse than they did at the concession stands; they reach up inside my ears, grate against my skull, pull at my every nerve. Scenes of agony and death flit through my mind; a dying soldier crying for his wife, an abandoned baby wailing for its mother, a father bawling over his dead daughter. I want to curl up into a ball and cover my ears.

But instead, I force myself to calmly say, “Get away from her. Or else.”

“Or else what?”

“Or else you’ll be sorry.” And I yank out my knife and whip it through the air, intending to just scare them, but instead my blade accidentally catches one of the banshees and I gash through her stomach. The effect is instantaneous; she and her friends let out earsplitting wails, their demeanors darkening. Their mouths grow wider, revealing rows of jagged teeth, and they grow larger and larger until they loom above me. I am paralyzed with fear. My hands are shaking so hard I almost drop my knife.

“Disgusting human!” the banshees squawk, and in the next moment they have lunged at me, their hair whipping around their faces. They let out rapid successions of awful, terrible moans- horrific scenes of pain and screaming flip through my mind and I whip my knife around in despair- I remotely become aware of Lucy joining my side and swinging at the banshees as well. Their enormous size and slowed speed makes them easier to stab, but their horrible, horrible yells are just as powerful as our physical blows.

I stab one of the banshees in the jugular and a spurt of its blood sprays my face, covering my cheeks in blood, and I want to cry, her flesh feels so real, she was a human woman not an hour ago and now I am killing her, did she have a family? Did she have friends? A great sob rises up in my chest and I force it down. I have to save Sofia. I have to make sure Lucy stays alive. We have to do this.

I take down one, two banshees. Their bodies disappear in explosions of dust. Beside me, Lucy is slashing away at the banshees with an intense look of concentration on her face. Her body looks like it is moving on its own accord, as if killing is an instinct. She lithely dances around Sofia’s body, taking out two banshees in one fell swoop. I watch out of the corner of my eye as she somersaults away from a banshee’s long arms and slices its hand off in the same movement. Her skin is dripping in blood. Something in me shuts down.

Finally, Lucy flings her knife at the last banshee, pegging it straight in the eye. It lets out a final wretched screech and falls to the grass before disappearing in a puff of dust.

We collapse onto the grass next to Sofia. Our chests are heaving as we wordlessly lie amidst the cool dirt. Fatigue washes over me.

I slowly raise my hand. There is dried blood caked under my fingernails, running up and down my arms.

The only noise in the air is the chirping of crickets and the sound of Lucy’s breath.

Suddenly, I hear, “Joo! Lucy!”

Jin is sprinting down the hill to us, a look of absolute terror on his face. His hands are raised; they are glowing with a blinding white light. I slump back down onto the grass.

“What happened?” he asks panickedly. “Holy- Sofia! !”

I cannot talk to him.My head feels like it is about to explode.

Jin rushes to my side, takes my hands. His eyes widen when he sees the blood all over my skin.

“What happened?” he says in a low voice. He reaches over and places a hand on Lucy’s neck. “I got your text- there were banshees? Where did they- wait, did they leave?”

“No,” I rasp. “We killed them.”

His jaw drops. “What?”

“Get Sofia,” Lucy says quietly. She pulls herself up. Tears are rolling down her cheeks. “We have to get out of here.”

The walk back up is a blur. I feel as if I am going to collapse into tears at any moment. Jin is carrying Sofia on his back.

When we head to Jin’s car in the parking lot, we realize that the entire lacrosse team and Windsong student section are crowded around their cars. I see Taehyung perched on the hood of his BMW.

“Jin!” Jimin calls, Mackenzie wrapped around him. “Hey- Lucy? You came!”

“Is that Sofia?” Laila says, her eyes wide.

“Her blood sugar,” Jin tells her, and everyone nods as if that’s some sort of explanation as to why Lucy and I are wearing Jin’s jersey and jacket, respectively, to cover up the blood all over our bodies, and why all three of us have ashen faces and shaky hands and look like we are about to collapse. I feel Taehyung’s eyes on me but I feel too numb to react, to process anything.

Jimin swaggers over to Lucy, a playful grin on his face.

“That kinda hurts,” he says, his jacket underneath Jin’s jersey. “You’re wearing two boys’ numbers tonight. I thought I was the priority.”

Lucy wordlessly takes off Jimin’s jacket and hands it to him. His smile slowly fades away as she walks over to the backseat of Jin’s car, ignoring him completely.

“Hey. VP. Was I good tonight?” he says, stepping in front of her. “Did I live up to your expectations?”

Lucy tries to sidestep him. However, he is too fast. He grabs her hand, pulling her back to him, opening his mouth to make a cheeky joke-

And then Lucy yanks her arm away from his grip.

“I don’t have time for this,” she utters, and gets in Jin’s car.

The sound of ooh!s echo through the air. Jimin looks absolutely stunned. There is a blank look on his face as he stares after Lucy, his eyebrows climbing higher and higher.

“Where are we going?” Jin asks.

“My place,” Lucy says quietly. Her fingers are over Sofia’s wrist, checking her pulse. “Joo, call Dev and Tom. I’m going to need all the help I can get.”

“She was probably stunned by the banshees,” Jin whispers. His jaw ticks as he slams on the gas pedal. “I’m so ing stupid. I can’t believe I let her out of my sight. . .”

I look up at Jin.

“This isn’t your fault,” I say softly.

“No. You don’t understand. I’m so stupid.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Spit it out,” Lucy says harshly. She is opening Sofia’s eyes and examining them.

“It’s nothing,” Jin says. “Let’s just get her to your place. Lucy, do you know what you’re doing?”

“I’m just running through basic medical procedures,” she replies. “I don’t know what to do, because I have no ing clue how to cure someone who was stunned by a banshee.”

“Depending on the severity, she could just experience troubles with hearing for a few days or permanent brain damage.”

“Permanent brain damage?”

“We need to get her somewhere quiet.”

My phone buzzes.

“Dev and Tom are on the way.”  

Sofia is lying in one of Lucy’s guest bedrooms. Jin has placed a yellow orb of protection over her body.

“It’ll ensure absolute silence and nourishment,” he tells us.

Lucy has been in the shower for over half an hour. I simply sit at the foot of the bed, my knees pulled up to my chin. I am utterly unfeeling.

“Joo,” Jin says gently, sinking down beside me. “Talk to me. Tell me what happened.”

I shake my head.

He eases a cup of water towards my lips. “Drink. Please.”

I can’t. I don’t want to do anything but sit here.

I don’t want to feel anything.

“Joo, please. You have to drink-,”

Suddenly, the door slams open. Dev is standing at the entrance to the bedroom, his chest heaving. There is a wild look in his eyes as he enters; when he spots Sofia on the bed, his expression intensifies.

“No,” he breathes, moving to her side. “No. Sofia. Sofia.”

“I’m sorry,” Jin says faintly, his eyes downcast.

Dev looks at Jin, his hands shaking. “How could this happen?” he yells. “Who the hell was it?”

“A couple of banshees at the lacrosse game. I’m so sorry.”

“I’ll kill them.” Waves of pure fury are radiating off of him. “Where are they? I’ll demolish them-,”

“Joo and Lucy took care of that for you,” Jin whispers.

Dev turns to look at me, the rage in his eyes replaced by astonishment. “What?”

I wearily throw my knife down on the floor in response. His Adam’s apple bobs up and down as he stares at the blade.

“Are you hurt?” he asks quietly.

I shake my head.

“Good.” He closes his eyes. “Good.”

“How do you know her?” I say in an almost imperceptible voice.

Dev blinks rapidly. “I- I don’t. She’s a human, so we should feel obligated to protect-,”

“How. Do. You. Know. Her.”

Jin and Dev exchange a look.

“She’s person number 5,” Jin finally says. “The fifth person I’ve been protecting.”

I blankly stare at him.

“Why?” I finally question.

“She was Meena’s best friend,” Dev utters. “And... she read her letter, too.”

“So she knows. About magic.”

“Yeah.”

“She knows that all her friends are sorcerors.”

“Yeah.”

“Why.”

“Because I told her to,” Dev murmurs. “After Meena died, I knew the people they’d suspect the most of knowing about magic would be me, her brother, and Sofia, her best friend. So I told Sofia that she had to assimilate or die, and that we had to completely cut each other off.”

“When I saw Sofia trying to join our group, I took her under our wing,” Jin continues. “I could see what she was trying to do- I knew she knew about magic. And there’s no way I would let her die, too.”

“So... she knew I knew about magic.”

Dev shakes his head. “No. She just thought we were friends. She didn’t know that we told you.”

I stare at Sofia’s beautiful, elfish features. Anytime I saw her, she looked airheaded, carefree, vapid: yet another popular Windsong cheerleader.

But she has been faking it for two years.

I have Dev, Jin, Lucy, and Tom.

Sofia had no one.

How terrified must she have been?

A great big wave of grief rises up in my chest- the back of my throat burns, and I am sure I am going to start sobbing.

But the tears don’t come. I am too numb to allow myself to cry.

Lucy is still showering.

Her house is empty. No pictures, no mess in the kitchen, no other pairs of shoes by the door. Only an enormous mansion with one girl living on the third floor.

“Does anyone live here with you?” I whisper to Lucy as we sit by Sofia’s side, dazedly looking off into the darkness.

She shakes her head.

“Parents?”

“Not here.”

“Siblings.”

“No.”

I blink.

“Why are you here?” I finally question.

“Because I’ve always been here.”

A/N: AH.... THINGZ R GONNA GET SO FUN :--) sorry for lack of updates btw got back home a few days ago and idk why but i've been alternating between being rly sick and also absolutely FAMISHED, also i got 14 hours of sleep when i got home and then 3 hours last night and couldn't go back to sleep..... idk my sleep schedule is wack. 

happy i'm back home :)

ALSO PEEP THE NEW POSTER ISN'T IT AWESOME!! S/O TO CLOUD9 GRAPHICS SHOP!