The entire school has turned out to watch me kill Seungyeon. Dinner has finished, and there’s an hour left before curfew. The battle will take place at the bottom of the atrium.

Ghosts and Androids encircle the second-floor balcony. The Wolves will be allowed a ringside view. As far as I know, there are only two exits on the school’s ground floor—the front door and the service exit. They both remain locked throughout the day.

But that doesn’t pose much of a problem if you happen to have the headmaster’s key.

Sunggyu and Jungyeop spent the holiday weekend planning the spectacle. Every detail was decided in advance. Seungyeon and I were both met outside our sixth-period classes by teams of Wolves dressed in black, their faces hidden beneath executioners’ masks. They escorted us to our rooms, where pristine white outfits were laid out on our beds.

Once we had dressed, we were taken to the ground floor. Two chairs had been placed in the center of the atrium, right below the glass dome ceiling. The Wolves strapped our wrists to the arms of our chairs, then blended back into the shadows. Sungyeol was left to guard us.

We’ve been sitting here for over four hours. A couple of spectators have kept us company the whole time. Everyone has seen us, and now they’re all back. The wait has been much worse than I anticipated.

Seungyeon keeps rocking in her seat and whispering to the walls. She won’t obey Sungyeol's orders to be silent. I can’t bear to look over at her. Her eyes are glassy, and there’s a huge patch of hair missing on one side of her head. I managed to ignore her whispers for the first hour or so.

But now they’ve crawled in through my ears and they’re starting to eat away at my mind.

I’m on the verge of screaming when I see one of the elevators begin to rise. It climbs all the way to the top, where it picks up a single passenger. Jungyeop will be making his debut as a god tonight, descending from the heavens to watch the human sacrifice being made in his name.

He comes into view as the elevator passes the sixth floor. He’s dressed in a sleek black suit with a black shirt and tie. But it’s the simpering smile on his face that makes it all truly sinister.

The elevator arrives, and Jungyeop steps out with a surgical scalpel in one hand. He approaches Seungyeon, pauses long enough for everyone to get a good look at the blade. Then he cuts the straps that bind her wrists. Next, he frees my arms.

“Stand,” he orders. That’s Sunggyu’s cue. The time has come for the Dux to address the crowd. Seungyeon and I face each other. She has no idea that she’s about to receive a last-minute reprieve. There’s a long pause while we all wait for Sunggyu. The contest can’t begin without him.

At last, Jungyeop turns to Sungyeol. “Where is the Dux?” he asks.

“I haven’t seen him since Flick and Seungyeon were brought downstairs,” Sungyeol responds.

“Where is he?” he hisses at me.

“How should I know? I’ve been tied to a chair for the past four hours,” I point out. “You’re the one who monitors the chips. Don’t tell me you weren’t paying attention this evening.”

“He must be with the others,” Sungyeol says. “Wherever they are.”

“The others?” Jungyeop asks as his eyes circle the ground floor. That’s when Seungyeon starts to laugh. It’s a high-pitched cackle that sounds more hyena than human. It ricochets off the walls of the atrium. Seungyeon lost what little is left of her mind, and Jungyeop looks disgusted.

Until he finally realizes what’s funny.

“Everyone to your rooms!” he shouts at the crowd. “This instant!”

He charges toward the elevator, slides the gates open, and points inside.

“You too,” he growls at me.

• • •

I find Sunggyu in my bathroom. His scalpel, needles, and thread are laid out on the side of the sink. The chair from my desk is waiting for me.

I kiss him once before I remove my shirt and take a seat. Sunggyu clips my hair back with a bobby pins. Then he takes a washcloth, wets it, and twists the fabric into a rope, which he places between my teeth.

We hear the sound of people marching around the balcony outside my room. The footsteps pause every few seconds. They’re patrolling the building and making sure all the dorm rooms are locked. Sunggyu is preparing to operate when the lights shut off. We can see a faint, red glow outside the bathroom.

Sunggyu leaves and returns with my battery-powered alarm clock. I feel his lips at my ear. “Are you ready?” he whispers.

There is no anesthetic. No tequila this time. I feel the scalpel slice into my scalp. A drop of blood slips off a strand of my hair and splatters on my bare shoulder. More follow until there’s a steady stream. Sunggyu’s nimble fingers are working fast.

Scalp wounds can bleed heavily, but they’re rarely dangerous, he assured me. My chip will be easier to remove than the others.

“Put out your hand,” he whispers. The chip drops from his tweezers into my palm. It doesn’t look like metal and plastic. It’s covered in blood and bits of tissue. If I didn’t know what it was, I’d assume it had once been alive. The needle punctures my scalp three times.

Sunggyu uses a towel from the bathroom and an entire bottle of spring water to rinse me off. I dress while Sunggyu cleans his instruments and puts them back in his kit. According to the alarm clock, we stand by the door of my room for ten full minutes, listening for the sound of any movement outside.

The dorms are quiet now, so I slip Jungyeop’s key into the slot and slide the door open just enough to slip outside. We’re almost to Sungyeol’s room when I remember what I’ve forgotten. Without the clock, it’s pitch black in my room.

I manage to locate the frame on the wall, but I can’t figure out how to open it. So I take it into the bathroom and crack it against the sink. The Plexiglas doesn’t break, but the wood splinters.

I remove Myungsoo’s picture, fold it up, and tuck it safely into my pocket.

Sunggyu is standing by the railing when I emerge. He’s staring down at the atrium, and I can see just enough of his face in the darkness to know something is wrong.

The lights are still on downstairs, but there’s no sound of activity. We expected the academy to be on full alert. But it seems as if everyone has gone home. Sunggyu looks up at me, and I know what he’s thinking.

We’ve got to keep going. Our plan can’t be postponed.

Sungyeol keeps the washcloth clenched between his teeth, but he doesn’t even whimper during the procedure. Sunggyu works more slowly this time. The chip is close to the ulnar artery. One wrong move and Sungyeol might bleed to death. I know Sunggyu’s nervous, but he doesn’t let Sungyeol see it. He waits until the last stitch is in before he allows himself a sigh of relief.

I watch impassively. I’ll sigh as soon as we’re all out of the academy.

I keep waiting for one of the Androids to turn against us and sound the alarm. Most are in bed when we arrive. Each time, I clamp a hand over their mouths, but no one has tried to scream yet. They almost seem glad that the end might be near. It doesn’t matter which that end might be.

Sungyeol holds out his arm while Sunggyu shines the light on the site of his incision. The Androids instantly know what’s happened.

Nothing else needs to be said.

But it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. I thought the operation might go faster once Sunggyu got the hang of removing the chips, but it takes us a full two hours to cover the eighth floor. He spent forty-five minutes working on one Android who’s been at the academy for almost three years. His tissue had grown around the chip. Another year and it would have been part of his body.

There are two more dorm floors to cover. Getting down to the seventh is easy. Sungyeol slinks back to his room and returns with a rope made of sheets.

He used the design I’d come up with the night I tried to help Hoya. I loop the rope over the eighth-floor balcony and shimmy to the seventh floor. Sunggyu and Sungyeol follow, then we pull the rope down. By the time we’ve finished on seven, thirty-nine chips have been removed. But we still face our biggest challenge.

The rest of the students are housed on the ninth floor. And there’s only one way up. So we hold our breath and board the elevator. The soft click of the gates sounds like a deafening bang. The hum of the motor is the roar of a jet engine. We step off on nine and listen.

We hear nothing at all.

With the Wolves gone, only a handful of students remain on the top floor. And one of those will be left behind. Even Sunggyu agrees that Seungyeon is far too dangerous to be released into the wild.

We’re about to free our final prisoner, but we have to pass the old Dux’s room to reach him. We’re just outside Seungyeon’s dorm when Sunggyu and Sungyeol both freeze in their tracks.

“Help.” The word was so faint that I’m not sure I heard it. “Help.” The three of us stare at the door.

“It’s a trick!” Sungyeol whispers.

“Help.”

Sunggyu kneels down and runs a finger through a small puddle that’s formed under Seungyeon’s door. When he holds her fingertip up for inspection, Sungyeol and I see it’s dripping with blood. Sunggyu puts his other hand out.

He wants the key.

“Don’t!” Sungyeol pleads, but I’ve already placed Jungyeop’s key in his palm. We find Seungyeon lying on the other side of her door, surrounded by a pool of blood. Her pristine white outfit has been dyed scarlet. Sunggyu kneels down beside her.

“Light,” he orders, and I hold the alarm clock over Seungyeon as Sunggyu searches for the girl’s wound. It doesn’t take long to find it. There’s a jagged red gash in the center of her forearm.

She’s removed her own chip.

“Jesus. What did she use?” Sungyeol asks.

I see what looks like a red stick lying a few feet from Seungyeon. “A ballpoint pen,” I say.

Sunggyu has finished his inspection. “I can’t stitch this up. She’s nicked the artery. She needs a tourniquet.”

I rip a strip from one of Seungyeon’s sheets, and Sunggyu wraps it tightly around the girl’s arm, just below the elbow. By the time he’s finished, Seungyeon is perfectly still.

“Is she dead?” I ask.

“No, but she will be soon. She’s lost a ton of blood. We’re gonna have to take her with us when we go.” I pick Seungyeon up and place her on her bed. Then the rest of us hurry to the last student’s room. The final stitch has just gone in when we hear the elevator gates open. I sprint to the balcony and arrive in time to see the gates close again. Then the elevator starts to descend.

There’s a trail of blood leading from Seungyeon’s room to the elevators.

“She’s making a break for it,” Sungyeol whispers.

“Do you think she knows we’ve been helping the others?” I ask.

“No,” Sunggyu replies. “Her brain can’t be getting enough blood. She’s delirious.” I believe him. Until the elevator passes the ground floor and disappears below ground.

“Why didn’t it stop?” Sungyeol asks.

“. She’s gone to find Jungyeop.” I turn to Sunggyu. “You still have the key. Get everyone out. Right now.”

Sunggyu pulls the card key from his pocket and hands it to Sungyeol. “You’ll have to do it,” he says. “Wait until Flick and I are downstairs, then start packing the elevators with students.”

“You’re going too!” I order.

“No,” Sunggyu says. “You wouldn’t leave when I told you to either. And I asked nicely.”

• • •

The elevator gates open on the Infirmary floor—the nerve center of Jungyeop’s operation. I expect to be greeted by a swarm of henchmen, and I hope we can keep them busy for a few short minutes while all the Ghosts and Androids flee the building. But Sunggyu and I aren’t met by any welcoming party. Seungyeon is still on her own.

She’s slowly sliding along the wall of the empty hall. A red streak stretches from the elevator toward the two steel doors at the end of the corridor. She’s only a few feet away. Sunggyu and I move cautiously in her direction. The elevator gates shut behind us, and I hear the car climbing back up to the dorm floors.

“Seungyeon! What are you doing?” Sunggyu whispers. “You wanted to escape. We’ll take you with us! We’ll get you to a hospital!”

Seungyeon’s laugh turns into a cough and then a choke. “I knew you weren’t good enough to be the Dux. You should have killed me when you had the chance.”

“Don’t do this, Seungyeon!” I plead. “You’re not thinking straight. Jungyeop’s been feeding you pills that rot people’s brains. And he was about to let you be executed tonight. Come with us. We’ll help you leave!”

“Why would I want to leave the academy? In a few minutes, I’ll be Dux again.” Seungyeon hurls herself toward the lab entrance with her last bit of energy. She’s too weak to stay on her feet, but her finger finds the buzzer before she collapses on the floor.

Once again, I find myself waiting for an army that never arrives. We hear a single set of footsteps inside the lab. As they approach the hallway, Sunggyu and I frantically try each of the six white doors that lead to the examination rooms where newbies are given their physicals. They’re all locked, and the elevator is gone.

We’re trapped.

I watch the lab doors open. Lee Jungyeop looks down at Seungyeon’s sapless body and then up at us. He’s wearing a pair of plastic goggles pushed up on his forehead. His white lab coat is splattered with blood. There’s a Taser in his right hand. An advanced model—military grade. The kind that can be deployed from a distance.

“They were going to escape.” Seungyeon sounds like she’s gargling with her own blood. “I caught them.”

“How considerate of you,” Jungyeop says, stepping over her.

“I need a doctor,” she moans.

“Yes,” he agrees as he glances back at her. “It appears that you do. But I’m afraid you’ve come at the wrong time. I gave our physicians the night off.” Jungyeop walks right up to where Sunggyu and I are standing. He looks at Sunggyu and shakes his head sadly. “I’m terribly disappointed, my boy. I had such high hopes for you! Why aren’t you out with the others?”

Sunggyu glances over at me, but I don’t know what he’s talking about either.

“You had the file that belongs to Flick’s father! You kept the best for yourself! Why didn’t you use it?” Jungyeop exclaims before turning his attention to me. “Can you imagine? There’s a knock on your father’s door. Outside is a young man he recognizes. He knows he once ran a home for orphans and runaways. But his mutant gene has been activated. He’s a true predator now, and he’s chosen your father to be her first victim. He’s stolen his secrets, and he’ll have to pay dearly to keep them from falling into the wrong hands. What better way to convince your father that the gene exists than to have him discover the irrefutable proof on his doorstep?!” Jungyeop sighs. “I suppose I shouldn’t have expected justice to be quite so poetic.”

“You knew about the files?” I can see real fear in Sunggyu’s eyes. She’s worried about Seung and the colony kids.

“Certainly! I’ve been following your exploits since I misplaced my card key during that dreadful smoke incident. I had to make sure that the key hadn’t been stolen, so I checked when it had last been used. It seemed someone had opened the door to my office after the key left my possession. It didn’t take a genius to figure out who was responsible. I was curious to find out what you had planned. I assumed it might have something to do with the festival rooftop party you seemed so eager to throw.

“That was your second big mistake, I’m afraid. Did you honestly think I don’t have the roof under surveillance? The listening devices up there are activated when they sense the presence of more than one tracking chip. That way my conversations remain private—but yours do not.”

“You heard everything I said during the festival?”

“Of course. I was worried the sound of fireworks might drown out a few words here and there. So I asked Tablo to make a second recording. And I must say, I was not disappointed! Your speech was most inspirational—one might even say brilliant. Sending students to conquer the alumni! I wish I’d thought of it myself!”

“So you’re not trying to stop the top twelve?” I ask. “You don’t have anyone hunting them down?”

“Look around! The entire building is empty! Every employee at the academy has been sent out on the search! Unfortunately, they’re looking in the wrong places. There seems to be a flaw in a few of the tracking chips. The signals are off by a few hundred yards.” He waves his hand like it doesn’t bother him.

“We’ll fix the mistake, of course. Perhaps even tomorrow. But I’m afraid by that time, the escapees will have put all those files to good use.”

“And you’re going to let them? You’ve turned against the alumni?” Sunggyu asks.

“Not all of them. I’m only punishing a few who’ve turned against me,” Jungyeop replies. “A couple of the files you stole belonged to supporters, so I made sure they were switched before the big day arrived. But all in all, you made some excellent choices!”

“You’re getting rid of your enemies, then.”

“Yes, but it seems my most powerful foe remains at large.” Jungyeop smiles pleasantly at the two of us. “So the breakout was only meant to be a distraction? Was I supposed to be chasing fugitives while you two lovebirds made your great escape?” He reaches out and runs his thumb over the site of my incision. It comes away streaked with blood. Then he takes Sunggyu’s arm and rubs the same thumb over the spot where his chip should be.

“What do you have in there?” he asks.

“Tinfoil.”

“Brilliant!” He chuckles before giving us both a fake frown. “But very, very naughty indeed. Oh well! Back to plan A.” Then he nudges my side with the tip of the Taser. “I don’t want to be rude, but you’ve interrupted my dinner. We should head back inside before it gets cold.”

I give his blood-splattered lab coat a once-over. “What are you eating? A whole sheep?”

“That’s what I admire most about you, Flick,” Jungyeop tells me. “No matter what, you never seem to lose your sense of humor.” He steers us toward the lab doors, which are propped open by one of Seungyeon’s limp arms.

“Don’t trip,” Jungyeop warns us as we step over her body. Once the three of us are inside the lab, he kicks Seungyeon’s arm back into the hall. “Thank you!” he calls out to her as the doors slam behind us.

The lab has been shut down for the night, but the morgue at the far end is brightly lit. I can smell steak and roasted potatoes. I haven’t eaten since lunch, and my mouth is watering against my will. As we draw closer to the light, I catch sight of Jungeop’s desk. It’s covered with a crisp white tablecloth. I spot a hunk of filet mignon with a knife still stuck in the center. And an open bottle of champagne.

I hear Sunggyu gasp, and I assume she’s disgusted by the celebration Jungyeop’s been throwing himself. Then my eyes land on one of the autopsy tables.

Tablo is lying on top.

He’s from the waist up. He might have looked like he was sleeping if there wasn’t something wrong with his head. I glance down at a stainless steel tray by the side of the table. Inside is Tablo’s brain.

“That’s what you do to people who help you?” Sunggyu mutters.

“It’s a shame, isn’t it?” Jungyeop agrees. “I’m afraid Tablo saw too much over the weekend. He knows I allowed students to escape. Which meant I couldn’t allow him to live.” He holds up the Taser and takes a sip of his champagne. “And now I’ll be able to assure the alumni that someone has been punished for this rather unfortunate turn of events.”

“The alumni aren’t stupid. They’ll know you had something to do with the breakout. The missing files only belong to your enemies.”

“A happy coincidence! And it doesn’t really matter what the alumni suspect. Thanks to you, I have plausible deniability. Of course it’s possible that I knew about the plan. It’s also possible that I didn’t. There’s not a shred of proof either way. Only the three of us know the truth.”

Which means he can’t let us live either. I wonder which one of us Jungyeop will cut up first. I should throw myself at him. He’ll shoot me with the Taser, of course, but it might give Sunggyu a chance to run.

Jungyeop is watching me. “You are a funny pair,” he says. “Such splendid specimens. And yet you insist on acting so illogically. Your own survival seems to mean very little to you. So if either of you comes within ten feet of me, I’ll Taser the other one first. Do you understand?” I nod. There goes Plan A.

“Good!” Jungyeop exclaims with a laugh.

“So does this mean you’re not going to kill us?” Sunggyu asks.

“My precious hybrids? Not until it’s absolutely necessary! Perhaps Flick didn’t tell you, but I’m conducting a very important experiment. And now it seems as if I’ll need both of you to finish it. So sit down,” he orders, pointing at the two chairs on either side of his desk.

Sunggyu and I obey. I take the chair with the view of Tablo so he doesn’t have to look.

“Now eat,” Jungyeop commands. “You missed dinner this evening, and you’re going to need all of your strength soon. The filet mignon is excellent. May I offer you both a glass of champagne?”

AN: Hey guys! IM ALIVE XD

I know I've been gone for a long time. SORRY TT TT I actually had this chapter open on the laptop for a while now, and I keep forgetting to edit and update. 

I've been exploring new stories and stuff while I was away, and as of now I would say I have around stories that I've started, but none that are able to be published yet.

*heh heh* I blame my easily distracted mind... sorry guysss, it's probably going to be a while for me to organize everything and such...

HOWEVER - This story will not be abandoned (It will actually be hitting the finale quite soon) so don't worry!

Thank you guys for reading this chapter, and stay tuned for more~