The music hit me with a different force. Familiar, powerful, and permeating every part of my body. Not even the sounds were foreign. Smells. Faces. Air density.

The lights surrounding the party people were smoky, mysterious. People were throwing themselves around me, making me look like I was stuck in the dance floor. It felt like stepping into another dimension which was slowing down everything I saw.

The memories were pressing painfully to the surface, and I couldn't avoid it.

Dark, high waist trousers, an ornamental chain hanging at their side, black platform sandals and a shimmering blouse covered with silver sequins on all sides only reminded me where I was. And who I used to be.

More than ever, I felt the metallic shadow on my eyelids, the black lines and the maroon lipstick. It used to be my daily bread. Habit. Reflex.

Not as perfect as usual ponytail was a new addition. Plus, gloves: the same as before, but not the same as back in a day.

In my memories I saw perfect, out of the magazine nails on velvet hands waving with other hands to the rhythm of music. I heard the words of all the songs sung. I could feel the hot air.

I could have sworn I'd gone back in time. Everything in this place was so... constant. Like the time didn't even exist.

Like the past didn't exist.

Although I knew very well, they did.

I came out of my memory and looked around the crowd. I've seen a lot of eyes fall on me, that's for sure. Many of them knew exactly who I was. Among all these people, however, I did not see the familiar hair in the color of angry red, or earrings, or tattoos.

I moved as close to the bar as it was possible with poeple around, because that was where I'd find Estera. Probably with a glass of whiskey in her hand. Surrounded by people it was better not to go near by choice. Exuding triumph and power.

However, despite the certainty of my assumption, I did not see her on the spot. Instead, I crossed my eyes with the well-known to me bright eyes. The person with a darker complexion, a chaos of curls and no alcohol at hand.

I was stuck to the floor for a while, unable to move. Because it's been ages since I've seen her seeing me. Eons.

Rita.

Dressed as always in varied colors, but with a completely different expression of the eyes. Everything about her was different and the same at once. I didn't know if I wanted to scream more, or if I wanted to shatter myself, disappear from the world once and for all. I didn't know whether to take a step forward or make three backwards.

All I knew was that she had that dilemma, too. She hasn't moved an inch. She didn't do anything.

But Rita never did anything.

She didn't say a word.

Before she could do anything, if that was her intention at all, I shook my head, tired, heading in a whole new direction. I took a deep breath, pushing myself between people. I only got into the crowd for a second, only to come to the couch segment the next one. I had a thousand thoughts in my head and none at the same time. Fortunately, the music drowned out almost everything.

Almost.

Before I could take another step toward the couches, someone grabbed my arm tightly. A skinny hand dug into my skin, causing pain. I turned around alarmed to see another person who wasn't Esther. Another person who stirred up a lot of conflicting emotions.

The blonde girl with dead black eyes.

"We need to talk."

And after that, I was dragged along the empty space by a girl half a head shorter than me. I fought the instinct that told me to run. I could practically feel the memories burning in me again, but stronger than them was the conviction that that was why I was there.

That was why I had to go with her without protest.

We passed so many people at such a fast pace that I was not always able to notice where we turned and which part of the club we were in at particular moments. My heart sped up its beating, and the air, as if in spite, thickened to the limit of its possibilities. Everything started to pull me apart.

I started shivering.

That was the moment.

The car stopped right there.

Both Chucks and Valentia stared in disbelief at the building in front of them. The girl once again looked at the address sent by Britt, and then her eyes analysed the whole club. Headlamp-banging, with an incredible queue and a bunch of bodyguards. Everyone waiting outside was wearing outfits comparable to those you'd wear on Christmas Eve. Despite the infernal cold and the steam blowing from their mouths, the young people waited patiently to enter the club.

"Yeah, it's definitely here," the Latina decided, not believing in fate. It would take forever for them to get inside. They were at a dead end.

And they had very little time. Maybe it was too late.

Chuck pulled his phone out of his pocket, feeling the vibrations of the incoming call. Britt called as if on cue. The two still sitting in the car looked at each other, after which the boy answered the call and set it on speaker.

Valentia felt like she was going through the events of literally a few hours ago.

"What's up, Britt?" she asked, ignoring that a friend called Chucks. She didn't have time to think. Not that she wanted to think more than was expected of her.

"I got another message," she began, and in the background, they could hear the noise of a car. They were still on their way. "If we show the password to the person at the entrance, we will get in without a queue. All we have to do is refer to Rita's name."

The solution fell from the sky. Or Rita.

"What's the password?" Valentia got impatient. She even took Chucks' phone to make herself heard loud and clear. He, in return, just shook his head, letting her. That night, the circumstances were exceptional.

"I'll send you through message. The password is in the attachment. We'll be there soon."

Valentia and Chucks frowned at the same time. Despite the difference in temperaments, their brains were almost the same.

"That fast?" This is the first time they've heard from Chucks in this conversation.

"Yeah... let's just say I cut my shift short."

Classic Britt. It was a miracle none of her bosses had any complaints yet.

However, as soon as a pinch of humor appeared, it went away, bringing a chill. Valentia could not ignore the strong neon lights of the party. The gravity of the situation immediately came to the fore.

"All right, we're going in. Keep in touch," she added, and Chucks at these words shut down the car engine. They both unbuckled their seatbelts, ready to go.

But there was a deeper meaning behind those simple words, and Britt clearly sensed it.

"We will." Then she hung up, enveloping both sides in silence.

Seconds later, a message with the attachment got delivered to Chuck's phone with Rita's password and name on it. The boy put the device in his pocket, and then the last time he crossed his eyes with a friend. She already had her hand on the car door lock.

That was the moment.

Britt wasn't kidding, they really just needed a password. They didn't need the money or the more luxurious club-appropriate clothes. When they were allowed inside, they passed the frost-irritated people, fell into the darkness of the corridor, and then, after good few steps, into the loud colors of the party. Their club in town was nothing compared to what they just saw.

"Nice." Over the sounds of the party, Valentia could barely hear Chucks, who, like her, couldn't help but marvel at the monumentality of the building.

Because it was a club located in the center of one of the larger cities, and such a club simply could not disappoint all expectations, let alone not exceed them. It was incredibly tall, like a sports hall, filled with people prepped and dressed to the limit of their own imagination, and music that vibrated even in the neon-lit floor, right under their feet. It's been a long time since two friends had anything to do with  t h a t  kind of place.

Valentia was confused and caught off guard by the connection of this place... to Glass. Or Georgia. Something didn't sit right with her, and she could have sworn that the darkness of the mystery hung in the air, impossible to ignore. She grabbed the phone, remembering why she was there in the first place.

'Where are you?'

After sending a text to Rita, she nodded to Chucks and together they moved deeper into the crowd. Valentia thanked in her mind for the genes that gave her friend an incredible height, because he saw more than just dancing people covered in sweat like she did because of it. Alone, not knowing this place, it was easy to get lost, she had no doubts about it. Fortunately, the girl quickly got an answer and knew where to go.

'On the left side of the bar.'

She showed the phone to Chucks, and he read the contents of the message and turned to his left. They both walked fast, but tense and with a caution at the same time. The time was worth its weight in gold, but the confrontation waiting for them was a real unknown. People were starting to thin out, so Valentia sensed they were practically at the final destination.

And when she saw the bar, and there were a couple of people on the left, she suddenly knew which one of them was Rita. She could have bet anything that she'd seen her before. In spite of things, when she tried to recall anything, nothing came up to the surface of her consciousness.

She just felt that the coherence of the whole situation was disappearing more and more with each passing second.

"Wait here," she said to Chucks, her eyes fixed on the bar.

And without listening to his opinion, or even an answer, she slowly moved towards Rita. The girl, seeing Valentia from the corner of her eye, turned around alarmed. However, after that second of worry, something flashed in her eyes and she instantly relaxed. She probably understood who she was looking at.

But before she could say anything, Valentia shot out her most nagging question. Plus, she pointed her finger at Rita, accentuating every word.

"How do I know what you look like?"

And the brown-haired girl opened her mouth in surprise, but she didn't say anything, because she noticed something on her right and looked right there. The Latina was sure there was only pure fear in her bright eyes.

Therefore, she turned to the source of this reaction and, just like that, at the met sight, she got hit by a memory with the strength of a lightning bolt.

"Tell me you didn't puncture the wheels of that black pickup truck..."

Glass with a puzzled expression looked at a group of unfriendly-looking people. Maybe she didn't know what went through the gray-haired head, but she knew one thing: the girl was not sorry, and the choice of cars was not accidental.

"I did."

An aggressively red-haired girl covered in black from head to toe approached the bar slowly, sitting nonchalantly on a chair next to Rita. She looked at Valentia with a curious and even amused look. Her eyes were the color of a bleak, cold, dark blue sky.

There was a hostile cold coming from them.

"I don't recognize you." She frowned with her thick brows in fake deliberation, resting her elbow on the countertop behind her. "Should I?"

Her voice was filled with mockery, which she strengthened with a broad, cheeky smile.

Valentia felt her blood pressure rise. Fire exploded from her dark eyes as the girl momentarily turned her gaze to Rita. They got betrayed. Either that, or Rita had her own hidden, incomprehensible reasons for informing them of her own intentions.

However, there was no time for reflection. Although a moment of thought before Valentia's next words could change them completely.

She looked more confidently at the delighted girl, answering sharply:

"Do you recognize the punctured tires in your car?"

Then the smile faded almost completely.

After that, she got up from the chair, suddenly being centimeters away from Valentia. She, in return, did not know what else to expect. But she wouldn't let go. She was provoked, and she rarely forgave anyone anything. Therefore, without hesitation, she held a navy blue, dead look.

Apparently, it took one to know one.

"Sweetheart..." The smile came back like a boomerang. Her eyes flashed with satisfaction. The answer didn't look good. "It's easier to pay for new tires than to renovate a burnt to ashes apartment."

Valentia frowned in complete incomprehension. That was enough to make the other person fall into laughter. An empty, disinterested laughter. After that, she put her hand on her hip, tilting her head and sighing with exaggeration.

"Gigi doesn't tell you everything, does she? No wonder, there's nothing to brag about." She shrugged, beaming with ignorance. She was completely cut off from any feelings. She looked at the crowd, then looked back at Valentia, bored. "She tried to kick us out of your town, and ended up being kicked out herself. She came back with her tail between her legs."

And when those words fell so dispassionately, Valentia felt them more than anything else. Her blood was boiling in her veins as she struggled to breathe. She tensed every muscle in her body, trying not to scream. Something shivered in her heart because she knew the situation well. She didn't want to let it get to her. She didn't want to feel it.

Therefore, when a warm, comforting hand fell on her shoulder from behind, she reacted in a completely different way than any of the people around her would have expected after such a gesture.

She swung her arm and hit the girl in front of her in the face with all her strenght.

The pain passed through her hand as the red-haired teen, taken completely by surprise, tripped from the blow. She lost her balance and fell to her knees, at the last moment saving herself with her elbow from a complete collision with the ice-cold vibrating panels. Her eyelids were closed, and her free hand was on the left side of her face.

People spread out, forming a circle of the curious audience. Valentia, however, saw nothing but a purely vile person, feeding on the weaknesses of others. She wanted to throw a thousand more punches until the pain in her hands overcame her feelings, but Chucks grabbed her arm, blocking that possibility. At the same moment Rita approached the victim, helping her get back up.

Valentia didn't see anything.

"Get off me!" She tried to get away from a friend, but to no avail.

She had to get rid of those feelings. She had to.

Before she could get away from the pressure on her arm, a security guard came in, grabbed her and Chucks, and threw them out of the club. On the way to the exit, she still struggled, not looking where she was going, but just before the darkness leading outside, she lost all strength to fight and gave up, allowing the image before her eyes to completely blur.

She felt powerless.

So powerless.

Britt wasn't a person with a strong nervous system.

That's why when it was five minutes after the texts to Chucks and Valentia, still unanswered, the girl had a thousand scenarios in her head. Fortunately, they were already metres away from the club their friends were in. The cold outside seemed to mercilessly emphasize the ghastliness of the night. Everything seemed to hang on the thin thread.

The parking lots were filling up fast, so they had some piece of way to go by feet. When Britt was shrinking because of a low temperature, Kendrick didn't seem to care about it. The girl did not understand how he could just walk with his jacket unbuttoned.

Every now and then she would look at him from the corner of her eye and one thing wouldn't change. His expression. Fierce, but also neutral. Indecipherable. His eyes were focused on the view in front of him. He gave the impression of a stranger that happen to walk by Britt's side.

"They aren't replying still," she said to him, hoping that maybe he will calm her down. She wanted him to pay some attention to her, while also having h e r attention drawn away.

However, he did not respond to this. Apparently, he himself did not belittle this fact.

So, to sum up, it was bad.

They finally found themselves next to the club and were about to head for the entrance, but literally a second later two of their friends fell out of it. Lead by Valentia, followed by Chucks. On top of all that, there was a security guard behind them, who gave them one last warning look and went back inside the building.

"Valie! Chucks!"  Britt shouted in their direction, speeding up with Kendrick.

Valentia, moving away from the building, stopped, raised her head and looked at her friends. Britt, though they were still a few feet away from her friend, noticed such a rare expression on her face and felt her stomach shrink. It was worse than bad.

"What happened?" asked Kendrick, when they finally found themselves in front of friends. It was the first time he spoke up in two hours.

The first thing that caught their eye, apart from the obvious look of regret on their faces, was Valentia's hand, held by her other. It wasn't a good thing. Especially since it's been a long time since Valentia had looked so disturbed.

She started to shake her head, and then she looked at Kendrick, as if awakened from a trance.

"You're not going in there. That's it, period!" She pointed at the club with her finger, throwing pure lightning out of her eyes. Then, as if she'd shed some weight, she sighed, running her hand through her loosely tied hair, brushing the strands off her face. All of a sudden, she was looking at anything but them.

"Are you kidding?" asked shocked Britt, not understanding all that chaos enveloping her friend.

She didn't recognize her.

"No, Britt. I'm not," she replied firmly, with seriousness in her eyes. "Rita's not an ally."

It was very, very bad.

Britt looked at Chuck, who was standing a little behind Valentia, but still was forming a kind of support. He just shook his head, which made the girl even more worried. She looked at the club, trying to piece this confusing puzzle together.

However, a half of pieces was missing, and the picture was a complete abstraction.

"Then who is she?" Britt asked strongly and impatiently, without even realizing it.

A long moment of silence caught her attention again. Valentia looked away again, holding her hand. She began to rub her fist hard against the inside of her other hand, clenching her mouth and shaking her head. Britt was really worried about her.

Chuck apparently felt the same way, because he put his hand on Valentia's shoulder, this time more firmly and steadily. He started rubbing her shoulder, encouraging her to talk. And that was enough.

"Someone who's on the side of the snake that burned Glass's apartment."

And more shocking than Valentia's words was Kendrick, who seconds after said:

"Her cousin." His eyes were pensive, set somewhere on the sidewalk. He said those words as if he had just got to the bottom of the whole situation.

The other three pairs of eyes looked at him in shock. Everything was getting more and more ridiculous. But before anyone could question Kendrick, he spoke again.

"Well, if they were both there, then Glass should be still in there, too." After that sentence, he looked at Britt with a certain look. "Maybe they haven't met yet."

She nodded, trying to believe what he was saying. Wanting to believe.

The other two with skepticism approached this attitude, but it was Valentia who dared to take out the alternative on top.

"Either that, or they've already met, and judging by their pristine condition..."

"We won't know until we check," Britt said quickly thought uncertainly.

She was right. Everyone knew that, which was confirmed by the silence that lasted for a while. So, after a brief nod, Britt and Kendrick finally headed inside to see which version of events was the real one.

After a fairly short time, they were inside and cutting through the crowd, and Britt pulled out her phone. At the same time, Valentia informed her via text to head to the bar. A friend read her mind.

That's what they did. And seeing the girl with ice put to her mouth, Britt remembered her friend's hidden hand. It was Glass's cousin. She was going to lean over to Kendrick to share her discovery with him, but he already had his eyes fixed on the same person, and he was going to approach her. At the last moment, Britt grabbed his arm, stopping him.

"Are you crazy?"

He looked at her, and for a moment there was anger in his eyes. Getting his attention, she waved the phone in his face and started texting Rita.

"Where's Glass?"

When the message was sent, she looked at the bar, watching the people sitting next to it. The one next to the redhead grabbed the phone, hovering over it for a moment. She showed the phone to a friend while still looking at the brown-haired girl, most likely Rita.

Kendrick then saw the answer.

'I saw her before, but then she went away somewhere. I don't know where she is now.'

He made a logical conclusion.

"They haven't met yet."

"Kendrick."

Britt was looking at the bar, but Rita wasn't the person she was carefully looking at. She showed Kendrick a blonde who had just walked up to two other girls. Black eyes, with not very party-like clothes on and average height.

And above all, with a frightened face and a hand curled in the same way as Valentia's.

"What the..." whispered Kendrick.

Because the blonde's hand, unlike Valentia's, was heavily covered in blood.

Rita looked at her as shocked as the two friends were.

Glass's cousin patted the blonde on the shoulder.

The message has taken on a completely different meaning.

'I don't know where she is now.'