Alyssa Adler,

I know what you're trying to do. I know who you're trying to defeat. It won't work. Trust me on that.

If I were you, I would focus more on protecting your friends. Especially Jason Hargrove. I wonder what the Circumvent would do if they ever realize that he's still alive...

Watch out.

-Secret Keeper

~Alyssa~

"Welcome back, bitches."

I towered above the crowd of girls looking up in awe as I stood straight on the table, addressing them.

We were gathered in the west courtyard after school, the halls around us close to empty. I had told Maya and a couple of other accomplished girls from all walks of life to send out notes to all those who were deemed worthy. I had to admit, they're selections weren't bad, although there were a few girls that I wanted to kick off the list. But, I let them stay. Perhaps they would prove themselves later in my presence.

The only person missing was Vera, although she already told me she couldn't come to my annual sleepover since she has a meeting with her therapist. Of course, I was pissed, but I had respected the fact that she was finally getting the treatment she needed, after all these years.

I swear to god, the next time I see her parents, I don't think I would be able to hold back from punching them in the face.

"You're all invited to the best sleepover of your lives. The only one who can top mine, is me. Dress well and be ready because I will not tolerate anyone sloppy or unenergetic enough. If you decide to be party-pooper, you will be kicked out, right there and then. And we won't be providing transportation back home for failures, so you will be left in the middle of the street at three o' clock in the morning and have to figure out your own way home. Understand?"

All heads nodded vigorously in unison.

"Good. You're expected to be in the Bel Air hotel by eight tonight. No earlier or later."

"Wait," some girl with brunette hair and an awful green crop-top interrupted. "The sleepover is tonight?"

"Yes," I met her eyes with a hard glare. "Is that a problem?"

"No," she mumbled. "I just didn't expect it be on such short notice..."

"We move fast. If you can't keep up, you can leave," I told her. The girl remained silent and I continued. "Your recruiters should've given you the invitation and all necessary information. Now get home and get dressed. Like I said, I don't want to see any sloppiness. And please stop wearing green crop-tops in a lazy attempt to match your eyes."

The girl's face turned red and I felt a twinge of guilt, but someone needed to teach her proper fashion. The world is hard on women, and they will spot the smallest of inconsistencies and flaws and tear you down, even if they themselves couldn't do better. If I have to teach that lesson the hard way to make sure she gets it, then so be it.

I stepped off the table and the girls began to disperse, talking excitedly amongst themselves. Maya and I began to walk away from the crowd, trying to discuss a few minor details when a hand grabbed my wrist. I turned ready to reprimand whoever did it until I cam face to face with Sophie.

Sophie was a mess. Her white hair hung down, almost close to her waist, poorly combed and styled. Her face was bare, no trace of makeup on her face besides the foundation heavily applied and thinly veiled underneath her eyes, trying to cover up dark circles. And her clothes... I wouldn't even start on them. I had to tell myself to calm down and not comment on Sophie's appearance since I knew that she was always better than this and she had a valid reason for her misstep. 

Avery.

"Why are you doing this?" Sophie asked. "How could you do this?"

"I don't understand," I said, although I suspected where this was going.

"Avery just died. They say she committed suicide, but we both know that note was forged and she was pushed off that roof. Someone killed her and you're throwing a sleepover?!"

I sighed and placed a hand on her arm, trying to calm her down. "I know what happened to Avery was awful and I miss her. You know that. But right now, I can't stop to mourn or investigate. I have to act like nothing's wrong, I don't have a choice, especially since I'm not supposed to personally know Avery. We have to act normal until we can figure out what's going on, and you talking to me right now is unusual too."

"What's acting normal going to do? It's not going to bring Avery back."

"No, it won't. Nothing will. She's dead and we have to deal with it. But if we act normal, the killer might not know we're onto them, and they would lower their guard. We can catch the killer. It's the only thing we could do, so please, Sophie," I pleaded. "Don't make this harder than it is."

Sophie shook her head, eyes watery, tears threatening to slide down her cheek. "I just- I don't-"

She trailed off and Maya stepped forward, looping her arm through hers with surprising gentleness and steered her away.

I stared after them for a moment before sighing, feeling more deflated than ever, and turning away, heading for my car.

The wind was knocked out of my lungs as I collapsed to the floor, a metal baton resting against my neck. My opponent looked down at me, blond hair carrying a more golden tint in the light, green eyes sparkling with a familiar mix of amusement and mischief.

"Dead," Jason announced victoriously and removed his staff from my neck, holding out a hand. I grabbed it and pulled myself off the floor.

I had decided to visit Jason's hideout to get some extra sparring in before the sleepover because clearly, I needed the practice. After all, if I couldn't beat Jason in a simple round of sparring, what would happen if a trained killer came after me?

I readjusted my stance about a foot away from Jason and paused before saying, "I'm clearly not learning fast enough. Maybe I should just go to an actual martial arts place..."

Jason shook his head as he lunged forward, swinging his baton towards my face. I blocked his jab with my own and he continued raining down attacks while saying, "No, you would seem suspicious. A 16 year old model walking into a martial arts dojo for no apparent reason even though she had never seemed to have any interest before would definitely spark attention."

"Adults join all the time," I countered between deep breaths.

"Exactly. Adults. That's cause they finally understand the importance of self defense when they're living alone. Not teens. Besides, I'm a black belt. In my place, you only became a black belt if they thought you could teach the martial arts too."

"So you're saying it's my fault for failing every time."

"No. I'm saying it's time fault. The fact that you got this far within a month of secret and inconsistent training is impressive."

My lips twisted into a smirk and I said, "Honestly, Jason. You should know by now, I'm always impressive."

Jason laughed before stepping back, taking a break from his perfect jabs to take a bow. "Of course, your majesty."

I rolled my eyes and Jason lunged forward again. We continued blocking and parrying, moving around the deserted basement.

"Besides," Jason continued. "You've been pretty distracted. I mean, the others are onto us and god knows what the Circumvent's been up to. And Julia's in the hospital."

"Julia's condition shouldn't distract me that much," I mumbled and swung my baton at him.

Jason side-stepped my jab and looped one of his batons around my extended arm, trapping it, and used his other arm to hold a second baton against my neck.

He leaned into my ear and whispered, "So you don't have a crush on my little sister?"

I kicked the back of his knee and twisted his arm off my neck and around to his back so that he couldn't move. Stepping behind him, I wrapped my arm around his neck before responding, "I did, but that stopped after I found out she was a half-cousin."

"Oh, come on," he said before reaching back with his left hand and flipping me over his shoulder. "When have social constructs ever stopped you?"

I stuck my foot and kicked across his ankles, making him fall to the floor next to me. "Never. It's just disgusting."

Jason and I kept exchanging kicks and punches on the ground as he said, "Meh. It's more like distant step-cousins thrice removed."

I paused and narrowed my eyes at him. "Are you trying to say something?"

Jason gave me a small smile, "Possibly."

He kicked me and I blocked it, rolling on top of him, pressing my knee against his chest, pinning him down. "Oddly enough, everyone ships me with you."

He pushed me off and rolled away, picking up his baton while getting to his feet. He looked down at me and delivered a lopsided smile, "Are you trying to say something?"

I got to my feet and glared at him, delivering my best are-you-stupid look. "Do you think I am?"

Jason shrugged, "I guess it's because society no longer believes in platonic relationships," he smiled again and tapped me on the nose with his baton. "Bop."

I shoved away his baton away with my own and pouted. "That's annoying."

"My bopping or society?"

"Both."

Jason nodded his head once in agreement and stepped forward, ready to unleash another flurry of attacks, when my phone buzzed. I stepped away from him and turned off the alarm on my phone.

"I have to go," I said. "Sleepover to organize."

Jason nodded, his face darkening. "Yeah. I should probably go figure out what the hell happened with Avery."

"Sophie thinks she was murdered," I told him, recalling our earlier conversation as I drank water.

"And you?"

I nodded. "She wasn't the happiest soul on Earth, but there's no way she committed suicide."

"That's what I was thinking. It's not completely irrational to consider the Circumvent murdered her for what she knows."

"But why her?" I wondered aloud as I packed up my belongings. "Some of us know more about them than Avery did and we're definitely doing more to stop them than she ever did. Out of all of us, why pick off Avery?"

Jason brought hand down his face, the stress starting to show through his cool facade. "I don't know."

I looked down once, his defeated mood starting to rub-off, before I looked back up and, much to my surprise, said, "We'll figure out."

Jason nodded, deciding not to comment on my sudden optimism. I turned away and headed out the door, climbing up the stairs with three thoughts on my mind:

1) Avery's death would be avenged

2) I desperately needed to shower before I attended my sleepover, or else the others would shun me for being a slob when I told them not to

3) Sophie and Liam's usual optimism was rubbing off on me way too much

Deciding that would distance myself from Sophie and Liam for sometime to regain my bad bitch exterior, I walked out of the million-dollar mountaintop house and climbed into the car.

I dashed up the stairs, to my room, yelling a quick hello to my mother. I pushed through the door and flicked the switch on in my room. Setting my bag down in the corner of the room and looked up at my bed, nearly screaming as my heart skipped a beat.

I stood still for a moment, breathing deeply, before stepping out of the room.

"Mom!" I called, trying to stop my voice from shaking. "Did anyone visit while I was gone?"

"No," her voice rang out from somewhere far away, most likely the living room. The answer only quickened my heart rate.

"You sure?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Nothing. Just wondering," I responded hastily before stepping back into room, letting the door swing shut. 

As if on cue, a cool breeze swept across the room. I looked back at my windows where one had been left wide open, as if the intruder was bragging that she had been able to get past the gates and snuck into my room while I was gone and left a little present on my bed.

I pressed the window back down, checking all of the locks before drawing my curtains closed. Taking a deep breath, I told myself I was overreacting as I turned slowly and walked towards the bed.

I reached out, and timidly picked up the little red card with swirling golden letters.

It's been too long. Overall, my writing has slowed, but I'm working on picking it back up again. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and the next one will be out sooner than this one was. Love all of you for sticking around! :)

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