THE EAST WING was abandoned, with cracked stone and dusty shadowy corners. But tonight, abandoned was everything that place wouldn't be. Viperine really didn't understand why they didn't renovate this place and make it usable.

Much of the floor was covered in spilled cheap beer, as well as the typical frat-party red cups—not that this was a regular school, of course. The floor was almost disgusting with sweat, alcohol, and dust already accumulated. Viperine tried to dodge these puddles, but it was having a hard time.

A fire was burning and music was playing. The area was lit by purple light, making it almost magical. Fairies in jeans and sexy tops danced in a circle, throwing their arms in the air and kissing.

That made Viperine roll her eyes. Not that she could say much, since she knew what the teenage party life was all about. Still, she didn't understand what must have been going through their minds in those moments of epiphany for them to want to cling to the first moving thing they saw in front of them.

She poured herself a plastic cup of cheap beer, which at least was cold. Viperine took a sip, holding back her grimace at the bitter taste. It was at the same instant that she felt the presence of someone stopping beside her.

"What do you have there?" She asked, nodding at the tupperware in Dane's hands.

"Marijuana brownies," he replied, smiling knowingly at her. "Terra baked, but they're strong."

"Finally something Earth Fairies are useful for," she hissed, accepting the piece Dane offered her. "How strong?"

"The kind where you'll have a good night if you don't die first."

Viperine shrugged, taking the first bite.

"Liquid luck, then," she teased, savoring. Oh my! Dane was right; those brownies were really strong.

"Did you just make a Harry Potter joke?" Dane asked, almost as if he was shocked.

"Slytherin," she warned. "What about you? Hufflepuff?"

"Was that supposed to be an insult?" asked Dan.

"Your words, not mine."

Viperine didn't give him time to respond, leaving and walking out of the party. She was pretty sure she saw Riven playing beerpong against Aisha and Bloom, and even more certain that she saw Riven all stressed about having beer spilled on his shirt.

He should be used to it by now, she thought, remembering that she had already done that to him—not that she would ever admit that it was her fault. She pushed that idea to the corner of her mind, walking into a darker area.

Viperine smirked. Finally, the perfect opportunity had arisen in her favor. Behind a column, darkened by the night, where the light didn't reach, were people she swore she would never come across again, but with the events that had arisen in her life, she should have already prepared for that moment.

She crept closer, surrounding him to make sure he didn't run away. Then she attacked.

"Where's your daddy?" She hissed evilly. "Have you succumbed to the poison of the burn?"

Fuck, Sky wanted to scream when he heard her voice. Her entire body shivered, freezing in place, unable to move. Sky knew that Viperine must have been the same Viperine from years ago, but nothing would have prepared him to see her in color, hear her voice, touch her... He didn't even know what to do.

"Viperine, I swear to you, if you had a finger in the burned one attack—"

"You're going to what?" she urged, wanting to hit him where it hurt. "Will you kill me? You could never take a life, Sky. You are not the hero people think you are."

"What are you doing in Alfea?" He snapped, praying he didn't show that Viperine's poisonous words had managed to hit him, an ache building in his chest. "Does your mother know about this?"

"You must know, after all, someone had to sign the paperwork," she replied, rolling her eyes. "But about me being here, Sky, I came for you."

Sky gasped, despair etched on his face—eyes wide and mouth open in terror. But then Viperine threw her head back, laughing. She placed her hands on her stomach, which ached with the movement.

He rolled his eyes, huffing to see that this was just a bad joke on her part.

"You should have seen your face," she muttered, trying to stop laughing.

"You're still the same venomous viper you were years ago," he cursed.

"I never said I'd changed. You're the one who misjudged me," Viperine said enigmatically. "But you took something from me, Sky. You took something and destroyed it, crushed it, and threw it into a bottomless pit."

"Viperine, that was years ago." She tried to defend herself.

"Oh, but the damage you left me, Sky... I don't even have words to describe what you did to me," she whispered, getting too close to him, to her face. "You have no idea."

Sky wanted to protest, to say something, but he wasn't prepared for what Viperine did next. She pressed her lips to his, tugging at his jacket and deepening the kiss while he couldn't move.

Meanwhile, Sky couldn't think of anything other than Viperine and what they've lived through. And Bloom? And Stella? Wasn't Riven with her? Viperine dropped him abruptly, backing away into the shadows.

"See you, little prince."

◈

◈

IT WAS MADNESS, one of the biggest they have ever participated in.

The last thing Viperine expected was to end up in Dowling's office without being scolded. Not. That was the day they would do it. Viperine didn't know where Dowling was, but she must have been far away since Beatrix called to her in such a hurry. She barely had time to say anything before Verena burst through the door.

"This better be quick because I don't have time," she warned her.

Viperine, Beatrix, and Callum looked her over from head to toe, not understanding why she was all armed. It was better not to ask.

"What do you think you're doing?" Callum asked, finally realizing what was happening. "That wasn't part of the plan."

"Bloom is looking for information about Rosaling. We need to release her now!" exclaimed Beatrix, smiling mockingly and dangerously. "Plans just changed, Cally."

The same glint of danger lit up in Viperine's eyes, causing Callum to swallow hard.

"Who does the honors?" she asked, smirking.

Nobody had to answer. Verena's eyes darkened instantly. She lifted her hand in the air, causing him to leave the ground. Viperine didn't quite understand how Verena's power worked, but she knew it was one of the deadliest things that walked between dimensions.

She was startled to see Callum coughing up blood and choking. Red liquid oozed from her ears, her eyes, and her nose. With the trap open, Verena threw him at her, deactivating her.

He fell to the ground, his breath coming weakly, and it seemed about to stop.

"Is he really dead?" asked Viperine suspiciously, nudging him with the boot she was wearing. "Like, has it ever been this way for the better?"

"Of course not," Verena replied, rolling her eyes. "I'm not going to get my hands dirty with it."

Verena dragged him to the wall beside the passage.

"Beatrix, you go down," she ordered. "See how things are there."

Viperine watched her enter and disappear inside. Meanwhile, Verena crouched beside Callum, taking his hand in hers, taking away her pain. Soon, she walked away towards the table, fiddling with her necklace as she closed her eyes tightly.

Verena bent her body forward, letting out a scream of excruciating pain that made even Viperine's bones tingle. Dammit, what was she supposed to do? Viperine wasn't good at handling emergencies that involved other people getting sick.

"What exactly is it? Are you okay?" she ventured to ask, following Verena out of the office and into the hallway.

"No, I'm not," Verena replied. "It's Bloom. She's doing this to me. But not on purpose. You go back to the office and wait for Beatrix. When she leaves, get rid of him."

Viperine opened her mouth to protest, but a student, Water Fairy, appeared in her path. Wasn't everyone at the party? Were they followed?

"What were you doing in Principal Dowling's office?" she asked.

Verena moaned in pain, trying to pull away, but Viperine stopped her:

"What about Rosalind?"

"Rosalind isn't going out today. It's not you she wants, "she replied, immediately pointing to the confused fairy. "Can you take care of that?"

Verena didn't wait for her to respond, then left.

Viperine huffed loudly, then put on the biggest cynical, psychotic smile she'd learned to create in moments like this. The fairy swallowed hard, not understanding what was happening.

"You shouldn't have seen that," she hissed, falsely regretting it. "Oh, what the hell! Now I'm going to have to get rid of you."

"What?"

But the scream that was ready in the fairy's throat was never heard. In a second, her body had petrified under Viperine's gaze. Everything from clothes to hair to accessories was stone. One for the museum-worthy statue—not that they were actually going to use it in an exhibition.

The monster under Viperine's skin was content with the work she'd created, a lot of expression, as the unplanned victim's desperation was quite evident. But until that was good, maybe it would direct the attention of the teachers of Alfea to an endless equation. After all, what kind of fairy could create living statues?

Viperine walked with her hands in her coat pockets back to the Dowling office, this time making sure to lock the door. She was lucky, as Beatrix exited the passage at the same moment.

"Have you had any luck down there?" she asked. "Verena said that Rosalind wasn't going to leave today."

"I found where she is," she informed him. "Very deep, on the right. She has a chamber and an antechamber, but she has a new kind of barrier around her."

"Dowling is good at these wards," she hissed, then sighs. "We have to get rid of Callum... and the statue in the hall."

"Petrified someone?" exclaimed Beatrix indignantly. "I thought we wouldn't have another victim for a few more weeks."

"Water Fairy." She shrugged. "She saw us leaving. We had to make sure she didn't say anything."

Beatrix rolled her eyes. The two walked towards Callum on the floor, crouching down to his level. He wasn't suffering, but he was motionless on the ground and only his eyes darted between one and the other, as if screaming for help.

"Poor Callum," Beatrix commented, falsely regretting it. "It was stupid for a human to think it would be so important in our world that we couldn't get rid of it."

"As much as you looked like a giant pedophile, Cally, I kind of liked you," Viperine commented. "I'm going to miss you, okay? But I promise I won't cry."

On an impulse, lightning swept through Callum's body, electrifying him for torturous seconds. Until it's over. His neck dropped to the side in an awkward position. Dead. Oh, gods above, sighed Viperine, standing up and snapping her neck.

"So?" she asked, catching Beatrix's attention. "Do you know how to hide a corpse?"

━━━━━━
9.18.22

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