They should have been searching for more weapons, but that mission had stalled the moment boredom stepped in.

Eden stood off to the side, half in shadow, watching Bryce and Mia face each other in the middle of the hall—both with white buckets shoved over their heads.

"Mia, you know you're going to run straight into my chest," Bryce said, his voice muffled by the plastic.

There was a sly grin anyway.

"Actually, I bet you'll trip before you even reach me."

The game had been Bryce's idea. Of course it had been. Something stupid to pass time during detention while they were supposed to be cleaning the chalkboard with water—except neither of them had bothered to fill the buckets.

"Um, no? I'll be the first one to push you down," Mia shot back, dropping the bucket fully over her face.

"Go!" Will called out from the side, barely holding back laughter.

Bryce planted himself like he was preparing for impact, one foot braced behind him, the other stretched forward.

Mia charged.

Two steps in, her boot lace caught.

She stumbled—arms flailing—and went down hard against the dirty flooring.

"I win!" Bryce announced instantly, yanking the bucket off his head.

He stuck out his tongue at her and dropped the bucket onto her chest like a trophy.

"It's because you're tall," Mia complained, struggling up as she grabbed the bucket and tried to throw it back at him.

Eden didn't laugh.

Her attention had drifted.

In her hands, she turned the bow slowly, running her fingers along the smooth curve of the wood. It wasn't one of those fake props they found lying around—it was real. Solid. Balanced. Meant for something that would bleed.

It felt cool against her skin.

Grounding.

"Who are you going to kill with that?" Mia asked, her voice slightly slurred as she wobbly lifted herself upright.

Eden didn't look at her

"That ugly thing," she said nonchalantly.

Her gaze had shifted to the window at the east end of the school.

At first, it was just a flicker.

Then it grew.

Orange light stretched across the darkness outside, pulsing faintly against the glass. Somewhere out in town, something was burning—and not small, either. The glow was too wide.

For a moment, everything else in the room dulled.

The laughter.

The scraping of shoes in the hallway.

None of it mattered.

The fire did.

"We need to gather cleaning supplies," Eden said.

Bryce leaned back against the wall, raising an eyebrow. "Are you suddenly in the mood to clean?" he asked, smirking.

Eden finally glanced at him, unimpressed.

"Cleaning supplies can be useful," she said. "We'll need them."

One of the first chemicals she learned about that could start a fire was bleach. It was commonly used a starter object for fires, although people always warned her it about its dangers at school. In the gang, however, it was just used for creating fires.

Will snorted. "We're not blowing up the barrier."

"Looks like someone else is already burning Simcoe," Bryce added, nodding toward the window.

Mia wandered over and pressed her face against the dirty glass, squinting out at the glow.

"I thought downtown would be ash by now," she said.

"Of course it's not ash now," Eden snapped, irritation cutting her voice. "Ashley didn't burn everything. I told you this during the six-month period of freedom. Do you not remember anything?"

It annoyed her when she had to constantly repeat things to these idiots. Everything she said should be remembered when people listened to her.

Mia pulled back slightly, frowning. "Sometimes I miss when you acted like a religious freak," she muttered. "At least you didn't get mad every ten seconds."

Eden's expression didn't change.

During that free period, she wasn't actually religious. Once people realized she had been lying the whole time, she went back to her usual behaviour when they didn't things: demanding. It was always that everything had to go her way, or she'd create some type of violence.

"Well, she technically can't be religious when she's covered up murder," Will added with a laugh. "Actually... you've done worse."

Eden's lips twitched into to a smirk.

A flicker of a memory surfaced. The weight of a body. The hollow clang as it hit metal. The stillness afterward.

It didn't bother her.

Nothing like that ever did anymore.

"Where do you even keep cleaning supplies?" Mia asked, glancing around.

"Somewhere," Will replied with a laugh.

"Obviously in a cleaning closet," Bryce replied with a smirk. "Come on."

"Do they clean the closet all day?" Mia asked, completely serious.

Bryce stopped long enough to smack the back of her head.

"Follow the intelligent one," he said with a grin. "I'll show you the job you'll probably end up having."

Eden had never thought about having an actual job. She preferred running around with delinquent activities because then she didn't have to tell people about her past. Telling people about her past was always annoying and resulted in pitying looks because she hadn't seen her siblings in years.

"I'm not going to be a janitor," Mia shot back. "I'll work as a pharmacologist."

Will laughed. "Mia in a pharmacy? They won't allow you to work there. We'd all end up in fast-food."

"It would be a plot twist if Eden worked at a church," Bryce added.

Eden scoffed. "Why would I work at a church? Memorizing those verses was painful enough."

Months of repetition. Endless reading. Forced devotion.

All for an act.

The social worker had called it process.

Eden had called it strategy.

If she portrayed herself as a religious freak, people would avoid her or look for a new outlook.

Bryce pushed open a narrow door at the end of the hall. It creaked loudly, the sound echoing into the darkness beyond. A wave of cold air spilled out as the door gave way.

Inside, the space was cramped and dim.

Mops leaned against the walls at uneven angles. Shelves sagged under scattered bottles and sprays—some full, most half-empty, labels peeling and faded.

Eden stepped in first.

Her eyes adjusted quickly, scanning everything.

Taking inventory.

Will grabbed one of the bottles and shook it, the liquid sloshing inside. "So this stuff actually does something?" he asked.

"Some of it," Eden replied.

She picked up another bottle at random, turning it in her hands. The plastic creaked slightly under her grip.

It wasn't about what it was.

It was about what could be done with it.

Behind her, Mia had drifted back to the window again.

"What's that?" she said suddenly.

Eden paused.

There was something different in Mia's voice this time.

Less annoyance.

More uncertainty.

Eden stepped closer, following her line of sight downward.

At first, it didn't make sense.

Then it did.

Figures.

A cluster of them, moving across the ground below—but not like people. Their limbs jerked at sharp, unnatural angles, twitching in bursts instead of flowing movements.

Their skin was purple.

Not shadows. Not lighting.

"Maybe it's a tree?" Will offered from behind them.

Bryce let out a short laugh. "Yeah. Moving trees. That makes sense."

"Ashley thought Divina was going to be a tree once," Mia added, still staring.

Eden didn't respond.

Her attention locked onto the movement below.

Something was happening.

Something new.

Slowly, she turned back toward the shelves.

If there was a new threat coming then the rules didn't matter.

The building didn't matter.

Uden Academy didn't matter.

Her fingers brushed over the bottles again, more deliberate this time.

Most were empty.

I didn't change anything.

Fire didn't need much.

She had learned that along time ago.

Beckham liked setting grass on fire. Since their mother was too drunk to cut it Raiden, Beckham's twin brother used to do it.

Raiden or Louise would be the ones to put out the fires.

She hadn't engaged with the fire setting like her brothers.

She had watched.

Watched the way the fire moved. The way it consumed. The way it turned everything into something else.

Into nothing.

It had been beautiful.

After that, it started small.

Scrapes of paper.

Dry plants.

Anything that would catch.

Anything that would burn.

It wasn't fear that drew her in.

It wasn't even destruction.

It was the feeling.

The way everything else faded when the flames took over.

The way it made sense.

Unlike Luke, who was driven by psychopathic urge, hers was different.

Eden didn't need a reason.

Sanguine gave her that experience of burning things as she stared in awe, seeing fire burn, like how she'll always be burning.

"Eden couldn't care less," Bryce said smugly. "She just wants to blow something up."

Eden didn't correct him.

"I get to light my fire," she said instead.

Her voice was calm.

Certain.

Outside, the glow of flames stretched wider across the horizon.

Below the figures kept moving.

This became her time to reveal who the true Eden Weber is under her true persona.

She wasn't the girl who acted on the outside until the right opportunity came to act on her actions.

She could release everything she's been wanting to do.

Divina stared at Cassandra with narrowed eyes.

"Where's that stupid God?" she spat.

Cassandra closed her eyes, locating the location of Ashley in her mind. They stood in some random field with tall grasses and wildflowers that Divina couldn't care less about. All Divina could think about inflicting torture on God until it was nothing.

"It's doing something," Cassandra grated as she glared around the area.

A surge of excitement coursed through Divina. She revelled in the fact body that she finally had a physical body. No more whispers. No more illusions.

Now, she could hurt God properly.

"It'll use illusions," Divina said confidently.

The fearsome child had been granting numerous advantages to the humans, and it irked Divina immensely. Casandra's powers overshadowed hers, especially since she possessed the ability to obliterate bodies with ease.

Divina sneered. "It's too foolish to kill them outright. It needs sight. That's its weakness."

Without warning, something invisible slammed into her.

Divina was hurled in the air, her body flipping violently before crashing back toward the ground. She twisted midair, barely steadying herself as she landed.

Ashley.

A feral grin spread across Divina's face.

Ashley's couldn't fly. That alone was an advantage.

And soon, Cassandra could take everything else.

Divina lunged forward.

Moments later, Ashley hit the dirt hard—then Divina was on her. She slammed her legs into Ashley's skull, sending her body skidding across the ground.

"You can't stop me," Ashley spat, blood dripping from her swollen face.

Most of her hair was gone now, torn away in patches. Her body trembled, barely holding together.

Divina grabbed her arm.

Twisted.

A sharp crack split the air.

Ashley screamed.

Divina leaned in, smiling,

"What are you using now, pathetic God? Talking trees? Barking fish?"

"Something I'll stop," Cassandra said as she fired a white light at Ashley. The whole body caught fire with a bloody scream, running around the field.

Divina lunged toward Ashley, ignoring the ache in her legs. A feral grin spread across her lips. Ashley could suffer in pain because Divina enjoyed seeing it suffer.

"I'm not stopping," Ashley growled.

Suddenly, Divina was thrown back by an invisible force, crashing onto the ground with a hard thud that knocked the breath from her lungs. She landed on her back and groaned with a smirk.

"It's not like you can kill me either," Divina sneered, feeling a sharp pain shot through her back.

Divina watched Cassandra direct her palm at Ashley with that white purple light. Ashley screamed on her knees as Divina grinned. However, this made Cassandra slightly tumble back, holding her head.

Seeing a stick on the ground, Divina snatched it. She plunged it the stick into Ashley's eye with a squelch.

"I don't need powers to torture you," Divina sneered.

Ashley's body withered on the ground in pain, like a fish out of water.

"We need to find some rope. I have an idea what to do," Divina told Cassandra.

Instead of agreeing, Cassandra fell asleep on the ground. If this child kept sleeping, Divina would have to come up with a new idea. She clenched the back of Ashley's shirt in her fist and dragged her body.

Ashley struggled against Divina's grip. "You can't drag me far. I have powers," she sneered.

Divina smirked, adjusting her hold."Yes, but I have the power to torture you. I'll find chairs to hit you with or forcefully drown your body," she taunted.

She knew God was an idiot for thinking it could escape from her. There was no way God could ever be the ruler of this place. She was the goddess, which meant she would always have the upper hand. She couldn't rely on some mutant child to continue her work.

"Don't you miss our fun times together?" Divina taunted as she spotted the Paradise Hotel in the distance.

The hotel had smashed glass for the doors, and Divina threw Ashley with the thin hair she had left. Blood seeped down her arms and face, with the stick still in her eye. Each time Ashley blinked, the stick but remained in place.

As Divina hovered over Ashley, the glass cracked beneath her shoes. She watched with a devious grin as Ashley attempted to pull the stick from her eye, but she knew that wouldn't work.

As she swept her gaze across the ground and spotted a piece of glass. She reached out and grabbed the sharp piece, feeling its cold edge cut her hand. She swiftly brought the shard down Ashley's gruesome face as blood fell.

Divina enjoyed seeing blood since that body was human. Even if that human had been released from its own body, she would have enjoyed the endearing amount of pain.

"I can throw you into that wall," Ashley spat.

"Wouldn't it suck if you became armless, God?" Divina snarled.

Blood ran down Ashley's face, but her eyes burned with fury. "You think that will stop me?" Ashley hissed.

"Why aren't you using your powers, then?" Divina sneered, tracing the sharp edge of glass down her cheek.

"I'm standing up to everything you've done," Ashley snarled, rolling onto her side.

Divina dropped the sharp glass onto the floor, and clenched Ashley's hands. As she watched Ashley's hands slowly grow pale, a wicked grin formed on Divina's lips. How foolish of God to think it could stand up to her.

"We're going to have some fun. Hit me or burn me, but I won't disappear," Divina taunted, watching as Ashley stood up.

They faced each other in the dark resort, Ashley glaring at her. There were knocked-over chairs with papers on the floor. Divina didn't care if this body got injured or beaten to a pulp. All she wanted was to torture this thing for pure amusement.

The three of them floated in the boat near the barrier as the water rocked gently beneath them.

James felt a shock run through his body, his eyes widening as he stared out.

It wasn't just the number of fireworks stacked around them.

Beyond the barrier, it was completely dark.

In the distance, police officers surrounded the scene in the real world. Their voices could not be heard. Flashlights swept across the surface, beams cutting sharply through the darkness until they struck the bubble.

The light hit hard.

James flinched, throwing his hands over his eyes. The others did the same.

"We should set one off," Nevaeh said, squinting, holding up an unlit sparkler. "Mess with them a little."

James dragged his arm down slowly, blinking spots out of vision. He scanned the water again.

"No," he said. "That's how we accidentally burn everything down."

The police officer had been trying to talk to River as he darted his eyes away.

"Let's go," he muttered.

James turned the key. The engine coughed, sputtered, then finally roared to life beneath his hands.

River's body glowed faintly that barely lit the boat and rippling water.

"Where are we launching these?" River asked.

"One of those safe houses," James called over the engine. "If we go out in the open, everyone's going to see it."

"I thought those were drug houses," Nevaeh said

James didn't answer. He was already steering.

Ahead, a dock came into view—crooked, worn, barely holding together. Two figures stood at the edge, silhouettes against the dark.

As the boat slowed, it bumped softly into the wood.

All three of them looked up.

Eli and Emma.

"Holy!" Eli leaned forward, staring at the piles of fireworks.

Nevaeh didn't waste time. She grabbed an armful and tossed them onto the dock, boxes thudding loudly against the planks.

"Tell me you have a car," she said. "We brought enough to light up the full sky."

James climbed out, steadying himself as the dock creaked beneath him. He reached back into the boat, lifting multiple boxes at once. They felt weightless in his hands.

Emma picked one up.

Then another.

Her expression shifted from confusion to disbelief.

"How many are you planning to use?" she asked.

"All of them," Nevaeh said without hesitation.

Emma froze. "We can't do that all at once. We don't even know where everyone is. Someone could get hurt."

River continued hauling more boxes onto the dock. Eli rushed over to help, nearly tripping over a loose plank.

"We wanted to take sparkler photos first," Nevaeh added, holding one up like a wand. "Before everything starts."

Eli's face lit up. "That actually sounds awesome."

James grabbed one of the boxes and tried to read the instructions, but the darkness swallowed the words.

"We need somewhere controlled," he said. "Hidden. The safe houses still make the most sense."

Nevaeh smirked, glancing sideways at Emma. "Is Emma worried that Bryce will get hurt?"

"I'm just worried about safety!" Emma panicked, chewing on her lip.

James wasn't the best when it came to liars, but Emma was lying about being worried.

"Does anyone actually know where those safe houses are?" he asked.

River had already started moving toward a black car parked nearby, arms full. Eli followed, struggling under the weight.

Emma chewed her lip. "All the crackheads do," she muttered.

As James took a cautious step forward on the cracking dock, anxiety surged within him. He stared down a the warm out planks beneath his feet, feeling a knot form in his stomach. If this unstable dock were to give out, it would spell disaster. That had been why they started rushing all the fireworks into the car, fearing they'd lose all they had gained.

"I've seen one but I'm not good at directions," Emma admitted.

She paused.

"The hospital is still standing."

They rushed.

Boxes scraped, thudded, and slid as they shoved everything into the car.

River slammed the trunk once.

Twice.

A third time before it finally clicked shut.

Inside, it was suffocatingly tight. Boxes pressed against James's legs and sides, digging into him with every movement.

Eli started the engine and glanced back."Uden Academy or  the hospital?"

James didn't think it over as he knew that safe house had been surrounded by trees.

"The hospital," he said immediately.

The car lurched forward.

Outside, the world shifted between darkness and thin strips of light filtering through broken structures and dying reflections. It wasn't enough to see clearly—just enough to trick the eye.

Just enough to trick Ashley.

But not enough to keep them safe.

Cassandra is an actual human, unlike Divina, even if she is inside Bella's body. It made James wonder if Divina would ditch Cassandra.

The car slowed as they reached the back of the hospital. Trees towered overhead, their branches tangling together and blocking what little light remained.

They parked in silence.

Cassandra stood ahead of them, one hand raised, scanning.

Emma slipped out first, careful and alert.

James followed, the warm air hitting his face.

Cassandra pointed toward the distance without looking away. "They're  in there."

The Paradise Hotel loomed across the road.

A crash echoed from inside.

Then silence again.

"Did Divina ditch you?" Emma asked quietly.

"Yes," Cassandra replied sourly.

Nevaeh stepped forward. "We're setting off fireworks."

Cassandra blinked.

Then something almost like excitement flickered across her face.

Behind them, Cassandra eyes widened in awe at Nevaeh words, her eyes lighting up with wonder at the mere idea of launching fireworks in the sky.

Behind them, River moved back to the car and grabbed a large box.

Nevaeh flicked her lighter.

A sparkler ignited with a sharp hiss, spraying light into the darkness.

Cassandra took one and spun slowly, sparks trailing around her like stars. She laughed—brief and bright.

For a moment, it felt wrong.

Too normal.

James almost forgot everything.

Then he looked at Emma.

She wasn't moving.

One hand gripped the car door tightly. The other hovered near the fireworks, like she couldn't decide whether to grab them or push them away.

Her eyes kept darting.

James stepped closer, ready.

"Fireworks are way better," Eli said, grinning as he picked one up.

Nearby, River struggled with a larger firework, turning it over in confusion.

James moved in. "Angle matters. If we point them toward the hotel—"

"It'll start fires," Emma said.

Nevaeh's smile didn't fade. "That's kind of the point."

"A distraction," James said.

He crouched, adjusting one carefully. He checked the angle twice.

Too high—useless.

Too low—dangerous.

Even now, something about this felt off. Fireworks weren't meant to be controlled like this.

Unpredictability lingered in every movement.

Eli nearly dropped a box.

James caught it mid-fall.

"Careful," he said.

Nevaeh raised her lighter.

Eli held the second, his hands shaking slightly.

"Ready?" he asked.

No one answered.

They just moved.

They ran.

A beat of silence.

WHOOSH.

The first firework shot into the sky.

Pink exploded overhead.

Then blue.

Then gold.

More followed in rapid succession, each one screaming into the darkness before bursting into color.

Some flew straight.

Others wobbled, veering unpredictably.

One shot sideways before correcting at the last second.

Another hit the edge of a window.

Glass shattered.

Flames flickered to life along the upper floors of the Paradise Hotel.

The sky lit up.

For a moment, it was almost beautiful.

Suddenly, two bodies were thrown from the top of the building.

James's breath caught.

They flew in opposite directions, slamming into the ground below.

He stepped forward instinctively.

If one of them was Ashley—

Darkness still covered them.

She might not see.

"Aim one there!" Cassandra snapped, pointing sharply.

James moved fast.

He adjusted another firework, barely checking the angle this time.

He lit it.

It screamed upward before bursting into a violent red explosion directly above the fallen body.

The scream that followed cut through everything.

Sharp.

Raw.

Wrong.

"It'll mess with her vision," Emma said, her voice tight, almost shaking.

"More than that," Cassandra said. "She doesn't have her speed. Or the fire."

An advantage.

A temporary one.

That put Ashley at a disadvantage, but Divina can't toy with her forever.

It had been the same with Cassandra draining Ashley's powers away. All of the process had been slow, but they were all fearful of what came next.

Cassandra closed her eyes.

Her expression shifted instantly.

"She did something," she said through clenched teeth.

Her arms shot upward.

Light exploded from her hands, spiraling outward like a storm. It twisted and surged across the distance, wrapping around Ashley and lifting her into the air.

Holding her there.

Trapped.

"Illusions are gone," Cassandra spat.

James stared at the scene in front of him.

The illusions were gone.

The sky was still burning with fading sparks.

The hotel was catching fire.

Ashley was exposed.

And yet the fear in his chest didn't leave.

It got worse.

They weren't safe.

Not even close.

Did you expect Ashley to be the overall villain in the beginning?