---
đŻď¸ The Threat Arrives
Sharon found it inside her bag â folded carefully between the pages of her Lit book.
She hadn't touched the bag since she got back from the party.
The paper was smooth, the handwriting sharp and elegant:
> You've walked too far into the fire.
Not even queens walk out untouched.
Stop. Or bleed.
No signature. No smudge.
But she recognized the ink.
It was the same as the one from her sister's journal â the same that had circled names and marked symbols.
Whoever sent this wasn't just connected to the Circle.
They were inside it.
Watching her.
Maybe always had been.
---
đś Nora Finally Speaks
That night, Sharon cornered Nora in their room.
"You've been quiet ever since the party."
Nora looked up from her book. "So have you."
"I was there, Nora. I saw Bianca lose control. I saw someone almost die."
Nora closed the book softly. "You think this is new?"
Sharon's breath caught.
"What do you know?"
"I know Sade came back one night crying," Nora whispered. "Not scared. Angry. She said Bianca was going to destroy everything."
"She told you that?"
Nora nodded. "Then she ripped out a page from her journal and burned it in the sink."
"Why?"
"I asked her. She said, 'There are things not even the page should carry.'"
Sharon sat down slowly.
"Why didn't you tell anyone?"
"Because the next morning, she smiled like nothing happened. And two days laterâŚ"
She didn't finish the sentence.
She didn't need to.
---
đłď¸ Bianca Spirals
In the next Literary Club meeting, Bianca arrived late.
Hair undone.
Eyes tired.
Clothes too perfect to be accidental.
She sat down in silence while others whispered.
Sharon watched her.
There was no fire in her voice when she read from the week's assigned poem.
Just⌠emptiness.
A girl no longer leading. Just floating.
Ikenna whispered to someone across the room: "She's slipping. It's not cute anymore."
Zuri sat beside Sharon and murmured, "Do you think she's dangerous?"
Sharon didn't answer.
Because she knew she wasn't.
Not anymore.
---
đĽ A New Player Appears
That afternoon, as Sharon walked alone toward the library, someone blocked her path.
He wasn't in uniform.
A senior, maybe. Taller than Damian. Clean-cut. Cold eyes.
"You're Sade's sister," he said casually.
Sharon froze. "Do I know you?"
"No," he replied. "But your sister owed someone something before she died."
Sharon's chest tightened. "Who?"
He smiled â and it wasn't kind.
"That's the wrong question."
He turned and walked off like he hadn't just dropped a grenade.
She watched him disappear into the building.
Then she pulled out her notebook.
> New face. Old power. Connected to Sade. Possibly the one she feared.
She flipped back two pages.
Sade had written:
> The hand behind the crown smiles the widest. And never shows its eyes until the last move.
---
That night, Sharon stood at her window again.
She could feel the circle closing.
The threat wasn't distant anymore. It was here. Personal.
And the worst part?
She wasn't sure if she wanted to runâŚ
Or burn it all down.
---
đ End of Chapter Nine