A few minutes earlier-
Bianca Barclay had always despised Valen. The very sight of him was enough to scrape at old scars, the kind no one else could see.
She still remembered the sting of cold wind on her bare skin, the punishment that had nearly cost her claim to heirship. That humiliation clung to her like a second skin, even years later.
Leaving the cult had been her kind of liberation... And coming to Nevermore was supposed to be her fresh start, her chance to rise on her own terms. And yet... Valen was here, too. A constant thorn in her side. Always scheming, always sabotaging.
If there was one person she hated more than anyone in the whole damn world, it was him.
Now, standing only a few students ahead of him during the ritual, she noticed the flicker of movement when the torches were suddenly snuffed out. Alex bolted into the woods. Seconds later, Valen and Enid darted in another direction.
A sly smile curved on Bianca's lips. Making trouble again, aren't you?
She heard a few rumors before about the rituals, they were given the outmost importance in Nevermore and leaving a ritual mid-ceremony could potentially mean expulsion. Seniors had given warnings about it more than just once.
And she wasn't going to lose this opportunity, even if it was true or false... After all seeing Valen in trouble, always gave her the dopamine she craved.
She tapped the shoulder of the boy in front of her. As he turned, she slipped her amulet from around her neck, holding it just out of sight. Her voice dropped to a whisper, her mouth shielded by her hand.
"You're going to tell Mr. Fitts..." she commanded him what to do.
His eyes glazed with compliance, and he nodded absently before hurrying straight to Mr. Fitts, their chemistry teacher, and a stickler for rules if ever there was one.
From her spot in the back, Bianca watched his bushy brows knit together in irritation when the boy informed him things. He dismissed the student with a wave and immediately began muttering to the other staff.
But then within moments, their heads all turned toward the same two directions.
A shiver rolled across the gathering. Some of the students felt it too, the prickling cold that crawled up the back of their necks.
That was when Principal Weems appeared, striding toward the staff with a rare look of unease. Her words were clipped and urgent. The faculty exchanged hurried whispers before splitting off. Several teachers rushed into the trees, following the paths Valen and Alex had taken.
Behind them, Valen's friends exchanged anxious glances. They could feel the tension and the strange atmosphere left them more worried than ever about their friends' sudden disappearance.
Ajax's eyes darted between the darkened tree line and the cluster of worried faces around him. His hands fidgeted with the strap of his satchel, like he was already halfway to bolting.
"We should follow them!" he blurted out, voice a little higher than usual. "They might be in danger!"
Xavier pushed his hair back, scanning the woods with narrowed eyes. He looked calmer, but there was a tightness in his jaw that gave him away. "Ajax is right. If the staff had to get involved this fast, it's not just something normal. We need to go."
Divina folded her arms, brows raised. "Or-and hear me out-we could not run into the creepy forest in the middle of a ritual gone wrong..."
Ajax shot her a pleading look. "C'mon, Div. What if something happened to them?"
"Yeah," Xavier added, his voice firm now. "We can't just sit here while they're out there."
Divina gave Ajax a look, "And even if we go... the fuck we do, if there's something really dangerous?... what, turn them into stone, Rock boy?"
Yoko scratched the back of her head. "Calm down... and besides," she said, trying for levity, "Enid still owes me a hundred bucks from a bet. If she dies, I'm never seeing that money again."
A couple of them chuckled despite themselves, the tension breaking for half a second.
Divina sighed, glancing toward the direction the staff had taken. "You people are insane."
"Correction," Ajax said, already edging toward the trees, "we're loyal."
Xavier gave a short nod. "Stay together. No one wanders off. Got it?"
They all exchanged a quick look, equal parts fear and determination, before breaking into a run, slipping off the path and into the shadowed woods after their friends. The torches behind them flickered weakly, until the group was swallowed by the dark.
*
Bianca lingered at the back of the crowd, her arms crossed loosely as a satisfied smile tugged at her lips.
Watching Ajax, Xavier, and the others disappear into the trees, she felt no urge to stop them. Quite the opposite. To her, it looked like the board was finally tilting in her favor. Checkmate, she thought.
Meanwhile, Mr. Fitts sprinted across the clearing, his coat snapping behind him as another teacher struggled to keep pace. Their instincts pulled them toward the disturbance, every step heavier with dread.
When they reached the edge of the woods, they stopped short. A translucent shimmer hung in the air like a heat mirage, a barrier which was pulsing faintly.
Mr. Fitts raised a hand and pressed it forward. It bounced back, refusing him entry. He clenched his jaw and tried again, harder but the barrier still held.
He cast his gaze around, searching desperately for anything he could use.
The cemetery forest seemed alive in all the wrong ways, every shadow breathed and the gnarled branches clawed upward like skeletal hands, raking at the sky. A pale mist crawled between the gravestones, thickening with each breath, as if the dead themselves were exhaling.
The iron fence that hemmed in the graves sagged with age, its surface scabbed with rust. Yet under his will it stirred faintly, trembling like veins waiting for blood, whispering the promise of violence if only he could bend it far enough.
Jaw clenched, he stretched out a trembling hand. As a DaVinci, metal bent to his command , at least, it was supposed to. The fence groaned as rivets snapped and iron bars writhed, twisting into jagged spears. With a guttural effort, he ripped them from the earth and slammed them against the invisible barrier.
The spears bounced back with a crackle of unseen energy. Sparks danced across the air.
"Damn it!" he hissed, striking the barrier with his fist. But the barrier stood still, silent and impenetrable, mocking his every effort.
"Stay here, keep trying!" his colleague barked before spinning on their heel and racing back toward the clearing to alert Weems.
On the way, the teacher nearly collided with Ajax and Yoko, who were charging straight for the trees. "Don't go there! Go back! Now! It's dangerous!" the staff member shouted, but the urgency only spurred Ajax on.
"We're not leaving without them!" Ajax called back, pushing forward.
Yoko stayed close at his side, her eyes narrowing as her vampiric senses sharpened. Suddenly she froze, tilting her head upward."Wait-" Her pupils dilated. "Look!"
She pointed skyward. Through the barrier's shimmer, two dark figures rose, drifting upward with a sickening, unnatural grace.
Ajax followed her gaze, breath catching in his throat. Even Mr. Fitts stopped, squinting at the shapes, his face hardening with recognition.
Then suddenly, the barrier convulsed, violent ripples breaking across its surface. For the first time, it wavered.
Seizing the chance, Mr. Fitts lunged toward a ragged tear, slipping through before it could seal.
His stride carried him almost to the fray, until he saw it. A rapier's gleaming point hovered inches from Valen's chest.
The air around him shimmered as his ability ignited. With every ounce of strength he possessed, he willed the weapon apart. The blade shrieked as it snapped in two, shards scattering into the mist.
And then, a heartbeat later, a crimson blast ripped across the sky.
Blood and shredded flesh sprayed downward in a sickening rain, spattering against the gravestones and soaking into the soil. The stench of iron and rot hit them instantly, thick and suffocating.
Yoko and Ajax froze, horror etched on their faces, as Valen plummeted from the air, "Valen!"
Fitts sprinted forward. He slid to the ground just in time to catch him. The weight hit his arm, and then the smell. Copper, sharp and suffocating.
Valen's right hand dangled limp, or what was left of it. Flesh had been shredded away, strips of muscle hanging in ragged tatters. Shards of white bone jutted through the gore, slick and glistening in the red light. His fingers twitched once, grotesque and broken, before falling still.
Fitts swallowed hard but couldn't look away.
The barrier had shattered, dissolving into the night like shards of glass in water. Yoko and Ajax broke through at once, sprinting to his side.
Yoko froze when she saw the ruin in his arms. Her hand flew to her mouth, muffling the sharp gasp that escaped her lips. Her pupils quivered, wide with shock.
Ajax staggered a step closer, then faltered. His face went pale, his stomach heaving at the sight.
----
A/N- Send those stones okay? while I'm still asking you nicely... or else I'm gonna come and touch you!