Jay's POV
The morning mist over the campsite wasn't a blanket; it was a shroud. It was barely 4:30 AM when my boots cleared the perimeter of Section E's tents, the damp grass leaving dark streaks against the leather.
I didn't wake Jane. I didn't wake Keifer. When you have a history as loud as mine, you learn to move like a ghost before the sun can give your shadow away.
They wanted to stand beside me—I'd seen it in the way they shifted closer around the dying embers last night—but Section E was clean. I wasn't going to let the mud from Holy Saint drag them down into the ditch I'd spent years crawling out of.
The commute back to the main campus was short, cold, and entirely too familiar. Every cobblestone leading to the administration block felt like an old bruise. By the time I reached the principal's cabin, the hallway smelled exactly as it always had: expensive floor wax and cheap bureaucracy.
I didn't knock. I turned the brass knob and pushed the door open.The Principal—our 'Ma'am'—was already seated behind her mahogany fortress, an unlit slim cigarette
resting between her fingers. Her eyes adjusted to my presence with the slow, predatory ease of an academic vulture.
When she saw me, her lips pulled into a thin, bloodless imitation of a welcome."Ah, Jean. Come in," she said, her voice dripping with that manufactured maternal poison. "Close the door behind you."
I left my hands jammed deep into my jacket pockets, my shoulders squared. I didn't take the seat across from her. "You called for me, Ma'am. Let's not waste time."
She leaned back, the leather of her chair groaning under the weight of her ambition. "Direct as always. Very well. The school is currently undergoing a massive structural expansion, Jean. We need capital. I require you to contact Mr. Fernandes—Angelo. Your cousin. Tell him Holy Saint is looking for an institutional investment, and that a recommendation from his favorite cousin would ensure his signature on the contract."
Inside my pockets, my fingers curled into white-knuckled fists. My blood didn't just rise; it boiled, a sudden, searing heat that scorched the back of my throat. Angelo. They wanted me to use my family's name—the very name that felt like a chokehold—to line the pockets of a school that had watched me bleed and called it discipline.
"And if I don't?" My voice was too quiet, too steady. A dangerous line.
Ma'am smiled, and the venom finally showed through the enamel. "Then I will have no choice but to reopen the old disciplinary files. I will call Angelo myself, Jean. But I won't be asking for money. I'll be telling him that it wasn' you who put Cyrus into a three-month coma back then. I'll tell him it was Jane who swung the metal pipe that shattered Cyrus's ribs and skull."
A cold, dark amusement hit me before the panic could. It was a classic play. Leverage the sister to break the shield.I let my lips curve upward into a slow, mocking smirk.
I leaned forward, resting both palms flat on her pristine mahogany desk, forcing her to look up into my eyes. "Go ahead,"
I whispered, the tone sharp enough to draw blood. "Call Angelo. Tell him whatever you want. But remember this, Ma'am: if a single word about Jane leaves your mouth to anyone, I won't just pull his investments. I will personally dismantle this entire institution brick by brick, starting with this office. Try me. See who survives the fall."
Her breath hitched, her fingers twitching against her unlit cigarette. I didn't give her the satisfaction of a goodbye. I turned on my heel and yanked the door open, the wood slamming against the stopper with a crack that echoed like a gunshot through the empty administrative hall.
I was halfway down the stone steps of the courtyard, my heart still hammering against my ribs, when I heard the scuffling.I turned back but the hallway was empty , I walked towards the path leading to the campsite, my mind already calculating how to lie to Jane about where I'd been.
I took three steps into the shadow of the arched gateway when a hand shot out from the recess of the stone pillar.Thick, rough fingers clamped violently around my throat.My back hit the stone wall with a dull thud as the air was forcefully cut off from my lungs.
I looked up through the sudden blur of my vision and saw the face. Older, sharper, but with the same arrogant, malicious eyes that had haunted my nightmares.Cyrus.
"Missed me, Jean?" he hissed, his face inches from mine. His breath smelled of stale tobacco. "You thought you could just come back here and pretend you own the place?"
I tried to draw breath, but his grip tightened, his knuckles digging hard into my windpipe. The pressure was immense, a dark haze threatening the edges of my sight.
But I wasn't the girl from two years ago.I didn't panic. I raised both of my hands, slamming my palms hard against his ears to disorient him, and simultaneously grabbed his right wrist. With a burst of focused strength, I twisted his wrist outward, breaking his leverage, while kicking my heel directly behind his knee.The joint buckled.
Cyrus grunted in pain as his grip broke entirely. Before he could recover, I maintained the twist on his arm, using his own momentum to hurl him face-first into the dirt courtyard.He groaned, clutching his twisted wrist, his face smeared with gravel.I stood over him, my chest heaving as I pulled cold air into my burning lungs.
I could already feel the dark purple bruise forming around my neck. I adjusted the collar of my jacket, looking down at him with pure disgust. "Stay away from me, Cyrus. And stay away from my sister. If you come near us again, It won't be just being in coma this time. I'll make sure you don't wake up at all.
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Jane's POV
The morning air at the campsite was crisp, but the moment I stepped out of my tent, the atmosphere felt entirely wrong. The fire from last night was nothing but gray ash and charcoal, and the circle of logs was empty—except for Keifer, who was already sitting on his usual perch, his eyes fixed on the entrance of Jay's tent.
I walked over to her tent, pulling the zipper down. Empty. Her sleeping bag was neatly rolled up. My stomach did a familiar, sickening flip.
"She's not there," Keifer said, his voice low and raspy from the morning cold. He stood up, his posture rigid.Within minutes, the rest of Section E began filtering out, yawning and shivering.
Cin rubbed his eyes, looking around the clearing before his gaze landed on me. "Hey, where's the strict mom? Don't tell me she's still sleeping. That's against her own code."
"She left for Holy Saint," I said, my voice flat.
Rory snapped his head toward me, a piece of firewood slipping from his hand. "What? Didn't we all explicitly say last night that we were going together? Why does she always do this?"
"Because she's Jay," I replied, the frustration bleeding through my tone. "You know how she is. She thinks she's a shield. She thinks if she runs fast enough into the fire, the sparks won't hit us."
"It's stupid," Keifer muttered, his jaw clenched so tightly the muscle leaped in his cheek. He looked like he was about to sprint toward the main campus himself.
"Who's stupid?"
The voice came from the edge of the tree line. We all turned. Jay walked into the clearing, her hair damp from the communal showers at the edge of the campsite, a towel slung over her shoulder. She looked entirely normal, save for the slight stiffness in her gait.I didn't give her a chance to sit down.
I marched right up to her, my eyes scanning her face, then traveling down. When she shifted the towel, the light hit her skin. My breath caught. Around her throat was a distinct, ugly, hand-shaped imprint—dark red turning into an angry purple.
"What is that?" I demanded, my voice shaking as I pointed at her neck. "Jay, what the hell is that mark?"
Jay reached up, casually pulling the collar of her jacket higher to hide it. "Nothing. I tripped near the old gym."
"Don't lie to me!" I yelled. "Who did that?"
"It was Cyrus," she said, her voice dropping into that quiet, defensive tone she used when she was trying to minimize a disaster.
Before the name could even settle in the air, a sharp, horrific crack echoed through the clearing.Jay's head snapped to the side. Her towel fell into the dirt.My brain stalled for a fraction of a second.
A woman had marched into our campsite from the main trail, her face contorted in pure rage, her hand still raised from the slap she had just delivered across Jay's left cheek. Behind her stood a younger girl with a sneering expression, and behind them both was Cyrus, holding his wrist, a malicious, triumphant smirk plastered across his face.
"Jay!" I screamed, stepping forward, but the younger girl—Cyrus's sister, Tira—stepped into my path, shouting at the top of her lungs."What is wrong with you people?!" I shrieked, trying to push past her to get to my sister, whose cheek was already turning a violent crimson."
What's wrong with us?" Tira roared, her finger pointing directly into Jay's face. "You bitch! How dare you seduce my brother, and then when he doesn't give you what you want, you hit him? You think you can just come back to Holy Saint and ruin his life again?"Tira raised her hand, her fingers curling into a claw as she lunged forward to strike Jay a second time.
She didn't even get close.Keifer moved like a shadow caught in a storm. In a single, fluid motion, he intercepted Tira's arm, his grip clamping around her wrist with enough force to make her gasp. He didn't just hold her back; he stepped entirely in front of Jay, his massive frame completely shielding her from view.
His eyes were dead, dark, and predatory."Don't you dare touch her," Keifer whispered. The sheer, unadulterated menace in his voice made Tira instinctively try to pull her hand back, but his grip remained an iron vice.
"What the hell is going on here?" Aries' voice cut through the chaos. He walked out from the main trail, his brow furrowed as he evaluated the scene.
Cyrus's mother—the woman who had delivered the slap—turned on Aries immediately, her voice rising into an aristocratic shriek. "Aries! Thank goodness you're here. Look at this! Look at what your sister did! She attacked my son again! She's an animal!"
The older woman reached around Keifer, trying to use her nails to scratch at Jay's face. Aries didn't hesitate. He crossed the distance in two long strides, placing his body directly between Cyrus's mother and Jay. He grabbed the older woman's forearms, pushing her back with a cold, unyielding pressure.
"I said," Aries repeated, his voice dropping into a dangerous register, "you don't touch her."
Tira, seeing her mother blocked, tried to circle around from the left side to get to Jay from behind.
But she didn't realize who she was dealing with. Before she could take two steps, Cin, Felix, Drew,,David,Yuri and the rest of Section E moved as a single, solid wall. They formed a tight, impenetrable circle around Jay, their expressions devoid of their usual humor. They looked like a pack of wolves protecting their alpha.
Tira stopped short, looking at the wall of boys, her expression turning into a vile, disgust-filled sneer. "Wow! Look at this. You really are a disgusting flirt, aren't you? You seduced all these boys too, didn't you? What do you even think of yourself, Jean? A queen?"
From the center of the circle, a low, melodic sound broke the tension.Jay was laughing.It wasn't a nervous laugh; it was a cold, arrogant, genuinely amused sound. The circle parted slightly, allowing her to look directly at Tira. Jay wiped a stray bit of dirt from her jacket, her expression entirely unbothered by the red mark on her cheek.
"You know," Jay said, her voice dripping with absolute sarcasm, "for seduction, you actually need beauty. You should take a look in a mirror before you come here and talk to me about attraction."
She glanced over at Cyrus, who was still smirking behind his mother. "And if you really think I would ever waste my time trying to seduce someone like your brother... that's honestly the funniest joke I've heard all year. Even my dog has more style and a better face than him."
A loud, simultaneous chuckle erupted from Felix, Edrix and Cin. Beside me, Keifer's lips twitched into a dark, satisfied smirk, and I couldn't help the small, vicious smile that crossed my own face.Cyrus's smirk vanished, replaced by an ugly, red-faced fury.
"You little—" He lunged forward, his hands reaching out to try and strangle Jay again, completely losing his mind.Keifer didn't wait. He stepped into Cyrus's trajectory and slammed his palm directly against Cyrus's chest, throwing his entire weight into a shove.
Cyrus went airborne for a fraction of a second before hitting the dirt path hard, skidding back into the dry leaves.
"You savages!" Cyrus's mother screamed, rushing to her son's side while Tira began shrieking insults at the top of her lungs.
"This is exactly what you did two years ago! You put him in a hospital! You ruined his future! It was your fault he was in that coma, you absolute psycho!"
Something inside my brain cracked.The memory of that night—the smell of the rain, the sound of Cyrus's disgusting voice as he tried to pin me down in that empty classroom, the sheer terror before I grabbed that rusty iron pipe—came rushing back like a tidal wave. And now, they were standing here, blaming the sister who had taken the fall for me.
"Stop it!" I screamed.Before anyone could stop me, before Jay could even reach out a hand, I sprang forward. I didn't think about the rules, or the camp, or the consequences.
I flew at Tira, my fist connecting directly with her jaw. She stumbled back, shocked, but I didn't let up. I grabbed her collar and threw a hard right hook straight into her nose, followed by a violent shove that sent her crashing to the ground.
I lunged down, pinning her by her shoulders, my face inches from hers as she started to cry in terror. "Repeat what you just said," I hissed, my voice completely unhinged. "Repeat it. I dare you, you lying bitch!"
"Jane, stop!" Cyrus's mother screamed, raising her purse to hit me from above.A hand shot out and caught the older woman's wrist in mid-air.
Jay stood there, her grip firm but respectful. "I respect your age, Ma'am," Jay said, her voice dropping into a freezing, authoritative tone. "So it will be better if you take a step back right now."
The mother looked into Jay's eyes, saw the absolute lack of hesitation there, and slowly stepped back, her hands trembling.
Meanwhile, Cyrus had managed to get back to his feet. Seeing me distracted with his sister, he drew back his fist to strike me from behind.
WHAM.
Aries didn't even look at him as he delivered a perfectly timed, brutal straight punch directly into Cyrus's mouth. The sound of teeth clicking together was loud. Cyrus spun around and hit the dirt for the third time, blood instantly leaking from his lower lip.
We were all standing there—a solid, unbroken front of Section E, Aries, Jay, and me—breathing heavily, when the sound of hurried footsteps approached from the main trail.
Sir Alvin and two other HVIS teachers burst into the clearing, their faces pale as they looked at the carnage."What is the meaning of this?!" Sir Alvin demanded, looking at Cyrus bleeding on the ground and Tira crying on the grass.
Tira scrambled to her feet, pointing a shaking, muddy finger at us. "They attacked us! Sir, look at them! Jean and Jane—they're monsters! They started fighting us for no reason!"
Sir Alvin turned his gaze to Jay, his expression stern but cautious. He knew the weight of the names involved. "Jay. Explain this immediately."
I stepped in front of my sister before she could speak. My knuckles were bleeding, but I didn't care. "It wasn't Jay," I said, my voice ringing clear across the entire campsite. "It was me. I hit Cyrus two years ago, and I hit his sister today. Because three years ago, this disgusting bastard tried to take advantage of my vulnerability in the old eastern wing. He tried to rape me."
The clearing went dead silent. Sir Alvin's eyes went wide."I swung the pipe," I continued, staring directly into Cyrus's terrified eyes. "And honestly? You're lucky I didn't cut off your third leg that day."
Jay stepped up beside me, her expression deadpan as she looked down at Cyrus. "It isn't too late to do it now, you know. The camp has plenty of sharp tools."
From the side, Aries crossed his arms, his face an unreadable mask of cold indifference. "I agree. It's a good idea. I can help dispose of the excess."
Cyrus's mother began shrieking again, throwing her hands in the air, calling us criminals, liars, and animals, her voice grating against everyone's ears.
At the exact same second, Jay, Aries, and I collectively rolled our eyes, our movements perfectly synchronized in our mutual disgust.
Jay pulled her phone out of her jacket pocket. She scrolled through her contacts for a brief second before pressing the call button. She put it to her ear, waiting two rings.
"It's me"" Jay said, her voice loud enough for everyone to hear. "I think you need to control your family members. They are currently here disrupting my trip. Fix it. Right now."
Without waiting for a reply, she clicked the phone off, shoved it back into her pocket, and walked over to the wooden bench by the dead fire. e the.