Se connecterJuneThe dining hall looks nothing like it usually does.For a second, I pause at the entrance, taking it in.The long rows of plain tables are gone, replaced with neatly arranged round tables covered in clean white cloth. Soft lights hang overhead, warmer than the usual harsh brightness, giving the whole place a different kind of feel. Along one side of the hall, a long buffet table stretches across, filled with food that actually looks like someone put effort into it. There are trays of different dishes, bowls of salads, platters of desserts, and drinks set up in a way that makes it feel more like a celebration than just another meal.The smell alone tells me this is not ordinary.Misha was not exaggerating.Not even a little.“This is what I was talking about,” she whispers beside me, her voice carrying a mix of excitement and nerves.I nod once, my gaze still moving across the room, taking in the small details. The way people are already gathered in clusters, talking in lower voic
JuneThe dining hall looks nothing like it usually does.For a second, I pause at the entrance, taking it in.The long rows of plain tables are gone, replaced with neatly arranged round tables covered in clean white cloth. Soft lights hang overhead, warmer than the usual harsh brightness, giving the whole place a different kind of feel. Along one side of the hall, a long buffet table stretches across, filled with food that actually looks like someone put effort into it. There are trays of different dishes, bowls of salads, platters of desserts, and drinks set up in a way that makes it feel more like a celebration than just another meal.The smell alone tells me this is not ordinary.Misha was not exaggerating.Not even a little.“This is what I was talking about,” she whispers beside me, her voice carrying a mix of excitement and nerves.I nod once, my gaze still moving across the room, taking in the small details. The way people are already gathered in clusters, talking in lower voic
June I sit on the edge of my bed, my fingers moving absentmindedly over the fabric of my shirt. The room is quiet, almost too quiet, and my backpack rests beside me, already packed with the few clothes and things I own. Everything is ready. Just in case. If I have to leave tonight, I do not want to waste time gathering pieces of a life that has never really been rooted anywhere. It is easier this way. Quick. Clean. I glance at the bag for a second, then look away. My thoughts drift beyond these walls, to the life waiting outside. It will be the same as it always has been. Moving from place to place. Figuring things out as I go. Nothing permanent. Nothing that asks me to stay. It does not scare me. It never has. But then another thought slips in, softer this time. Elise. I have not checked on her in days. A small frown pulls at my brows as I think about it. I should go see her. That will be the first thing I do. After that… I will decide where to go next. I pause, my finger
June The half of the day passes like it always does, measured in drills, instructions, and the constant awareness that today is not like other days. There is something heavier sitting under everything. A tension that no one says out loud but everyone feels anyway. By the end of today, some recruits will be sent back. No second chances. No long explanations. Just gone. I can see it in the way people move. The way they talk a little less. The way they keep checking the instructors’ faces like answers might appear there if they stare long enough. Misha is one of them. She tries to act like she does not care about anything, like training is just something she is tolerating rather than something she is fighting for. But I see the difference in her today. The way her shoulders stay a little too tight. The way her eyes flick toward the instructors more often than usual. It is not fear exactly. It is pressure. Kylie, of course, notices it too. Kylie always notices everything in the wo
JuneA normal person, when they find out something like this, would react differently.I know that.If someone told them their family existed… that they had people out there who belonged to them… and then in the same breath told them those people were gone, taken in something violent, something final… they would feel something. Grief. Anger. Pain. Something sharp enough to shake them.But I don’t.It settles in my head like a fact. Something I now know. Something I can place somewhere and move past. It does not pull at me. It does not twist anything inside me. It just exists, quiet and unmoving.Maybe that makes me strange.Maybe it doesn’t.This is how I have always been.You don’t miss what you never had. You don’t mourn something that was never part of your life. There is no memory to hold onto, no face to picture, no voice to remember. Just an idea of people who were supposed to matter. But I don't even had an idea about them.And yet… I understand what Caleb was trying to tell me
Caleb Once I am sure I will not run into any trainees still wandering around, I make my way toward June’s dorm. The campus is quiet now, the kind of quiet that only comes after curfew, when everyone knows better than to be out unless they have a reason. I stop in front of her door and knock lightly. For a second, there is nothing. Then I hear movement inside. A soft shuffle, like she is getting up from bed. A moment later, the door opens. She stands there, leaning against the frame, her hair messy in that way that makes it obvious she was lying down not long ago. It falls around her face without care, and for a second, I forget why I am here. “What?” she asks, like she did not just open the door looking like that. “Ain’t you happy to see your boyfriend?” I tease, watching her closely. That gets a reaction. It is small, but I catch it. The slight curl of her lips, the lift of her eyebrow. “Boyfriend, huh?” she says, crossing her arms. “Now we are boyfriend and girlfriend?” My
AnastasiaWiping away the sweat that clings to my skin, I drag the small towel across my forehead. My muscles burn, my breath still a little uneven from training, but the ache feels good. Tossing the towel over my shoulder, I turn to leave when a water bottle appears in front of my face, stopping m
AnastasiaMy whole life flips over in just a few days. Everything I thought I knew, everything I believed in—it all crumbles like it was never real to begin with.A few days ago, I was just a hunter, doing what hunters do. Tracking, fighting, killing. I never questioned it. Never wondered if there
AnastasiaI search his face, trying to understand everything he isn’t saying. But I can't figure it out. His expression gives nothing away, only that same warmth mixed with something deeper. Something I don’t know how to name.Then he smiles, small but real, and gestures for me to follow him. "Your
AnastasiaTurning on the tap, I let the water rush out in a loud stream to cover the sound of my coughing. My hands grip the edge of the sink as I bend forward, my body shaking with each rough, tearing cough. It feels like my insides are burning like acid is eating me alive from the inside out.A sh







