Spirit Hunters

3 || Silver-Eyed Boy

Cassia struggled not to openly gape. Rin Hino, here, in the tiny shack out in the middle of the woods, tagging along with people who claimed to hunt spirits.

He was just as captivating here, in this dingy building, as he was in the pristine halls of Heartwood High. Rin always reminded Cassia of a snowflake, with his sharp bones and smooth, pale complexion. Strands of icy blond hair fell into a carefully stylized swept appearance. The only break in his pallor were his near-black eyes. They stared off at nothing, and Cassia couldn't escape the feeling he was a prince, a stoic mask drawn forth while an artist painted him.

At the noise coming from their corner, though, his eyes swung toward them, and Cassia's heart lurched under his gaze. Warmth crept up her neck. Despite her crush on her classmate, she'd never been the recipient of more than a passing glance. Now he scrutinized them, attention jumping between their uniforms and their faces. It took a total of five seconds for a dreadful realization to settle over her.

He showed no signs of recognition.

Cassia shared only two classes with Rin. In their literature class, he sat in the front row while she was in the middle on the opposite side. The other was gym, one of her largest classes, and boys and girls didn't always intermingle. Still, did he not recognize her or the others at all?

Her eyes burned as Rin turned his interest to the others he'd entered with. "Who are they?" he asked.

Tinni scoffed. "Jerk," she said under her breath, coming to the same conclusion Cassia had.

She wanted to point out their grade had over one hundred and fifty people and it was entirely possible to forget a few classmates, especially when one was newer, but now wasn't the time, and she was too deflated to put up the fight.

"And why is one of them carrying a stick?" This came from the ginger. Tal, Cassia thought Rayner had called him. He crouched beside Rayner and rested his chin against the desk.

Rayner pointed his mango-holding skewer in Tal's direction. "See, I asked the same thing, and nobody answered me."

"Just..." Orsa's voice came out higher pitched than usual. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Just in case you all ended up being creeps."

Tal's eyes glittered, and he grinned. Cassia could have sworn his canines were sharper than normal. "So, you brought in a stick for defense, but you also backed yourselves into a corner and let us all surround you?"

As Tal put their situation into words, Cassia felt foolish for her petty worries about her crush. Rin's presence made her feel less like this was dangerous, but that didn't mean they hadn't put themselves into a very stupid spot. Based on Orsa's lack of immediate response, she'd been just as sucker punched by Tal's words.

"Look!" she snapped, going back on the offensive. "We came here because we're worried about our friend. Are you really some weird ghost whisperers or what?"

Tal laughed. "'Weird ghost whisperers.' Just for that, I think we should hex you."

Considering how little Orsa had believed in all of this, it was astounding how quickly the color drained from her face.

Cassia hurriedly stepped in. She didn't know if any of these people could hex others, and Tal spoke with enough humor in his voice that she thought it was a joke, but she refused to risk it.

"I'm Cassia," she said, stepping forward. "These are my friends, Tinni and Orsa. We're here because, well..." She trailed off, her eyes moving over each of their faces. Was she really going to do this? Lay out her failures at their feet? At Rin's? Truly commit to this Spirit Hunter thing—