after they met her

sixty

i v a n a

"Why does this say I am dead?" I whispered, as I stared at the screen, my fingers frozen over the keys. My mind refused to process the words in front of me.

The room fell silent. No one spoke, no one moved.

My eyes darted from one person to the next, searching for any sign that this was some cruel joke. But all I saw were somber faces.

My mouth opened, then closed again as I continued to scroll through pages and links, each more horrifying than the last. There it was—on my school's homepage, for everyone to see—a notice of my death.

My heart pounded as I looked up, struggling to breathe. "Why is Ivana Callisto dead?" I screamed, my voice shaking.

No one answered. Their silence only made the anger surge hotter inside me.

I couldn't believe it. I felt like the ground beneath me was giving way.

"Ivana, please...calm down." Glenn's voice was soft, almost pleading. He took a step toward me, hands outstretched as if to keep me from breaking apart. "I'm dead, too. It's...just a precaution."

"So you knew?" I shot back. "You knew, and you said nothing?" My voice cracked.

The betrayal twisted in my chest, sharp. "Why am I always the last to know?"

He shifted uncomfortably, lowering his gaze, while I turned to Matthew, desperate for answers. I couldn't stop my lips from shaking as I spat out, "Why am I dead? Why am I dead again?! How many more times are you planning on doing this?"

"Princess, it's...it's not as terrible as it looks," Matthew began, stepping closer with his arms out like he was trying to pull me into a hug. But I jerked back, shaking my head furiously.

"Princess, my ass!" I snapped, my voice cracking. "What are you all thinking? You made a decision like this without even telling me?"

Gray, who'd been silent up to this point, sighed and leaned forward, his expression weary. "We talked it over. For weeks. We considered every option, and this seemed the safest way. You and Glenn—"

"You talked it over!" I cut him off, my voice fierce. "I didn't make the decision; you did."

Gray's mouth set into a firm line, his expression unchanging. "It is to protect you. To keep you safe. You can live a normal life now—no more looking over your shoulder. You'll be able to finish school, go to university. Have a real life."

"A real life?" I scoffed. "By cutting myself off from everyone and everything I know?"

"Yes, if that's what it takes," Gray replied, his gaze steely and resolute. „This environment ist not good for you."

My mind raced, and I felt myself spiraling, unable to hold back the disbelief and betrayal that seemed to consume me. "So what—you will just abandon me? Make the last months disappear like I was never here? Maybe then let's drive to my orphanage, then we can make the experience more realistic, more fun!"

Asher stepped forward, his hand curling into a fist at his side. "We are not abandoning you, Ivana. If we wanted to abandon you, we wouldn't have searched for you so desperately. It's about keeping you out of harm's way till your grown up." His voice was soft but firm, and his expression mirrored Gray's, hard yet tinged with something that almost looked like regret.

"And your phone..." Matthew spoke again. "You won't need it anymore. You can't contact anyone from your old school. Not if we're going to make this work."

The words stung.

A thousand questions flashed through my mind, each more panicked than the last.

The idea of not talking to anyone from my old life ever again made my stomach turn. "You're taking my phone, after giving it back to me?" I laughed bitterly, though there was no humor in it. "So you showed this to me, because you were too afraid to tell me, huh. You are all cowards! Disgusting cowards!"