"The world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters. We've all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are."
-Sirius Black, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
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Maya stared at her reflection in the mirror, her hands bracing the sink. Cold water dripped from her fingers, her breathing uneven. She had left her friends at the dance to calm down, but the unease in her chest hadn't faded. Her mind wouldn't stay still.
"Enjoy it while it lasts, remember I said you'd be alone. After all I warned you about the dance. It'll have been better if you hadn't come"
Her mind spun, replaying the last hour. Someone wanted Ava's crown. That was the big plan? All those cryptic texts leading up to... that? It felt stupid. Ridiculous. Was that just it? Unless it wasn't about the crown at all.
Maybe it was a distraction.
Maybe someone else was meant to go missing tonight.
Kylie? Ava? Layla? Eleanor? Jayda?
Her?
Tessa was missing now. So what was the possibility someone wasn't next?
Maya bit the inside of her cheek, her mind still racing. Someone had been watching her for weeks. This wasn't just some petty sabotage—this was personal. But why? Why her?
The thought sent a shiver through her. She turned on the tap again, letting the cold water run over her wrists, grounding herself. She inhaled deeply. Exhaled. She needed to be calm. She couldn't look afraid. It was a dance. She was here to have fun. Or, at the very least, protect her friends from whoever was trying to ruin this night and make sure they failed.
So she couldn't look scared. She couldn't be scared.
This was supposed to be a dance. A fun night.
She would enjoy it. She should enjoy it.
Maya pulled out a lip gloss from her bag, unscrewing the cap with steady hands. If she looked composed, maybe she'd feel it. She swiped the gloss over her lips, pressing them together-only for it to slip from her grasp.
It hit the tiled floor with a soft clack.
She bent to pick it up, and that's when her phone chimed. Again.
Right. Another text. Were they not tired?
A wave of unease washed over her as she unlocked the screen. A familiar prickle of anxiety crawled up her spine.
"Meet me upstairs at the garden. Now. Fast."
Her blood ran cold. Her fingers hesitated over the screen.
That was a trap. That had to be a trap.
Another text followed immediately.
"P.s: I'm only trying to help."
"Help? Really? What am I, two?" Maya muttered under her breath, shutting her phone. She clenched her jaw. Right. Because that's believable. Her fingers tightened around her phone as another message came through.
"Well, you're smart. Look into the mirror."
A sharp chill settled in her bones.
Instinctively, she lifted her gaze- slowly, almost against her will.
And then she saw it.
A figure.
Behind her, in the reflection, stood a figure clad in a black bodysuit.
YOU ARE READING
GENESIS: THE CATALYST
Science Fiction"In a world built on control, what happens when the controlled fight back?" Maya Smith's ordinary life is shattered the night she vanishes without a trace. Awakening inside the enigmatic DYG facility, she finds herself imprisoned alongside others wh...
