"Very good, Wesley," he breathed, the warm air fanning across the merchant captain's face. "Now I suggest you listen closely because I don't do this very often." Wesley curiosity grew, though he kept a healthy degree of skepticism as he listened to the pirate. "I'm prepared to offer you a deal." "What kind of deal?" he asked, his heart racing. "I seem to have found something that I want even more than your ship's cargo," he said with an unsettling smirk. "And I am prepared to let what remains of your crew sail free if I get it." "Name your price," Wesley said, at this point ready to agree to anything if his crew would live. Valentine reached out and tilted Wesley's head up so he could get a better view of it. His smirk seemed to grow as he let one little word slip through his lips. "You." *This is an LGBTQ+ story*

Luca Fern has been a girl with a morbid fascination for disguises ever since a case of mistaken identity lead to her mother's murder. Moving to Bottle Island was supposed to heal her obsessive behaviours, but instead it has revealed a mystery that could swallow her whole. As tradition on the island, Altswood High School organizes an annual game called the Hunt: a thrill-seeking contest among peers of seek and eliminate. But this year, instead of an innocent paint pellet, players are being eliminated permanently with bullets to the head. The head investigator, Luca's own father, is stumped as the death toll increases. Soon Luca will be next, and if she cannot bring light to the hidden secrets within Altswood High's traditions, then she too will die in this twisted version of the Hunt.