"YOU WILL NOT HAVE TO DISCARD YOUR PETS, and I will not discard YOU. Best stay away from the gala, though. YOU SEEM SQUEAMISH."

3:11pm

The afternoon sun hung low in the sky, painting Jasper, Nevada, in warm hues of orange and gold. The school parking lot buzzed with activity—students talking, laughing, climbing into their cars or onto bikes. Y/n stood slightly apart from it all, her posture awkward, head tilted in her usual unnatural way, fingers lightly supporting her chin.

It was then that she saw it.

A car. Not just any car.

Bright red. Sleek. Polished to a mirror sheen, reflecting the last rays of sunlight with an almost predatory gleam. A European model—Aston Martin One-77, her mind supplied, the details filtering in automatically. Expensive. Rare. Out of place in Jasper, Nevada.

The inner rims of the wheels shimmered gold.

Y/n blinked.

Her gaze lingered, tracing the flawless curves of the vehicle. Its presence felt... wrong. Not in the way a broken machine did, but in the way a living thing did when it was somewhere it shouldn't be.

Still, she said nothing.

Then—movement.

From the corner of her eye, she saw them.

Miko, Jack, and Raf, each heading toward different vehicles parked at the edge of the lot. Nothing strange about that—except the way they moved. It wasn't casual. No hesitation. No second guesses. Just a direct path to their respective rides.

Jack slid into the driver's seat of a blue motorcycle.

Raf climbed into a yellow muscle car.

Miko all but jumped into a massive dark green SUV looking car.

Y/n didn't blink. But something inside her shifted.

Her fingers curled slightly under her chin.

Their choices were odd. The vehicles too distinct, too deliberate.

She stood there, unmoving, watching as the doors shut and the engines rumbled to life. The vibrations hummed in her bones, deep and strong.

A slow inhale.

"Suspicious activity," she murmured under her breath.

Her gaze flickered back to the red sports car, its surface gleaming as if it were watching her back.

She tilted her head.

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