Chapter Fifteen

Horror marred the visage of the girl and she stuck a finger at the boy. "Are you the Hex Beast?!"

The boy only scoffed. "I don't have to be the Hex Beast to know you're next."

Lucianne watched as the girl processed his words, her eyes darting about the students all around her. She breathed fast in panic, her body spinning round and round. She faced the boy again to spout more insults, but he took a step towards her and she backed away in fear. Her feet caught at Frieda's body and she tumbled over her knees, falling onto her bottom.

"You don't know what you're talking about!" the girl cried out. Just then, Frieda's body jerked, a guttural sound leaving her body. The girl jumped and screamed, kicking away from her body. She got to her feet in a split second and sped towards the other side of the crowd, and it parted for her to go through.

But she did not take even five steps before her body went crashing down across the cobblestone face first. She turned onto her back, her hands grasping hard at her throat as blood poured from her mouth. She writhed in agony, her nails digging into her skin and causing bloody lines to form down the length of her cheeks. Screaming, she tore her blouse open, and everyone saw purple blooming outwards on her chest, before finally, her body stilled.

"It looks like she was poisoned," Lucianne said. "We need to help her, maybe she's still breathing - "

Harper's hand shot out to grab her forearm. "Don't."

Lucianne stared back at her friend. "Why?"

"You'll be next," she said.

"I don't care about that."

"How can you be so unfazed about all of this?"

Lucianne shrugged out of Harper's hold on her. She walked over to the girl's body, dropping to her side and placing a finger over her nose. Her eyes were bloodshot and wide open, fear immortalised in them.

"She's still breathing, but not much," Lucianne said, then looked at the students. "Somebody help me bring her to the infirmary."

"Once a victim is chosen, they are left to their fate. If you help them, you're only putting a target behind your back," the boy said.

"Are you for real?"

"You've got a target on your back, girl."

"Wake up! You're only giving more power to the campus murderer."

Everyone stayed quiet. Slowly, they returned to Ravenspire, one by one. Lucianne tried to drag the girl's body but gave up after a while. The next time she put a finger below her nose, she no longer felt any breath. She was dead. Taking her cardigan off her back, she tore it into two pieces and placed them over the faces of both girls before she returned to Ravenspire.

It didn't take long for classes to resume where they left off and while everyone was attentive to class, it was obvious that their minds were on the two murders that occurred earlier outside Ravenspire. Soon after, the bell for lunch rang and Lucianne headed to the food hall to meet with her friends.

"Eventful first day of November, wasn't it?" Jonas said.

"We're all gonna die…" Abbie said.

"Don't talk like that," Harper chided. "The Hex Beast is one person only, he can't kill us all if we stick together."

"Are you dumb or what?" Jonas said. "He just killed two girls in front of everyone, without even lifting a finger."

"We're next…" Abbie said fearfully.

"If I knew the Hex Beast, I'd shake his hand and tell him I'm a very huge fan of his. The way he takes people out, there is such an immaculate beauty to it - " Jonas droned on. Lucianne stared at him, fighting the urge to roll her eyes at him. She was about to pick up her apple when her eyes dropped down his body and something caught her eye.

Dancing down Jonas' arms were thin scratches. Several of them. They were around his wrist, around his forearms, on his upper arms. Red scratches, thin lines. Like some sharp object had -

Like fingernails had caused those scratches.

"Now, everyone should be afraid of him. He commands the fear of every student, and at this point, he's pretty much a legend. But honestly, if you really ask me, I think he's just a loser who wants attention but can't get it by his own pitiful self," Jonas said.

A girl racing down the hallways of Ravenspire, fearful glances repeatedly thrown past her shoulder.

He usually had long sleeves, and she never saw him without that sweater. But today, he was not wearing it. He gestured wildly with his hands, switching between praise and insults at the Hex Beast, his nose stuck into the air. His arms moved and moved, and Lucianne noticed a new scratch, apart from the other scratch which seemed to extend past his elbow.

The girl reached a dead end, her body shivering in fear. She pounded on the door, shook the doorknob, but it wouldn't budge. She screamed for help, throwing more glances behind her back. But nobody answered.

Lucianne's eyes trailed up Jonas' body. There were scratches on his neck too, lining the side of it. Dried blood decorated it and as her eyes continued to wander, she caught another scratch across his chin. There was even a scratch by his ear. Next to it, below it.

The door bursting open, the girl being dragged into it, her body seizing in fear. Strong hands wrapped around her neck, choking the air from her body. The man shook her to and fro, draining her of life. He taunted her, and her hands flayed outwards to claw at his body, trying desperately to get away from him. She screamed again for help, but the vice-like grip around her neck choked her words, and all that came out were whimpering cries.

"He's a joke, but he makes a joke out of all of us," Jonas said, his hand rubbing his forearm. "It's epic. Look at you guys running around with your tails between your legs. You're pathetic."

Why do you have fingernail scratches on your body, Jonas?

"Lucianne," Jonas said.

"What?"

"I know what you're thinking."