Roomies

“This is your room.” June turned her back to the cherry-red door decorated with postcards from across the world. A few faux sunflowers were stuck haphazardly in between. “You’ll be sharing it with another girl. Ariah Winter. I think you should get along quite well. She’s a bit shy, but a sweet girl, non the less.”

I nodded, stepping toward the door.

“I see you only brought this.” June pointed at my duffel. “We have a store room filled with second-hand goodies for those who come over empty handed. You know, not everyone’s parent’s, especially those coming from human ones, are exactly keen on helping their young ones settle in and make their stay as comfortable as possible.”

“Yeah, well…” What could I say? I was still having a hard time processing the fact that my mom did this to me. I wondered how Dad was going to react. I shook the thought from my head—not that he cared, anyway.

“The point is.” June rested a hand on my arm. “You’re welcome to visit me and take a few things for your side of the room. Make it a bit more homely.”

I strongly doubted I could turn a foreign place into a home, but the gesture was sweet. “Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Ariah was born into a werewolf family,” June explained. “If anything, I think she’s a great fit for you because you can learn a lot from her about our world.”

Again, I nodded.

“Right, I supposed this settles it then. You know where to find me.” June smiled, but I didn’t miss the concern shadowing her features.

I knew she’s worried about the whole Luca incident and what all this would mean for me. Luca was a rogue wolf, outcasted by his own kind. When you’re outcasted, your powers get stripped, and you can’t get in touch with the spiritual realm or with the huntress. Somehow he managed to bypass it, and here we were.

They’ve threatened him with torture before I was escorted from the room if he didn’t talk. I had a feeling there was a lot they didn’t tell me. The question was, what?

I watched as June rushed down the cavernous hallway as if the soles of her feet had caught fire. I frowned, curious what that was about.

There was a clicking sound behind me, and light spilled onto the floor, lining my dark shadow in a halo of gold.

I turned to find a girl my age gaping at me with her mouth hanging open and a lollipop in her cheek. “Aphf newf girlf?” She struggled to speak, tearing the lollipop from her mouth. “You're staying in this room?” She waved a hand behind her. “As in, I get a roommate?”

My brows shot up. “Yeah, I guess this is my room too.”

She startled me with a loud squeal and threw her arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug. “Welcome!” When she stepped back, she spoke in a breathless tone. “You have no idea how miserable it’s been without a roomie. Come in!”

I followed her into the room. “Wow,” was all I managed. Ariah was set up well. “Are all the rooms like this?”

“Nope.” She waved me off. “My parents are just awesome and made sure I had everything I needed.”

A sad lump formed inside my throat as I scanned the large space. The room was decorated in all tones of autumn. A desk in the corner came with a laptop, coffee, and popcorn machine.

I kid you not.

“Uh, which bed is yours?” I asked, my eyes bouncing between two twin beds decorated with rich brown bedding with orange leaves on them.

“This one here.” She waved an arm to the bed on the left. “I bought some bedding for the second bed when my previous roomie passed away, you know, to fill up the space.” Her brows furrowed. “You don’t like it? I can take it off if you want?”

Ariah reached for the pillow on my bed. I shook my head. “No, it’s not that. The bedding is pretty, actually, it’s just...The previous girl died?”

“Oh.” Ariah straightened. “Yeah, she was murdered.”

“Murdered?” my voice echoed. “While she was here, at this place?”

Ariah shifted, regret visible on her face. “Yeah, in this room.”

“Please don’t tell me...On my bed?”

“She was found stabbed in her bed,” she said, then quickly added, “But don’t worry, they threw it out and burned the bed after. They replaced it with a brand new one.”

I peered nervously back at the door. “Is this a regular thing around here?”

“If it was, do you think I’d be here?” she snorted. “No, it happened during class. The girl, Sally, said she wasn’t feeling well and got sent to her room. Later the day when one of her friends checked up on her, she was found in a pool of blood in her bed.”

“Where were you?”

She heaved a sigh. “In class. I’m so grateful I didn’t get to see it. I can’t imagine what her friends had to go through seeing her like that. Sally and I weren't besties, but I liked her. She was nice to have around.”

“Don’t you feel uncomfortable sleeping in a room knowing a girl was murdered in?”

“Yeah. I had a terrible time at first, but you kind of get over it,” she explained. “Anyway, they caught him. The boy who did it. It was her ex-boyfriend who fell into a fit of jealous rage. So, you don’t have to worry about some psychopath being on the loose. He got punished for what he did.”

“Oh.” Relief washed over me. I eyed my bed, not sure how I felt about sleeping in this room. I crossed the room, placing down my duffel on top of my neatly-made bed. It wasn’t until I unpacked that Ariah spoke up again.

“Luca Greene got what he deserved,” she breathed, tearing open a pack of candy.

I dropped my hairbrush. “Luca?” I could feel the color drain from my face.

“The one and only. They stripped him of his power and sent him to Nightfall prison. Exactly where he belongs. Trust me, no one gets out of there.”

What were the chances of there being two boys with that name? “Luca, what did he look like?”

“Kind of hot. Such a waste,” Ariah sighed, then held up a finger. “Wait, I think I’ve got a picture of the two of them in here somewhere.”

Ariah ducked her head into our shared closet and withdrew a large pink photo album, flipping it open. “Give me a—ah! Here it is. See?”

I moved in beside her, and my heart climbed into my throat the second my eyes settled on the picture. Right in front of me was a shot of a couple, their smiles almost contagious.

Almost.

If one of them wasn’t Luca Greene, I might have gushed at how cute they looked.

It was the same Luca who had marked me.

My skin turned cold as I stared down at them. They looked so...happy. What went wrong?

And how the hell was Luca free?