The moment Sameen disappears, the mall changes.
Not the lights.
Not the music.
The air.
It turns colder, like someone opened a door to winter and forgot to close it.
Xavier and I split up, quiet and fast. Low profile. No panic. No attention.
But the deeper I move into the halls, the less the masquerade feels real.
The music fades into a distant hum.
The laughter becomes muffled.
Like the party is happening in another world and I'm walking farther and farther away from it.
My boots echo against the floor.
Too loud.
Too lonely.
I scan every corridor, every doorway, every shadow.
"Sameen…" I whisper.
Nothing.
Just cold.
Just silence.
Then a hand grabs me.
Hard.
Pins me against the wall.
My breath jolts out of me and my instincts kick in, my arm lifting to strike—
"Where is it?" a voice snaps.
I freeze.
Astraea.
My mysterious roommate.
Her grip is tight, her eyes sharper than I've ever seen them.
"Where is what?" I hiss.
"Don't play dumb with me," she says, pressing closer. "I know you took it."
"Took what exactly?" I snap back.
But she remained quite with unspoken secrets as usual
"You know what, if you're not going to say anything then you should probably not waste my time either. I'm in the middle of something urgent. Sam—"
"The moonstone."
Then she spits it out.
My stomach drops.
Oh.
"That," I say, breath catching. "I was planning on giving it to you earlier… if you hadn't been giving me the cold shoulder."
Astraea scoffs. "Yeah right. And I don't remember giving you a warm welcome either."
I open my mouth.
"I—"
A sound slams through the hallway.
BUMP.
Both of us freeze.
Every nerve in my body tightens.
"That has to be Sameen," I whisper, already pushing forward.
Astraea's grip tightens.
"No."
I turn my head sharply. "No? What do you mean no?"
Her eyes flick down the hall, then back to me, wide and tense like she knows exactly what that sound was.
"Sameen…" I say again, my voice shaking now. "Sameen!"
No answer.
My pulse races.
I try to pull away but Astraea steps in front of me, blocking the hall.
"What is wrong with you?" I demand.
Her breath is uneven.
She looks terrified.
Not of me.
Not of getting caught.
Of something else.
Something bigger.
"She's not here," Astraea whispers.
My heart drops straight into my stomach.
"What are you talking about?" I snap. "She has to be—"
Astraea's gaze lifts past my shoulder.
Her face goes pale.
Like she just heard something.
Or saw something I can't.
Then she steps back slowly.
"Astraea, wait—"
But she turns—
and vanishes.
Right in front of me.