---
đź“– Excerpt from Sade's Journal
(Six weeks before her death)
> I thought joining would protect me.
I thought being seen meant being safe.
But the circle doesn't shield. It consumes.
They don't want obedience — they want complicity.
Bianca pretends she's in charge. But even she flinches when he walks in.
The one with the smile that never reaches his eyes. The one who knows everything —
If I disappear, it won't be suicide.
It'll be a message.
And someone has to read it.
---
🌑 Present Day
The first scream came at 3:07 AM.
Nora woke up with a jolt, sitting straight in bed. Sharon had just returned, hair damp from mist, the chess piece still in her blazer pocket.
"Did you hear that?" Nora whispered.
Sharon stood frozen by the window.
Another scream.
This one sharper. Closer.
Nora rushed to the door, flung it open.
In the hallway, students were pouring out of rooms.
Someone — Daphne — was on the floor near the east stairwell, blood blooming across the sleeve of her cream-colored uniform shirt.
Bianca stood over her, yelling for help.
No one moved fast enough.
Damian pushed through the crowd seconds later, eyes scanning. He looked at the wound, then up at Bianca.
"What happened?" someone asked.
Bianca's voice shook — but not from sadness.
From fury.
"She was attacked. Someone followed her back from the greenhouse."
---
By morning, Crescent Grove was under unofficial lockdown.
No police were called. No public statements.
Just tighter hallway supervision, cancelled off-campus permissions, and whispers spreading faster than fire.
Daphne was alive — but unconscious.
The official report said she tripped, cut herself on broken glass.
But Sharon knew a lie when she heard one.
---
🔍 The Investigation Begins
Sharon visited the east stairwell when no one was watching.
She found nothing.
No glass.
No bloodstains.
Just a faint scuff on the wooden railing and a black button.
She pocketed the button and returned to her dorm.
Later, she placed it beside the chess piece.
Patterns were forming.
Sade's journal. The Circle's invitation. The game. The blood.
> It was starting again.
---
🧠Confrontation with Damian
She found him later near the music hall, standing alone.
"You knew this would happen," she said.
Damian didn't deny it.
"She asked the wrong question," he said. "And she asked it to the wrong person."
"Who?"
His lips parted, but no name came out.
"You're protecting them."
He stepped closer. "No. I'm protecting you."
Sharon laughed, bitter and soft. "Too late for that."
He leaned in, voice low. "This isn't about Bianca anymore. This is about what your sister found — and who she threatened to expose."
Sharon's heart slowed.
"Then who killed her?"
Damian looked at her, eyes darker than she'd ever seen them.
"I don't know," he whispered. "But I think they're about to try again."
---
đź“Ś End of Chapter Eight