The party had begun to lose its sparkle.
Cassie felt it in her bones the way the lights dimmed too sharply, the music warped under the hum of her nerves, and how Liya vanished into the crowd like a shadow folding into itself. Something was off.
She didn't know what she expected after confronting Liya. Certainly not smiles. But the way the staff began whispering, the sudden coldness in the room, and how some fans began steering clear of her-something had shifted.
She made her way to the bathroom to catch her breath, heart still galloping in her chest. "Okay, you poked the beehive," she whispered to her reflection. "But at least now you know she's really not innocent."
She decided to leave. Fast.
But as Cassie slipped through the hallway toward the exit, the chatter of the party dimmed behind her replaced by heavy footsteps.
But before she could reach the grand hallway, a hand clamped around her wrist.
Cassie yelped, turning sharply only to find herself face-to-face with a man in black. Earpiece. Cold eyes. Silent.
"Hey, what the...!" she barely managed before two more appeared from the crowd, flanking her.
Something was wrong.
"Let go of me!" she shouted, struggling.
No one seemed to notice like the crowd parted just enough to keep this hidden. Like this was choreographed.
Cassie kicked one in the shin, tried to run, but a cloth pressed against her mouth. Her limbs trembled. Everything blurred.
The last thing she saw was a chandelier flickering above her head like a dying star before everything went dark.
Somewhere Else. Much Later.
Cassie awoke to the sensation of something scraping her wrists.
Rope.
Her head throbbed. Her mouth was dry. The room was dim and smelled faintly of roses.
She blinked slowly, trying to adjust. She was tied to a chair. Her arms were bound, her ankles looped with rope. Across from her, sitting calmly with her legs crossed like they were meeting for tea, was Liya.
"You're awake," Liya said sweetly, holding a porcelain teacup. Her voice was pleasant. Too pleasant.
Cassie groaned. "You psychotic Barbie. You kidnapped me?"
Liya gave a soft laugh. "Such rude words. I invited you. You just got... too curious."
"You drugged me and tied me to a chair!"
"You wouldn't have come willingly if I asked politely, would you?"
Cassie's eyes flared with fury. "You really are a monster."
The smile vanished.
Liya set her teacup down, stood, and walked slowly toward her. "Monster? You think I'm a monster because I took what the world denied me?"
Cassie looked her squarely in the eye. "You killed people. You're stealing lives for fame. Marcuk is dead because of you!"
Liya's lips twitched. She raised her hand then
SLAP!!!
The blow sent Cassie's head snapping to the side. Her cheek stung. Her eyes welled.
"Don't you dare talk to me like you know what I've been through," Liya hissed, the mask finally slipping.
Cassie's breathing trembled, but she glared at her. "Nothing justifies what you've done."
"You think I wanted to be this person?" Liya shouted, her eyes fierce. "You think I dreamed of stealing light from others just to shine a little? You know nothing."
"Then tell me," Cassie growled, her voice cracked. "Tell me what made you this way. You're a demon."
There was silence.
Liya turned her back. Her shoulders rose and fell once before she started laughing maniacally.
"You dont know what I've been through. I was born in a city that forgot people like me existed. No father. A mother who worked in a sweatshop and came home too tired to speak. We had one room. One meal a day. Sometimes not even that."
She faced Cassie again, eyes shadowed by memory.
"I had one pair of shoes for five years. I walked past glass windows filled with food I could never taste. And I was pretty. That was the only currency I had."
Cassie watched, silent now.
"So I smiled at cameras," Liya continued. "I danced in talent shows, sold my innocence to audition rooms full of vultures, and scraped my way through every backdoor in the industry."
Her voice cracked slightly. "They laughed at me. Called me rotten fruit-pretty on the outside, hollow inside. I knew I needed to change the game. And then he found me."
Cassie's heart dropped. "He?"
Liya smiled coldly. "The man who gave me this."
She pulled something from her pocket.
A glowing trinket. The same one Cassie had glimpsed before but now up close, it pulsed like it had a heartbeat. Something dark lived inside.
Liya smiled again but it was no longer human. "A way out. A trade. My misery for another's joy. I said yes."
Cassie's stomach twisted.
Liya knelt down, level with her. "You don't understand now. But you will. You'll see. When the world throws you away enough times, you stop playing fair."
"I'd rather be thrown away than become like you," Cassie said through clenched teeth.
Liya's smile faltered, but she stood. "We'll see. You've got the eyes of someone ready to shatter."
"No!" Cassie screamed as Liya leaned forward.
The necklace dangled above her like a guillotine.
"I saw it in you," Liya murmured. "Bright. Hopeful. Just like the others. This... this will help me last a little longer."
"You're a monster!" Cassie cried, struggling as the cold metal settled around her neck.
The moment it touched her skin, a shudder ripped through her body.
Dark tendrils crept over her arms, not physical but felt cold as ice, like the absence of light. She gasped, shaking, eyes wide.
"You won't get away with this," she choked. "Someone will stop you. I'll stop you!"
Liya only chuckled, standing.
She turned toward the door, pausing for one last smile.
"I've already gotten away with it, sweetheart."
And then she left.
Cassie sat there, trembling, tears sliding down her cheeks. Her wrists ached from the ropes. Her vision blurred from the pounding fear and the weight of the trinket now leeching the light from her chest.
She let out a shaky cry. "Someone... please…"
The air in the room grew cold.
"Cassie!"
She blinked. The ghost boy Marcuk was hovering in front of her, panicked, his eyes wide with guilt and fear.
"Marcuk?" she breathed. "You... you're here!"
"I tried to stop her!" he said, voice cracking. "I didn't know she would do this to you!"
Cassie sobbed. "I'm going to die like you. I'm going to disappear and no one will know! This is your fault!"
"I'm sorry!" he cried. "I didn't want this! I just wanted you to help"
Cassie glared through the tears. "Help me, then! If you're really sorry, HELP ME!"
Marcuk hovered closer, trying to grab the necklace, his hands phasing through it like mist. "I can't touch it... it's dark magic… but I can find someone who can."
Cassie's eyes widened. "Adrian. Find Adrian...please, go!"
Marcuk hesitated, fear shadowing his face. "I don't know if he'll hear me…"
Cassie screamed, "GO!"
The ghost vanished into smoke.
Cassie was left trembling in a room too cold for comfort, bound to a chair with the weight of someone else's greed strangling her slowly.
She closed her eyes and whispered into the void, "Please, Adrian… come save me."