"Class, I want everyone to give a warm welcome to our new student." Mrs. Bell announced to a room of uninterested teenagers as she gently pulled a girl up next to her. "Introduce yourself, honey." 

"Um... hello. My name is Maria. I came here from Venezuela... My English is not very good, I am sorry." Maria was a slim girl, her skin was a lovely cocoa color, her eyes a deep brown. Her hair was straight and long, falling down to below her elbows. Her voice was sweet, and her apologetic tone made her words shyly flutter around. She caught some boys' attention, leaving them sitting up slightly too get a better look. 

"No, sweetie, it's amazing! Learning another language is one of the most impressive things in my opinion." Mrs. Bell treated the girl with her usual unending kindness. "We have fun in here, get comfortable!" Maria shyly grinned and went back to her seat. As class went on, more and more boys approached her to talk, leaving her looking distressed. I sat in the corner as usual and played softly while listening to Mrs. Bell's instruction. Most of the time, at the end of class Mrs. Bell would let the class go outside because she was tired of them not listening; today was no different. A few kids asked the new student if she wanted to join them outside, her response I couldn't hear. I continued to be lost in my own world, enthralled with my guitar. 

"Um.. Hello." I heard a small voice in front of me. I looked up, and saw Maria. 

"...Hi." 

"What is your name?" She seemed very nervous as she sat down. 

"I'm Chip. Nice to meet you!" I put down my instrument and smiled. "Do you know how to play guitar?" Her eyes lit up with the question.

"Yes! Back at home, every night I would go out and play my guitar in the center of town. There were other musicians there too."

"That sounds amazing! There's nothing like that here, I don't think I've even met another musician." I paused. "Besides Mrs. Bell, of course. She taught me everything I know." 

"She seems very talented... I wish the other kids here shared the same passion she does. At home, you could see how in love everyone was with music." Maria folded her hands together, holding them to her chest. 

"Do you miss home?" I asked softly. Her whimsical smile turned into a melancholy one as she answered.

"Yes, very much. Mama and Papa said I we would have a better life here, though. My sister wants to become a doctor, so she applied for a school here. She got in, so now all of us have to move..." She sighed.

"I'm sorry... I can't imagine being ripped away from home." I thought to the looming presence of my mother being arrested, and us being taken away. "There may not be much here, but I like it... Hey, maybe I can show you around after school? My friend Rowen knows all of the good places for food and to hang out, you should come with us!" The girl beamed.

"Really? Oh, thank you, Chip!" She gleefully exclaimed. We talked for the rest of the time, and even started to play guitar together. The final bell rang and I walked her out to the steps, where I saw a boy in a black windbreaker waiting. I got some questioning looks as I walked with Maria at my side, but I tried to ignore it. 

"Ro!" I called. Rowen's head swiveled around to face me. He gave a toothy grin, his teeth yellow and almost animal-like sharp. I loved his smile, it was rare to see him with one. His ice-blue eyes fixed on the girl behind me. I saw him tense. "This is Maria, she's a new student. She moved here from Venezuela, she plays guitar too, isn't that awesome?" Rowen remained silent, hovering his eyes from me to her. 

"Hello, Chip has talked about you already. Rowen?" She held out her hand.

"I invited her to hang out with us today. I told her you knew the whole town like the back of your hand." Please behave. I wished. 

"Okay." He flatly said, turning away and walking down the stairs. Maria turned to me.

"Did I say something wrong?" She whispered.

"No! Rowen's just... not too friendly with other people." I awkwardly smiled in reassurance. We walked around for a while, me asking Rowen to take us places. He stayed silent, occasionally answering with a single word, or glaring at Maria while her back was turned. We dropped her off at sunset, and began the walk home. The sky started to darken, and neither of us had said a word. I slowly looked at him, his expression stoic as usual. "Why can't you be nice for once? Not everyone is as patient as I was. I know you're a good friend, but I can't prove that to other people if you don't even try." 

"Why do you need to prove it?"

"Because you need other friends, Rowen!" He stopped in his tracks. Without even turning to face me I could sense the anger rising in him. 

"Why? Do you think you can get rid of me? Is that why you brought that girl, so you could replace me?" His voice was a low, furious growl. "You can just say you want me to get lost-"

"No! Rowen," I jogged to get in front of him. "that's not what I'm saying. I don't want that. I don't want to get rid of you; I'm just saying that it could do you some good to have other friends. Like that Fox girl."

"The last time I spent time with her you had a meltdown." My heart panged with the memory. 

"I'm..." The awful thoughts that ran through my head that night had returned. I am being hypocritical, aren't I? "I'm sorry. I know it's unreasonable for me to get mad at you for that when I did that myself. However, I do think it would do us both good to spend time with other people." He tried to hide it, but I could still see the hurt and fear in his eyes. I cupped his face in my hands, standing on my tiptoes to do so. "I love spending time with you, you're my best friend. I want us both to have other friends, so that we can all join together and have a big friend group." He placed his hands on mine, considering my words.

"That's hard for me, Chip, to make friends." His low voice rumbled.

"Can you tell me why?" His silence spoke volumes. I let go of him and turned the other way. We were at the corner of my street, my house only a few more steps away. "It's weird." I called back, unsure if he was still frozen in place or following me. 

"What?" 

"You're supposed to be my best friend and I hardly know anything about you." The words flushed out of my mouth, where they had been hiding for a long time. I could almost feel Rowen's discomfort behind me. I continued my walk, but was suddenly jerked back by my sweater. I whipped around and saw the pale, tall boy in front of me with a familiar yet unidentifiable expression. 

"I'm sorry." He looked at the ground. "I promise I'll tell you... I just don't think I can even process it myself right now." 

"Maybe if you told me I could help you? It's killing you, Ro. Bottling these things in isn't good for you."

"I know, I know. I don't even understand all that happened... or what I'm feeling... I can't even begin to put it into words to tell you." He sighed. "I want to tell you. I need to tell you, but..." His eyes started wavering, and a clear panic started to rise from his throat. 

"Hey, it's okay. I'm sorry, I shouldn't push you." I pulled him into a hug. "I just need you to tell me when things get bad." I felt him nod. "Let's go home." 

I had gotten used to sharing the bed with Rowen. Almost every night he would have a nightmare, where he'd only seemed comforted if he cuddled up close to me. Tonight I had gathered newspapers, all explaining different details about the murders. I was trying to find any connection between them. Rowen was fast asleep on the pillow beside me, his chest rhythmically rising and  falling with heavy breaths. I had been searching for hours now, and nothing has come out of it. I started to analyze the pictures, and in one I saw something. I read the caption of the photo.

Sadie Donovan, aged 24, pictured with her friends Mary and Richard. 

Mary and Richard! I had seen them at the Faeyar meeting. There had to be something going on, maybe if I talk to them I could know more. I felt the urge to get up and go investigate, but I quickly realized it was the middle of the night. Sighing, I fell back on my pillow. Maybe Rowen was right, it is dangerous to be with the cult alone. I could end up like Sadie. 

It has to be them! They're probably sacrificing people... but they said how murder was bad and just contributing to the pollution of the human race's inherent evil. Was that just a gimmick? They seem pretty firm in their belief. Maybe they justified it in their minds? Serving their god is greater? This doesn't make sense. Were all the victims Followers? Were any Voices? 

"Chip..." Rowen grumbled. I turned to see his eyes half closed and hair ruffled. 

"Yes?" I said in a whisper, putting my hand on his cheek. "You okay?" He let out a small whimper and rested his head on my hand. 

"I think Slate wants to kill me." My eyes widened in surprise.

"What? Why?" I lowered myself to his level, my hand still trapped under him. "Did he do something to you?" 

"Yeah." His groggy voice seemed casual, on the other hand my heart started to race. 

"What did he do to you?" Rowen got up, resting on his elbow to tower over me. He put his hand on my face like the night we went back from the meeting. 

"He did this. And he threatened me." 

"Threatened you?!" My voice rose, anxiety flooding my chest. 

"He said he'd try to convert me in this- weird tone..." He was still half asleep, fumbling over his words in a croaky voice; I don't think he would even remember this tomorrow. "And he did something to my chest. It felt tight and my heart was like, in my mouth." He flopped back down, his eyes on the ceiling. "His eyes... They made me feel weird." I felt my heart sink.

"I think that means you have a crush on him." Now I felt weird.

"Huh? No. He's trying to do something to me. He probably used cult magic."

"Rowen, that's how a crush makes you feel." 

"No it doesn't."

"How would you know?"

"How would you know?" I started to feel angry, I'm not sure why. I felt some sort of strange cloud of resentment. Was I homophobic? I didn't think I was... 

"I've liked someone before. Have you?" I asked hesitantly, I'm not sure I wanted to know the answer.

"Yeah... A long time ago." His voice started to quiet, I thought he was about to fall back asleep. "It was awful." He sighed and scooted closer to me.

"Well, if this feeling is awful too, don't you think maybe-"

"Shhhhhhhhh." He said, nuzzling his head into my chest. "Goodnight." I couldn't help but let a smile escape me.

"Goodnight, Ro."