AZRIEL. A love written in blood.

Be careful what you wish for ‘cause you never know which is true or which isn’t. As a fiction lover myself, I basically see everything on a fictional basis, and hell, I’d even wish for my own fictional bad boy. My very own Edward Cullen… or my own Jacob to spice things up.

But those are every teenage girl’s dreams, right?

So why did mine have to be taken seriously?

This should be the dream of every college girl. King-size bed. A wardrobe with every type of clothing you can imagine. A room painted in soft pink and purple, complete with a flat-screen TV that covers half the wall.

Anything you could ever want is here except one thing: freedom.

The freedom I’ve longed for, for so long.

The freedom to just leave.

To have a say in anything, even something small.

To not be eyed like prey.

To not be scared that my life could end at any second.

God, how much I wish I could take back the clock to the very night everything changed. Maybe if I’d known, I would’ve made a different choice. Maybe if I had just stayed home. Or turned back the second I sensed something was off.

OCTOBER 31st, 2052

Twirling around in front of the mirror, “What do you think of this outfit, Zoya?”

I’d moved out of my parents’ house a few months back, and this was the first Halloween I’d be spending with my roommate in our tiny apartment in Central Florida. Not like my parents care. Their work means everything to them even more than their own daughter.

Zoya sprang up from the bed and walked toward me, adjusting the wings on my vampire-inspired costume. “It’s as spooky as the word spooky.”

“You think I should add anything else? Maybe a hose or a hairband? I got a really cute one from the thrift store, it might match perfectly.”

She brought a hand to her chin, circling me with narrowed eyes. I stood still, waiting. “Hmm… I think the outfit’s just perfect. Maybe just a little ribbon in your hair. Anything more would ruin it.”

“You sure?” I asked, smoothing the hem of the dress.

The costume consisted of a tantalizing short gown with a fitted bodice that showcased my daring neckline. But the real showstopper? The bat-like wings sprouting from my shoulders and curving behind my neck. Lightweight material, intricate Gothic details freakin’ awesome.

“Absofuckenlutely,” Zoya said, bringing her fingers together in the ‘chef’s kiss’ sign.

Ding… ding… ding.

“Did you hear that?” I turned around, tracing the direction of the sound.

“Hear what?”

“I think someone’s phone is ringing.”

“Ooh…definitely mine!” Zoya bolted toward the drawer.

“Why do you keep putting your phone on silent? You’re going to miss something important one day,” I called out.

“It’s Fred,he’s asking if we’re getting ready…”

“Tell him I am. Can’t say the same for you.”

“Chill, Aya. It’s just past four. We’ve got all night.”

“That’s not the point. We’re unfamiliar with the location, we need to leave on time, or we’ll get lost in those woods.”

“Fred said there’ll be signs to guide us.”

“Yeah? You need light to see signs.” I walked to the fridge for a soda.

“Will you both quit arguing and just get ready?” Fred’s voice suddenly blasted from the speaker.

I spit out my drink. “Zoyaaaa, you left the call on?!”

“Oops, thought he hung up already.”

“I’m still here…” Fred said dryly.

“Just shut up already,” we both chorused.

“Fine. Meet us at the park by 5:30. Don’t be late,” he said, then hung up.

“See?” Zoya flopped back on the bed. “Still got over an hour.”

“Zoya, what’s with you and doing everything at the last minute?”

Spreading her fingers dramatically like a door opening, she grinned. “It runs in my blood. Gives me thrills. You know… like orgies.” She added sticking her tongue out.

Rolling my eyes, I returned to the mirror. “Oh, I forgot, you can’t relate. You’ve refused to get laid,” she teased, bursting into laughter.

“I fuckin’ hate you, you know that?” I shouted as I fixed the final details.

“Oh, my dear friend, you love me to death and can’t live without me,” she said, wrapping her arms around me from behind.

“Get off me…and put some clothes on.” I nudged her off playfully.

I added my fake fangs, blood-red lipstick, dramatic eyeshadow, bold eyeliner, black ankle boots with bat-wing buckles, and of course, my choker with the miniature bat pendant engraved with my name. My hair? Tied in a messy bun, with a few strands dangling around my ears and face.

At exactly 5:20, we both left our apartment. Zoya had chosen the Catwoman costume, and hell, she pulled it off really well.

“Look who finally decided to show up. The twins from different mothers,” Fred called out the moment we got to the park, waving his hand above the roof of a car I didn’t recognize.

“Whose car is this?” I asked as we climbed into the backseat.

“Borrowed it. Specially for the occasion,” he said, flashing that smug grin of his as he started the engine and zoomed off.

In the backseat, Jack and his girlfriend April were already tangled up in each other, lip-locked like the world was ending tomorrow.

“Hi, Jack,” I greeted dryly, mostly to remind them they weren’t alone.

“You two need to get a room,” Zoya muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes.

Yeah, she still wasn’t over him. Not that she’d ever admit it.

Trying to defuse the sudden tension in the air, I turned to Fred. “So, how exactly did you find out about this party?”

He shrugged, eyes on the road. “It’s been all over campus. People are calling it the party of the year. Half the school’s heading there tonight.”

“Right, but why the forbidden woods of all places? They couldn’t have picked, I don’t know, literally anywhere else?”

“Aya, come on. It’s Halloween. Spooky vibes, remember?” Fred replied, grinning as he sped up.

I let out a sigh and leaned back in my seat. “Fine. Just don’t blame me if we all get murdered in the middle of nowhere.”

About fifteen minutes later, the car rolled to a slow stop at the mouth of a narrow dirt path. There were faint tire marks, proof that others had driven this way recently. Fred turned in and followed the path until we reached an open space where several other cars were already parked.

He found a decent spot and killed the engine.

“I don’t see anyone,” April said, glancing out the window uneasily.

“Look,there’s a sign,” Zoya pointed, stepping out. Tied to a tree was a wooden arrow with shaky red letters painted across it: End of the driveway. Use your feet.

“Uh… is that blood?” Jack asked, squinting.

We all stared.

“Okay, this doesn’t look good. I’m getting a really bad feeling about this,” I muttered, folding my arms.

“Relax, Aya. You always get jumpy over nothing. It’s probably just red paint,” Zoya said, grabbing my hand and tugging me forward.

The farther we walked, the darker it got. We couldn’t even hear cars anymore, just the sound of our footsteps crunching twigs and the occasional hoot of an owl in the trees. Everyone eventually pulled out their phones and turned on the flashlights, but the beams felt swallowed by the night. The path was still raw, like it had only recently been trampled by people. Leaves brushed against our arms, branches scratched at our clothes, and I couldn’t help but wonder how no one else was creeped out by this.

Ten minutes in, we were still following the strange signs nailed to trees: Take a left. Go right. Almost there.

My legs ached, and my boots were starting to dig into my ankles.

“Just how far is this place?” I asked no one in particular.

“We’re not lost,” Fred said, trying to sound confident. “The signs are leading us somewhere. They have to be.”

We climbed over a fallen log, ducked under a low-hanging branch, and continued deeper into the trees.

“This is insane,” I muttered under my breath. “Who even throws a party in a place like this? We don’t know who’s hosting it, we don’t know how far it goes, and nobody’s cell service is working anymore. This has horror movie written all over it.”

“Ugh, you’re such a buzzkill,” April snapped, tossing her red curls over her shoulder. Her lipstick still looked perfect. “Can you just stop whining for five minutes?”

I bit my tongue. This wasn’t the time to start something. But if she said one more thing…

Just then, we reached what looked like a T-junction. Another sign was stuck in the ground ahead.

But before any of us could read it, I heard something. A low rustling sound, fast and sharp,too fast to be footsteps.

“What was that?” I whispered, frozen in place.

Then I saw it. A shadow. Something was coming straight toward us.

We all stopped. The air felt colder, heavier.

And then,before anyone could react,the thing leapt out of the darkness.

“AHHHHHH!”