The Witches (Book #1)

𝔑𝔬𝔴 ℑ𝔱'𝔰 𝔗𝔬𝔬 𝔏𝔞𝔱𝔢

I'm getting some pretty nasty looks. Except from Sehun, of course. I walk up the stairs and stand near him on the stage. He smiles.

"The packets I gave you contain the entire performance with stage directions. I'd like us to read it all out loud. That way if there are any questions we can address them immediately," says Mr. Wang in an overly enthusiastic voice that suggests he's likely the playwright.

Ms. Edelson joins him. Not far from me and Sehun, Wendy, Hyeri, and Seulgi stand with Soojung and Kai. I didn't know they were in Ms. Eung's class, but I'm willing to bet they knew I was in Wang's. Is that why they left homeroom without a word, because they didn't want to walk with me? I chew on my lip. Wendy and Soojung appear to be arguing about something, but their voices are too quiet for me to make out their words.

"Everyone not directly involved in a given scene will land against the curtains and wait their turn," Ms. Eung says in a voice that's gratingly high-pitched. "The restrooms are in the back. If anyone needs to use them, feel free, just don't hold up a scene you're in."

My hands shake as I flip through the first few pages, looking for Changbin's name. It's not there. "Who are you again?" I whisper to Sehun.

"Park Jinyoung. I'm up first," he says with fake enthusiasm.

I sympathize even though he's perfectly calm. We arrange ourselves against the curtain, with Sehun and a few other center stage. There's ten feet between me and the next person. This is so unfair. They're treating me like I have leprosy, and I was the only one without the rash.

In my peripheral vision I see Soojung staring at me. I can't help it; I look at her. She holds the little Bae doll against her side and is wrapping something that looks like hair around its neck. I can only assume it's my hair. The other girls don't seem to notice, or maybe they don't care. Maybe everything Seulgi told me last night was to get information out of me. My stomach tenses, and I turn toward the restroom.

I slip through an opening in the curtain and into the backstage area. It's dimly lit and smells like an attic. There are pulleys that control the curtains and large metal shelves. I head for the hallway in the back right corner.

A warm hand slips over my mouth, jerking my head back against a male chest. I struggle, but the grip is too strong.

"It's easy to hurt you," Kai's voice says in my ear, my neck straining. "You should never have come to Manyeo, Bae. We know all about you. I owe you one for that rash. And for Soojung's—"

I slam my elbow into his ribs. He grunts and loosens his hand on my mouth enough for me to bite down, hard. There's a moment before he reacts, and I worry he might not care. His arm tightens around my rib cage, making me gasp for breath. I keep my teeth clamped onto his hand.

All at once he releases me. I fling myself forward and away from him. In the dim lighting, I stumble into the pulleys. I get caught in the ropes and struggle to untangle my legs. I grab on to one to steady myself.

Just before I turn to face Kai, terrified he might be ready to pounce on me again, everything goes black. I look around frantically, but I can't see the room at all. All I can see is the rope in my hand—every detail of it and nothing else.

Panic creeps along my skin. At the top of the rope there's a girl's body hanging. She rotates slowly in my direction, but her hair covers her face.

After a few seconds of forever, I release my grip on the rope. The moment I let go, the blackness dissipates and the backstage area comes back into view.

What's in front of me is just as gruesome as the image of the girl hanging, though. One of the huge metal shelves is on the floor with its contents scattered around it. Under the shelf is Kai, facedown, blood oozing from his head.