It had been almost five years since Selena Gomez last stepped foot in Triton.
It didn't look any different from how she remembered it.
There was the 24-hour diner and its neon pink sign that welcomed everyone like it always had. There was still that one hotel that housed the fanciest restaurant in town. There was her high school where everyone knew everyone and where she first found out what love was.
Even her room was the same as how she left it. She had told her parents they could use it as a storage room for all she cared. But they told her the house had many other rooms and they insisted on keeping it like that for when she visited. Even though she never did.
It was still the sleepy town of her childhood.
She felt like she was the only one that had changed.
And she felt out of place.
She had come home for her sister's graduation.
Unlike the past five years' worth of holidays where she could make up an excuse to not go home or coax her family to visit her instead, she kind of had no choice with this one. It was her baby sister's graduation and her sister begged her to be there.
Victoria graduated as the valedictorian just like she did five years ago.
It was pretty grand to be back to the high school she went to. Most of the teachers who taught her were still there, commenting on how grown up she looked now. She merely smiled, thanked them, and excused herself to tour the school and walk across the hallways like how she used to.
She visited her locker which she used to decorate with purple stickers – something she only got away with because the teachers liked her. She visited the lab where her best friend fainted after they drew blood for blood typing day.
She visited her old Homeroom classroom where she met him. She sat at the back that day, doodling on her planner when the teacher introduced the new student.
His curly hair was the first thing she noticed because it was much too long than what the school allowed. She wondered then how he got away with it but maybe he was like her - able to sweet talk his way to get what he wanted.
The ring of her phone disrupted her trip to nostalgia. Her mother called to tell her that the ceremony was about to start.
Victoria's speech was perfect like how everyone expected it to be.
They took many photos after the ceremony was done and went to the fanciest restaurant to have dinner after.
The four of them sat on the middle of the busy restaurant. Many of the families from the high school had the same thought of going to the same restaurant after all.
Victoria was excitedly going on and on about her plans in college as their parents listened.
She looked at Victoria with an amused expression. It was like watching herself five years ago.
When dessert was served, Victoria excused herself. Her boyfriend had arrived to pick her up for the party the graduating class had. It was like a sort of last hurrah they did. Selena and her friends had one as well. It was like an unspoken tradition every graduates had.
She watched her sister walk to her boyfriend who was waiting for her by the door. The boy waved at them from behind the glass doors after a chaste kiss on her sister's cheek.
From what Victoria had told her, they had decided to stay together and give long-distance relationship a go. Victoria was going to New York while he was going to Washington.
It was the one thing that differentiated them.
Victoria was brave enough to venture to the unknown like that.
She wasn't.
It was something they didn't talk about. He didn't ask her so she didn't either. They just left everything up in the air and went about their relationship like they were not going to different places after graduation.
Like they were still going to be together and work it out.
She helped him pack. He told her he loved her.
The night before she was flying out to Cambridge, she went to his house. She carried with her a box that contained all the memories they shared for three years: letters, pressed flowers, his football jersey, a few stuffed toys, and even a CD of all their favorite songs.
She didn't even knock.
She merely dropped it by the door and walked away.
She knew he was watching her from his bedroom window when she reached the sidewalk. She could feel his stare on her skin. It was a sensation she always got when he looked at her – like excitement physically making its way under her skin.
It was something she only felt with him.
It was something she felt now.
The plate of cheesecake she was picking on was soon forgotten as her eyes searched the room.
The restaurant had somewhat calmed down. Most of the teens had left as well as some of the other diners.
Her eyes finally met the man she was searching for.
Harry Styles was seated by the hotel bar, his green eyes already fixated on her.
He was wearing a gray suit with a turquoise polo underneath. He had a bottle of beer in his hand as he sat facing the other diners.
He still had that boyish charm about him. He still had the intense glint on his eyes. He still had the same pout on his pink lips. But it was not the same. She could not quite pinpoint what it was that was different. He was a different version of the Harry she knew.
He had cut his hair shorter than when she last saw him but it was still pretty long by the school's standards. She inwardly smiled at the thought.
She didn't expect to see him this soon after she was back.
She didn't even know he was back as well.
It didn't look like he was with someone.
Maybe he was waiting for someone.
She did not want to stay long enough to find out.
Their eye contact was only broken when the bartender tapped his shoulder and he had to look away.
She slowly released the breath that had been caught on her throat.
"Honey, what's wrong?" her mama asked. Her mother looked just like her and Victoria. People often commented on how the three of them looked like sisters, much to her mother's delight.
She pursed her lips, "May I be excused? I want to go for a walk."
"Are you okay?" her mama prodded.
"Yeah, I-I just missed being back here, Ma. Just wanted to look around and see what else hadn't changed around here."
"You sure you're not going to crash Tori's party?" Her papa joked. Her father was as good-natured as they came. Selena had always been closer to their Papa while Victoria with their Mama. But both sisters knew their parents loved them both just the same.
She forced out a smile. "Maybe I will."
And she just might. She felt like she needed the alcohol right now.
"Be careful, okay?"
"Yeah, I'll meet you back at the house."
She quickly grabbed her purse and coat and headed towards the door.
She could already feel her skin tingling as her heels clacked on the marbled floor.
The chilly summer air welcomed her when she stepped out. It was the middle of spring and summer – when the days were warm and the nights cold. And she hated it.
She tightened her blush-colored coat around her, regretting that she didn't drive one of the cars in her parents' garage as her own for the night.
The streets were pretty well lit and it was still pretty early anyway.
She wasn't afraid. Nothing ever happened in Triton.
And she knew he would not follow her.
He didn't then so why would he now?
But someone was following her.
She was already a few blocks away from the hotel and from the small commercial hub in town. It was quieter and only the crickets accompanied her.
She stopped on her tracks and slowly looked back.
She didn't know if she was relieved or not when she saw no one there.
She was sure someone was following her.
She put her hands on her pockets, her phone clasped on one hand just in case she needed to call someone. The other tightened around her keys, ready to use it as a weapon if need be.
A few more seconds and she decided to continue walking home at a quicker pace.
She was only a few steps in when she realized that even the crickets had gone quiet.
Trepidation creeped up her spine. It was fear that she had only felt twice in all of her 22 years of life.
She didn't even think twice and ran, cursing at herself for choosing to wear stilettos this night of all nights.
She rounded a corner and tripped.
Her elbows caught the brunt of her fall and the rough pavement scratched her skin. She was pretty sure the skin broke and blood was oozing out.
She looked back to see what she had tripped on and was surprised to find a girl just lying there. She was angry at the unknown girl for a split second.
What the actual fuck is she doing there?
But the anger soon faded and her eyes grew wide when she saw the pool of blood beneath the girl.
Adrenaline kicked in and she quickly stood up. She ignored the stinging on her arms and the pain on her left ankle as she knelt down next to the girl.
The girl was barely conscious as Selena tried to stop the bleeding of the largest wound on her abdomen with one hand. She saw multiple ones across the girl's arms and legs as well.
Her other hand was busy fumbling with her phone as she dialed 911.
The girl's bloody hand gripped her wrist as if to stop her. Selena looked up and saw the girl's gold-colored eyes staring back at her, wide open this time.
"There's no more time," the girl said.
"Wha-what happened?" Selena gasped.
"They found me," the girl grimaced. "I wasn't careful enough."
"Who-?"
"There's no more time!" the urgency on her voice was more palpable this time. Her grip was so tight that Selena was forced to drop her phone.
She tried to remove her hand from the girl's grip but she was surprisingly stronger even in her wounded state.
The girl sat up and coughed up more blood as she leaned on the dirty wall. Her hand shook as she fished out a long dagger from her jacket.
Selena's eyes grew even wider.
What the fuck is going on?
"I'm so sorry," the girl said before she raised the dagger.
People always said that during life or death situations, either a person's flight or fight response would kick in. Nobody told her that there was another "f" in the equation.
And that was what Selena was. Frozen.
The girl plunged the blade in her own heart.
Selena screamed. She trashed about trying to scramble away from the girl whose life was slowly fading away in front of her.
But the girl's grip didn't let up.
If anything, it was like her hold onto her was getting stronger. It was like something else was binding them together.
Selena stopped moving when she saw it.
It was not an invisible force holding her to the dying girl.
It was something golden.
And it was slowly spreading from the dagger on the girl's heart and onto Selena. It was enveloping her, getting under her skin and making itself at home.
But it didn't hurt at all. It was like she was being embraced and it was a warm, familiar feeling.
And when all of Selena's skin shimmered gold, the girl finally let go.
The gold in the girl's eyes was fading fast.
And with the last of her breath, she said, "Find Harry."