Chapter 3

"Clara, did you go see Lily yesterday?"

The next morning, Ethan blocked my path in the hallway of the science building. The smile was still there, but the curve of his mouth was different from before.

"I did. Why?"

"How did you know which hospital she was in?"

"You tagged the location in one of your posts. I just looked it up. I felt bad for your sister and wanted to visit."

His eyes flickered, but he didn't press further.

"Well, thank you. Lily said you were really nice too."

He reached into his pocket and placed something in my hand.

A bottle of eye drops.

"The air's been really dry lately, and I noticed you've been rubbing your eyes a lot. Use this, it'll help."

I looked at the packaging—it was sealed, a legitimate brand from the pharmacy. But after everything, I wouldn't dare touch anything he gave me.

"Thanks, but I have my own."

As I handed the bottle back, his fingers brushed against the back of my hand.

The moment we touched, a sharp, static-like sting shot from my skin straight up my arm.

I yanked my hand back.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Just static."

He smiled and said nothing.

After the first lecture, I opened my pencil case and realized the zipper had been left slightly open.

Inside, there was something new—another transparent red film, wrapped tightly around the barrel of my favorite pen.

When did he put it there?

My pencil case had been on my desk the entire lecture. Ethan sat diagonally behind me, less than six feet away.

He could have easily reached over while I was focused on taking notes.

I used a tissue to peel the sigil off and slipped it into the Ziploc bag.

This was the third one. One under the chair, one in my notebook, and one on my pen.

How many of these things had he planted around me?

When I got back to my dorm, I flipped my backpack inside out.

I checked my coat pockets, the inner covers of my textbooks, even the bottom of my water bottle.

Nothing else.

But who knew how many more would appear tomorrow?

That night, I sat in the corner of the library to study.

My vision was even worse than yesterday.

The words in my textbook looked as if they had been soaked in water. The edges were blurry, and the double vision was getting worse. It was the exact same progression as my past life.

I rubbed my temples. As I went to look back down at my book, I caught movement in the doorway.

It was Lily.

She was wearing massive, pitch-black sunglasses, holding a blind cane, and being guided in by Ethan.

"Hey guys, I wanted to introduce you to someone. This is my sister, Lily. She got discharged today to get some fresh air, so I thought I'd show her around campus."

"Hi, Clara," Lily said, pulling off her sunglasses and looking in my direction with a wide smile.

The pupil of her right eye was cloudy and white. The iris of her left eye had an unnatural, dark yellow ring around it, but she could still manage to focus on me.

"We meet again."

"Yeah."

Ethan pulled out his phone. "I have to take this call outside. Lily, why don't you hang out with Clara for a bit?"

He walked out.

There were seven or eight other students studying in the room, but none of them looked up.

Lily stood in front of me and suddenly reached out.

"Clara, could you take me to the restroom? I don't know my way around."

I couldn't reject a semi-blind girl in front of a room full of people.

The moment I reached out, her hand clamped around my wrist. Her grip was incredibly strong, completely disproportionate to her fragile body. Her five fingers felt like an iron band squeezing my pulse point.

As soon as we made contact, a freezing, vacuum-like suction sensation spread from my wrist up my entire arm.

It felt like something was being drained, drop by drop, from my veins.

I tried to pull away, but I couldn't break her grip.

"Walk slower, Clara. I can't see very well," she said, smiling as she leaned her body against mine, walking practically glued to my side.

She stopped at the restroom entrance and tilted her head.

"Clara, do you know why I insisted on coming to your campus today?"

"Your brother wanted to show you around."

"No. I wanted to come myself."

Her left eye, which still had a tiny bit of vision left, locked onto me. Her smile widened.

"My brother told me you were the best match in his entire year. Zero nearsightedness, zero astigmatism. Your retinal health is in the top one percent of your age group."

The blood in my veins turned to ice.

"He also said as long as you sit in that chair for six hours a day, it'll take forty days max. Then I won't have to get my eyes scooped out."

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't be scared, Clara," she said, releasing her grip. Her smile was innocent and sweet. "It's not like you'll remember any of this once it's over anyway. Master Victor said that when your life force is completely drained, there’s no pain. It’s just like falling asleep."

She put her sunglasses back on and turned to walk back.

"Thanks for taking me to the restroom."

I looked down at my wrist. The spot where she had grabbed me had a reddish handprint, and right in the center was a tiny, blister-like burn mark.

It looked like something had been seared into my skin.

Ethan came walking down the hallway, taking Lily by the hand. "Let's go, Lily. It's getting late."

As they passed me, he smiled. "Thanks for looking after her."

I watched their retreating figures disappear down the hall.

Lily leaned in and whispered something in Ethan's ear. They were too far away for me to hear.

But looking at her mouth, I could read her lips. She said three words:

*“She’s the one.”*

When I got back to my dorm, I locked the door, pulled out my phone, and typed into the search bar:

*How to break a Soul-Siphoning Sigil.*