"You have 90 seconds to hide. If you are found, you die. Good luck." Shocked whispers irrupted through the corridor "90 seconds?" "When has it ever been 90 seconds." She slipped away from the panicking croud through a side door. This was the third drill this week. With each one, the time they are given shortens. She glimpsed a familiar figure skirting away to her right. Dillin gave her a quick nod as he vanished through another doorway. At least he had the sense to run. The sound of the crowd faded behind her as she aimed straight for her regular hiding spot. So many people are going to die today. She could already smell the blood. She spared the timer a glance as she rushed by. 28 seconds.
she kicked the trap door open with her foot and swung herself down the hole just as the timer ticked down to 10. She crouched down in the dark, heart racing. She was certain this will be their last drill, because after this, there will be hardly any of them left. She closed her eyes, bracing for the enevetable.
A second later, the screams started. .

you forced your way into my mind. Seeped into my vains and tainted my blood. A sensation both deadly and kind.
A tide that gently rises then builds into a flood. You whispered in my ear promises you never intended to keep. You warmed me with fire and blanketed me with fear, and put all my strident thoughts to sleep. So i lie still as your poison claims me. Az it erases and rewrites.
A potent spell that shapes and renames me,
and burns away all the blinking warning lights.

Shards of glass littered the floor. She bent down and picked up a shard. The break was so clean you could’ve never guessed it belonged to a larger piece. “Kara?” Someone said behind her. A concerned question that sounded so genuine she almost turned around. But no, she’s had enough. “Please go,” she clenched her fingers around the shard in her hand and squeezed her eyes shut, fighting back tears. “Kara, you can’t—“ “Just go,” she repeated, “please,” she added in a choked whisper, and she hated herself for it. Hands fell on her shoulders and turned her around. “Look at me,” Lilien said gently. She carefully pried Kara’s fingers from the shard of glass, and she let her, because she always did. The shard dropped to the ground with a clatter. Lilien reached out and brushed a tear from her cheek. Kara hadn’t realized they started falling. “I didn’t intent this to hurt you this badly,” said Lilien as she brushed the hair from Kara’s face. Kara flinched back. It was like Lilien took the shard of glass and stabbed her through the chest with it. “Of course you did,” Kara said, trying to pull away, “why else would you have done it.” “Because I love you,” Lilien said indignant, “because you deserve better than this.” “It’s gone. It was the only thing I had left and its—,” she couldn’t finished the sentence. “Oh Kara,” Lilien’s leaf green eyes looked at her so softly. Another pain bloomed in her chest. This one too familiar. “You wanted me to find this,” she said, “just like every other time. I can’t keep doing this.” She looked down at Lilien’s hand resting on top of hers and she wanted to lean into her so badly. Lilien was jagged glass she couldn’t help but repeatedly hurting herself on, and she new that by nightfall, all of this will be brushed aside. They needed each other too much, however broken the pieces become. “I never wanted to hurt you,” Lilien said again. “You can just say it,” Kara said, “you can say that you enjoy causing me pain and we could stop lying to ourselves. You’ve caused me so much pain, yet the love I feel for you blinds me of it.” And she did love Lilien. She loved her so much that the pain of it drowned that of any wounds. “I just want to help you let go,” Lilien said. Kara laughed, “let go? Let go of what? I have nothing left, but you will still somehow manage to take more from me.” Kara gave in. She stopped fighting, and let herself fall into the comfort of Lilien’s embrace.

Kai has always known that this room, this reprieve, was temporary. She kept a sack in the corner with only essentials for the inevitable moment they will have to leave. Her mother had taught her well. “Be ready to remove any traces of your existence,” she had said, “you should be able to clear the area in seconds.” The less than comfortable mat on the floor that she slept on every night was rolled up and shoved to the side. Even her mother thought that was going a little bit overboard but Kai took all of her teachings to heart. The room was otherwise barren. The stone floor was covered with a layer of dust and the walls were cracked in several places. All she had to do was toss the sack over her shoulder and run, and she would leave behind a room that looks like it hadn’t been occupied for a while.