Rosella – First Person POV
I've always hated being underestimated.
It's why I never corrected teachers when they assumed I was here on a sports scholarship. Why I let rich girls smirk at my off-brand shoes. Why I smiled when Damien Carter looked at me like I was a puzzle to solve.
Because underestimating me?
That's how you lose.
And someone, somewhere, was about to lose big.
---
The letter slid under my door at 3:17 AM.
I didn't open it right away. I listened first.
No footsteps. No breathing.
Just stillness. Heavy. Intentional.
I picked it up with shaking hands.
It read:
> "You don't stop, someone else bleeds."
There was a smear of red ink across the edge of the page.
At least... I hoped it was ink.
---
I ran to the security office.
It was locked.
No lights.
No guards.
No anything.
Just a sticky note on the desk:
> "System under maintenance."
A school this rich?
Security doesn't go down.
It gets shut down.
Which meant: I wasn't the only one being watched.
Someone wanted to see what I'd do next.
I gave them a show.
---
I broke into the Foundation wing.
Technically, Damien gave me the access code two days ago.
Said it was for "emergencies."
I'm pretty sure this counted.
Inside: rows of files, digitized databases, and a temperature-controlled vault marked:
> CONTRACTED OBSERVATIONS: LEVEL 3 & ABOVE
And guess what name was right at the top?
> Morgan, Rosella.
---
The file wasn't thick.
Just terrifying.
Photos of me walking with Damien.
Me in class.
Me at the party.
Someone had been tracking me before I even knew who the Thorns were.
I flipped to the final page.
Typed in bold:
> Psychological profile indicates high-risk intellect, uncooperative behavior, likelihood of resistance to assimilation: 87%
> Subject may need to be removed or reconditioned if influence increases.
Removed.
Reconditioned.
Was this a school or a cult?
---
?? – Anonymous Third-Person POV
She moved faster than expected.
They had watched her from day one.
They'd even considered turning her into a mouthpiece, like the others.
But she'd done the one thing they never anticipated:
She made Damien Carter feel.
And now the boy they'd raised to lead...
Was breaking rules to protect her.
Sentimentality was always the first crack in the system.
But they would fix it.
Or erase it.
---
Rosella – First Person POV
I walked out of the archive room with the file in my bag and fire in my bones.
If they wanted me scared?
Too late.
I was furious.
I didn't go to my dorm. I didn't even look behind me.
I went to Damien.
He opened the door on the first knock, shirtless, eyes bloodshot.
I shoved the file into his chest.
He didn't say a word.
He just opened it.
Page by page.
And then: silence.
"I'm sorry," he said finally. "I never thought they'd classify you that high. You're not... you were supposed to be—"
"Safe?" I snapped.
He nodded once.
"They called me high-risk," I whispered. "They wrote it down like I'm a weapon."
"You are."
I stared at him.
And for the first time?
I believed it.
---
He sat on the edge of his bed, the file loose in his lap.
"If they've reached Level 3 protocol, we need to get ahead of this."
"How?"
"We start leaking."
I blinked. "You want to... whistleblow?"
"Not us," he said. "Them. We bait them into exposing themselves. Push them to panic. Desperation makes people sloppy."
"Won't that make them more dangerous?"
He looked up at me, eyes colder than I'd ever seen.
"They already crossed that line, Rose."
---
I sat beside him.
The file between us like a live wire.
"You're not scared?" I asked.
"I'm terrified," he admitted.
"But I'd rather burn with you than pretend this place doesn't rot from the inside."
---