- Gabriella -

See the reason why I dropped my spoon was because I just spotted a note on the ice-cream tub. It wasn't because I overheard Vesna and Raziel talking in the middle of the night, even though it was pretty interesting to hear the privy details of Raziel's private life. I admit it was wrong for me to eavesdrop on such a sensitive topic, but hey I didn't know the conversation was heading there.

So when the person I last expected to see and he is also the second person I hope not to encounter came popping by, I almost had a heart attack.

"If I were just a normal passer-by, I would have thought you were some nut-crack sniffing trees." He said sarcastically behind.

"What the! Fuck. Fenrys can you make some noise the next time you decide to come along?" I turned around and glared at him. I'm standing in my usual spot in the Garden of Sins, taking my much needed recharge. It turns out that this is their usual spot as well because it is more secluded from the public and only known to a privileged few who dared to venture into the wilderness of the forest linked to the park.

"If you could pick up on my breathing you wouldn't be that surprised you know." He says as he glared back at me. What is wrong with me today? First Res and then now angry Fenrys? Both of them are exactly two people I needed to avoid, but it seems fate has other ideas.

"So how was my ice cream?" I flinched. It seems he isn't keen on letting this go.

"Look it was my bad. I swear I didn't see your note until I closed the lid back."

"What part of "Do not touch. Do not Eat. Property of Fenrys." do you not understand?" He jabs his finger in the air as he emphasizes the words. "It was my favourite ice cream and I had to go all the way to the shop downtown."

"Okay. I got it. I'm sorry." I said as I sighed.

"Sorry doesn't cut it, Gabriella. I really liked that flavour and they only sell a limited amount every week." Fenrys sat onto the ground and placed his hands behind his head as he laid himself onto the soft grass. For once I'm glad that I am not someone in their squad because Fenrys doesn't seem to save face in front of them. "Then what do you want me to do? Grovel and beg for your forgiveness? Buy you a new ice cream?" I said incredulously. Ugh angry Fenrys is such a petty person.

"Pft. Grovel and beg for my forgiveness? If Damien saw that he would skin me alive. Hmm buying a new ice cream... well if you can get the same flavour from my favourite shop I will gladly accept it." But he waves his hand between the both of us, absolving whatever is it that I need to pay him back for eating his ice cream. "Forget it." I stared at him, wondering what's wrong with his mood swings. Is it just me or is Fenrys being extremely moody nowadays?

My phone buzzes with a text message from Claudia saying she will meet me at our cafe spot and I smiled. Because Vesna had requested Damien to let me off the hook, now I can freely go wherever I want as long as I am in the company of my friends. Whenever I'm alone, either one of the S.P.A.D. members has to be nearby to keep an eye on me.

"Hey I'm gonna meet my friends. I'm telling you so you don't have to follow me. See you later." I waited for him to acknowledge or say bye at least. But he said nothing and continued staring at the sky, so I left. As I stepped through the curtain of vines towards the main path in the Garden of Sins, I heard him sighing about gateways.

***

"Have you submitted Prof Kelly's assignment?" I asked Claudia as I took a bite of my food. We're sitting at the cafe in the Garden of Sins like usual, waiting for the rest to come. Claud seems unusually quiet today and I think she's having her monthly. "Oh right. I forgot to thank you. If you hadn't text me, I would have forgotten all about the art assignment." I looked at her and smiled.

"Speaking of submitting art assignments, guess who I met while I was on my way back." When she shrugged cluelessly, I filled her in. "I freaking met Res. It was so awkward. Did I tell you that he almost fought with Damien-I mean Daniel?"

She gave me a weak smile and pushed her food around on her plate. Claud looks paler than usual and I've never seen her lose interest in her food. "Hey are you okay? You look like death." I joked but inside I was genuinely worried for her. The last time I saw her in her dorm room I thought she lost some weight. Now she's even skinnier.

Claud looked at me and shook her head. "I'm fine. Just a mild flu." Still, I eyed her doubtfully as she pushed her food around her plate.

The cafe door tinkled and for a moment my heart raced and my panic rose. But it was Mike, Shayla, Jason and Vin. I don't see Res with them and I let out the breath I was holding.

"Hey guys!" I smiled broadly. I've never seen them in almost a week and I missed having them around. "Hey." Jason smiles as he greets me but his smile doesn't reach all the way. Something is terribly off. Suddenly I'm brought to a startling clarity of Mike's tensed mouth and Shayla's white plain shirt. Even Vin who is always on her phone isn't staring at it fondly, but glancing around, her eyes wary.

"What's wrong?" I whispered as I looked around as well. Everything in Masey's Cafe looks the same, even the same curvy waitress is on duty. The only slight difference may be that there are fewer patrons than usual?

"Didn't you hear? It was terrible." Shayla sighed as she plops into the seat next to mine. She is wearing minimal makeup today which is so unlike her usual self. "Hear what?" I said looking confused.

"Someone suicided again. This time one of Res' and Shayla's classmates." Mike said solemnly. I was too used to his carefree and joking attitude that it was difficult for me to see him speak like this. Somehow, he made the news even graver. "His name was Wesley and the school decided to hold a wake that's why I'm wearing this." Shayla says as she tugs at her shirt with an "ugh" expression.

"Respect the dead Shayla. You weren't close to Wes but Res and I were. If only I could skip my lessons to attend his wake I would have done so." Jason frowns.

"Thing is he isn't the first person to commit suicide" Vin ignored them and told me as she settled down beside Shayla.

"What?" I said utterly shocked.

"There was a rise in the cases of students committing suicide just recently. A total of two this month and now it's three. All of them are guys who have quite decent reputations. I don't think it's a coincidence. There must be something behind it." Vin concluded. A feeling of uneasiness settles at the pit of my stomach. There have been several cases already? Why haven't I heard of such news?

"Why didn't I hear of this before?" I frowned.

"The school tried to cover it up from the press but as more cases of students suiciding rises, it's impossible to cover it any longer. Parents were very angry and demanded an explanation from the university. It was quite an uproar." Jason sighed as he looked at the menu before giving up and ordering for all of them. We've been here too many times and the menu never changes.

"Funny. Do they think they can hide such things from the reporters? By the way where's Res?" I tried to sound casual but my voice sounds higher than usual. But they're too affected by the news and they didn't notice it.

"Heard you had fallen sick. Are you feeling better?" Vin asked me. "Oh erm Res is still attending the wake."

""I'm feeling fine now. I was just down... incapacitated with some...thing." I smiled through the burning in my throat. It hurts like hell. But I don't have a choice. As much as I wanted to say I was down with the flu, the words remain lodged in my throat. Not the first time I tried. Lying seems to be a taboo for me and it pretty much sucks in situations like this.

They started speculating the likely causes of the students' deaths, not suspecting anything and I winced internally for feeling guilty all at once.

Vin was saying that it could be stress and Mike was saying that maybe it was girls, which made Jason choked on his drink. Throughout the conversation, Claudia was oddly quiet.

"Guys. I think I will be leaving early." Claudia says as she stands up shakily. "I have a headache. Count me out."

She looks like she will topple at any moment as she bent down to carry her tote bag and I reached out to steady her elbow. "Hey are you really okay Claud? You don't look good." For a moment, she paused and glanced at me a little sadly. "I'm not feeling well that's why I need to return back to my dorm." I hesitated before nodding. "Okay. Text me when you reach your dorm." I watched her go, her curly hair bobbing through the sea of students before I couldn't see her any longer.

"Oh, uh yeah... I think Res may not be coming later. If you want to talk to him you might have to wait for him. I can tell him to come." Shayla told me.

Shaking my head, I rejected her offer and stood up. "Alright. I'm calling it early as well. Bye guys. It was a great catch up." Jason looks at me and waves as Shayla offers a short "bye". Vin and Mike were engrossed in a heated discussion on the suicide cases that they just waved with their hands without looking.

As I headed back to the dorm I currently share with the S.P.A.D., I kept mulling over it, pondering about the strange deaths. The more I think about it, the more it doesn't make any sense. Why would someone with such reputable looks, while surrounded by many friends commit suicide? He has decent grades and clearly seems to be enjoying campus life from what Vin and Mike were saying... so why would a perfectly normal person do something like that?

The more I think about their deaths, a nagging sense of uneasiness pushes against me. Wait a minute, are these unexplained suicides related to the fae as well? Or something supernatural? One way to find out. I have to bring this up in front of Damien and his squad of demi-fae.