I froze looking at her, literally not knowing what to answer. It should be a clear rejection... but the image she suggested won''t leave my mind. To make matters worse, my attention has shifted completely to her attractiveness, severely disrupting my thoughts. Lily looks at me for a few seconds and smiles.


    "Okay, don''t struggle. Your answer is visible," with these words she skillfully moves onto my lap, pulls me close and kisses my lips.


    During the last kiss I felt disgusted and uncomfortable, but now it feels incredibly pleasant and is fueled by bright emotions. I automatically give in to this feeling, hug her neck and reciprocate.


    This time everything is much more successful and smoother, I manage not to break away for long. My heart is beating faster than when I met Boar, and I can tell from the physical contact that Lily''s is as well. The friendship with Rob is cracking visibly, but I can''t do anything about it.


    After about five minutes we finally separate and catch our breath.


    "I''m glad we came to an understanding," she smiles widely and lays her head on my shoulder. Deep down I somehow expect her friends to appear any moment, say "haha, caught the loser" and demand money... but nothing happens.


    "I haven''t told you anything yet," I say.


    "Oh, is that still needed? Well okay, how about expressing it today on a... secret date?"


    "No, impossible today."


    "Okay, I''m not rushing anywhere. Text me tonight when you can meet. And remember, everything between us is strictest secret."


    "But I—"


    She interrupts me with a light kiss and jumps off the bench.


    "Stop playing hard to get already. John, since we sorted everything out quick, I''m heading back to class. Any objections, or want to stick around and hang out properly?"


    "Whatever you want."


    "Thanks, keep in touch!"


    She quickly throws her bag on, blows a kiss and runs out through the arch. My heart''s barely slowed down, I stay frozen in place, shocked and not believing what just happened. Especially absurd that I wasn''t this nervous even facing death.


    One thing''s clear—the Lily situation didn''t just stay open, it took a sharp turn. I have zero idea what to do with this under current extreme conditions.


    Got to admit, her persistence is something else, I thought mockingly. But... Even though the Game complicates everything right now, life won''t end after the bracelet comes off...


    I look at the sky, today''s my favorite sunny weather. In my head, all thoughts are pushed out by Lily''s image and ways this situation could play out.


    This sudden attraction... Maybe this is that feeling they talk about...?


    ##


    I spent about thirty minutes staring at the sky, tangled in doubts. For now I can say this question is definitely postponed for today, since Jane is busy with the spectral trap.


    First I have to take the bracelet off, then I have to think things through, understand my feelings, and make a considered decision. Right now, I just don''t have the ability to manage my time.


    I leave the courtyard a few minutes before class ends and head to my next scheduled classroom. Still long until 4, will stick to the rest plan.


    ##


    The rest of the school day went by without any surprises. Several times I even forgot I was participating in a death battle.


    After classes Rob, Sharon and I went to the cafeteria. Being around Rob became more uncomfortable, so unusually for me I started long dialogues with Sharon, making him mostly listen. Despite this, seems after the battle with undead my character significantly shifted to become firmer, making me maintain complete outward calm.


    As usual, friends offered to drive home together, but I said I wanted to sit in the library and watch an ongoing board game tournament. This caused strong surprise from them, but I was convincing enough and declined their offer to keep me company.


    At this point, I realized that I had acted as unnaturally as possible all day, contrary to Jane''s request... but already didn''t care.


    On the plus side, no spam or meeting requests from Lily. Most likely this will only last until the evening. She clearly indicated that she''s waiting for me to set up a meeting. Will have to answer something at least...


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    I was deep in thoughts about her and our hypothetical "relationship" while waiting for Jane at the designated spot. In one moment she sharply emerged from behind, scaring me again.


    "You''re trolling me!" I protest.


    "Stop whining. Nothing suspicious happened?"


    "No, all quiet. Even got praised in astronomy for knowing the number of planets in the solar system," I smirked.


    "Good, let''s go."


    "Listen, can''t you just teleport us there or fly through the wind—"


    "I told you not to mention magic in crowded places," she says grimly, interrupting me with a slap.


    I rub my cheek, stick my tongue out at her and we head to the "transition" corridor between the abandoned wing and active school. Officially this passage is sealed on all four floors, but on the second they did it poorly and "pioneers" broke through the board so it slides aside. Fortunately, everyone''s too lazy to repair it.


    We''re lucky not to meet any school staff, in five minutes we arrive. I manage to tell her all details, which aren''t that many.


    Using my own example I slide the board and crawl inside, Jane easily repeats. On this side there''s lots of trash, dust, many things creak and some windows are broken.


    "From what I''ve been told, the biggest room here is the laboratory on the fourth floor. I''ve seen photos—it''s dirty with lots of junk, but if we clear it out, should be about the size of the library or cafeteria," I explain.


    "That''ll work."


    "Then let''s go up the royal staircase, it''s the only way," I point to rickety, crooked steps, some broken and covered in cobwebs.


    "Some royal staircase. Will it even hold two people?"


    "Just a local joke name. It''s totally safe if you avoid the holes. Though everything will be safe for you anyway."


    Jane snorts, steps onto the stairs and jumps up nimbly. I don''t risk testing my luck and go civilized, holding on to the railing.


    I''ve only been up to the fourth floor once or twice, just for a quick peek. Since there''s almost no light, Jane and I turn on our cell phone flashlights. Upon closer inspection, I''m really surprised at how much worse it is compared to the others.


    After a short walk down the corridor, Jane finds and opens the door marked "Laboratory" herself.


    "Ugh... Did someone die here?" she asks, scrunching up her face. I''m also grimacing at the horrible smell and all the dust.


    "Ha, looks like someone already did some rituals here."


    Jane smirks and steps into the room. I pull my hoodie over my nose as best I can and follow.


    The door stays open, we open windows as inconspicuously as possible for ventilation and light. Then we quietly clear the center of the room of all objects, piling them in corners. The rotten smell came from a small bag with long-spoiled food someone forgot and never returned for. We threw it into the next classroom.


    Free space turns out larger than I thought... but not for long. Jane takes several items from her backpack and begins to draw a large circle with purple chalk. Then she draws an "X" cross inside it, and in each "section" she draws complex runes from her notebook. Wherever the lines intersect, she places dark candles and sprinkles some powder on top.


    This takes about an hour. The whole time I''m sitting on a big table by the entrance, watching with interest. After the final touch—a German spell that makes all the candles burst into blue flames—Jane finally steps out of the circle and sits next to me.


    "Is this the ritual platform?" I ask curiously.


    "The drawn construction—yes. Candles and powder are needed for protection from detection by mages and various otherworldly entities."


    "Like poltergeists?"


    "Mana emissions and buildups, like after rituals like this, attract these creatures. The protection will hide them, but without it all the undead from our district and nearby would flow here. Spirits like poltergeists are harmless—you need to watch out for aggressive physical beings. They usually feed on people and their own kind, but they''re also happy to devour magical energy."


    "So when I''m out late at night in some sketchy place, I really could get eaten by some monster?"


    "Most times these creatures disguise themselves as someone—it''s better for them to stay unnoticed and keep things clean. One of their favorite forms is a sweet old person asking for help crossing the street. They come out when it''s empty, so trust your gut and look for things that don''t fit: blank face, talking without opening their mouth, weird colored eyes, burning smell. They can''t copy people exactly."


    "And if already encountered an entity, what to do?"


    "I don''t hunt entities and haven''t personally met aggressive ones. They sense well if someone can fight back. Know you shouldn''t wait for their attack and should try running. However if you''re a normal person and meet a powerful and cunning entity, nothing will help. Surely you''ve heard stories of someone drinking at a bar, stepping out to bathroom for two minutes and disappearing. Or disappearing during evening park walk. That''s exactly their activity."


    "I see... Now I''ll be more paranoid about darkness and night alleys."


    "They attack any time of day, not just night. Enough to maintain basic cautious behavior. Entities are very rare, constantly being exterminated. Much higher chance of dying from bandits met in alleys," she grinned.


    ##


    When my phone said 12:00, I was going crazy, climbing walls and desperately wanting to sleep. Jane and I talked until about 7, but then my ability to process complex and unclear information ran out and we both buried ourselves in our phones.


    The ritual had to start at midnight exactly for maximum effect, something about "special energy" and all that. I got bored with funny videos after an hour, none of my friends could text for long, and even Lily didn''t mind when I moved our date to tomorrow. And worst part—I''m stuck here for another three or four hours


    "I''m starting. You can walk around the laboratory but absolutely don''t enter the circle or distract me," Jane announced in very serious tone and headed to the drawn construction''s center.


    "I''ll grab a snack in the computer lab, it''s the cleanest place here."


    Jane doesn''t answer. She sits on her knees at the cross intersection, closes her eyes, crosses her arms, and quickly whispers something. The runes slowly begin to glow, but that''s all for now.


    How did she make top three most popular with such rough manners? Or am I the only one getting this treatment...?


    I throw on my backpack and run into the corridor, lighting the way with my phone. Computer lab is by the stairs, main thing is not tripping on anything.


    Well, at least I''ll sleep well, I thought. Tomorrow she plans to study the petals from morning till evening, then visit Caroline''s warehouse at night. Observer, you bastard, just appear already—


    ~ BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.


    My thoughts are interrupted by an incredibly powerful explosion. I''m deafened, blinded and thrown somewhere to the side. I hit my head on something hard and instantly lose consciousness.