Chapter 96: Masks and Shadows
The Kappa Delta house sat at the far end of fraternity row, a hulking three-story building with pillars that had seen better days. Strings of dim golden lights draped the roof, flickering like half-hearted stars. From the outside, it looked like a regular college party—music humming, laughter spilling from the open porch, the faint clink of bottles.
But we knew better.
This wasn’t just a party. This was The Circle’s stage. And we were about to step into it.
\---
“I hate this already,” Elena muttered, adjusting the strap of her dress. She’d been complaining since the moment we left the dorm. “Who throws a cult meeting with a cocktail dress code? I feel like I’m going to prom with Satan.”
“You look fine,” Ethan said without looking at her, eyes glued to the screen of his phone. He was monitoring the house’s Wi-Fi traffic as we walked.
“Fine?” she repeated, glaring at him. “That’s all you’ve got? I risked wearing heels for this mission. Heels. Do you have any idea how impractical these are if we have to run?”
“You look… more than fine,” Ethan corrected quickly, finally glancing up. “You look… uh, distracting. In a good way.”
Her glare softened, just slightly. “Nice save, tech boy.”
“I wasn’t saving anything. I meant it.”
Aidan coughed into his fist, clearly trying not to laugh. I elbowed him lightly.
Rhea, walking a step behind us, tilted her head. “I don’t understand the purpose of the clothing,” she said. “Why do humans disguise rituals with parties?”
Echo answered calmly. “Because it makes them harder to notice. No one questions noise from a frat house. But if you gather fifty people in robes in the middle of the woods, someone calls the cops.”
Rhea frowned. “So the drinks are camouflage?”
“Exactly,” Elena said. “Beer pong is the new black magic.”
\---
At the porch, we showed the invitations Ethan had forged. The student at the door—tall, broad-shouldered, with a grin that didn’t reach his eyes—scanned us up and down before nodding us inside.
The air changed the moment we crossed the threshold.
The music was louder, the lights dimmer. Students mingled, red cups in hand, laughter a little too sharp, eyes a little too watchful. It wasn’t chaos like most college parties I’d seen. It was organized. Too organized.
“They’re not drunk,” Aidan murmured, scanning the room. “They’re pretending.”
“Which means so are we,” I said, plastering on a smile as a girl in sequins brushed past me with a cheery, “Welcome to the Circle.”
\---
We split up. That was the plan. Too many of us in one group would draw suspicion.
I stuck with Aidan, while Elena drifted toward the bar with Ethan at her heels. Rhea and Echo moved quietly along the edges of the crowd, observing.
“So,” Aidan whispered, leaning close so his words were swallowed by the music, “what’s the play?”
“Blend. Listen. Look for anything that doesn’t fit.”
“Everything doesn’t fit.”
“Then start there,” I said.
\---
At the bar, Elena was already holding a cup she had no intention of drinking.
Ethan glanced around nervously. “Don’t actually drink it. We don’t know if it’s—”
“Oh, relax,” she said, swirling the liquid before setting it back down. “If they were going to poison us, they wouldn’t do it with boxed wine.”
“Still,” he muttered, pulling out a small scanner from his pocket and pretending to check his messages while running it over the drinks.
“You brought a chemical scanner to a frat party?” Elena asked.
“Yes,” he said simply. “And you’re welcome.”
She smirked. “You know, one day, you might actually be useful.”
“One day?” He shot her a look. “I literally just saved your life from hypothetical poison.”
She leaned closer, eyes glittering. “I wasn’t drinking it.”
He groaned. “You drive me insane.”
“Good. It means I’m doing my job.”
\---
Meanwhile, Rhea had stopped in front of a large painting on the wall. It showed a circle of robed figures standing under a blood-red moon.
“They don’t even try to hide it,” she said quietly.
Echo stepped beside her, arms folded. “Symbols are power. The fact they put this out in the open means they want everyone here to absorb it without realizing it.”
“Brainwashing,” Rhea muttered.
Echo nodded. “Exactly.”
\---
Aidan and I wandered toward the back, where the noise of the party faded into murmured conversations. A set of double doors led into a darker room.
Two students stood guard.
“Staff only,” one of them said when we approached.
Aidan raised an eyebrow. “Staff? At a frat house?”
The guy didn’t answer.
I forced a light laugh. “Sorry. Wrong door.”
But as we turned away, I caught the faint sound of chanting behind the doors.
I met Aidan’s eyes. He’d heard it too.
\---
Half an hour later, Ethan found us near the staircase. His face was pale.
“We have a problem,” he said.
“What now?” Elena asked, appearing at his side.
“They know we’re here.”
My stomach dropped. “How?”
He held up his phone, showing me a message that had just appeared on the Circle’s encrypted server.
It was one line.
“Welcome, Harbinger. We’ve been waiting.”
\---
Elena swore under her breath. “Well, that’s not ominous at all.”
“Stay calm,” Aidan said firmly, eyes scanning the room.
But even as he spoke, the music stopped.
The crowd parted.
And a girl stepped forward—tall, dark-haired, with eyes that glowed faintly gold under the dim lights. She smiled directly at me.
“Roxanne Devlin,” she said. “Our guest of honor.”
The room seemed to close in around me.
And just like that, the party was over.