~Xavier~

I flickered ash into the ash tray, the black powder coloring the crystal tray. Smoke curled around me lazily as I leaned into the sofa allowing my weight to lie on it, my mind far away from this world the cigarette stay in between my lips as I go through the documents in my hand tossing the other documents as they were no use to me, but I stopped mid-air when my fingers fall upon the name of the person I was looking for "Haisely Flynn" her picture stapled to the side she looked meek- naive.

I smile, taking in another draw from my cigarette "Haisley" I muttered tossing the document on the table. My eyes glinting mischievously " Why are you smiling now? " Lucian said not looking up from his phone, making me remember that I wasn't alone" Nothing, just found something - or rather someone.... interesting" I say exhaling the puff of smoke. He faces me, giving me a knowing look -The one he gives me when I find a new toy

-someone to play with.

"Found a new toy to play with " Lucian mutters ignoring the smoke that floats lazily around the room

"No not a toy-a fucking meal"  I say, my voice raspy with want and desire. Facing him so he could see how I was - Obsessed - yearning. He shares his head " I really pity those girls, you really have a way of attracting then even after breaking their hearts" he adds, his voice dripping with sacrsam.

Suddenly the door bust open, a red hair girl storms in. Her eyes swollen and red like she had been crying - like I care she walks up to me"How could you, Xavier? I thought you liked me" she snapps her chest rising and falling, her breath uneven. I scoff- tossing the cigarette stick at her"Don't be stupid, I never said I liked you," I say curtly "And besides I don't fuck the same girl twice" I add walking away ignoring the way she threw a tantrum.

Her piercing cries meant nothing - they were even useless - and it wasn't like she tasted good, with her wide pussy and disgusting body -well I had to work with what I had at the moment. But now I had something sweet - finally someone naive.

Gentle.

Her. Haisely.

Get ready flower, cause am going to make you crave - and obsess over me when am done with you. I let a faint smirk play on my lips already picturing her.Naked under me - chanting my name like a spell, screaming on her lungs as I drive into her.

The redhead's perfume still clung to the air even after she slammed the door behind her, a sickly-sweet scent that mixed with my smoke. It was pathetic.

Really - the way they always came back.

They never learned.

They thought I was some wounded beast, capable of being tamed, healed if only they bled for me long enough. The thought made the chuckle under my breath.

Lucian watched me with a bored expression, his thumbs scrolling across his phone screen as if nothing in the world could touch him. We were two predators in a cage, but lately nly one of us loved to play with his food.

He preferred efficiency.

I liked the dance. Watching them crumble for me.

"What's so special about this one?" he finally asked, dryly. He knew me too well. He knew there had to be something.

I leaned back into the sofa, cigarette dangling between my fingers, and lifted the photo again. The girl stared back at me from the glossy print - soft eyes, pale mouth, hair like honey left out in the sun. She wasn't like the others.

No hardend.

Not wary.

She still believed in something. Hope, maybe. And that made her dangerous. It made her....delicious.

"She's... different," I murmured, tracing the edge of her photograph with my thumb. "Not broken yet." I smirk softly

Lucian snorted. "You're going to break her."

"Of course I am," I said, smiling faintly. "But I'm going to enjoy every second of it."

He shook his head muttering something under his breath, but I barely heard neither did I care too. My mind was already pulling her apart, imagining the first look, the first conversation. The first look she would give me - shy but curious. They always were. And then the first time she'd let her guard down, thinking she was safe. That was the moment I lived for.

I stubbed the cigarette out, the ash blooming like gray flower in the tray. "Haisely Flynn," I said aloud, tasting her name, it felt so soft on my tongue, like slik, how she would probably taste I smacked my tongue."She won't even see me coming."

Lucian finally set his phone down and fixed me his usual stare - cold, unflinching. "One day, Xavier, you're going to find someone who isn't a toy. Someone who bites back. And this might be that one. "

I laughed dryly. "Then maybe I'll finally be entertained."

Later, when he had left and the apartment was quiet again, I pulled the folder closer. Her life was laid out in paper and ink

Later, when Lucian left and the apartment was quiet again, I pulled the folder closer. Her life was laid out in paper and ink - her address, her school, her family's names. She was twenty-one.

I imagined her- behind the class, sorting her books with those delicate fingers. She probably smelled like paper and soap.

She smiled to strangers who didn't who smiled back. That was the things about girls like her : they didn't see the wolves until the teeth was already in their throat.

I exhaled and closes my eyes, the image forming clearer now. I wouldn't go to her. No. She would come to me. I would make sure of that if I get the right spots. Find her in her world.

That was the trick. They had to think that.

I rose, leaving the folder spread open like a crime scene on the table. In the bathroom mirror, my reflection looked back at me- sharp jacket , sharper smile. There was a smear of ash on my face. I brushed it away and adjusted my collar. Time to start the game.

~Hazel~

I sat at the table, mother and father lost in their own chatter- and then there was Haisely my so called twin, the naive one, the gullible one. She looked like she wanted to dissappear under the flourcent lights flickering over us, her hand nervously cutting her untouched food as she bowed her head in defeat. I was the better one, the flawless Hazel, when I spoke everyone obeyed without even thinking.

I had hated her.

Since when I could remember, they always saw her as the inoccent one.

And me?

I was the trouble maker- the one people didn't like until I found her weakness - her vulnerability

The air around the dinner table felt thick, heavy with an unsaid tension, and yet, I relished it. It was so easy to feel powerful when the people around me were too absorb in their own worlds to notice the crackling tension at the center of it all.

"Hazel, can you pass the salt?"My father's voice broke through my thoughts. I didn't move right away, and his gaze made me feel a jolt of irritation. I tossed the salt shaker across the table with out a word.

"Thanks." He didn't even look at me as he accepted it, he diverted his attention back to my mother- the stupid conversation.

I glanced at Haisely. She hadn't said a word since we sat down. Her posture was slumping, like she was trying to make herself as small as possible.

She always looked like that-fragile, weak and broken. Made no noise, no requests. Always trying to make herself invisible in the presence of everyone- especially our parents, trying to blending the background, like a shadow she couldn't escape.

But I notice.

I always noticed.

Her eyes flickered up for a moment, meeting mine, Full of something-something like desperation. It made my skin pickle, tensed but I quickly wiped the feeling away, replaced with a cold emptiness I was used to.Her gaze fell back to her plate almost immediately. Too sudden, and I fought the urge to smile.

It felt good, actually.

Very pathetic.

"I hope you girls are enjoying your return to school is," Mom said, oblivious to the fact that Haisley hadn't even touched her food. "You  should communicate more with your mates, Haisley."

"Don't you think it's early to be saying that? " I asked referring to her last words, my voice flat.

"It's never to late to try, Hazel," Mom snapped, not even sparing me a second look. "You could help your twin sister instead of staying inside your little bubble."

I bit my lower lip to stop myself from snorting. My mother always had her favorite -always comfort Haisley like she was some sort of angel sent down from heaven.

But that's what Haisley wanted, wasn't it?

To be loved.

To be perfect.

To be the one everyone talked about with affection in their voices. Too bad she didn't know how to play the game.

I did.

The very first time I realized she was.... weak, was  when we were ten. Our birthday, of course. Our parents were out with friends, leaving us at home for the night. And like always, Haisley had tried to make us both a cake. She always tried to make things better, like she was trying to forced happiness into the cracks of our broken family.

I hated it.

It was stupid.

The cake was a disaster, too dry, frost too thick. But she smiled anyway, watching me eagerly as I took my first bite. I remember it so clearly. Her eyes were wide with hope, the kind that only a child could have, the kind I never had. I pretended to savor it, smiling back at her through gritted teeth.

I trashed it anyway, threw the rest of it away-completely unnoticed by her.

The next morning, she had looked so hurt when she found the cake in the garbage, but it was already too late. I didn't care. It felt too good, watching her unravel over something so small, something so insignificant.

But she hadn't learned.

She never did.

I could see it now, too.

How she tried to please everyone, to make everyone happy, to make herself small and quiet, never drawing attention to herself. The more she did that, the more I began to see the cracks-how she was the one who was easily manipulated, easily broken.

Trusted people too much. Believed in them. Hoped that they would never let her down.

I couldn't stand it.

The worst part? She still thought we were "the same." She thought we were connected-two halves of the same whole. I could see it in her eyes every time we stood in the same room, like she was waiting for something, waiting for us to come together, like some sort of cosmic reunion that would make her whole again.

It made me sick.

Iwas better than her.

I had to be.

I just had to keep reminding myself of that. I smiled staring at her, savoring every little emotions she made.

Haisley pushed Hee peas around the plate, the forks scarping lightly against the porcelain. The sound was small, barely audiences, but it sliceed through the human of my parents' conversation like a blade. I watched her, my chin resting on my palm, and tried to decipher what was going on behind those doe-like eyes of hers.

She was thinking about something - I could tell. The way her muscles in her jaw twitched, and every so often she would glance towards me, like she expected me to say something.

Apologize, maybe.

Or smile. Or offer her some kind of mercy I never had.

She should have known better by now.

"I'm finished," she murmured suddenly, her voice so faint it barely existed.

Mom frowned. "But you barely touched your food."

"I'm not hungry."

Of course she wasn't. Haisley never was. She fed on guilt, sadness and silence.

"Go ahead," Dad said absently, waving his hand. "Just rinse your plate."

She rose from her chair, careful and slow like she always was, afraid to make too much noise. I followed her very movement with my eyes,watching how the light brushed her pale hair, how her fingers trembled as she picked up her plate. It was almost beautiful - that fragility. Like a porcelain doll you could drop just to hear it shatter.

She turned to go, her shoulder brushing mine. For a moment, she froze. I felt her tense, her breath caught in her throat, and I smiled without meaning to. She could feel it - my control. She always could.

"Hazel," Mom said sharply, pulling my gaze away. "Stop glaring at Haisely like that."

I blinked, feigning innocence. "Like what?"

"Like you're angry at her."

"I'm not angry," I lied easily, my tone sweet as sugar. "I'm just... watching."

Mom sighed and shook her head, muttering

something about teenage moods, They were just to blind, too blind to see the difference between us and I leaned back in my chair, letting my gaze drift back toward Haisley. She was at the sink, rinsing her plate under the cold water, her back trembling slightly. The water ran and ran, even after the plate was clean. She was stalling - I knew it. Maybe trying to stop herself from crying. Maybe trying to make herself disappear.

Pathetic.

~Haisley~

I sat on my bed, knees clutched to my chest, my breath is hallow and slow, the eerie silence is deafening as the wall were holding thier breath. I hated how Hazel always had a way of intimating me. How she would always stare at me as if she could tell what was going on in my mind.

The moonlight pierce inside my room, spilling on the floor, the gentle cool breeze fanned my skin.

The room felt too still, too quiet, almost as if the shadows themselves were watching me. The soft rustle of the wind outside was the only sound that dared to break the oppressive silence, but even that seemed to be holding its breath. I didn't know how long I had been sitting here, curled into myself like I was trying to dissappear. Time had stopped the moment Hazel and I shared eye contact. The way her eyes locked onto mine, cutting through my defenses legs they didn't even exist, left me paralyzed. The was a weight to her gaze that I couldn't escape.

It felt as though she could read every single thought I had, as if my secret were no longer mine. And I hated it.

I had wanted to scream at her, tell her to stop looking at me like that. But the words wouldn't come, they never did. They lodged in my throat like stones, heavy and immovable. I was terrified-terrified of her, terrified of how she could slice through my walls with nothing more than a glance.

Why did she have to be so... so Hazel?

She knew how to manipulate everything in her favor. She had that power, that subtlety. Knew how to make people small without even trying. And yet, somehow, despite how much I loathed the way she made me feel, there was something else in her that I couldn't ignore.

The soft breeze stirred the curtains, and I could almost imagine her standing there, behind me, her presence filling the room. My mind wandered. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to push that thought away. But it lingered like smoke.

I sprawled on the mattress letting nature take over as my eyelids slowly pull me into darkness - where I would be safe for a while.

°

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°

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It was the next morning, and my stomach is tight with knots, I nervously pick up my pencil placing the wood into my back carefully. With some encouraging words I walk out of to the dining table- All three of them, clearly having a great time without me, Hazel shows her flawless smile that seemed to melt my parent's heart.

"I will be waiting outside, Hazel," I say faintly, I didn't have the appetite for food, she gives a sharp nod waving her hand, dismissive lyrics, like she was already anticipating my retreat.

"I'll be right out," she said lightly, her voice as smooth as silk. "I'm just finishing up. You don't mind waiting, do you?"

I nodded sharply, my throat tight. "No, I'm fine," I managed to say, though I was anything but. I turned quickly, my feet moving faster than my mind could keep up with, and I made my way to the door.

I finally breathe out, without even realizing that I was holding it in,the opening sound of the door echoed and I turned to face her, my heart racing. She was standing a few feet away, hands tucked into the pockets of her jacket, her posture as effortlessly perfect as ever. Her blonde hair framed her face, and her lips curled into that smile again-sweet, innocent, and yet so unbearably loaded.

"Let's get going," she says cooling walking past me, leaving a wave of perfume as she walked.The smell of it-sweet and floral-clung to my clothes as I followed her to the car, sliding into the driver's seat.

I sat rigid in the passenger's seat, fingers white around the strap of my bag. I would rather take the bus- anything but this slient ride with Hazel who had not even acknowledged my presence. I stared out the window, watching the world blur past us, my thoughts too loud in my head.

When we arrived, Hazel slipped out first, phone in her hand, a cold mask if indifference in her face, she didn't even wait for me, didn't even glance. I slipped out behind her, careful not to attract attention.

I had only taken a few steps, when the air changed.

Two figures.

Moved through the crowd with ease- such precision. Every step was poised, controlled, like they had a rhythm that no one else could follow.

Xavier.

I recognized him immediately, Even from this distance, I could see it. He walked like he owned the air around him, like he owned time itself, the space between seconds. The world seemed to bend around him as if it knew it couldn't compete. His shoulders were broad beneath a black sleeveless shirt, tattoos of intricate designs snaking down his arms. The inked seemed to pulse with life, like it was as much as a part of him as his skin. He didn't walk; he commanded the ground beneath him to bend to his will.

As he passes, his eyes flicked over to me, and for a split second, our gazes met.

I froze.

My heart raced, a staccato beat that echoed in my chest. I wasn't sure why

He smiled and whispered something to the other one,-who I assumed to be his companion-looked over at me, eyes narrowing in amusement, before they both broke into a laugh. I felt my stomach twist, confused, unsure of what was happening.

Why were they looking at me like that?

I turned away, my cheeks burning, not sure if I was imagining things or if there was some deeper meaning behind their actions. But the feeling of their eyes on me, the weight of their laughter, clung to me like a shadow

Suddenly the bell jolted me to reality, reminding me of the days work. I held my bag tight. No time to think about boys, I needed to get to class

Invisible, unnoticed - I reminded myself