Young Writers Society

Dawn quickly scrunched up under the blankets, desperately trying to hide her hair. There had to be indication they ever left the room. Except that small girl knew they were in the library, and Izzy was in a broom closet earlier! What were they thinking? This was going to fall a part the instant Dr. Emily left!

When the door closed, the entire group breathed a sigh of relief. Dawn let out the loudest one. She had only gazed at the good doctor once, and she glanced away as soon as their eyes made contact. He always... a bit off. Something wasn't right about him and she couldn't pick up what. He was kind bit strict, he was gentle but demanding... It didn't make sense to her.

"It's gotten around that fast?" Dawn whispered, curling up on herself. "Oh, gosh." There were a lot of things she said in that video. A lot of implications other students could make, too. Yay! Now the whole school knows her mother would hit her and more often than not manipulate her emotionally! Now everyone would think of her as a victim! Wonderful. Dawn hid under the blankets as fast as possible.

"Uh, is he gone?" Astrid said, slowly peeking out of the bathroom. When the coast was clear, they exited and went next to Evan's bunk. "Awesome disguise, dude! I wish I could do that. Imagine how easy it would be to get sick days!"

"Well, we have to be at school tomorrow," Dawn groaned, "And everyone is going to swarm me with question. Yippee."

Astrid shrugged. "Well, I can skip tomorrow, at least. I actually went to class yesterday."

"That means we probably need to kick this thing into gear," Avery muttered, shutting the door firmly behind Dr. Emily. She looked at Astrid. "Show us this roommate of yours."

"Oh, uh, now?" Astrid said, scratching their neck. "Sure! If they're their... they're kinda finnicky and um, weird? Like, not Winifred or Evan weird, but I hate everyone and plan to destroy the world weird. So, kind of Evan weird but not really." She tried explaining it to the best of her abilites, but eventually sighed and shrugged their shoulders. "Just be prepared for quite the character. And when I'm saying that: be scared."

Astrid and Shiloh's room was never clean. From the day the moved in, snacks, bottles, blankets, and homework had piled up and now it was a real challenge making it inside. Shiloh almost stepped on Astrid's precious Gameboy Advance more than once.

Shiloh had become a master at maunovering because of this and easily made it to their desk, where a scientific setup was laid out. Microscope, petri dish, the whole she-bang. There was also a cloth placed under them, which Shiloh went for first. Slowly, they grabbed the knife beside it. Shiloh had this funny thing where they weren't really afraid of pain or messes. So, delicately, they placed a slice on the back of their hand. Normally, this would be painful, but normally, people didn't have blood red eyes.

They stared intently at their hand, their heartbeat and breathing in sync... and no blood spilled. They could feel how the bloodstream moved and how their body reacted, they could feel every inch of it moving in tandem. They simply made it so their blood stayed circulating, so that the skin felt no need to scab. It felt... natural. Their senses didn't feel like a complete mess for once.

Then the universal mess called Astrid slammed open the door. "Shiloh!" she shouted, "I'm home! And I brought some friends!"

Shiloh screeched like a pig and blood began to gush from their wound. Quickly, they took the cloth and wrapped it around their hand. They scowled at Astrid as they ran to the sink to clean it. "Yeah, I can tell, asshole!" they said, "I know this is technically our room, but can you knock for once!? I was trying to focus and really understand my powers, and now I'm losing blood like mad!"

Astrid had her hands on her hips and shrugged as she welcomed everyone in. "My bad. I thought you said you could sense living things pretty well. Well, here's four of them!" Astrid pointed to themself, "Five, technically."

"I can!" Shiloh yelled as they ran their hand under hot water. They hissed at the sting. "And for your information, it's very painful and disorienting! You think I like having to hear and feel six heartbeats at once!?"

Shiloh looked back at the group Astrid brought, only glancing them over once or twice. Shiloh themself didn't look very noticable either, apart from their red eyes. It wasn't that they were colored red, but that there was no color in them to begin with. Like a symptom of Viltigo, all that could be seen was the blood behind the pupil and iris. The rest of Shiloh was covered in a black hoodie and ripped jeans. From one look at their bunk and the posters by it, it was clear that their clothing aesthetic had to be trimmed down due to the school policies on chains, belts, and jewelry.

Sage raised her eyebrows, regarding the new kid with a mixture of curiosity, disdain, and skepticism. This was the person they were supposed to rely on for medical care? They could barely control the blood gushing out of their own hand! That wound looked self-inflicted too...

"Are you sure they're...completely stable?" Sage whispered to Astrid. Maybe it was the crimson eyes, but something about Shiloh was throwing her off. They made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. "I mean...can we trust them? This is a pretty top-secret thing we're doing, and they don't exactly look--"

"Approachable? Friendly? Trustworthy?" Evan finished in a hushed voice. His skin had shifted red and black, mirroring Shiloh's shadowy color scheme. "I'm checking none of the above for this one. They look like the type to stab you in your sleep."

"Nice to meet you," Avery stepped in front of the whispering trio, extending a hand to Shiloh. Astrid's roommate stepped back, giving the tall girl a hostile look. "Not a handshaker? Okay. I guess I should've assumed that from the start. Um, I'm Avery. And these are Sage, Evan, and Dawn. We've come to ask you something."

Astrid rolled her eyes at their whispers, but eventually joined in with the same hushed tone. "Uh, sorry, but I dunno anyone else who can keep the blood inside of us. That's kind of important if one of us is bleeding out and dying! Just saying!" Astrid argued, "Besides, they're like a hedgehog. Cute underneath, spikey up top. Ya know how I say I'm awesome all the time? Well, they make empty threats like that. I think it's some sort of self-defense mechanism, ya know, like a hedgehog-"

"I can hear you," Shiloh called out, staring down Astrid. Then, they turned back to Avery. "Apologies, but my hand is sort of bleeding out," they said in response to the offer for a handshake. "But thank you for not trying to whisper about me behind my back!"

Astrid grinned at her roommate. "Technically it was in front of you!"

Shiloh groaned, "I swear to God, I would make you pop like a fruit punch-filled balloon if their weren't any witnesses here."

Astrid just laughed it off. "See? Empty threats. Self-defense. Like a hedgehog," they whispered, leaning back to Evan.

Dawn came up beside Avery, trying to smile as best she could. "And I'm Dawn!" she grinned awkwardly as vines spun around her arms.

Shiloh snapped their head to Dawn with an unwaivering glare. Dawn felt a small rush go through her, and shiver crawled up her spine. When Shiloh came to, they spoke bluntly. "You're at high risk for lung cancer."

Dawn's eyes were now wide, too, and her mouth hung ajar. "What?"

Shiloh blinked and looked away awkwardly quickly after that. "What." There was a brief moment of silence. More vines crawled through Dawn and eventually tangled around her chest. "Nevermind. Anyways," Shiloh spun to Avery quickly, "Something to ask?"

Dawn's eyes traveled to the ground, her mouth still on the floor. "I don't think that's something to say 'nevermind' to..." she mumbled, still processing what just happened.

Astrid turned to Sage and Evan with a grin. "See? Health dude!"

"Ooh!" Sage's expression turned from suspicion to vibrant curiosity. "Do Evan! I bet he's at risk of dying tragically from sorry-for-himself-itis. He's got all the symptoms; a grouchy attitude, low self-esteem, dramatic flashes of emo kid..."

"Hey!" Evan snapped. "At least I'm useful! What have you got to say for yourself, Sage?"

"That's enough," Avery stepped between them, giving the pair a pained look. "You two are giving me a headache. Can't we all just get along? For once? I'm tired of all the fighting."

"Fine," Evan shot Sage a glare over his sister's shoulder. "But I'm gonna remember that."

Sage rolled her eyes.

Shiloh rolled their eyes, too. Why did Astrid even drag people in here? Astrid knew they couldn't stand high-density areas and even got dizzy in crowded halls, so why'd she bring that very thing here!?

"I am not playing your childish games," they clarified, before starting to fiddle with a spikey earring on their outer ear. "But, for your information..." their eyes narrowed as they looked at Avery. "Avery, right? You're more suseptable to migraines than most. You might want to look into some medications."

They walked over to Evan, Sage, and Astrid, a small smirk on their face. "Evan, you're completely fine. Normal. The most mudane person I've seen." Then, they looked at Sage. "You, on the other hand. Wow. Wow, wow, wow. You don't even want to know."

Astrid raised their hand and started bouncing. "What about me? How will I die?"

"Oh, you?" Shiloh sighed, "You're just annoying."

"Well now I do want to know!" Sage muttered. "What is it? Pneumonia? Cancer? A deadly spinal injury?"

"I don't think they can see accidents like that," Evan pointed out. "Probably just, like, 'you're at risk for such and such disease'."

"Right. Chronic Bronchitis, then?" Sage blinked hopefully at Shiloh.

Although they hated their power for this exact reason (all the games), they had to admit it was rather funny seeing them in such a kahoot about how they'd suffer. "Fine," they said, approaching Sage. "Fine. You want to know so bad?"

Then, they leaned in and whispered in her ear. "You're allergic to mosquitoes."

They backed off with a smirk. "Personally? I can't think of anything worse! You'll never get to go out after three in summer without getting itchy bites and bumps as wide as a golf ball."

Astrid smiled. "It's so great that you're making friends again, Shiloh."

"These people?" Shiloh scoffed. "Ha! No. I am not their friends. I feel pity for them, at most."

"Mosquitoes?" Sage's eyes widened with a mixture of horror and fascination. "How come I never knew about this before? Ooh, does this mean I'm going to get bit and swell up into a big ole sack of flesh? Sick!"

"Sick is right," Evan shivered. He looked up at Shiloh. "So, is that all you can do? Predict people's deaths based on their allergies?"

Shiloh cringed. "Oh my God," they said. "It's a mild allergy! All that happens is those little bite bumps are bigger! I'm not predicting how you die! It's just finding certain things going on in your systems!" They groaned loudly and returned to their desk, where they slapped a band-aid on their wound. "Everyone always thinks I can predict their death, but no! I can just tell what your organs are doing. It's not that deep!" It took a moment for Shiloh to stop grumbling before they looked at the group again. "I'm not a big fan of my powers, if you can't tell."

Dawn scratched their neck. "Oh, um, yeah... About that... See, we kind of need your help with something that... sort of relates to that."

Shiloh perked up. Dawn looked at Evan, desperately needing someone else to explain the situation.

Evan blinked, fading a little into the background. Why me?

Shiloh glared at him expectantly with their bloodred eyes. He swallowed, trying to force his skin back into full vibrancy, but all he managed to do was turn purple.

"Um, there's this thing," he began unsteadily. "Someone's been putting this weird powdery stuff into the school food. It allows them--him--to control the minds of the students when he feels like it, including ours. We were hoping that you could, um, draw it out or something? With your powers?"

Shiloh blinked. Then, they leaned on their desk. Their crimson eyes studied the floor for a long while. "How... exactly?" they finally spoke up.

Astrid piped in as she went to sit on her bunk. The bottom one had no occupant, so instead it was covered in snacks and stuffed animals. She scooted some chips away to make room. "Well, we ate it, obviously, and they kinda dribble it out as soon as he's done with the mind-hijiacking. So... Basically can you take it out of our stomachs?"

"That'd be impossible to pinpoint," Shiloh said, crossing their arms even tighter. "If it really did enter your stomach, it likely dissolved into tiny particles as soon as it hit the stomach acid. It must clump back together when under this mysterious boy's control." Shiloh pinched the top of their nose and sighed. "Besides, I can only work with bloodstream. It's just that most organs have blood in and around... them..." A lightbulb hit Shiloh that instant. "Actually... if you eat it and digest it... take the nutrients..." Then, they grinned at group. It was clear Shiloh was not used to smiling, and the crimson eyes did not help their creepiness factorm "It might be extremely gross, but maybe, given it really does go into the blood as nutrients, I could make it so that the bloodstream moves it all into a clump, and then I could rip it out!" they cheered. "Oh, but it would be intensely painful and horrific... I can only control blood, so I'd have to make some sort of blood hammock or ball around it to slip it out of an open wound. If my theory is correct, of course."

Shiloh rubbed their chin in thought, before they suddenly grabbed the knife off their desk. They snapped back to the group with that same disturbing smile. Shiloh was obviously very excited about their hypothesis. "No time like the present! Anyone want to be the test subject!? I promise I treat all my lab rats with respect! Mostly."

At the sight of the knife Evan shrank back, disappearing into a barely-visible outline. Avery flinched, too, eyeing the instrument warily as she weighed the pros and cons of such a procedure in her head.

"I'll do it!" Sage stepped forward, extending a hand to Shiloh. She had felt the effects of the mind-control; that weird, slithery feeling in her stomach as the powder made its way out of her system. If this could make it so she never had to feel that again, she'd happily go along with whatever Shiloh did. Besides, how painful could it be? She'd already been burnt half to death--this couldn't be any worse than that, could it?

Shiloh gasped when Sage stepped up to the plate. "Wow... It's never been that easy! Usually I have to gag and tie them down first!" they laughed. When Astrid stared at them with a terrified look, an awkward chuckle escaped Shiloh's lips. "I kid. I forget sense of humor isn't like other people's."

Astrid eyed Sage, confused. "I thought you already threw up all the gooey stuff, no? Does it really stay in us forever once we eat it? Maybe someone else should-"

"Not me!" Dawn cut in, her back against the wall. Her eyes were wide with fear. The lower half of her body was armored with spikey vines and thorns. It even began crawling up the wall. "I don't care if I get possessed by Powder! I just know that this kid is never touching me! Personally, this is getting way too 'bodily fluid-y' for my comfort and safety, and I think this kid has something wrong in the head!"

Shiloh gazed at Dawn, then shrugged. "I mean, she's right, technically. My entire family tree carries the gene that causes addiction."