[+299, - 173] LOL @ Icicles acting like they’re too good to vote for a damn Teen Viewers’ Choice Award. Like don’t you think if Belle were “above it all” she wouldn’t be going? Think again, they’ve all been confirmed by their publicist. What now, bitches?
[+230, - 101] People honestly think Swans are pushing for this shit just because of Lake and her personal career. Well, the reality is we’re not, and if you think that, it just makes your bitterness toward her that much more obvious. Doing this kind of stuff helps the girls. Do you know how much pressure they’re under? Every Effragist that supports OT4 should take this shit seriously, so Icicles need to get over their damn selves and vote.
“What’s OT4?” Lake asked me because she correctly assumed I’d wasted enough time on the internet to know the lingo.
“One True Four,” I said. “All four of us. The whole crazy Effigy gang.”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying!” Lake nodded excitedly as I read another comment.
[+220, - 180] Okay, but Belle fans don’t actually call themselves Icicles and never did. We’d like you to stop this immediately.
“Yeah, when the hell did that start?” I narrowed my eyes because it only got messier and messier down thread.
[+218, - 194] I love the girls, but Swans are so desperate, pathetic, and transparent. Like fave, like fan!
[+218, - 150] I’m voting for Aaron. He just got out of rehab and hasn’t shown any dick pics or peed in a public establishment in like a month—that takes real courage.
[+210, - 130] I’m screaming—these girls are supposed to be warriors; there is literally no reason for them to be attending parties designed for the detritus of the entertainment industry! Wake up!
They had a point with that last one. Unfortunately, after Saul’s escape from the London facility and the PR disaster that followed, embracing our Effigy fame was the best option we had to distract the masses while the Sect pulled its shit together.
“When did they come up with ‘Icicles’?” Lake cocked her head to the side. “A bit on the nose, isn’t it? And why in God’s name are they all fighting each other instead of voting?” She scrunched up her face as she whined, like a child throwing a tantrum. “Ugh, be unified, you wankers. I want this win.”
Even I knew that expecting unification in Effigy fandom was like asking time to move backward. And in fact, you’d have a better chance of achieving the latter. The angrier people were, the longer and more frequent their online vitriolic rants. Hell, I was the former poster child of messy Effigy fans, so I had no room to judge.
Leaning back in her seat, Lake kept on scrolling through comments. With nothing else to do, I laid my head against the car window, readying myself for another nap, when the door opened with a yank. I would have fallen straight out of the car if I hadn’t grabbed the seat.
It was Belle. “You three, come with me. Chae Rin,” she added sharply and, being the gentle girl that she was, picked up a pebble off the sandy floor and threw it hard at Chae Rin’s forehead. The Effigy awoke with a start, swearing the typical profanities I’d gotten all too used to during the past few weeks. She looked as subtly murderous as she always did whenever I had to venture into her dark jungle of a room in the morning and force her awake to start our training.
“Director Chafik has some information to show us in Communications,” Belle said.
“Is it about the dead guy?” I asked, admittedly with little tact or respect for the dearly departed. “Or the flash drive?”
Belle quickly looked over her shoulder to where Chafik was waiting by the front entrance of the building. “I haven’t given it to him. Not yet. Just a feeling.”
“But—”
“Don’t mention it to him either until I decide what to do.” She straightened up. “Come, let’s go.”
None of us much liked being bossed around, but we stumbled hot and groggy out of the car anyway.
“Not feeling the new arrangement,” Chae Rin, never one to let her displeasure go unnoticed, grumbled as she shut the door behind her. Lake shrugged and obediently went ahead of us. I was about to follow when Chae Rin grabbed the short sleeve of my T-shirt. “Look, I know back in that hospital after France, I was the one who said we should stick together, and we all agreed. And that’s fine, but are we really just going to let Belle call the shots?”
“Isn’t that what she’s been doing?” My nonchalant shrug couldn’t mask the weary sliver of dread in my voice.
“Hey, guys!” Lake called to us just as she, Belle, and Director Chafik were about to enter the facility. “You coming?”
“Yeah, we’re coming!” I called back with a little wave. “Give us a sec!”
“You know as well as I do, kid.” Chae Rin peered over at Belle and Lake as they disappeared through the entrance. “Something hasn’t been right with Belle since—”
“Since she almost wished for Natalya to take over my body for good.”
Chae Rin straightened up and sighed. “Since she found out Natalya’s death wasn’t a suicide like the Sect had told everyone it was.”
And that the Sect could be involved. I was the one who’d seen her death scene myself in my dreams. The perks of having other Effigies’ memories live on inside you.
Perhaps that was why Belle wasn’t keen on handing over the flash drive.
“We have to cut her some slack,” I said quietly. “This isn’t easy for Belle. She’s going through stuff.”
“Like none of us are?” Chae Rin shook her head, exasperated. “I’d ask why you’re so willing to overlook her bullshit, but then you are her number one ass-kisser, so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised.”
“That’s not it!”
“It’s not? Then what is it?”
I couldn’t tell her. I couldn’t tell her why my fingers were curling with guilt. Why my heart beat a bit heavier with dread every time I saw Belle.
I hadn’t told Belle yet about the memory Natalya had shown me in France. I hadn’t told anyone.
Chae Rin flicked me right in the middle of my furrowed eyebrows—a soft flick, thankfully. With her strength, she could have caved my skull in. “Come on, you can’t tell me you’re one hundred percent comfortable with this. You saw what she did in that hideout.”
I did. But it was all the same. After our penultimate run-in with Saul two months ago, we’d decided that we had to work as a team from now on if we were going to be able to face the challenges up ahead. Well, every team needed a leader. That was Belle. I guess. It wasn’t a verbal agreement. We didn’t shake hands or anything. It was just . . . understood. Belle had the most experience out of all four of us. Unlike Lake and Chae Rin, who had only become Effigies in the past two or three years, nineteen-year-old Belle had somehow managed to survive fighting phantoms for six years. For an Effigy, that was pretty damn massive.
It was the Seven-Year Rule. Belle had told me once before. A little saying among the Sect. If you could survive more than seven years fighting monsters, you had either spent your life hiding or honed your skills enough to become a godlike fighting machine. Natalya held the world record, having spent fourteen years battling as an Effigy. Only fourteen.