Since I was on guard against him, I didn’t want to reveal any more than necessary.Today we approached our conversation more combatively than ever. George and I had had an early dinner and were strolling slowly across the quad now that the heat had eased. The words George threw at me were almost violent.“If you’re thinking of turning Jérôme into an enemy, you need to know right off the bat that nobody here will be on your side.”George snapped off a twig with two tiny leaves the size of his thumbnail and held it between his fingers. I broke off a matching twig beside him and asked,“Why? Because of Jérôme’s status?”“That’s part of it. You know how special treatment Jérôme gets. By now you’ve probably guessed the real reason he has his own room.”“Right. Saying there aren’t enough students was an obvious lie, George.”I said teasingly, and George shrugged.“In any case, that room really was used by actual royalty. It’s the largest and most ornate. Jérôme says there are secret chambers, too, but the school wouldn’t want us ordinary folk poking around in there. But that’s not what I mean.”“Then what?”“You’ve been here less than two months. You know nothing of the school’s atmosphere or undercurrents.”George plucked the remaining leaves off his twig one by one.“If you ever find yourself truly cornered… you catch my drift? Not just a petty fistfight, but a dead-end you could never escape on your own. You know what I mean?”“I know.”I answered curtly.In that moment George looked strange. He held the bare twig in his hand and stared at me with an unsettling intensity. After a long pause he spoke again.“When you’re trapped like that, there’s no one who can really help you. No one you can trust. Make an enemy of someone, and it’s like making the entire school your enemy.”His words were flawed. My fight was only with Jérôme—how could everyone become my foe? Simply by not helping me? I objected.“Just because they don’t help me doesn’t make them my enemies. My only enemy is Jérôme, and he’s the only one I’m fighting. Anyone who doesn’t fight me isn’t my enemy.”“You’re wrong.”George replied flatly.“Indifference and ignorance are violence.”I met him with equal firmness.“Indifference and ignorance alone can’t prove violence or anything else. Only actions have proof.”“Indifference and ignorance are actions.”George shook the twig and tossed it toward the woods. I still couldn’t agree with him, and he saw it on my face. But we didn’t argue further. Instead, we walked on in silence. The sun was dipping beyond the trees, the sky ablaze with a burning red glow. George stopped to watch the sunset.“The moment you feel indifference and ignorance as violence, everything in this school will turn against you. And by then it’ll be too late.”He said it in a dry tone. I said nothing, simply stared at his half-step taller frame. The silence didn’t last long.“I’m heading back now.”George checked his wristwatch. I looked at mine. It was almost seven o’clock.“I’ll walk a bit further.”George nodded and turned toward the dormitory. I watched his retreating form for a moment, then headed in the opposite direction. Though it had rained during the week, the grass was now crisp and dry. I followed the jogging path Simon and I often took when we walked together, which led straight to Kelly Bog.I’d been to Kelly Bog a few times with Simon or Hugh. It lay about a thirty-minute walk from the forest edge, along a flat, grass-covered path that few chose to traverse. After visiting Kelly once, I understood why. The bog was larger than I expected, and more gloomy, too. No waterfowl perched on the murky waterlogged vegetation, and floating leaves and decaying debris clogged the surface so densely that you couldn’t tell where the bog began and ended.The trees surrounding it all drooped long, spindly branches toward the water, so ominous it seemed as if a ghost might lurch out from among them. If you fell in, you’d never escape on your own. Simon and Hugh had warned me several times to be careful of the soggy ground.Despite all that, I liked Kelly Bog. Or rather, I liked the path to it most of all. It was quiet and seldom traveled, so I hardly ever felt fear or discomfort. Simon, who often walked here with me, was the only person at this school I truly liked.Walking slowly, I thought about Simon. He was a good sort. I had to admit I fancied him, honestly. At first I thought him odd—his cold demeanor suggested it was a peculiar mind, not odd looks.Simon was handsome. His brows were sharply defined, his black eyes deep, his build strong. His clothes were always neat, his manners impeccable. His flaw was a stony reserve and an extreme reluctance to speak.He was perfectly considerate in every way a roommate could be—never forgetting morning and nightly greetings, even bringing me breakfast—but there was never any private conversation, which struck me as oddly eccentric. Was he keeping his distance or trying to close it? Either way, we were friends now. Ironically, Jérôme had done me that service.Come to think of it, there was one thing George didn’t know. Simon and I were far closer than he realized, and not everyone at school stood by while I struggled. Thinking of Simon as I approached Kelly Bog lifted my spirits. I’d forgotten Simon’s warning, though.Be careful.The path to the bog was so quiet I heard the sound the moment it began and reacted instantly. At first I couldn’t place it—there was a rhythmic beat, yet it wasn’t a familiar forest noise. The sound grew nearer. I had a bad feeling. Kelly Bog came into view, so I hurried toward it.Kelly Bog’s reeds and vegetation offered easy concealment. I picked up the pace, but the sound behind me accelerated, as if about to overwhelm me. Before I reached the bog, the noise thundered so powerfully the ground seemed to shake. In that moment I realized in a flash.It was the sound of hooves.The instant I understood, I sprinted toward Kelly Bog with everything I had. The sun was nearly gone; the woods were dark. If I could hide among the tangled reeds, they’d never find me. But I was wearing lace-up Oxford shoes, so I couldn’t run as fast as I wanted. The hooves thundered closer. Cold sweat broke out. My thighs strained to the breaking point. My mouth went dry.I felt the urge to look back, but I kept running. I ran until my lungs felt like they’d tear apart, thinking only of flinging myself into the reeds. The hoofbeats pounded at my back, coming so close I felt they were about to snap my neck—and then—“Hahaha, this feels just like hunting!”I heard Jérôme’s loud laugh. I finally couldn’t resist and glanced back. Jérôme was riding hard toward me, closing the distance fast. I ran harder still, each step filled with breathless desperation.At that moment I saw the horse brush past me. Its sleek black flank flashed by, and I felt a burning pain along my back, as if seared by a branding iron. Jérôme had struck me with his riding crop. I lost all strength and collapsed onto the grass.I rolled in agony, screaming without realizing I was. After what felt like ages, I noticed my cries had turned into pig-like squeals. Instinctively I touched my back, but it was dry—no blood. The strike had landed in the same place Jérôme had beaten me before.Pain scrambled my mind. Tears welled hot in my eyes. Jérôme turned his horse and dismounted, approaching me slowly. I barely lifted my head to look up at him. He leaned the crop against his cheek and surveyed me.“Let’s do this more often—our little hunting game.”He said it as though it were a lark. “It’s not so bad to be the hunted, if you think of it as a game, right?”I wiped the drool at my mouth on my sleeve. I had no strength to reply. Jérôme dismounted fully and knelt beside me. I had no power even to fight back; pain tightened every fiber of my being.Gently, in a gloved hand, he wiped the tear-stained tracks from my cheek. His touch was so tender it felt like we were lifelong friends—or brothers. He stroked me as though he knew me better than anyone….“Raymond. How long can you endure?”Jérôme asked, tracing my cheek.“How much must I suffer before your desire for revenge breaks? How far must I go to win your heart?”“Test me.”My voice emerged at last, though I was still wracked with pain.“See how far you can go.”Absurdly, I didn’t know why Jérôme did this. Why had we started to growl at each other—no, that wasn’t right. I alone had been snarling. To Jérôme, it was mere sport, like riding. My thirst for revenge and the surprises I sprang made the game all the more fun for him.Was his motive just entertainment? Then why choose me? Why make me his quarry?But before I could ask, Jérôme laughed again. Suddenly his rough hand tore at my shirt, sending buttons flying. He rolled me over, twisted my arm behind my back, and bound my wrists tightly with my own shirt. Then, to my shock, he hoisted me up and slung me over the saddle.Dazed, I stared at him. He brushed my hair back and said with glee,“I’ll show you just how far I can go.”“What are you doing?”I gained enough composure to ask, my voice trembling.Jérôme said nothing but seized the reins and spurred the horse toward Kelly Bog. The pain in my back vanished in an instant. The woods were utterly dark now, with no wind or insect sounds—eerily silent. A chill ran over me. I had no time to plan or calculate. The shadowed bog loomed ever nearer. I could no longer pretend ignorance of what Jérôme intended.“I can’t let this end like this!”“No—you can.”Jérôme turned to me with a terrifying calm. His smooth, pale face floated like a specter in the dark.“I’ve done this before.”“What… what do you mean?”Desperation rang clear in my voice, and my body shook uncontrollably.“This is usually the final stage. After you’ve been through everything you can endure, when there’s nothing left to do—you discard you. Right here.”I couldn’t comprehend his words. Endure everything? Nothing left to do? Discard me?Even if I didn’t grasp each word, the context was chillingly clear. Jérôme spoke of a human—he was going to discard a human. Me.As that realization hit, my hair stood on end. I began thrashing in the saddle, desperate to buy time. That madman planned to push me into the bog. To kill me! The horse neighed in displeasure as I struggled. Jérôme seized the back of my neck and flung me to the ground. The earth was damp—I was at the edge of the bog.“Raymond. Did you know there are crocodiles in Kelly Bog?”Jérôme said in a light tone. Fear had locked my tongue. If he really threw me in here, in this darkness, there’d be no way out. Jérôme didn’t need to threaten more; if he had, I’d find comfort—overblown threats are easily seen as bluster. But Jérôme… Jérôme’s every act was real. Sincere.He gripped my ankle with cold, clammy fingers. I shuddered. He began dragging me, face-down, toward the water. Struggling was useless. When he took a few steps back, I felt cold, wet mud smear across my chest.“No! Jérôme!”“Don’t worry. I couldn’t take you all the way to the crocodiles—you’d endanger me too.”“You crazy bastard…”Mud filled my mouth as I cursed. My face dipped into the bog. I tilted my head back as much as I could, but water flooded my mouth. If Jérôme hadn’t stopped, I would have drowned right there.

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