A collective gasp rippled through the crowd of students, their eyes wide and necks craned as they stared up at Juniper. Now this was rock climbing. What the other students had been doing... that was just hiking, and a particrly clumsy version of it at that.


    Just as she reached the top, Juniper noticed the knot on her safety rope loosening before it suddenly came undone. Her body lurched, and the rope began to fall away.


    "Ah!"


    The sudden crisis sent a wave of panic through the onlookers, their hearts leaping into their throats.


    Unseen by the others, a cruel smile stretched across Farrell''s lips. Within the sinister recesses of his mind, he silently urged, "Fall. Fall down. Fall and die."


    Just as everyone braced for a tragedy, the girl simply grabbed the rock face with one hand, her body swinging out into the open air. The rope detachedpletely and mmed onto the ground with a sickening thud. After swaying for a moment, she was still clinging firmly to the wall.


    Then, to the utter disbelief of the crowd, Juniper began to climb down with just her bare hands, her speed just as impressive as her ascent.


    "What?"


    "No way..."


    "


    "Are you seeing this?!"


    The astonishing disy left the students speechless. Was that even possible?


    "Someone should seriously investigate Juniper. I''m not kidding, I don''t think she''s human!"


    "I''m starting to think the rope was just holding her back!"


    "That''s our queen! All hail the queen!"


    "Queen! Queen! Queen!"


    The cheers grew louder, echoing across the field like a massive fan rally.


    As Junipernded gracefully on her feet, Farrell blinked, refusing to believe his eyes Was she even human? To descend from that height,pletely unaided, andnd so smoothly?


    "Trying to pull that stunt on me?" Juniper dusted off her hands and walked over to Farrell, a cold sneer ying on her lips. "Did you really think I''d be scared?"


    Caught red-handed, Farrell felt a pang of guilt, but his thick skin allowed him to feignposure. "I don''t know what you''re talking about."


    "It''s okay. You will soon enough."


    As soon as Juniper finished speaking, the wail of police sirens pierced the air.


    "What did you do?" Farrell''s nerves tightened, his voiceced with panic.


    "A few years ago, you hurt a girl..." Juniper''s words were slow and deliberate. "She was only twelve at the time."


    "Later, while working as an instructor at a school, you seduced a student and got her pregnant. To get rid of her you staged a car ident. She''s still lying in a hospital bed.


    Farrell''s eyes widened in shock. He had no idea how she knew all this.


    "And now, for your petty revenge, you tried to have me killed." Juniper watched his panicked expression with satisfaction. "But I don''t have any evidence for what happened today."


    Farrell swallowed hard, a wave of relief washing over him.


    "However. Juniper paused, her tone turning arrogant, "it doesn''t matter if I have evidence or not. The first two incidents are more than enough to keep you locked up


    the rest of your life."


    for


    "You" Farrell''s face turned ashen with fear, and he lost control. "If I go down, do


    you think the Sherwin family will let you off the hook?"


    "And what if they don''t?" The threat amused Juniper. She looked upzily, her voice dripping with disdain. "As if they could do anything to me. They''re allpletely useless."


    She enunciated thest word with biting rity.