Even though being a teacher was only a disguise required for him to infiltrate the academy, Mr. Alfonsi still had to keep up the guise by doing his job properly.
Trinity Academy's teachers were the best of the best, and if he showed any signs of being inadequate, the headmistresses wouldn't hesitate for one moment to replace him.
A stack of papers was in front of him, and he was in the middle of grading one when he sensed that something was wrong.
It wasn't the kind of wrong like a student had forgotten their homework, claiming that their dog ate it.
No. It was more like the kind of wrong that someone stirs up trouble, which would lead them and others to end up in the hospital or worse, in the dirt.
The building he kept Mason in wasn't far from the academy.
It was a short drive, and even if you were running, it'd be a similar distance if you ran full speed, as there wasn't traffic to worry about and there were paths you could take that a car couldn't.
That was how Maya had been able to return to campus so quickly.
Most teachers were preparing to head home or were lingering in their offices to catch up on work. Mr. Alfonsi was one of them, and he was nowhere near being done yet; he set down his pen.
Stepping to the window, he opened it up and leaped from the third floor straight down to the courtyard.
There were barely any students in the vicinity, so nobody noticed his strange action.
Heading towards the gate where students were trickling towards, he acted normal, calm, and greeted a few students who were in his class, wishing them a good night and telling them to get home or not to stay out too late.
As soon as he was past the gate, away from any nearby students, he disappeared into an alleyway and began dashing at full speed.
"My gut feelings better be wrong," he muttered.
* * *
Bell had a growing suspicion that he was being followed. The ride itself was short, so the timeframe that his eerily accurate gut feeling had caught on was practically instant.
He caught a black vehicle heading in their direction through the rearview mirror when they had pulled out of the academy driveway.
Now, that exact same vehicle lingered in the rearview mirror, still tailing them even after he instructed Ernit to make two unnecessary right turns.
Although the distance between them had grown a little now, they were still close enough that someone who wasn't observant would never catch on that they were being followed.
Maya had questioned why he had made the driver make those turns and Bell proceeded to explain he situation to her.
"Does that mean we'll have to do this another day?" Maya asked, trying her best not to hide her disappointment but failing to do so.
"No," Bell replied. "We proceed as planned."
Although he couldn't see who was inside the car behind them, he had a strong feeling it belonged to a certain noble lady who had confronted him the previous day.
'I was hoping to get in and out but… this day might be longer than I thought.'
Variables always appeared when they were least welcome. Normally, he would deal with them immediately so that they wouldn't affect the plans — but given who their target was today, he didn't consider an extra complication to create any more trouble than they were already dealing with.
Even if the person tailing them got dragged into the mess, it wouldn't change the outcome much. They might even help him out.
The only concern would be how it would affect the future, but as always, he had to be prepared for the unknown future, so he didn't care.
As Bell went over and reviewed the plan again with everyone in the car, he remained unaware that Grace wasn't the only one following him.
The second stalker was impossible to notice through the mirrors anyway because their reflection no longer showed.
To notice her at all, he would have had to physically turn his head and catch her with his own eyes, which he wouldn't do because he had already assumed that the gut feeling was solely about Grace.
High above the streets, Diana moved from rooftop to rooftop.
As for Diana, she had read and instinctively knew that as a vampire, she could fly. It was etched into her blood.
Yet fear kept her grounded.
The idea of plummeting from the sky if her "wings" failed made her stomach twist, so she relied on her legs instead.
Her eyes narrowed, zooming in and focusing on the inside of the car
Even through the car's tinted windows that were meant to obscure vision for the outside world from peering into the interior of the car, she could see everything inside as if the barrier didn't exist at all.
His jawline.
His face.
The subtle movement of his lips as he spoke.
The sight of it all stirred up something unpleasant in her chest as it reminded her of last night.
The previous night.
Diana stumbled into her dorm room looking like a disaster.
Her hair was tangled, her clothes damp with sweat and water from scrubbing blood off her skin and clothes.
Peneri hadn't gone to sleep yet; she'd been pacing anxiously ever since Diana vanished hours earlier. It was only a while ago that she sat down at her bedside, burying her face in her palms. The moment the door opened, she jumped to her feet.
"Diana… you look… where have you been?" Peneri asked. She was startled by the appearance of her friend.
"I was just…" Diana hesitated, then shook her head. "Never mind. It's private matters."
Dragging her legs over to her bed, she fell face-first into the mattress.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Peaches. Just tired."
That was a lie. She wasn't fine.
Physically, she felt better than she had felt in a long time, but mentally, she was a mess.
Her thoughts kept circling back to the stranger in the forest.
Were they even real?
If they were, then why did they help her? How did they help her?
For a single heartbeat, she was certain she'd seen their face: pale skin, black hair, eyes she couldn't describe. But no matter how hard she tried, the proper image refused to form in her mind, and the features she remembered remained incomplete, refusing to come together to create something cohesive.
It was as if a barrier in her mind actively prevented her from remembering.
Why? Why couldn't she remember?
It felt frustrating because there was this feeling that if she could just recall the face, she would be able to answer and satisfy this gnawing feeling that the person looked like someone she knew or had seen before.
Exhaustion won out.
She barely hit the mattress before sleep claimed her. It had been months since she was able to fall asleep so quickly without struggling, rolling around her bed, burying her head into her pillow, flipping her pillow, etc.
And then the dream began. No. The nightmare.
She stood in the forest again.
But this time, it was different.
Normally, her memories of this place vanished upon finding herself in this place. But this time, she was aware of all the previous experiences. She felt like she was in control.
Her senses were razor-sharp, her body light, her breathing steady.
"I've returned to this dream," she murmured. "With control this time."
She was silent for a moment before scoffing.
Instead of waiting for the monster that usually chased her into the mansion, she moved first, heading toward the looming structure before the faint footsteps could even start being heard.
'There's something more to this dream than just being a nightmare that ruins my sleep.'
Inside the mansion, she climbed the stairs and walked the long hallway.
Passing a few doors, she could suddenly sense another presence with her.
'They're here with me.'
She acted as she usually would, and she turned around only to find that there was nobody there. When she would turn around again, this was usually where they would appear in front of her.
And just as she predicted, as soon as she turned around again, completing the 360, there was a figure standing before her, and they lunged at her.
She didn't run.
With a sharp twist of her body, she spun aside to dodge the lunge, instinctively calling on her power, and it answered. Ice burst into existence around her as her hands curled into fists with twin daggers formed in her grip.
She drove forward.
The blades plunged into the figure's chest — a vampire.
"You've killed me enough times," she said coldly. "Now it's my turn."
The body staggered back. As it collapsed, the hood slipped away, revealing the face beneath.
As the vampire's face snapped into clarity, Diana's eyes bulged.
Bell?!
His crimson eyes gleamed, and an infuriating smirk curved his lips. Moonlight spilled through the broken windows, glinting off his fangs.
Before she could even react, her voice had already screamed on its own, "Bell!"
Her eyes were wide open, and just as the word left her mouth, the vampire in front of him dissolved into a swarm of bats.
A light tap touched her shoulder.
Her breath caught as she turned. There he was again.
Even though she had total control over her body, her memories, and even her abilities, just seeing his face had rendered her powerless and unable to retaliate.
"Almost had me there," he giggled before his fangs plunged into her.
Diana, the one lying on her bed in the real world, her eyes flew open.
She shot upright in bed, drenched in sweat layered over her old dried-up sweat from before. Her breath came in ragged gasps.
"Bell!" she screamed his name. Her cry echoed through the room, and Peneri bolted up, panic flooding her face.
"Diana? Diana? What's wrong? Did something happen?"
Her friend was grabbing her by the shoulders, nervously questioning her, but Diana couldn't answer, even as she was being shaken rather violently.
Was he always the one in her dreams, killing her?
Why does he share Bell's face?
Was this a creation of her own consciousness?
Why could she still feel a lingering pain in the area where she had been bitten in her dream?
Questions were running through her mind.
Staring at her trembling hands, it was getting faster and faster when—
Peneri seized her trembling hands, gripping them tightly. Warmth flowed through Diana's fingers, grounding her.
"Diana, please," Peneri said, voice tight with worry. "I'm getting really worried about you now. I've already been but… this… Talk to me. What happened? Why… why did you scream Bell's name?"
Although her mind was in turmoil, Diana tilted her head, and with a "clueless" expression, she asked, "What are you talking about? I said his name? No, I don't even know him close enough like that for him to appear in my dreams, hehehe. No, no, no, I never said that."
Peneri watched her friend closely and could see that she was truly baffled by the question. It didn't seem like she was pretending either.
Then perhaps did she mishear?
"I… I just had a nightmare. That's all. You must've misheard what I said. Sorry about waking you up when we have class in a few hours."
Peneri hesitated, then pulled her into a hug, ignoring the sweat soaking into her clothes. "It's okay. As long as you're really okay."
"Yeah… thanks," Diana said.
Peneri wasn't able to see as she was hugging her, but in that moment, Diana's expression would've terrified her.
Back to the present time.
"I knew I hadn't misheard," Peneri muttered, pushing her sunglasses up onto her forehead, where they settled into her hair.
Above her, on a nearby rooftop, Diana stood motionless.
Following her gaze, Peneri looked toward the car parked below. One by one, people stepped out. The last one to get out was Bell Agnus.
'Why is she following him?'
This was no longer just Peneri trailing Diana for answers.
Now she was tracking both of them, Diana and Bell, the man she was increasingly certain was at the center of whatever had broken her best friend.
As she swung off her bike, something else caught her attention.
Another car had stopped several blocks away.
Only one person stepped out.
"Grace Hartley? What's she doing here?" Peneri wondered.
She wasn't the only one who noticed.
Up on the rooftop, Diana's eyes had already locked onto Grace.