The day felt wrong from the beginning.
Even before the first bell, Aiden sensed the unease floating through the air like a storm brewing under a clear sky. The sun was bright, but something in its warmth didn't reach him. It never did, but today felt… colder.
Students gathered on the front steps, laughing and pushing through the doors. Aiden stood alone beneath the shadow of the tall building, his eyes scanning faces without meaning to. Every glance he received was either suspicion or fascination — never acceptance.
And behind those stares… fear.
He started toward the entrance when a voice called loudly behind him.
"Oh look! The night prince actually showed up in daylight!"
Noah. Again.
Aiden didn't bother to respond. He kept walking, steps measured and silent.
"Hey! I'm talking to you." Noah stepped into his path. His friends flanked him, smirking.
Aiden finally looked at him — eyes calm, unreadable, but sharp enough to make Noah step back an inch before he caught himself.
"Tch. Freak," Noah muttered and pushed past him.
Aiden didn't react. If he did… the consequences wouldn't be good.
---
In homeroom, Ella kept glancing toward Aiden. She tried to look away every time he noticed, but she wasn't good at hiding things. Her brows were drawn in worry — and that confused him the most.
Why did she care?
He was trouble. Everyone knew it. She should know it too.
Mr. Hartman took attendance and announced a change in schedule.
"Remember, this afternoon we'll have a safety drill. You stay with your class, follow directions. It's routine."
A drill. Aiden's fingers tapped once on his desk.
He didn't like drills. Fake danger had a strange way of becoming real around him.
---
Lunchtime arrived with the usual noise: the slam of lockers, clatter of trays, voices overlapping like static. Aiden sat in the far corner of the cafeteria, silently eating the food he didn't truly need.
Humans assumed vampires couldn't eat normal food. They could — it just felt bland, empty. But Aiden was used to emptiness.
Ella, tray in hand, stood hesitating a few feet away from him. Aiden looked up, surprised.
"Um," she said softly. "Is… this seat taken?"
Aiden blinked once. No one ever asked that question.
He shifted his tray slightly. A silent yes.
She smiled — small, but real — and sat down.
"You don't talk much, do you?" she asked.
Aiden: "No."
"That's… okay. I talk too much for the both of us."
Her cheeks flushed a little as she realized she was babbling. Aiden didn't hate it. Her voice wasn't annoying. It was… warm.
"You know," Ella tried again, "I don't think you're scary."
Aiden paused mid-bite.
Most people looked at him like he was one step away from losing control. But Ella said it like a fact, like she had already decided.
"You should," Aiden answered quietly.
She frowned. "Why?"
He didn't respond. He couldn't explain the truth — the other vampires, the hunger he fought daily, the danger that followed him everywhere.
Before Ella could press further, the screaming started.
---
The fire alarm shrieked — a high, blaring pulse that echoed through the halls.
Students jerked up from their seats, startled, some laughing nervously.
"Line up! Quickly!" teachers yelled, waving students toward the exits.
Mr. Hartman rushed in. "Everyone out now! This is NOT a drill — smoke in the east wing!"
Not a drill?
Aiden stood instantly — senses sharpening. He smelled it: burning plastic, electrical fumes…
But also something else.
The scent of another vampire.
His jaw clenched.
Ella tugged his sleeve lightly. "Come on! We have to go!"
They merged with the crowd heading toward the nearest staircase.
Smoke drifted into the hallway, thin at first… then thickening far too quickly.
Aiden's instincts screamed: trap.
Teachers pushed students onward, urging them not to stop. Panic spread like wildfire.
Noah coughed violently, stumbling. "I— I can't breathe!"
Aiden's eyes scanned the smoke-blurred hall — exits blocked by trash bins pushed over, extinguishers missing from their cases.
Someone did this on purpose.
A group of younger students froze nearby, terrified. Aiden could see the flames starting to crawl up the wall behind them.
Without thinking, he moved.
Faster than anyone else.
He shoved a fallen beam aside as if it weighed nothing, cleared a path, and guided the coughing kids toward the door.
Ella stared at him, wide-eyed. "How did you—?"
A crackling roar interrupted her — the fire surged, cutting off the path ahead.
More screams erupted. Students scattered wrong directions.
Aiden grabbed Ella's hand — cold fingers curling around warmth — and pulled her behind him.
"This way."
His voice was low but firm. She followed without question.
He led her toward a side corridor — darker, less smoke — when the lights cut out entirely.
Darkness swallowed the school.
Ella gasped. "Aiden—?!"
His eyes adjusted instantly. "Stay close."
Then a new sound echoed through the hallway.
Footsteps.
Slow. Deliberate.
Someone clapping.
A tall silhouette emerged through the smoke, applauding with a cold smile.
"Very impressive," the figure said, voice smooth and amused. "You hid your strength well."
Aiden pushed Ella behind him. His heart, dead and still, lurched with instinct.
He knew that voice.
"Jace."
The vampire student stepped closer — eyes glowing faintly red in the smoke-filled dark.
"The council wants to know why you're protecting humans," Jace whispered. "And Draven wants to see whether you can break."
Aiden's fists curled, fangs threatening to extend. He fought them back.
Ella pressed closer behind him, trembling.
Jace's grin widened. "Look at you. A vampire guarding a human girl. How pathetic."
He rushed forward — faster than human eyes could follow.
Aiden reacted just as quickly — grabbing Ella's arm and hurling both of them to the floor as a metal locker was smashed off its hinges where her head had been.
Ella screamed — not loud, but sharp with fear.
Jace laughed, stepping on the fallen locker. "Revealing yourself to save a meal? Romantic."
Aiden stood, shielding Ella completely. His voice was a threat in the dark.
"Touch her again… and I'll make you regret breathing."
Jace paused, studying him — not scared, just fascinated.
"Oh, good," he whispered. "You do still have the monster in you."
He lunged.
Aiden barely avoided the attack — claws scraping sparks from the floor — and shoved Ella toward a nearby door.
"Run," he ordered.
"I— I won't leave you—!"
"Run!"
She hesitated only a second before fear took over and she sprinted down the hall.
Jace laughed. "She won't get far."
Aiden's eyes finally glowed — silver-sharp.
"You shouldn't have come here."
Jace smiled with hunger.
"And you shouldn't have tried to be human."
Aiden moved — full speed, no restraint.
And the hallway exploded into motion.