The cafeteria at Aurelia Academy was a glass-walled amphitheater of social hierarchies, smelling of expensive espresso and manufactured perfection. Dafne tried to navigate it like she navigated everything else: eyes down, headphones on, moving with the rhythmic anonymity of a ghost.
She just wanted to find a corner where the air didn't feel like it was waiting to trap her. But as she entered the room, she felt a heavy, magnetic pull.
The Table of VulturesAt the center of the room sat Raphael. To his right was Suzan, who watched him with hungry, possessive eyes. Opposite them were two boys, Jax and Miller, who seemed to exist only to laugh at Raphael's jokes, and a girl named Chloe, who sat at the edge of the group with a soft, uneasy expression.
Raphael spotted Dafne the moment she cleared the doorway. He remembered the dinner—the way her body had reacted to his voice like a marionette hitting the end of its strings. He needed to see it again.
"Dafne!" he called out, his voice cutting through the ambient noise.
She stopped. She didn't want to, but the sound of her name was a hook.
"Why are you calling the glitch-girl over, Raph?" Suzan sneered, flicking her blonde hair. "She's a freak. She probably doesn't even talk."
Raphael ignored Suzan. He didn't look away from Dafne. "Come here and sit with us."
Dafne's heart revolted. No. Please. But the Echo was already pulling at her joints. She didn't walk toward the table; she was drawn to it. Every step felt like fighting an invisible tide, yet to the rest of the cafeteria, it looked like she was walking toward the most popular table in school with strange, robotic intent.
She reached the table and sat in the empty chair directly across from him. Her hands clamped onto her knees.
"So, she speaks," Suzan hissed. "Raphael, why is she staring like that? It's creepy."
"Leave her alone, Suzan," Chloe muttered, looking at Dafne with a flash of genuine concern. "She's just new."
Raphael leaned forward, lowering his voice into that velvet authority. "Eat your lunch, Dafne."
Dafne didn't have lunch. She hadn't even gone to the line. Her hand reached out and grabbed a stray apple from the tray in front of Suzan.
"Hey! That's mine!" Suzan snapped, reaching to grab it back.
Dafne didn't flinch. She bit into the apple. Her jaw moved mechanically, her eyes fixed on Raphael with a look of pure, concentrated terror. She was eating because he told her to, even though the fruit tasted like ash.
The Cafeteria Clash"Dafne? What are you doing?"
Maya appeared at the edge of the table, her tray shaking slightly. She had seen Dafne "obey" the summons from across the room and her protective instincts had flared. She didn't know about the curse—she just thought Raphael was being a bully.
"She's having lunch with us, Maya," Raphael said, leaning back with a bored smirk. "Don't be a buzzkill."
"She looks like she's about to faint, Raphael," Maya snapped, stepping between him and Dafne. "Let go of whatever weird power trip you're on. Dafne, come on. We're sitting by the window."
Dafne didn't move. She couldn't. Raphael's command to sit with us was still the dominant force in her nervous system.
"She doesn't want to go," Suzan laughed. "Maybe she realized your table is for losers, Maya."
"Shut up, Suzan," Maya fired back. She looked at Dafne, confused. "Dafne? Seriously, let's go. Why are you sitting here like a statue?"
Dafne's mouth opened, but no words came out. She just took another mechanical bite of the apple.
"She's staying," Raphael said, his voice sharpening. "Aren't you, Dafne?"
"Yes," Dafne whispered.
Maya's eyes widened. She looked at the two boys, Jax and Miller, who were snickering, and at Chloe, who was looking at her lap. Maya felt a surge of hot, righteous anger. "You're a prick, Vane. Just because your brother runs the city doesn't mean you own the students."
Maya grabbed Dafne's hand to pull her up, but Dafne was rooted to the spot. Her muscles were locked. Maya stared at her friend's hand—it felt like marble, unyielding and cold.
"Fine," Maya hissed, glaring at Raphael. "Keep your 'guest.' But don't think I don't see what you're doing."
The WarningAfter lunch, Maya caught up with Dafne in the quiet hallway near the library. She waited until the hallways were empty before pulling Dafne into an alcove.
"Dafne, talk to me. What was that?" Maya asked, her voice hushed. "Why didn't you leave when I asked?"
Dafne looked at her shoes, her voice trembling. "I... I just couldn't. He asked me to stay."
Maya groaned, rubbing her temples. "Listen to me. You need to stay away from Raphael Vane. You don't know the history of that family."
Maya leaned in closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Everyone thinks the Vanes are just 'successful,' but they're collectors. Raphael's father was a monster, and his older brother—your dad's boss—is worse. They don't have friends, Dafne. They have assets. There was a girl at his old school... she was like you. Quiet. Sweet. He followed her around for months, and then one day, she just stopped showing up. Her family moved away overnight, just like yours did."
Dafne's blood turned to ice.
"They use people until they break," Maya continued, her eyes searching Dafne's. "I don't know why you're so 'obedient' to him, but you have to stop. He sees it as a weakness, and in this city, the Vanes smell weakness like sharks smell blood. If he tells you to do something, you have to find a way to say no. Do you hear me?"
Dafne looked at Maya, her heart breaking. She wanted to tell her. She wanted to say, I can't say no. My body won't let me.But she was terrified that if she said it out loud, the secret would give Maya a power she wasn't ready to handle.
"I hear you," Dafne whispered.
But as she walked away, she felt the ghost of Raphael's voice in her head, a cold weight that was already starting to feel like a leash.