### **Chapter 2: The Dormitory at the End of the Hall**
Elena's suitcase wheels echoed like a funeral drum as she followed the housekeeper—a gaunt woman who never blinked—up the grand staircase. The portraits lining the walls seemed to track her with their eyes.
"Room 13B," the woman rasped, thrusting a rusted key into Elena's hand. "Curfew is at midnight. *Break it, and you'll wish you hadn't.*"
Elena's throat tightened. "Why?"
The woman smiled, revealing teeth filed to points. "*Because the halls belong to them after dark.*"
---
The dorm was a coffin.
A single bed, a desk scarred with claw marks, and a window that overlooked the fog-choked forest. The previous occupant had left something behind—a journal, its pages filled with frantic scribbles:
*"They're watching me. The wolves smell fear. The vampires drink secrets. Don't let them know you're—"*
The rest was torn away.
A knock at the door.
Elena jumped, slamming the journal shut.
It was *him*—Kieran, leaning against her doorframe like a shadow given form.
"You shouldn't be here," she said.
"Probably not." His gold eyes flicked to the journal. "But you're holding *her* things."
"Whose?"
"Lilith Vrost. My sister." His voice was ice. "She disappeared last semester. They called it a *tragic accident*."
Elena's blood turned to sludge. "What really happened?"
Kieran stepped closer. "She asked too many questions."
A howl tore through the night—close, too close. Kieran's head snapped toward the window.
"Lock your door," he said. "And don't trust *anyone*."
Then he was gone.
Outside, something with too many teeth scraped against the glass