The first official morning at St. Augustine's didn't feel like a morning at all. Aurelia woke to the sharp clang of the old brass bell echoing down the corridors, a sound that reverberated through the bones of the ancient building. It was as if the walls themselves wanted to remind her that her time here was no longer a dream but a binding reality.
Elena stirred in the bed opposite hers, groaning into her pillow before sitting up, hair sticking in messy waves. "Welcome to hell's alarm clock," she muttered.
Aurelia chuckled weakly, though nerves pinched her chest. She'd never lived in a boarding school before, and the idea of rushing off to classes with hundreds of eyes ready to evaluate every new move wasn't comforting. She dressed quickly in the uniform: pressed navy skirt, white blouse, the St. Augustine crest stitched in gold above her heart. It felt heavier than it looked, like the fabric carried generations of weight.
The dining hall buzzed with noise by the time they arrived. High arched windows let sunlight pour over polished wooden tables where students clustered in little kingdoms. Aurelia's gaze snagged immediately on Cecilia, seated at the center of her circle of friends. She looked like she had been born to rule these tables—perfect posture, hair shining, lips curved in a smirk that only widened when her eyes found Aurelia.
"Well, look who finally decided to show up," Cecilia said, voice carrying just enough for the people nearby to hear. Her friends tittered. "Didn't get lost in the halls, did you? They can be… tricky for newcomers."
Aurelia pressed her lips together and slid onto a bench with Elena, who rolled her eyes so hard it could've been audible. Aurelia tried to focus on her food, but Cecilia's laughter lingered, wrapping around her like invisible chains.
Classes passed in a blur. The teachers were strict but not unkind, and Aurelia found herself jotting notes feverishly just to keep up. Yet, more than once, she felt eyes on her. Not Cecilia's though she stole glances, clearly waiting for Aurelia to stumble...but heavier, darker, as if something in the room tilted whenever she moved.
During lunch, that sensation grew unbearable. Aurelia scanned the crowded hall and found him.
Lucian.
He sat at the farthest end of the dining hall, back straight, expression unreadable. His presence was magnetic, drawing her attention like a thread stitched into her bones. He didn't laugh with others, didn't seem to belong to any circle, and yet no one dared approach him. Even from across the room, his aura silenced something in her, made her throat tighten.
She snapped her gaze away quickly, heart thudding.
Elena noticed. "Don't," she whispered sharply.
"Don't what?" Aurelia asked, feigning ignorance.
"Don't look at him. Don't even think about him."
But Aurelia did think about him, long after classes ended. She carried that strange weight of his gaze—or was it her imagination?,back to the dorms, unable to shake the feeling that she'd just glimpsed someone whose shadow stretched longer than the walls of St. Augustine itself.
That night, Aurelia sat on her bed with a book open but unread. The dorm had quieted, faint laughter echoing from the common room below. Elena was brushing her hair in front of the mirror when she suddenly spoke.
"You saw him today, didn't you?"
Aurelia blinked. "Who?"
"Don't play dumb. Lucian Vale." Elena's reflection met Aurelia's, her eyes sharp. "Everyone notices him at least once. That's the problem."
Aurelia hesitated, then admitted softly, "I just… saw him sitting there."
Elena dropped the brush onto the desk with a sigh. "Of course you did. That's how it starts. Look, Aurelia, I'm going to tell you something, and you need to take it seriously. Lucian isn't like the others here. He's… different. He doesn't talk to people. Doesn't join clubs. He barely even attends assemblies. But somehow, he's always there, lurking at the edges."
"Maybe he just likes to be alone," Aurelia offered, though the words rang hollow.
Elena shook her head. "No. It's more than that. Bad things follow him. People who get too close, something always happens. And Cecilia…" Elena hesitated. "Even she doesn't mess with him. That should tell you everything."
The silence between them stretched. Aurelia stared at the shadows cast on the ceiling, the old building groaning softly in the night.
Finally, Elena's voice dropped to a whisper. "Stay away from him, Aurelia. I'm serious. Don't look at him. Don't talk to him. Don't even breathe in his direction. If you're smart, you'll pretend he doesn't exist."
Aurelia turned her face into the pillow, but sleep didn't come easily. Elena's warning repeated in her mind like a mantra. Yet underneath the fear, another feeling stirred something dangerously close to curiosity.
Why did it feel impossible to stay away from someone she hadn't even met?