The academy wasn't normal-The hallway reeked of iron and mildew, its silence broken only by the wet slap of unseen footsteps. Each breath hung visible in the air, like a warning whispered by the frost itself. Reyna walked slightly behind my special service enforcer. He called himself Tess Marlow, she knew it sounded all happy and nice but I'd seen enough people in my life to know their true purpose. This guy was just here for the money and nothing else, he didn't care about her or anyone else for the matter. He knocked on the Headmistress's door. Once. Twice. Then silence…. The door opened slowly and Mrs. Rae said, "Come in dears, you there look quite cold now, have a cup of tea!" Her voice rang like church bells in a thunderstorm—too calm, too precise, in all the chaos. The office stank of bleach and old secrets. She stood at the far end, shoes polished to mirrors, eyes unreadable behind fogged lenses. She smiled with too many teeth—perfect, sharp, and unwavering, like a doll someone forgot to make human. And tea…she was twelve! Why would I want tea?
"I'm Reyna Solis."
I speak softly, like I was confessing a secret the walls already knew.
"I don't have a family. Never did. Not really. I came from the Quiet House—they say it forgets the names of those who leave."
Her eyes don't blink when she smiles. The light catches something behind them—like old glass and burned photographs.
"But I remember everything. Especially the things no one talks about."
Mrs. Rae laughed liked they were sharing a personal joke. Tess glared at her for a full minute before looking away. Reyna glared back, the silence stretched on and on before Mrs. Rae finally broke it. She asked Tess to leave us for the rest would be taken care of by her. The dismissal hit hard, as if she was commanding the witnesses away. She looked at me for the first time since we got here, really looked at me, her gaze was sharp, merciless and bloody, as if she was already staring at the girl this place would turn me into. She slowly got up, pacing around me in a circle hauntingly.
"See the ash stain beneath the window? That was Jonah. He ran. He screamed. We didn't." Her voice was sickeningly sweet as if already planning to murder me. I thought she'd stop, but she continued, "You think rules are meant to be bent. That if you glare hard enough, the walls will flinch for you. But here… they don't bend. They tighten. "At Blood keep, we don't scream. We whisper. And when those whispers reach the Furnace Room, well... not much comes back." "You'll learn that silence here isn't peace. It's pressure. Weighing down every breath you dare to take against my will." "Rebellion is a ritual. Punishment is a promise. And I promise—if you defy me, you won't leave this place unchanged. You'll leave as something else." "Or not at all."
Who did this woman think she was, I'd survived the Quiet House. She couldn't scare me, so naturally I retorted almost immediately. If I said it too quick it would seem as if I'm lashing out, if I hesitated it would seem I'm scared," "You think shadows scare me? I lived where names disappeared and silence had teeth." "Break me? Try. I wasn't made to bend." "I leave when I choose—and I'll leave still knowing who I am. Can this place say the same?" I flashed a smile.
At that moment the air itself seemed to hold its breath. As if waiting to see what would happen. The door creaked open quietly, the room seems to hush itself as he steps forward. His boots make no sound, though the stone should echo. He's thirteen—just a boy, but there's nothing boyish about the way he moves. Jet-black hair tumbles over eyes too green to be anything but deliberate. Eyes that don't blink, don't glance away, don't question. Reyna meets his gaze, but he doesn't flinch. He studies her like a puzzle already halfway solved. There's no smile. No challenge. The headmistress turns, eyes narrowing just slightly as they land on the boy. "Hunter." Her voice slices through the silence. "You'll show Miss Solis the grounds. The sanctioned parts." A pause. Calculated. Measured. "Mind what you say. She's not ready for the rest." Sam steps forward, green eyes never leaving Reyna's. "She'll see what she sees." He doesn't ask. Doesn't agree. Just accepts. The headmistress's lips tighten, but she doesn't argue. She simply nods, once, sharp as a closing door.
The corridors are empty except for the distant hum of fluorescent lights. Each footstep I take echoes twice—once on the polished stone, once against my own tightening chest. Sam Hunter falls into step beside me, voice low and polite, trying to fill the silence with hollow reassurances. He offers a gentle, "You alright?" like I'm some wounded animal he wants to calm. "I don't need your help." My voice is sharp and clear. One second, he's just standing there and next I'm barely seeing his wrist before it coils and shoots out. I feel the blow sting. Cheek throbbing, I crouch low. I sense the second strike before I see it, using his own momentum against him I have him pinned on the floor before he can strike again. I get up, no cocky behavior, no words needed. I just stare at him before he slowly drags himself up, muttering something about classic judo-karate combos. I flash him a smile, there's no warmth in it, just cool calculation. I'm satisfied to see him flinched. Then I taste the metallic tang in my mouth. Invisible hands push me down, I land on the floor with a soft thud. Then it hits me, the sharp pain as if my very blood was freezing. I stifle a cry and just lay there trembling, and suddenly the pain is gone as quick as it started. Sam kneels and whispers to me, "Every vein is a river, and rivers obey me!" He said that with such intensity that I look away. He looks at me one more time before harshly pulling me to my feet. He's stronger than he looks, I glance at him one more time. His eyes have gone steel green, metallic and his voice, everything looks sharper than it was. He looks like he's in a different place. Then he snaps out of it looking as if he's a thousand miles away. What was that, I silently ask myself. I'd never seen anything like this before, this was just getting better and better. This school wasn't as ordinary as it claimed to be. But Time for research would come later. But before I could do anything, the bell rang and students came piling out of each class. A girl in a grey black and white formal uniform runs up to us. Her eyes are red, crimson like the color of blood, her cheeks are flushed and her straight black hair is pulled back in a sharp ponytail. "Hey! Are you Reyna Solis…" she asks excitedly. "My name's Leah…...Leah grace, I think I have to show you around! Come let me show you to our dorms." Sam spares me one last glance before disappearing into the crowd. I can still feel the way his power made me want to curl up on myself and die. I could still feel the metallic taste and the way it singed. Nevertheless, I followed her to a room at the end of the corridor. It was a plain stone room with a bed and a study table. It looked like a military compartment more than a place where people lived in. As the door shut behind me, I listened for the satisfying click that locked me in.
Late at night she lay there thinking things through, trying to sort out her feelings. Reyna stared at the ceiling but couldn't get the boy's face out of her mind. Whatever he did there was obviously practiced. Was everyone like this.... "No, that can't be real." She whispered to herself. Still she couldn't forget what Sam had said earlier about veins being rivers and obeying him. Still he was a mystery I was willing to solve. As I let the darkness claim me, I found one word etched into my memory SAM HUNTER…