"Serenyaaa!" I heard Mira's voice outside my dorm room before I even opened my eyes properly.
I groaned, burying my face deeper into my pillow. "What time is it?" I mumbled.
"Time to get up, sleepyhead!" she called through the door. "You promised me eight o'clock, and it's eight!"
I dragged myself upright, hair sticking every which way, and peeked out. Mira was grinning like the world depended on her making me leave my bed. "You're insane," I muttered, swinging my legs over the side of the bed.
"Or maybe I'm a genius," she replied, leaning against the doorframe. "Come on, you can't hide forever. Bonfire. Everyone's going. And you? You promised."
I sighed, rubbing at my eyes. "Fine. Give me ten minutes to make myself… slightly human."
"Ten minutes!" she shouted, bouncing down the hall before I could protest further. "No excuses!"
I stumbled into the bathroom, brushing my teeth and hastily throwing on a sweater and jeans. My hair refused to cooperate, but at least I didn't look like I'd slept in the quad. Glancing in the mirror, I muttered, "Normal enough. Maybe."
By the time I grabbed my jacket and backpack, Mira was already waiting by the dorm exit, arms crossed like a drill sergeant. "Finally!"
I rolled my eyes. "Your enthusiasm is overwhelming."
"Save it. The bonfire awaits, and you're coming whether you like it or not," she said, grabbing my hand and practically dragging me down the hallway.
Outside, the evening air was crisp, tinged with the scent of autumn leaves and faint smoke from distant campus chimneys. Students were already gathering near the quad, carrying blankets, mugs, and whatever snacks they could smuggle past the cafeteria rules. Mira tightened her grip on my hand.
"See? Look at everyone having fun. You're going to regret missing this."
I glanced around. The flames of the bonfire were already dancing, casting warm orange light across laughing faces. Music thumped faintly from a portable speaker, and the smell of roasted marshmallows filled the air.
I had to admit it did look fun.
"Well?" Mira prompted, tugging me closer to the crowd.
"Alright, alright," I said, letting her pull me along. "But if I get roasted by someone's terrible attempt at a joke, I'm blaming you."
She laughed, twirling me around. "Deal. But you owe me a marshmallow."
As we neared the bonfire, I couldn't shake the strange mix of excitement and nervousness in my chest.
We reached the edge of the crowd, and Mira immediately pulled me toward a circle of students tossing a frisbee. I tried to focus on the game, laughing at one of the clumsy throws, but my attention kept drifting to the shadows beyond the firelight.
That's when I saw him.
He wasn't part of the crowd. Not exactly. He stood near the edge of the bonfire's glow, leaning casually against a tree. Dark clothes, tall, with broad shoulders that somehow made him look like he belonged in a completely different story not a college quad, not a night of music and marshmallows.
And his eyes…
They caught the firelight in a way that made them gleam, silver and sharp. My stomach did that weird flip-flop thing it always did when something unexpected happened. I blinked, and for a moment I thought I'd imagined it.
He glanced away just as quickly, letting the shadows swallow him again.
"Serenya?" Mira tugged at my sleeve. "You okay? You're staring like a total weirdo."
I shook my head quickly. "Yeah… fine. Just " I waved vaguely toward the tree line, but when I looked back, he was gone. Completely gone.
I frowned, confused. Where did he go?
Mira laughed. "Spooky woods stories getting to you already? Come on, focus. The marshmallows are on that side."
I let her drag me along, but my eyes kept flicking back toward where he had been. Something about him felt… unusual. Important. The night carried on. Music grew louder, students swayed closer to the fire, and Mira tried for the third time to drag me into dancing. I was just starting to think about making an escape back to the dorm when a scream tore through the crowd.
Every head snapped toward the sound.
A girl stumbled out from the treeline, face pale, voice shaking. "Somebody—somebody's out there he's—he's not breathing!"
The music stopped. For a long, frozen second, no one moved. Then chaos erupted. People rushed toward the woods, while others backed away, whispering in fear. Campus security shoved through, flashlights cutting across the darkness.
Whispers rippled through the crowd:
"Did she say dead?"
"Maybe he just passed out"
"No, she looked terrified"
Mira's grip found my arm, tight and unyielding. "Serenya, let's go
I couldn't speak. My chest was tight, breath shallow.
The security guard' radios crackled: "…male, severe wounds… unresponsive…"
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
My gaze flicked back instinctively toward the treeline. For the briefest moment, I thought I saw him again the dark figure from earlier, half-hidden in the shadows, watching everything unfold with a stillness that didn't feel…normal.
And then, like before, he was gone.
Serenya!" Mira tugged harder, pulling me from the edge of the firelight. "Come on. We are not sticking around for this."
I let her lead me, legs moving numbly as we slipped through the breaking crowd. The bonfire's glow dimmed behind us, the chaos fading into shouts and sirens.
By the time Mira and I made it back to the dorm, my legs felt like lead. She shut the door behind us with more force than necessary, then flopped onto her bed with a groan.
"I swear," she muttered into her pillow, muffled but still dramatic, "if campus security doesn't cancel classes tomorrow, I'm I'm dropping out. Like straight up. I can't do murder-mystery college."
Normally, I would've laughed, but I couldn't. My hands still smelled faintly of smoke, and my skin buzzed with a nervous energy that refused to fade.
I showered quickly, hoping hot water would calm me down. It didn't. Every creak of the pipes made me flinch. When I finally slid beneath my covers, the dorm felt too quiet, like the silence itself was listening.
Sleep wouldn't come.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the girl stumbling from the woods, pale with terror. I heard the static-laced radio, the guard's grim voice: "severe wounds, unresponsive…"
And I saw him. Standing still at the treeline. Silver eyes reflecting the fire. Watching.
Sometime after midnight, I gave up on sleep and sat at my desk, staring out the window. The courtyard lay empty, shadows stretched long across the grass. I told myself it was nothing, just the wind
But I could've sworn I heard footsteps crunch softly across the gravel walk below.
When I leaned closer to the glass, the courtyard was empty.i didn't know when I dozed off while staring into thin air.
By morning, the campus was buzzing.
Whispers trailed me from the hallway to the cafeteria. Everyone was talking about the bonfire.
"They said it was an animal attack."
"No, it was definitely drugs. My roommate heard from her friend who was there."
"Did you see the blood? I swear it was everywhere"
Mira dropped her tray onto the table across from me, wide-eyed and alive with gossip. "This place is cursed. First week of classes and we already have a body. My mom is going to freak when she hears about this."
I poked at my cereal, appetite gone.
Mira leaned closer, lowering her voice. "Do you think it's true what they're saying? That he was… mauled?"
My throat tightened. "I don't know."
Mira changed the topic "So, apparently classes are still happening. Totally disrespectful. Like, hello? Trauma!"
I rolled my eyes, but she managed to make me smile. Her chatter kept me grounded, even when I didn't really feel like talking.
Still, part of me couldn't stop thinking about last night. The fire, the shadows. And that boy by the trees… whoever he was.
But then Mira shoved a pancake onto my plate, and just like that, the conversation shifted back to her favorite topic"herself."
And honestly? I was grateful for the distraction.