Rina stared at herself in the mirror and almost didn't recognize the girl staring back.
The glasses were gone, traded for contacts that made her hazel eyes look brighter. Her curls, usually pinned in a messy bun, were loose for once, brushing her shoulders. Melissa had convinced her to try lip gloss — "just a little shine," she'd said — but now it glimmered under her bedroom light like she was auditioning for confidence itself.
"This feels illegal," Rina muttered.
Elijah laughed from her bed, sprawled across her comforter like he owned it. He was scrolling through his phone, music blasting low — something bass-heavy and wild, like the soundtrack of a night Rina wasn't sure she was built for.
"It's not illegal," he said, glancing up with a grin. "It's called looking hot. You're finally living, Rina."
"Living?" she said, smoothing her dress. "I'm just going to a party."
"Exactly," Melissa chimed in from behind her, already dressed like she'd been born in a nightclub — sparkly top, high ponytail, confidence radiating off her. "First night of the rest of your life. Fresh start before college. You'll thank us when you're making out with someone under the strobe lights."
Rina choked. "That's— absolutely not happening."
Elijah smirked. "Don't make promises you can't keep."
The party was already shaking the neighborhood when they arrived.
Bass thumped through the pavement; laughter and shouts echoed across the yard. The soccer team's off-campus house — known as "The Pit" — was a blur of bodies and neon lights.
Rina hesitated at the door, her heartbeat syncing with the music.
"This is insane," she said.
Elijah threw his arm around her shoulder. "Welcome to college life, baby nerd."
Melissa rolled her eyes but smiled. "Let's just have fun, okay? No overthinking."
But Rina was already overthinking. Every face seemed older, louder, wilder. She stuck close to her friends, trying not to look as lost as she felt. Then she saw him.
Niklaus
He stood by the kitchen island, red cup in hand, head tipped back in laughter. His hair was dark, messy, and the light caught on the chain around his neck. Everyone seemed to orbit him — the captain energy was real. And when his eyes met hers across the room, something inside her stuttered.
It wasn't just attraction. It was something… strange.
The air around him seemed to hum, faintly — like the static before a storm.
She blinked, and it was gone.
"Rina?" Elijah's voice broke the spell. "You good?"
She nodded too fast. "Fine. Totally fine."
But she wasn't. When Niklaus started walking toward her, the crowd seemed to shift out of his way. His presence hit her like heat.
"Hey," he said, voice low and steady. "You're new."
Rina's brain short-circuited. "Um. First party. Ever."
He smiled, the corner of his mouth lifting like he knew something she didn't. "Then you picked the right one."
BJ appeared beside him, grinning wider, the more playful counterpart. "Niklaus, man, don't scare the girl. You're giving soccer cult vibes again."
"Shut up," Niklaus muttered, still looking at her.
And for a heartbeat, Rina could swear — swear — his eyes flickered gold.
Then someone turned up the music, the lights flashed, and the moment was gone.
But the strange chill in her chest wasn't.
Later that night, when she stepped outside for air, the world felt different.
The wind hummed through the trees. Streetlights flickered. Somewhere in the distance, something screamed — not human, not animal.
And Rina knew, deep in her bones, that whatever had started tonight wasn't ending when the party did.