He heard a sudden voice in his thoughts.
"You're standing in front of the wrong building."
Kade turned.
A girl stood a few steps away, holding a cup of iced coffee. Her hair was jet-black and tied loosely behind her, and the wind kept pushing a few strands across her face. She didn't look like she was trying to impress anyone. Her expression was calm, almost uninterested, yet her eyes were sharp, like she noticed everything around her.
"I'm pretty sure this is the main entrance," kade said.
"It is," she said. "But the orientation hall is the one behind it. You will end up with the engineering students if you walk into this one.
He blinked. "How do you know where I'm going?"
"You've checked your schedule four times in the last two minute," she said. "People only do that when they're lost."
He hadn't known she'd been standing there, watching him.
"Right."
"You're a new student," she said. "I can tell from the way you're scanning the buildings."
"Is that a bad thing?"
"No. Just too obvious."
She moved past him as if the conversation was already over. Kade hesitated, then stepped forward.
"Wait," he said. "Which way is the hall again?"
She lifted her hands slowly with her cup. "Straight down, turn left at the glass walkway."
"Thanks."
She nodded, yet still didn't smile. "Try not to get lost again."
"Can I get your name first?
She paused, turned around to him, and finally answered, "Mira."
For some reason, the name lingered within his mind. It was short and simple, yet familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before. He wanted to ask more, but she had already mingled into the crowd.
---
Kade Solarin arrived at Aurelian Academy well before most of the new students. He hadn't planned on that; he'd barely slept the night before. Every time he shut his eyes, he heard something breathing close to his ear, soft but heavy, like someone leaning over him in the dark. He kept telling himself it was stress. First day of a new school, new people, new rules. Anyone would be anxious.
But the sound felt too real.
His hand shook a little as he adjusted the strap of his bag. The front gate of Aurelian Academy stood high above him, two iron iron doors engraved with the school's crest-an eye inside a circle. Not a regular school logo. An actual eye. It always bothered him when he saw it on the website.
A strange motto was engraved beneath it:
TRUTH REQUIRES SILENCE.
He didn't know what that meant, and he wasn't sure he wanted to.
Students started to arrive in clumps. Some took photos in front of the fountain. Some consulted schedules with one another. Some were already gossiping. Kade hung back, leaning against a pillar, surveying the scene with careful eyes. He'd always been that kind of kid. Observe first. Act second.
---
Noise filled the orientation hall as hundreds of students packed onto the chairs and teachers climbed the stairs to the stage with piles of files in their hands. Kade sat down in the corner. He wasn't keen on any group conversations because he wasn't good at them
.
He opened his notebook—the one in which he kept track of the strange things that occasionally happened around him—and flipped onto a fresh page.
Day 1 — Aurelian Academy
No sign of the… episodes yet.
Stay calm. Stay alert.
He didn't dare write the word "wolf." He didn't dare think about the night he couldn't remember—the night his whole town had burned down when he was ten. He was the only survivor. That alone brought enough attention to last a lifetime.
The headmaster stepped onto the stage, breaking his thoughts. A tall man with a stern face and a dark suit that looked too heavy for the weather. He gasped slightly, like someone catching breath after running, and wiped his forehead before speaking.
"Welcome to the new academic year at Aurelian Academy," he began. "Before we proceed, there is a matter we must address. Last year, three students—"
Whispers exploded instantly. Kade lifted his head.
"—went missing," the headmaster finished. "We have not determined the cause. While investigations continue, extra measures have been put in place. You will be safe here. You have nothing to worry about."
The way he forced the words made it clear even he didn't believe them.
Kade's stomach tightened.
The missing students weren't on the school website. No one mentioned them online. The headmaster's tone was the same tone adults used when they were hiding something.
He scanned the hall and spotted Mira near the exit, sitting alone, arms crossed, eyes locked on the headmaster. She wasn't shocked. She wasn't confused. She looked angry.
Like she already knew.
---
The moment orientation ended, the hall emptied in seconds. Students rushed out in groups, laughing, texting, and comparing schedules. Kade waited until the crowd thinned before leaving. He followed the map on his phone toward the dorm.
The campus was wider than he expected: long walkways, tall glass buildings, a quiet courtyard with trimmed bushes and benches. Even with hundreds of people around, there were strange pockets of silence, like parts of the school didn't want to be heard.
Halfway to the dorm, footsteps echoed behind him.
He turned. Nothing.
"Kade," a voice whispered.
Right next to his ear.
His chest tightened. He spun around again. Still nothing.
A cold rush hit his arms as the hair stood straight. He squeezed his eyes shut and inhaled slowly. The whisper faded… but the air behind him stayed heavy, like someone was standing there.
"Kade?"
He opened his eyes sharply. Mira was standing a few meters away with a stack of files in her hands.
"You look like you saw a ghost," she said.
"It's nothing," he replied quickly. "Just tired."
"Right," she said. "Because tired people usually act like someone is following them."
He forced a laugh. "Do you always analyze people?"
"Only when they look suspicious."
"Suspicious how?"
"You keep looking over your shoulder," she said. "And you walk like you expect trouble."
He didn't answer.
She watched him for a second longer, then stepped closer. "Relax. This place is weird, but not dangerous during the day."
He frowned. "What do you mean by weird?"
She shrugged. "You'll see soon enough."
She walked ahead, and again, he found himself following.
"You seem to know the school well," he said.
"I've been studying it."
"For a project?"
"For my brother," she said quietly. "He disappeared here last year."
Kade slowed down. "Sorry. I didn't know."
"No one knows," Mira muttered. "Because the school acts like nothing happened."
She looked up at him, eyes sharp. "He didn't run away. Someone took him. And the school knows something."
Her voice was steady, but her hands tightened around the files.
Kade didn't know how to comfort her. He barely knew her. He barely understood himself.
"What was his name?" he asked.
"Evan."
Something flickered in his mind—a flash of a broken hallway, a shadow behind a door, a scream swallowed by darkness. He didn't recognize the memory… but it felt like it belonged to him.
He shook it off.
"I hope you get answers," he said.
"I will," she replied. "With or without help."
She stopped walking.
"Since you're new," she said, "let me give you real advice: if you hear strange things at night, ignore them. And whatever you do—don't go near the West Wing."
"What's in the West Wing?" he asked.
"Nothing," Mira said. "Which is exactly the problem. Nothing should stay that quiet."
Before he could ask anything else, she turned and walked away.
---
Kade reached his dorm—room 308. The room was small but clean. A bed, a desk, a wardrobe, and a window facing the courtyard.
He sank onto the bed and rubbed his face.
The whisper earlier… it wasn't new. It wasn't imagination. It wasn't trauma.
It had been happening for years.
Especially on nights with no moon.
He opened his notebook again.
Strange sound again. Whisper.
Same word: "Kade."
Don't panic. Stay in control.
He closed the notebook and lay back.
The room was still.
Then the breathing returned.
Slow. Heavy. Right beside him.
His eyes snapped open.
And then—another whisper:
"Let me out."
Kade shot upright. The room was empty.
His phone buzzed on the desk.
Unknown number:
YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE COME BACK.
His fingers froze.
Another message:
I REMEMBER WHAT YOU DID.
His breath stalled. The air seemed to thin around him.
A knock sounded on the door.
He walked over slowly and opened it.
Mira stood there, unreadable expression on her face.
"We need to talk," she said. "About the West Wing."