Elias noticed it the next morning.
Not all at once. Not dramatically.
Just… looks.
A pause when he entered the classroom. A teacher's gaze lingering a second too long. The way conversations softened when he passed, as if the air itself had decided to listen.
He sat in his usual seat at the back, spine straight, hands folded, trying to look like nothing had changed.
But everything had.
The school hummed faintly beneath the noise of students settling in. It wasn't loud just present. A quiet awareness that followed him from room to room.
Someone knew.
"Stop staring," Mara whispered without looking at him.
"I'm not," Elias murmured.
"You are," she said. "You're just subtle about it."
He glanced at her then. She was already watching the front of the class, expression neutral, but her foot tapped lightly against the floor a small sign of unease.
"Do you feel it?" he asked.
"Yes," she said. "Like we stepped into the light without realizing it."
That description made his chest tighten.
During second period, it got worse.
Mr. Hale who had taught history at Blackwood longer than anyone could remember paused mid-sentence as Elias shifted in his seat. His sharp grey eyes flicked toward the back row.
They locked onto Elias.
The hum deepened.
Mr. Hale's expression changed not surprise, not anger but something closer to recognition.
Then, just as quickly, he looked away and continued teaching.
Elias didn't breathe until the bell rang.
By lunch, Elias was certain of it.
He wasn't invisible anymore.
They sat beneath the oak tree again, but the space felt smaller now, less protected.
"There's a senior," Mara said quietly. "The one with the silver pin on his collar. Have you seen him"
Elias nodded. "He's been in every hallway I've walked through today."
"Exactly."
The silver pin caught the light whenever the student moved a simple symbol, almost forgotten. Almost the same shape Elias had been drawing for years.
Almost.
"I think," Mara said carefully,
"there are people here who know about the school. About what it does."
"And what it chooses," Elias added.
She met his eyes. "And they've noticed you."
The hallway outside the science wing closed behind Elias without warning.
One moment it was open, noisy, filled with students.
The next, the doors slid shut with a soft click.
Silence rushed in.
Elias stopped walking.
"You're not meant to be afraid," a voice said from behind him.
He turned.
The senior student stood a few feet away, posture relaxed, expression unreadable. The silver pin gleamed against his dark jacket.
"You felt it too early," the student continued. "That's rare."
"Who are you?" Elias asked, keeping his voice steady.
"Someone who watches," he replied. "Someone who remembers."
The hum surged sharp and warning.
The student raised a hand. "Easy. I'm not your enemy."
"Then why lock us in?" Mara demanded, stepping closer to Elias.
The student smiled faintly. "Because the school did. Not me."
The doors behind them unlocked.
The noise returned.
Students passed as if nothing had happened.
The senior stepped back into the crowd, his voice lingering like an echo.
"Be careful, Elias Grey," he said softly. "Once the school sees you… it never looks away."
Elias stood frozen long after the hallway emptied.
Mara touched his arm. "We're not alone anymore."
"No," Elias said, his pulse steady but heavy. "And I don't think we ever were."
Somewhere deep in Blackwood Academy, something shifted its attention.
And this time, it wasn't curious.
It was alert.
*End of the chapter*