Night settled gently over the campus, the kind that softened edges instead of sharpening them.
From her dorm window, Lyra watched the lights flicker on one by one library windows glowing gold,pathways dotted with slow moving figures,laughter drifting faintly upward before dissolving into silence.
Her room was quiet now.
Talia had gone out with new friends, promising to"bring back stories" whatever that meant.
Lyra welcomed the stillness.
She sat on her bed with her notebook resting against her knees,fingers brushing the frayed corners.Writing had always been her refuge,not journaling not exactly,letters. Thoughts shaped as if meant for someone, even when they never were.
She flipped to a blank page.
The pen hovered.
Her mind drifted back to the courtyard.To the way the air had shifted when he looked at her,not dramatic,not obvious just… precise. Like being noticed without being seen.
She exhaled softly and began to write before she could stop herself.
Dear Stranger,
I don't know why I'm writing this.
I don't even know who you are....only that you looked at me today,and for a moment,it felt like the world paused.
I don't like attention,I've learned how dangerous it can be.
So if this letter feels unnecessary, that's because it is.
Still… I wanted the thought somewhere other than my head.
Lyra.
She stared at the page,pulse steady but alert,the letter wasn't romantic.It wasn't dramatic,it was honest and that unsettled her more than anything else.
Lyra closed the notebook and slipped it beneath her pillow,as if hiding it might quiet the strange awareness humming beneath her skin.
Sleep came slowly.
Across campus,far from the warmth of dorm lights,Kael Draven stood alone inside the upper level of the library.The space was empty after hours,silent except for the low tick of an ancient clock embedded in the stone wall.
He leaned against a shelf that hadn't been moved in decades,dark jacket discarded, sleeves rolled back just enough to reveal pale skin that never warmed.His expression was unreadable,but his attention was not.
Something tugged....Soft,careful,curious.
Kael straightened,eyes darkening as the sensation sharpened not hunger,not danger,words.A presence shaped like ink and restraint.
He closed his eyes briefly.
Letters,he realized.
Slowly,deliberately,he reached into the inside pocket of his coat and withdrew a folded page that hadn't been there moments before.
His jaw tightened,not in surprise, but recognition.
He unfolded it.
Read.
For the first time in a very long while, something like amusement touched his expression.
"She prefers the quiet,"he murmured,voice barely more than breath"That explains it."
Kael refolded the letter with care,slipping it away as the clock struck once.
Outside,the campus remained unaware.
And in her dorm room,Lyra shifted in her sleep,unaware that the letter she never meant to send had been received.