The next morning, Adeline discovered that Vampire de Witch had a story.
Not the kind of story students told when they were bored.
The kind whispered in dark corridors.
The kind teachers refused to explain.
It began in History of Magic.
Professor Valerius stood before the class with an ancient book resting on his desk. Unlike most teachers, he didn't bother asking the students to be quiet.
He simply stared at them.
Eventually, the room fell silent.
"Today," he said, "we will discuss the two people who gave this school its name."
Adeline looked up.
Across the room, Ezekiel leaned toward Azreal.
"Finally."
Azreal glanced at him.
"You've been waiting for this?"
"Obviously."
Remy turned around.
"Why?"
"Because nobody tells the story properly."
Pierre raised an eyebrow.
"That's because you're terrible at telling stories."
Ezekiel looked offended.
"I make them interesting."
"You make them inaccurate."
Drake sighed.
"Can we just listen?"
Professor Valerius opened the book.
"Before Vampire de Witch became a school, it was a sanctuary."
The room became quiet.
"It was created more than five hundred years ago by two extraordinary beings."
He wrote two names on the blackboard.
VAMPIRE.
WITCH.
Then beneath them:
DE VAMPIRA.
ELARA DE WITCH.
Adeline stared at the names.
"The founders," Professor Valerius continued, "were not merely partners in magic. They were lovers."
Whispers spread throughout the classroom.
Adeline leaned back.
A vampire and a witch.
That sounded familiar.
Far too familiar.
"De Vampira was one of the most powerful vampires of his time," the professor explained. "Elara de Witch was a witch whose magical abilities were considered unmatched."
"They created this school together," Liana said.
Professor Valerius nodded.
"They wanted a place where supernatural creatures could learn without being hunted by humans."
Adeline listened carefully.
"They believed creatures of different bloodlines could live together."
Ezekiel smiled.
"Sounds romantic."
Azreal gave him a look.
"What?"
"Nothing."
Professor Valerius continued.
"But their love was forbidden."
Adeline's attention sharpened.
"Why?" someone asked.
"Because vampires and witches were enemies."
The professor closed the book halfway.
"At the time, the two species had been fighting for generations. Neither side trusted the other."
"And they fell in love anyway?" Liana asked.
"Yes."
A few students smiled.
Adeline didn't.
There was something sad about the story.
Two people had built a place where everyone else could belong.
Yet they themselves had apparently never been allowed to.
Professor Valerius turned another page.
"Together, they created Vampire de Witch."
He pointed toward the name carved above the classroom entrance.
"The name was a combination of their names. Vampira de Witch. Over time, students shortened it to Vampire de Witch."
Adeline looked around the classroom.
Suddenly, the school felt different.
The towers.
The classrooms.
The strange symbols.
The sanctuary.
All of it had been created by two people who believed creatures like them deserved somewhere to exist.
"Where are they now?" someone asked.
The professor went silent.
Adeline noticed.
"So that's where the story gets interesting," Ezekiel whispered.
Professor Valerius looked toward the windows.
"The founders disappeared."
The room erupted with questions.
"Disappeared?"
"When?"
"How?"
"Did they die?"
"Nobody knows."
The professor raised his hand.
Silence returned.
"Five hundred years ago, on the night of the school's first great moon ceremony, both founders vanished."
"Together?" Remy asked.
"Together."
"Did anyone see them?"
"No."
"Did they leave anything behind?"
Professor Valerius hesitated.
"One thing."
He reached beneath his desk and removed a small wooden box.
He opened it.
Inside was a silver pendant.
Adeline's eyes immediately fixed on it.
The pendant was divided into two halves.
One side carried a tiny crescent moon.
The other carried a magical rune.
Her breath caught.
She had seen those symbols before.
The same symbols from the book.
The same symbols connected to the strange mark outside the school.
Her fingers tightened around her pen.
"What's the pendant for?" someone asked.
"The founders wore matching pendants."
Professor Valerius lifted it.
"One belonged to De Vampira. The other belonged to Elara."
"Where's the other one?" Liana asked.
"Missing."
Adeline swallowed.
Missing.
Like the founders.
Professor Valerius closed the box.
"Their disappearance remains one of the greatest mysteries in magical history."
Azreal raised his hand.
The professor nodded.
"Yes?"
"Was there evidence of a struggle?"
The professor's expression changed.
"Yes."
The classroom became silent again.
"On the night they disappeared, the entire western tower was destroyed."
Adeline's eyes widened.
"The western tower?" Drake asked.
"The ruins remain beneath the school."
Ezekiel leaned forward.
"And nobody ever investigated?"
"We did."
"And?"
Professor Valerius closed the book.
"Every person who entered the ruins reported hearing voices."
A chill moved through the classroom.
"What voices?" someone asked.
The professor looked toward the window.
"The founders."
Adeline felt the hairs on her arms rise.
"Some heard a man."
He paused.
"Others heard a woman."
"And what did they say?"
Professor Valerius's voice dropped.
"They asked for someone."
Adeline's heart began pounding.
"Who?"
The professor looked around the room.
"We never discovered the answer."
The bell rang.
Students immediately began gathering their things.
Adeline remained seated.
Her mind was racing.
A vampire.
A witch.
Two lovers.
A vanished sanctuary.
A missing pendant.
A ruined tower.
And a quest she apparently knew nothing about.
She felt someone sit beside her.
Azreal.
"You were interested," he said.
Adeline looked at him.
"Interested in what?"
"The founders."
"I was bored."
"You didn't look bored."
"Maybe I have a very convincing serious face."
Azreal studied her.
"You're hiding something."
Adeline smiled.
"So are you."
He leaned back.
"Probably."
She raised an eyebrow.
"Probably?"
"Everyone here has secrets."
Adeline stood.
"Then stop trying to uncover mine."
Azreal's eyes followed her.
"I never said I was."
"You don't have to."
She walked away.
But as she reached the door, Professor Valerius called after her.
"Adeline."
She stopped.
The classroom was almost empty.
"Yes?"
The professor stared at her for a moment.
Then his eyes dropped to the necklace around her neck.
Adeline touched it instinctively.
It was an old pendant Tricky had given her years ago.
The professor's face changed.
"Where did you get that?"
Adeline frowned.
"My sister gave it to me."
Professor Valerius stepped closer.
"That pendant..."
He didn't finish.
Adeline waited.
"What about it?"
He looked genuinely unsettled.
"It looks exactly like the one worn by Elara de Witch."
Adeline's heart stopped.
Before she could respond, the professor walked away.
She stood frozen in the doorway.
Across the hall, Azreal was waiting.
He had heard everything.
His eyes moved from her face to the pendant around her neck.
For once, Adeline had no sarcastic answer.
Because suddenly, the founders' disappearance didn't feel like an old story anymore.
It felt personal.
And somewhere beneath Vampire de Witch, behind centuries-old stone and forgotten magic, something seemed to be waiting for her.
Perhaps the founders hadn't vanished.
Perhaps they had simply been waiting.
Waiting for someone to return.
Waiting for her.