Nyra couldn’t move.
The eyeless girl stood only a few feet away inside the dark train compartment, her soaked black hair hanging over her pale face while water slowly dripped onto the wooden floor beneath her bare feet.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
The sound echoed unnaturally loud in the silence.
Nyra’s heartbeat pounded painfully in her ears.
The girl’s smile widened slowly.
Too wide.
Far wider than any human mouth should stretch.
And those empty eye sockets—
They looked endless.
Like something deep inside them was staring back at her.
“You came back…”
The whisper crawled through the compartment like icy fingers.
Nyra stepped backward instinctively.
“W-Who are you?”
The girl tilted her head sharply.
CRACK.
The sound of her neck twisting echoed loudly.
Then she giggled.
A childlike sound.
Wrong.
Broken.
“You forgot again.”
Nyra’s chest tightened painfully.
Forgot?
The girl slowly took a step closer.
Nyra immediately noticed something horrifying.
The girl’s feet never touched the ground.
She was floating slightly above it.
Another cold wave swept through the compartment.
The train windows began frosting over rapidly.
Nyra’s breathing shook.
Everything inside her screamed to run.
But there was nowhere to go.
The door behind the girl had disappeared.
Not opened.
Disappeared.
Only endless darkness remained where it should have been.
Nyra’s pulse quickened.
This wasn’t real.
It couldn’t be real.
The girl suddenly lifted one pale hand toward Nyra.
Long black veins crawled beneath her skin.
“You shouldn’t have returned here…”
The whispers inside Nyra’s head exploded violently.
“Run.”
“Don’t let her touch you.”
“She remembers the first death.”
Pain shot through Nyra’s skull.
She grabbed her head tightly.
“Stop…” she whispered painfully.
The eyeless girl froze.
Then slowly—
Very slowly—
Her smile faded.
“…You can hear them now?”
Nyra looked up shakily.
The girl suddenly appeared directly in front of her.
Impossible.
Nyra stumbled backward in terror.
Cold fingers wrapped around her wrist instantly.
The moment the girl touched her—
The world shattered.
Fire.
Nyra stood inside a burning hallway.
Screams echoed everywhere.
Children crying.
Blood covered the floor beneath her feet.
The walls themselves looked alive, black veins spreading across them like disease.
Nyra’s breathing quickened.
What was this place?
Then she saw them.
Silver wolves.
Dead.
Their bodies lay scattered across the hallway torn apart brutally.
And standing at the end of the corridor—
Was herself.
No.
Not herself.
A girl with silver hair wearing a white dress stained completely red with blood.
Seraphine.
The girl slowly turned around.
Golden fire burned inside her eyes.
And suddenly Nyra realized—
The blood covering the floor belonged to students.
Hundreds of them.
Bodies surrounded Seraphine everywhere.
Nyra stumbled backward in horror.
“No…”
Seraphine looked directly at her.
Not through her.
At her.
Like she could truly see her.
Then Seraphine whispered softly:
“I tried to save them.”
Darkness exploded across the hallway instantly.
A monstrous scream shook the world.
And something gigantic opened its eyes beneath the academy.
Nyra saw chains breaking deep underground.
Heard thousands of voices screaming together.
Then—
Silver eyes appeared behind Seraphine.
Kael.
But he looked different.
Human.
Alive.
Blood covered his hands as he grabbed Seraphine desperately.
“You have to wake up!”
The ground beneath them cracked apart violently.
Black smoke erupted everywhere.
Then Kael looked directly toward Nyra.
His silver eyes widened slightly.
Like he recognized her.
Or remembered her.
And suddenly—
Everything vanished.
Nyra gasped loudly as reality slammed back into place.
She collapsed onto the train floor violently, breathing hard.
The eyeless girl still stood before her silently.
But now—
She no longer looked threatening.
She looked sad.
“…You really don’t remember,” the girl whispered softly.
Nyra stared at her shakily.
“What was that?”
The girl lowered her head.
“The night Moonfang Academy died.”
A cold chill crawled through Nyra’s body.
“What do you mean died? The academy is still here—”
“No.”
The girl slowly looked up again.
And for one horrifying moment—
Dark tears began pouring from her empty eye sockets.
“The real academy died centuries ago.”
Thunder exploded outside.
The train compartment shook violently.
The eyeless girl suddenly looked toward the ceiling fearfully.
“He’s coming.”
Nyra frowned.
“Who?”
The girl’s body trembled.
“The thing beneath the forest.”
The whispers inside Nyra’s head became louder again.
“The Vein King.”
“The Devourer.”
“The Hollow God.”
The girl suddenly grabbed Nyra’s shoulders tightly.
Her freezing fingers burned against Nyra’s skin.
“You cannot let it wake up again!”
Again.
That word again.
Nyra’s fear slowly turned into frustration.
“What ARE you talking about?!”
The girl stared at her desperately.
“You sealed it once before!”
Before Nyra could answer—
BOOM.
The train compartment door exploded inward violently.
Black smoke flooded inside instantly.
The eyeless girl screamed.
Not in pain.
In fear.
Shadowy tendrils wrapped around her body and dragged her backward across the floor.
Nyra watched in horror.
The silver-eyed ghost stood at the doorway.
Its glowing eyes fixed entirely on the eyeless girl.
The girl clawed desperately against the floor.
“You don’t understand!” she screamed toward Nyra.
“He isn’t protecting you from the monster—”
The shadows tightened violently around her throat.
“—HE’S PROTECTING THE MONSTER FROM YOU!”
The ghost’s silver eyes flashed sharply.
And the girl vanished into darkness.
Silence filled the compartment again.
Nyra’s entire body trembled.
The ghost slowly turned toward her.
Rain blew through the broken doorway behind him while black smoke curled around his body endlessly.
For a long moment—
Neither of them moved.
Nyra should have been terrified.
This thing destroyed monsters with ease.
Even the wolves feared it.
Yet standing before him now…
All she felt was grief.
A strange aching grief she couldn’t explain.
The ghost slowly stepped closer.
Nyra’s breath caught.
And then—
A soft voice echoed inside her mind.
Not through whispers.
Not like the others.
Clear.
Gentle.
Painfully familiar.
“Nyra…”
Tears suddenly burned her eyes.
Because somehow—
She knew that voice.
The ghost slowly raised one trembling hand toward her face.
Almost touching her.
But stopped inches away.
Like he was afraid to.
Then the academy bell rang again outside.
One.
Two.
Three.
The ghost instantly turned toward the storm beyond the train.
Its silver eyes darkened.
Danger.
Something terrible was coming.
And for the first time—
Nyra saw fear in the ghost’s eyes.