Nyra couldn’t breathe.
The words on the mirror slowly dripped downward like fresh ink.
HE REMEMBERS YOU
Her reflection continued smiling unnaturally.
A smile that did not belong to her.
Cold fear crept through her chest.
“Liora…” Nyra whispered shakily.
Liora was unpacking books near the opposite bed.
“Hm?”
“The mirror…”
Liora looked toward it casually.
The writing had vanished.
Nyra froze.
Only her normal reflection remained now.
Pale.
Terrified.
Exhausted.
Liora frowned slightly.
“What about it?”
Nyra hesitated.
If she told the truth, would Liora think she was insane?
Then again…
Nothing about this academy was sane.
“…Nothing,” Nyra murmured quietly.
Liora studied her carefully for a moment but didn’t push further.
Outside the storm continued raging violently against the tall dormitory windows.
Thunder illuminated the forest below every few seconds.
Nyra walked slowly toward the window.
The woods surrounding Moonfang Academy looked endless at night.
Like a black ocean swallowing the mountains whole.
And deep between the trees—
Silver eyes still watched the academy.
The wolves.
But tonight something felt different.
They looked restless.
Uneasy.
As if waiting for disaster.
Nyra wrapped her arms around herself.
“Does the storm ever stop here?”
Liora glanced outside.
“Not during Death Week.”
Nyra turned.
“…Death Week?”
The moment those words left Liora’s mouth, the fireplace inside the room suddenly went out.
Darkness swallowed the room instantly.
Nyra’s pulse spiked.
Liora cursed softly beneath her breath.
“What happened?”
Instead of answering, Liora slowly looked toward the bedroom door.
Someone was standing outside.
A shadow beneath the door.
Motionless.
Watching.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Three slow knocks echoed through the room.
Nyra’s heartbeat nearly stopped.
Liora’s face turned pale instantly.
“Do not open the door,” she whispered sharply.
Another knock followed.
Softer this time.
Then a voice.
A little girl’s voice.
“Please help me…”
Nyra’s chest tightened.
The voice sounded terrified.
“I can’t find my room…”
Another soft knock.
“Do not answer her.”
“But what if—”
“She’s dead.”
Silence crushed the room.
Nyra slowly looked toward Liora.
Liora’s amber eyes never left the door.
“That thing outside pretends to be lost students.”
Another knock echoed softly.
“It’s cold…”
Nyra’s stomach twisted painfully.
The voice sounded real.
Too real.
A child crying quietly followed next.
Liora tightened her grip harder.
“It copies memories from people it kills.”
Nyra’s blood ran cold.
The crying outside slowly stopped.
Then—
The voice changed.
Deepened.
Twisted unnaturally.
“Nyra…”
Her body froze instantly.
Only one person had spoken her name like that tonight.
The ghost.
The silver-eyed ghost.
Liora noticed her reaction immediately.
“No,” she whispered firmly.
“Don’t listen.”
The voice outside the door became softer.
Gentler.
Painfully familiar.
“Open the door.”
Nyra’s heart pounded wildly now.
Something deep inside her chest ached hearing that voice.
Like grief buried beneath years of loneliness.
Another whisper came.
“I finally found you.”
Nyra unconsciously stepped toward the door.
Liora grabbed her shoulder sharply.
“STOP.”
The shadow beneath the door suddenly stretched longer.
Longer.
Longer.
Until clawed fingers slowly appeared beneath the gap.
Scratching softly against the floorboards.
Nyra stumbled backward in horror.
The thing outside laughed quietly.
Not a child anymore.
Something ancient.
Hungry.
Then suddenly—
A deafening howl echoed outside the dormitory.
The claws vanished instantly.
The shadow disappeared.
Silence returned.
A few seconds later, the fireplace reignited by itself.
Warm light flooded the room again.
Nyra stared at the door shakily.
Liora slowly released her shoulder.
“You almost died.”
Nyra’s breathing remained uneven.
“What WAS that thing?”
Liora sat heavily on her bed.
“No one knows.”
The silver cracks beneath her skin glowed faintly now.
“But it appears during Death Week every year.”
Nyra frowned. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
“And Death Week is…?”
Liora looked toward the storm outside.
“The week students start disappearing.”
A cold wave passed through Nyra immediately.
Before she could ask more—
The academy bell rang loudly.
One single ring.
Every student inside the dormitory suddenly froze.
Silence spread across the halls instantly.
Then screams erupted somewhere below.
Students rushed through the corridors outside Room 306.
Liora stood immediately.
“That’s not good.”
Nyra hurried after her as they rushed out into the hallway.
Chaos filled the dormitory.
Students crowded near the staircase whispering fearfully.
One boy looked ready to vomit.
Another girl was crying.
Nyra pushed through the crowd carefully.
“What happened?”
Nobody answered.
Then Nyra saw it.
A body lay at the bottom of the staircase.
A student.
Or what remained of one.
His skin had turned completely gray.
His eyes hollow.
Like every piece of life had been drained out of him.
And above the body—
Words were written across the wall in black dripping letters.
THE VEIN KING IS HUNGRY
Nyra’s chest tightened violently.
The whispers inside her head exploded again.
“He wakes…”
“The seal weakens…”
“The vessel has returned…”
Pain shot through her skull.
Students around her screamed suddenly.
Nyra looked up.
The chandeliers above the staircase began swinging violently on their own.
The lights flickered.
And at the very top of the staircase—
A boy stood silently watching her.
Tall.
Dark-haired.
Silver eyes.
Human.
Not smoke.
Not shadow.
Human.
Yet Nyra recognized him instantly.
Her breath caught painfully.
It was him.
The ghost.
Except now—
He looked alive.
Students around Nyra began whispering fearfully.
“No way…”
“He came out…”
“Why is he here?”
The silver-eyed boy ignored everyone.
His gaze remained fixed entirely on Nyra.
Emotion filled his face now.
Shock.
Relief.
Heartbreak.
Like seeing someone dead return to life.
Then he spoke softly.
And the entire dormitory fell silent.
“…Seraphine?”