chapter 5

The weekend came faster than expected. Alina had tried to settle into the academy's strange rhythm, but every night brought a new whisper, a new chill, a new nightmare. And they all had one thing in common—Lucian.

Ever since that night in the hallway when he'd told her she couldn't escape him, she'd tried everything to avoid him. She changed her class routes, skipped lunch in the courtyard, even avoided eye contact. But it didn’t matter. Lucian was always there. Watching. Waiting.

She hated the way he made her feel—nervous, flustered, but deep down...curiously drawn to him. It was maddening.

Saturday morning was cold, and fog coiled like snakes through the iron gates of Crimson Academy. Maya knocked on her door, dragging her out of bed for what she called "a stress-free girls' day."

They met Theo in the library, and the three of them planned to explore the restricted wing—one that Maya claimed held answers to why this school was so strange. Theo was hesitant, warning that the headmistress didn't take kindly to trespassers, but Maya was persuasive.

"We’re not breaking any rules if no one finds out," she grinned.

Together, they snuck past the sleeping gargoyle statues and through a series of torchlit halls until they reached a massive wooden door with carvings of fanged beasts and ancient runes. Theo picked the lock with eerie ease.

Inside, the room pulsed with old magic. Dust floated in beams of golden light that filtered through stained-glass windows. Alina’s eyes were drawn to a book encased in glass, its title written in blood-red ink: The Binding Ritual.

Before she could touch it, a gust of wind slammed the door shut. The room went dark. Maya screamed. And when Alina spun around—Lucian was there.

His eyes were burning red, his expression unreadable. "You shouldn't be here," he growled.

Theo stepped forward, placing himself between Lucian and Alina. "She’s with us. Back off."

Lucian didn’t move. Instead, his gaze bore into Alina. "You’ve opened a door you can’t close. They don’t understand what you are... but I do."

Alina’s voice shook. "What are you talking about? I’m just a girl. A normal girl."

Lucian smiled darkly. "You’re not. That’s why I can’t stop thinking about you. You don’t belong here because you were never meant to be only human."

And then, before anyone could react, he moved—faster than anything humanly possible. He was in front of her in a blink, and with a whisper of breath, he whispered: “I’m sorry.”

His fangs sank into her neck.

The world exploded in color. Fire and ice. Pain and pleasure. Alina screamed—but not in fear. It was something else. Her knees buckled, and she felt Theo catch her just as Lucian pulled back, blood staining his lips.

Maya screamed at him. Theo lunged. Lucian vanished.

The room was chaos. But in Alina’s spinning mind, only one thought echoed: Why didn’t it hurt?

Chapter 6: Awakening the Fire

Alina woke up drenched in sweat, the faint pain in her neck throbbing with each heartbeat. For a second, she thought it was a dream.....

Do you think Alina will become a vampire?

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