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The second quarter of the school year starts with a rumor. Enid's the source of it all, of course, but she hardly did anything. The blame lays evenly on all Nevermore students. The academy is a buzzing entity whose ears are closer to its mouth than its eyes. What is seen is not always what is told.

"It's not safe." a non-immortal student says. "That girl should be in prison, not school. Christ, she killed someone. That's a whole ass murderer."

The air turns heavy around the table as the vampires go silent and those acquainted to them notice. History is only a few decades back for many of them after all, any offense taken wouldn't be misplaced at all. The vampires are as still as a dead colony. Yoko is careful not to glance in your direction.

"Let's," you grimace. "Not call her that. How old is she anyway?"

"Most likely around my age." Bianca answers for everyone. "We didn't hear anything else so she's probably human too." multiple non-humans take an affront to the insinuation of humans being the default as they frown and glare. "Oh, you know how the world works. Don't crucify me for acknowledging it." she scoffs.

"See?" you move on. The topic of monsters being the minority isn't really a discussion meant to be held in the cafeteria. "She's young, it was probably self defense."

"Raising crocodiles in the school pond to attack her enemies doesn't really..." Enid dubiously murmurs.

"It was just a bag of piranhas and they didn't have a pond. Don't inflate it, Enid." Bianca shuts it down fast. Enid whines back in her seat.

"Planned or not, there's gotta be a reason she did that. Maybe she was pushed into it..." you wince as they turn to blankly stare at you. "Or something." you lamely finish.

"We don't know the full story." Yoko is quick to wrench the attention away from you. "The victim might have done something incredibly horrible to warrant it. There's a reason why there aren't any child serial killers." that opens up a whole new discussion as Ajax brings up child poltergeists. Everyone forgets how vehemently you defended the stranger the moment someone raises their voice and the debate soon turns into an argument.

You press into Yoko in silent gratification. The lack of bodily temperature is a comfort you don't usually enjoy, but it's something you seek today.

Time passes by like a freight train. You laugh and you joke and you smile. The people around you blur into one big puddle of familiarity to muddle in. Blonde turns to brunette, deep pools of dark turn to piercing pairs of frozen icicles, and the different rhythms of the way people walk turn into one.

Someone asked you something, you think. You don't remember if you gave a reply.

Consciousness gathers in the heart of the forest surrounding Nevermore academy. The moss underneath is damp and cold, you can't tell if there's moisture seeping into your clothes or not, if it just feels cool and you won't come back with stains covering the length of your pajamas.

No one will see you inside the fog, you can barely see yourself.

You breathe in the heavy scent of the earth. Let it wash your insides clean so the shell outside has something worth hiding from the world.

It's silent. The birds are asleep and the creatures of the land lay in the homes they have made for themselves. There's no one here to talk to, just you and the mouth that refuses to make a sound.

You think you're starting to enjoy being alone after the moon goes back down and the sun is only beginning to rise, that your mind starts to mistake the sharp stillness of the air as iron. It rattles you awake and sends you scuttling away like a wild animal. The delusion of blood appearing in the absence of company proves what you've always suspected. You can't be alone.

Yoko is awake, reading a horribly written YA novel in the dark when you come back. She takes a look at you for only a second, then mindlessly continues the activity. She doesn't question the grass stains you track into the room and lets you disappear into your own corner. Tonight isn't for talking.

During class, Rowan states, "You're fine now." as he looks over you.

"Hm?" you ask. "Oh, yeah. When am I never?" you smile. It's obviously a rhetorical question but he answers anyway.

"Yesterday." you don't know what to say to that. A beat passes between the two of you. Your lips soundlessly part as you turn to answer, only to realize he's not expecting a reply. "Coach said outsiders aren't allowed in the gym." he informs you as he copies the scribbles on the board.

A weight you weren't aware was there until now lifts from your chest. "I'll go anyway." you smile with a little teeth peeking out this time. That seemed to satisfy him as he put his pen down and stopped trying to busy his hands with whatever he could find. He didn't really need to write in his notebook. Nevermore's lessons haven't been updated in 20 years. Old notes being passed around the class is practically tradition at this point. "When will he learn trying to keep me out will only make me want to come in even more?"

"Never. He probably enjoys it a bit." he adds the last part with a cheeky smirk.

The gasped out what has barely any time to leave your mouth as you smother the surprised laughter with your palm.





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AN: wed appears next chap!!! Whoop whop!!! U prob noticed it by now but im not planning on letting y/n stay a y/n with zero backstory so watch out for the lil bits n pieces wed picks up. y/n needs to watch out for her mc abilities... they might get sucked in and accidentally reveal their trauma to someone theyve met for only a day... tehe :3 cant wait to get into the plot !



 𝑇𝘩𝑒 𝑊𝑖𝑡𝑐𝘩 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝘩𝑖𝑠 𝐵𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝐶𝑎𝑡 | rowan laslowWhere stories live. Discover now