Stacy... Run!"
Lucien's voice cut through the courtyard.
It wasn't a suggestion.
It was an order.
Stacy had never heard him speak like that before.
For a split second...
She froze.
Another roar shook the abandoned courtyard.
The old buildings trembled.
Broken windows rattled violently.
Birds scattered into the sky.
"What... was that?" Stacy whispered.
The man in black stepped forward.
His silver wolf emblem caught the sunlight.
He looked toward Lucien.
"We're out of time."
Lucien nodded.
"Get her out of here."
"I can walk by myself," Stacy protested.
Neither man acknowledged her.
Which only made her more annoyed.
"Excuse me?"
Lucien finally looked at her.
His normally calm blue eyes carried something she'd never seen before.
Fear.
Not for himself.
For her.
"Please."
His voice softened.
"Just trust me."
Before Stacy could answer...
A loud crash echoed from inside one of the abandoned buildings.
The brick wall exploded outward.
A student stumbled into the courtyard.
His clothes were torn.
Blood trickled down one side of his face.
He looked terrified.
"Help..."
He barely managed the word before collapsing.
Stacy instinctively ran toward him.
"Hey!"
"Are you okay?"
Lucien's expression changed instantly.
"No!"
Too late.
The unconscious student suddenly grabbed Stacy's wrist.
His eyes snapped open.
They weren't human.
Dark veins spread across his skin.
His pupils had disappeared.
Only silver remained.
A strange pressure filled the air.
The temperature dropped.
The injured student let out a deep, animalistic growl.
Stacy's heart pounded.
"What..."
"...what's happening?"
The man in black immediately stepped between them.
"Get back!"
The student lunged.
Faster than any normal person should have been able to move.
Lucien intercepted him.
CRACK!
The impact echoed through the courtyard.
Stacy stared in disbelief.
Lucien hadn't punched him.
He had stopped the attack with one hand.
As though it weighed nothing.
The two slid backward across the stone pavement.
Dust rose around them.
The man in black cursed.
"The corruption is spreading faster than expected."
Lucien didn't take his eyes off the student.
"I know."
Stacy looked between them.
Nothing made sense anymore.
Corruption?
What are they talking about?
The student screamed.
It wasn't a human scream.
It sounded...
Wrong.
Almost as though two different voices were speaking at once.
The air vibrated.
Stacy instinctively covered her ears.
Then
Everything stopped.
The strange pressure vanished.
The screaming ended.
The student collapsed unconscious once again.
Silence.
Lucien knelt beside him.
He placed two fingers against the student's neck.
"He's alive."
The man in black exhaled.
"Good."
Stacy slowly stepped forward.
"...Will someone please tell me what's going on?"
The two men exchanged a look.
Lucien looked genuinely conflicted.
He wanted to answer.
She could see it in his eyes.
But instead...
He quietly shook his head.
"I can't."
"Can't..."
"...or won't?"
Lucien looked away.
"They're not the same thing."
Before Stacy could ask another question...
Sirens echoed in the distance.
Campus security.
The man in black immediately pulled his hood over his head.
"I'll handle this."
Without another word...
He disappeared into the trees.
Stacy blinked.
"...Where did he go?"
Lucien sighed.
"He's good at leaving."
Despite everything...
She almost laughed.
Almost.
Campus security rushed into the courtyard.
Several officers surrounded the unconscious student.
One of them approached Stacy.
"Miss Bennett."
"Are you injured?"
She slowly shook her head.
"I..."
"I don't think so."
The officer nodded.
"There was a gas leak in one of the maintenance tunnels."
"A student panicked."
"Nothing to worry about."
Stacy frowned.
A gas leak?
She had just watched someone throw Lucien across a courtyard.
That wasn't a gas leak.
As the officers led everyone away...
Stacy glanced over her shoulder.
Lucien was gone.
He had disappeared without saying goodbye.
That night...
Stacy lay awake in her dorm room.
She replayed the scene again and again.
Lucien's expression.
The strange student.
The silver-eyed stare.
The impossible strength.
None of it made sense.
She reached for her notebook.
Instead of studying...
She wrote one sentence across a blank page.
Who are you... Lucien Ashford?
Elsewhere...
Deep beneath Blackwood University...
Lucien stood inside a dimly lit chamber.
Several figures dressed in black surrounded a circular table.
The same silver wolf emblem was carved into the stone floor.
An older man stood at the head of the room.
His gaze settled on Lucien.
"You broke protocol today."
Lucien remained silent.
"You revealed too much."
"I protected a civilian."
The older man's expression hardened.
"No."
"You protected..."
He slid a thin folder across the table.
Lucien looked down.
On the front page...
A photograph of Stacy Bennett.
Stamped in red ink were two words.
Potential Guide
Lucien's heartbeat stopped.
The older man folded his hands.
"From this moment onward..."
"...she is no longer an ordinary student."