The rain fell in relentless sheets, turning the cobblestone paths of Blackthorn College into slick rivers of silver under the dim glow of the streetlamps. Lila pulled her hood tighter around her face, her breath coming in quick, shallow bursts as she hurried through the courtyard. The whispers followed her—harsh, biting words that slithered through the shadows like serpents.
*"Freak."*
*"She's not one of us."*
*"Why does she even bother?"*
Lila clenched her fists, nails digging into her palms. She wouldn't cry. Not here. Not in front of them.
A hand grabbed her arm, yanking her into the alcove of the library's side entrance. She stumbled, her back hitting the cold stone wall, and looked up into the storm-gray eyes of Elias Vane.
"You shouldn't be out here alone," he murmured, his voice low and rough. The scent of damp earth and something darker—something wild—clung to him.
Lila wrenched her arm free. "I don't need your help."
Elias's jaw tightened. "You think I don't know what they say about you? About *us*?"
She flinched. Of course he knew. The rumors had spread like wildfire since the night of the lunar eclipse, when the shadows had *moved* for her, when the wind had carried her name in a language no one else understood. And Elias—Elias, who walked the line between the college's elite and something far more dangerous—had been there, watching.
"They're just words," Lila lied.
Elias stepped closer, his body blocking the worst of the rain. "Words have power here. You know that."
She did. Blackthorn wasn't just a college; it was a threshold, a place where the veil between worlds thinned. And the students—the ones who belonged to old families, the ones with secrets—they *knew*. They could smell the difference in her, taste it on the air.
A flicker of movement caught her eye. Across the courtyard, a figure stood beneath the skeletal branches of the old oak tree. Tall, cloaked in black, their face obscured by the hood. Lila's breath hitched.
"Who is that?" she whispered.
Elias followed her gaze, his posture stiffening. "No one you want to meet."
Before she could ask more, the figure turned, vanishing into the rain as if they'd never been there at all.
Lila shivered. "What's happening to me, Elias?"
His expression softened, just for a moment. "You're waking up."
---
The library was a sanctuary of sorts, its towering shelves lined with books that hummed with secrets. Lila traced her fingers along the spines, searching for something—anything—that might explain the dreams that plagued her, the way the moonlight seemed to *speak* when no one else was listening.
"You won't find answers there."
She turned to see Professor Hale standing behind her, his silver-rimmed glasses catching the dim light. He was the only faculty member who didn't look at her with suspicion, though she wasn't sure if that made him an ally or something worse.
"Then where should I look?" Lila asked.
Hale's smile was thin. "Some truths aren't written in books. They're written in blood."
A crash echoed from the upper floors, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps. Hale's smile vanished. "You should go. Now."
Lila didn't argue. She slipped out the side door, her heart pounding. The rain had lessened, but the air was thick with the scent of ozone and something metallic—like lightning and old coins.
Elias was waiting for her at the edge of the woods, his expression unreadable. "You felt it too, didn't you?"
She nodded. The pull, the *wrongness*.
"They're coming for you," he said quietly. "The ones who don't want you to remember."
Lila swallowed hard. "Remember what?"
Elias reached for her hand, his touch sending a jolt of warmth through her. "Who you really are."
A branch snapped in the darkness behind them. Elias's grip tightened. "Run."
And she did.
The trees blurred around her, the ground uneven beneath her feet. The whispers returned, louder now, twisting through the air like a chorus of forgotten voices.
*"Lila…"*
*"Come home."*
She stumbled, her knees hitting the damp earth. When she looked up, the figure from the courtyard stood before her, their hood falling back to reveal a face she *knew*—a face from her dreams.
"Hello, little moon," the figure said, their voice like the rustle of dead leaves. "Did you really think you could hide forever?"
Elias's roar of fury split the night as he lunged between them, his body shifting, *changing*—
And then the world went black.
---
Lila woke in her dorm room, the first light of dawn creeping through the curtains. Her clothes were damp, her skin bruised, but there was no sign of Elias. No sign of the figure.
Only a single silver feather on her pillow, and the echo of a promise in the wind.
*"They won't stop. And neither will I."*
She curled her fingers around the feather, her heart aching with something she couldn't name.
The cruelty of fate, it seemed, was only just beginning.