Chapter 16
The night sky burned red.
A strange glow seeped through the curtains of the girls' dormitory, waking Elena from a restless sleep. Her heart thudded before she even understood why. Something in the air felt different—thicker, heavier, expectant.
She stepped toward the window, her bare feet cold on the floor. When she pushed aside the curtain, her breath caught.
Above the academy hung a Blood Moon, larger and darker than anything she had ever seen. Its crimson light draped the school in an eerie shimmer, swallowing shadows and bending them in unsettling ways.
"It's too early in the year for this," she whispered.
Behind her, a soft rustling answered.
Elena spun, startled, only to find someone standing inside her room—someone who had no business being there.
Lucian.
He stood with his back against the wall, completely still, as if carved out of stone. His eyes glowed faintly, reflecting the moonlight bleeding through the window.
"You should not be near the windows tonight," he said quietly.
Elena's pulse leapt. "You can't just appear in my room like this."
"And yet," he murmured, taking one step forward, "I came."
Her breath trembled. The space between them felt charged, like the air recognized something she hadn't named yet.
"What's going on?" Elena asked. "Why is the moon like that?"
Lucian's jaw tightened. "A Blood Moon awakens every hidden instinct in vampires. It pulls at us—our hunger, our instincts, our… emotions." His gaze lingered on her lips for a split second before he forced himself to look away. "Everyone is on edge tonight."
"Are you on edge?" she asked.
Lucian's eyes darkened. "Elena… you should not ask questions you don't want the answers to."
Her stomach fluttered with nervous fear—and something dangerously close to excitement.
"But why come here?" she whispered. "Why come to me?"
He hesitated, and the silence that followed felt like a confession.
"Because," he finally said, voice strained, "the Blood Moon makes you harder to ignore."
The room grew impossibly quiet. Elena's heartbeat filled the space between them.
Lucian looked away first. "You must stay inside. Don't wander. Don't trust the walls tonight."
"The walls?" she repeated.
"Yes." His gaze flicked toward the corridor. "Tonight, the academy listens. And it is hungry too."
A shiver swept through her.
"Lock your door after I leave," Lucian added. "Do not open it, no matter who knocks. Not even if they sound like me."
Her breath hitched. "Why?"
Lucian's expression softened with something like worry—real, human worry.
"Because the Blood Moon brings out the truth in everyone," he said. "And some truths want to break free."
He stepped back, already fading into the shadow near her wall.
"Wait—Lucian—!"
"Goodnight, Elena." His voice echoed like a whisper torn between warning and longing.
Then he vanished.
Outside, the Blood Moon pulsed brighter, as though it had heard every word.
Everything felt different now.
And Elena knew—
this night was only the beginning of what the walls wanted to reveal.
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