Lyra noticed it the next morning....Not immediately,not in a way she could point to or explain.
Just…a sensation.
She woke before her alarm,staring at the ceiling while the dorm hummed softly around her.Someone laughed in the hallway. A door slammed,talia shifted in her sleep, mumbling something unintelligible.
Everything was normal.
And yet,Lyra didn't move,she waited.
The feeling lingered not pressure,not fear. Awareness. As if the air itself was paying attention.
You're imagining things,she told herself.
She always did this when she was overtired. Her mind filled quiet spaces with unnecessary caution. Years of surviving on her own had trained her to notice patterns where others didn't—but sometimes, that habit turned against her.
Still,when she finally sat up,she scanned the room before reaching for her bag....Nothing.
Just morning light spilling through the window.
By midmorning, the campus buzzed with routine.
Lyra walked beside Talia toward their first lecture,half-listening as her roommate talked about a party she'd heard about,a professor everyone warned against,a café that served decent coffee if you knew what to order.
"You're quiet," Talia said suddenly.
"I usually am."
No,I mean—quieter,She squinted at Lyra. Did something happen?
Lyra hesitated.....Do you ever feel like… someone's paying attention to you?"
Talia laughed...Lyra,we're surrounded by students,someone is always paying attention.
"That's not what I meant."
Talia studied her more carefully this time, then shrugged,"If it helps,nobody important is watching us...trust me."
Lyra smiled faintly,though unease curled beneath it.
The feeling returned in the afternoon.
She was crossing the courtyard alone, notebook pressed against her side,when it settled again—soft,deliberate,not intrusive. Not threatening....Just present.
Lyra slowed.
Students passed her without notice. Conversations overlapped.Someone called her name—Talia,not hers.A group of girls laughed near the fountain.
Lyra stopped walking entirely.
She didn't turn around....She didn't have to.
Her skin prickled,awareness sharpening in a way that had nothing to do with fear and everything to do with instinct.
Someone is looking at you.
She adjusted her grip on the notebook, grounding herself.Then, calmly, she continued walking.
If someone was watching,she would not give them the satisfaction of knowing she noticed.
From the shadowed upper balcony of the humanities building,Kael Draven observed.
He stood where sunlight fractured harmlessly against stone,just out of reach. His posture was relaxed,hands loosely clasped behind his back,expression unreadable.
She was learning.
Most humans reacted to attention with nervous glances,stiffened shoulders, unconscious invitations to be followed.
Lyra did none of that.
She felt him—and chose composure.
Interesting,Kael murmured.....A presence stirred behind him,"You're being careless."
The voice was sharp,feminine,edged with age and authority.
Kael did not turn...I'm being restrained.
"That's not the same thing."
Madame Selvara stepped into the shade beside him,elegant and severe,her silver hair pinned neatly at her nape.Her eyes—ancient and assessing—followed Lyra's retreating figure.
She's human,Selvara said and unaware."
She's observant,Kael corrected.
Selvara hummed."That makes her more dangerous, not less."
Kael's jaw tightened. "I'm not touching her."
"You don't have to," Selvara replied coolly. "Attention alone leaves marks."
Her gaze shifted to him. "You should end this curiosity."
Kael said nothing.
Far below, Lyra disappeared into the building.
Selvara sighed softly. "You never listen."
That evening, Lyra stayed in.
Talia left with friends again,promising snacks and gossip.Lyra welcomed the quiet, though the sense of being noticed hadn't fully faded.
She sat at her desk,lamp casting a warm circle of light,notebook open.
The page stared back at her.
She hesitated longer than usual before writing.
Dear Stranger,
Today, I felt watched.
Not followed,not threatened.
Just…noticed.
I don't know why it unsettled me.
I've lived most of my life being invisible by choice.
So if you are paying attention—
Please don't mistake that for permission.
Some things survive best when left untouched.
Lyra.
She closed the notebook firmly,heart steady but alert.
Across campus,Kael read the letter once,then again.
A slow breath left him.
She feels it now,he murmured.
Behind him, Madame Selvara's voice was quiet but absolute.
"Then you are already too close."