Carmira's POV
The morning after everything went down on the street, Evershade just felt — off.
Students buzzed around like usual, but the energy was weird—nervous, almost like everyone expected something big to happen.
"They're calling her the Masked Hero," Gianna said, barely looking up from her tablet.
"Seriously, check out these posts—people already made memes." Carmira's face tightened.
"It's not funny," she said, her voice low.
"I saw her. She was real. The creature was real, too." Gianna shrugged.
"Maybe. But people love ghost stories and viral stuff. Everyone's blowing it up." Carmira glanced out the cafeteria window, watching sunlight flicker against the glass. Her chest felt tight, like something unfinished hummed beneath her skin.
She couldn't shake it—that faint pulse, almost like magic, still there.
"I can't stop thinking about her," Averyn broke the quiet, his voice barely above a whisper. "The way she moved—it wasn't just graceful. She was so exact, like she'd already planned every step."
Jade leaned back, arms crossed. "Okay, but if someone's got that kind of skill, why the secrecy? Why not just show off?"
Ruelle's fingers dug into the table. "Because it's risky," she said. "Or maybe… maybe she's looking for people. Specific ones."
"Specific people?" Carmira frowned, glancing around. "You mean us?"
Nobody answered. The question just sat there, thick and uncomfortable, like the sticky heat creeping through the windows.
Later on, while everyone else drifted through study hall, Carmira found herself hanging back in the library's darker corners.
Something tugged at her, pulling her past rows of books, their pages smelling of dust and old stories. Underneath it all, she caught another scent—something sharp, something that felt awake.
"Just your imagination," she muttered, but her heart hammered in her chest. Behind the desk, Lunara shuffled a pile of books.
Her sharp gaze flicked up to Carmira—just for an instant. She didn't say a word, didn't even twitch, but Carmira could feel that look pressing on her, heavy and certain. They're waking up, Lunara thought.
The threads are tightening. Soon, someone's going to have to choose. By the time lunch wrapped up, rumors were everywhere. Some kids insisted they'd spotted the Masked Hero slipping into the alley behind the café.
Others whispered about a monster's shadow creeping down Elm Street. Nobody really had the whole story.
Carmira watched the crowd and murmured, mostly to herself, "This is bigger than any of us. And it's just getting started."