I thought the Salvatore Academy was just some elite boarding school for humans like me… lost girls with too much money and nowhere else to go.
Safe lectures on literature, maybe a cute barista in the café.
My acceptance letter came out of nowhere, some special scholarship, they said.
Stupid me, I packed my bags without a second thought.
But the moment those wrought-iron gates groaned open? Everything changed.
The air buzzed against my skin like static electricity, thick with something alive.
Shadows twisted in the courtyard… too long, too sharp.
And the eyes… dozens of them from arched windows above, some glinting red, others silver like moonlight on steel.
No one spoke. They just watched.
My scholarship suddenly felt like less luck and more like a trap.
What had I walked into?
Every step toward those looming admissions building felt like wading through ice water.
Whispers hissed from every shadow… too low to catch words, but sharp enough to slice.
Werewolf kids from the first floor lounged against stone walls, arms crossed, their eyes narrowing like I was fresh meat who'd wandered into their territory.
No smiles, no "welcome freshman" vibes. Just stares that screamed, you don't belong.
A group of witches on the steps flicked glanced my way, one muttering something that made my purple sparks dance at her fingertips before she smirked and looked away.
Even the air felt hostile, pressing down like it wanted me gone.
My scholarship papers crumpled in my sweaty fist… why me? Why here?
The admissions building was way worse… the way they welcomed me carried that same weird vibe from outside.
By the time I pushed through those heavy oak doors, my heart was hammering so loud I swore the gargoyles above could hear.
The admissions building hit different… walls dripping with shadows that seemed to pulse like veins, lit only by flickering iron chandeliers casting claw-like patterns across the floor.
Ancient portraits glared down from every angle, eyes following me with that too-real glint, while the air hung thick with dust and something metallic, like old blood mixed with spell smoke.
Cobwebs clung to vaulted ceilings like traps waiting to snap, and the massive oak desk loomed like a judge's bench, papers rustling on their own.
My stomach twisted into knots, every creak under my sneakers screaming Run, like I'd stumbled into a tomb that wasn't done burying its secrets… and I was next.
"Sit," the woman said, coming out from nowhere, stern voice like she owned the place…. She probably did.
"What kind of place is this? I thought this was a regular school, but it seems otherwise… I mean, gargoyles, really? It all seems unreal," I questioned, having so many questions.
"I know you have so many questions, child. I am getting to that," the woman said.
"Well then, answer. Honestly though," I demanded.
"You don't speak to me like that, child. Didn't you learn any manners before coming here?" she snapped.
I stayed silent, reminding myself not to speak like that while she got out a folder that would explain my whole life for the next four years.
She slid the folder towards me.
"Here, read through this. It will tell you everything you need to know, and how to move forward," she said.
I flipped open the folder with shaky hands, stomach dropping when I saw my assignment: Third Wing, edge of Vampire Hall… rooming with some guy named Dorian Blackwood, full blooded vampire, senior year.
A boy? I mean, what the actual hell… co-ed rooms now?
The note underneath was brutally clear: Space shortages from last year's hybrid incident forced mixed pairings. Humans room with vampires for 'protection training' Stay close. He won't bite… unless provoked."
This wasn't some regular school anymore, that much was crystal clear… no normal place stuck a girl with fangs for a roommate.
Part of me screamed to grab my bags and bolt back through those gates, but another part, the stupid curious one, wondered what kind of protection I even needed.
Stay or run?
My heart said one thing, my gut another, and I hated them both right now.
"Are you serious right now?" I questioned the woman. "A boy? Do you know what that means? Like, this doesn't make sense… like, most schools wouldn't allow this." I complained, and she said, "This school isn't like most schools. Know that part, Seraphina."
"Do I have a choice? Can't I room with a girl? I'd rather room with a girl," I said, and she said, "No, rules are rules. Must be followed."
I stared at her, blinking, like she was crazy.
"You should have told me in my acceptance letter," I said, and she said, "Well, then you probably wouldn't have come here willingly."
"This is called manipulation," I said, crossing my arms.
"It's called survival," she said.
I still couldn't believe it. A supernatural Academy was one thing, but pairing me with a boy, the opposite sex, no way.
"Well, the folder explains everything. I have work to do. You can leave instead of complaining here," she said, and I said, "That's it? Really?" getting up.
"Yes, really," she said, nodding, as I shook my head and left the admissions office.
I stood there, still taking everything I just learned… supernatural floors, vampire roommates, survival over honesty… like my brain was short-circuiting from the overload.
"So, who's your roommate, human? Who did they pair you with?" voices exclaimed out of nowhere, overwhelming me.
"None of your business," I snapped, clutching the folder and brass key like lifelines, forcing my feet toward those crimson-glowing Vampire Hall windows that seemed to pulse like a heartbeat calling me closer.
They gasped.
"She's been paired with a vampire… it's obvious," the witch claimed.
I was surrounded by witches and fae, and even vampires themselves, werewolves… all kinds of supernaturals who were curious about me because maybe it had been a long time since they'd had a human here, or it was their first, unsure, but probably not the first since they seemed to allow humans here.
"Just let me be. I need to settle down," I said.
"Ooh, the human speaks," one of the werewolves cried out.
Where Dorian emerged through the noise and grabbed me by the hand forcibly, saying, "Enough. She's mine. Carry on with your day like she doesn't exist," and took me away like he was in charge of me, forcing me down the hall.
This was the first time I saw him… that would change my whole life.
I looked him in the eye as he turned back to face me, the most handsome face I'd ever seen.
He Wasn't just a vampire. How was I going to survive being his roommate, the way he looked at me, almost drooling.
"Stop drooling," he said, as it turns out I was.
I gasped and wiped my mouth with my sleeve.
"Why did you save me? You could have let them devour me," I said, insecurity bringing out the worst of me, and he looked at me, stern, silence.
His gaze pinned me like a butterfly, red flecks sparking in those dark eyes, close enough now that I could smell winter on his skin… pine and frost and something that made my pulse stutter.
"Why would you ever ask such a question?" he demanded.
"Because no one ever cared about me," I said, which wasn't true… I had family that cared about me, I just wanted to see his reaction.
He stared at me, saying, "That's not true. I know that. Don't act like a fool."
We reached the edge of Vampire Hall, our room, Room 317.
He opened the door and said, "After you, ladies first," and I said, "Oh, how kind," sarcastic.
I stepped into Room 317 for the first time, the door clicking shut behind me with Dorian right on my heels, his presence like ice down my spine.
Black velvet curtains blocked out from most of the crimson hall glow, leaving the space lit by flickering blood-red candles that cast long gangs of shadow across obsidian walls etched with faint silver runes.
A massive four-poster bed dominated the center… draped in black silk sheets that looked way too inviting and terrifying, no second mattress in sight.
My beat-up suitcases sat dumped in one corner like an afterthought next to his pristine trunk of polished ebony, vials of dark liquid glinting inside like forbidden promises.
The air tasted like coppery, thick with old blood and frost, a velvet chaise by the window overlooking the werewolf pits below.
Gothic vampire lair through and through… no girl's touch, just predatory elegance that screamed mine, and I was the intruder about to share it.