Old shadows
979 Words
Night had settled over the campus like a velvet shroud when Draven stepped out from the tree line.
To any human eye, he was only a shadow brushing past the faint campus lights but Dr. Edmund sensed him long before he appeared.
The older vampire leaned against the railing outside the deserted lecture hall, arms folded, as if he had been waiting.
“Draven Valmot,” Edmund said quietly, without turning his head. “It has been… a century, hasn’t it?”
Draven stepped into the light.
Tall. Cold. Timeless.
Just as Edmund remembered him but with something new burning in his eyes.
“Edmund,” Draven replied. “You haven’t aged a day.”
Edmund gave a dry chuckle. “Perks of being dead, I suppose.”
For a moment, they simply looked at each other, two immortals standing in a world that no longer remembered their kind.
Then Edmund’s smile faded.
“You’ve been following a student of mine.”
Draven’s jaw tensed.
He didn’t deny it.
Edmund adjusted his glasses, studying Draven with an academic calm that only centuries of self-control could provide.
“I could feel your presence on her,” he said. “Lingering like cold air. I suspected you were nearby.”
Draven stepped closer, shadows coiling behind him. “I need to know if she is safe.”
Edmund looked at him sharply.
“So you do care.”
Silence.
Draven’s eyes flickered only for a moment, only enough to betray the thing he hated to admit.
Edmund sighed. “Draven… Mary-Ann is human. Entirely human. And very, very fragile.”
“She is more than fragile.”
“Yes,” Edmund agreed softly, “and that is exactly why you should stay away.”
Draven inhaled sharply, the faintest growl curling beneath his breath.
“I wasn’t asking for advice.”
“I know,” Edmund said gently. “But you need it.”
Draven’s eyes glinted, an old storm rising in him.
Edmund continued, voice low.
“Your enemies see everything. If I sensed your interest in her, others will too. And unlike me… they will not offer warnings.”
Draven closed his eyes for a brief moment, the weight of Edmund’s words sinking into his bones like cold iron.
“She makes you feel alive again, doesn’t she?” Edmund asked quietly.
Draven didn’t answer.
He didn’t need to.
Edmund exhaled, his breath forming no mist in the cool air, a reminder of what he was.
“Let her live her life, Draven. Don’t pull her into ours.”
Draven’s gaze hardened. “It’s too late for that.”
Edmund looked troubled, genuinely troubled for the first time in decades.
“Then may the fates be kinder to her than they were to the others,” he murmured.
The air between them chilled.
Draven said nothing.
He only vanished into the darkness, leaving Edmund standing alone beneath the weak glow of the campus lights.
And Edmund whispered into the silence:
“Old friend… please don’t make her your tragedy.”
The Next Day Mary-Ann’s Presentation
The auditorium buzzed with soft chatter as students prepared for their presentations. Mary-Ann’s palms were cold, but she kept her notebook pressed firmly against her chest.
She had rehearsed all night.
She should have felt prepared.
But from the moment she stepped into the auditorium, her skin prickled.
Something wasn’t right.
She scanned the seats. Students laughing. Two lecturers whispering. Gracie waving at her from the third row.
Everything looked normal.
But something felt… wrong.
As she walked up to the podium, she felt it again like eyes touching her, sliding over her skin with a cold familiarity she didn’t understand.
Her breath hitched.
Was someone… watching her?
She cleared her throat and began her presentation, forcing her voice steady.
But every few seconds, she looked up searching.
Nothing.
No strange figure.
No silhouette.
No Draven.
Yet the presence didn’t fade.
It grew stronger, colder, heavier.
As though someone stood just behind her shoulder.
When she finished, applause filled the room, but she barely heard it. She hurried off stage, her heartbeat thundering in her chest.
Gracie grabbed her arm. “Are you okay? You look like you saw a ghost.”
Mary-Ann forced a smile. “I’m fine. Just nerves.”
But she wasn’t fine.
She could still feel it…
That invisible gaze.
Following her.
Watching.
Waiting.
Back Home
Stephen was sprawled on the couch eating noodles when Mary-Ann walked in. He paused mid-bite.
“You look weird,” he said. “Like you’ve been hunted.”
She dropped her bag and sat beside him.
“Don’t joke about that.”
He raised a brow. “I wasn’t joking.”
“Stephen…” She swallowed. “I felt something today. I don’t know how to explain it. Someone was watching me, I could feel it. But when I looked, no one was there.”
Stephen blinked slowly.
Then he grinned.
“Oh noooooo,” he said dramatically, “the vampires have come for you.”
She smacked his shoulder. “Be serious!”
“I am!” he laughed. “I heard stories, sis. Cold air, invisible watchers… classic vampire stuff.” He wiggled his fingers in a spooky gesture. “Better sleep with garlic tonight.”
She laughed despite herself, a tired, shaky laugh she hadn’t realized she needed.
“Stephen, stop,” she said, still smiling.
He shrugged. “Hey, if a vampire is after you, just let me know. I’ll fight him with my biology textbook.”
She laughed harder.
And for a moment, the fear eased.
But later that night, as she lay in the darkness, the smile faded from her lips.
Because deep inside, she knew one thing with absolute certainty:
The presence she felt today…
It wasn’t a joke.
And whoever or whatever watched her…
Wasn’t done.
- Writer
