My vampire lover

Vanora Vale walked through the tall iron gates of Eldridge University just as the afternoon light started to fade. She kept her head down, hood up on her oversized black hoodie, gray scarf wrapped tight around her head to hide her white hair. Thick nerdy glasses sat on her nose. Her backpack hung heavy on one shoulder. She wanted to blend in, look like any other new student. No attention. No questions. The campus was big and old. Stone buildings with ivy climbing up the walls. Tall towers and arched windows. A big fountain in the middle of the main quad with water running over carved stone. Trees everywhere, leaves already turning orange and red. Paths of cobblestone wound between the buildings. It looked like something out of an old movie, quiet but kind of heavy, like the place had been there forever. She checked the map on the folded paper they gave her at the gate. Hawthorne Hall was at the far end. She walked faster, passing groups of students laughing and carrying boxes. No one looked at her twice. Good. Inside Hawthorne, the lobby smelled like wood polish and something sweet. The resident advisor behind the desk barely looked up. “Vanora Vale? Room 313. Third floor. Here’s your keycard.” “Thanks,” Vanora said quietly. She took the card and headed up the stairs. The hallways were narrow, carpeted dark red. Her room was at the end. She shut the door, locked it, and let out a breath. She pulled off the scarf. Her long white hair fell down her back. She took off the hoodie too, leaving just her long-sleeved shirt. In the mirror, her blue eyes looked back at her, bright like the ocean. She had a nice figure, curves that she always hid under baggy clothes. No one needed to see that. She lifted the back of her shirt a little to check the tattoo. It ran down the center of her back: a pyramid with the all-seeing eye inside, and a crescent moon curving over the top. The lines were sharp and black, the eye detailed enough to look almost alive. It was big, sexy in a dark way, stretching from between her shoulder blades almost to her lower back. No one had ever seen it except her mom and the artist who did it years ago. She let the shirt drop and pulled the hoodie back on. A knock on the door made her jump. She wrapped the scarf around her hair fast and opened it a crack. A girl stood there with curly hair in a ponytail, holding a plate of cookies. “Hi! I’m Maya, next door in 315. Saw you come in and thought I’d say hey. Cookies from the welcome thing downstairs.” Vanora opened the door more. “I’m Vanora. Thanks.” Maya grinned. “Want some company? Unpacking sucks alone.” Vanora shrugged. “Sure.” Maya came in and sat on the bed while Vanora put away her stuff: a few books, notebooks, laptop, some clothes. Maya talked a lot—about classes, the cafeteria food, how the dorm parties got loud on weekends. Vanora mostly listened and nodded. It felt nice to have someone normal around. After about half an hour, Maya stood up. “Okay, I gotta go meet some friends. Lunch tomorrow?” “Yeah, sounds good,” Vanora said. Maya left, and Vanora sat at the desk. She opened her laptop to check email and her schedule. The Wi-Fi wouldn’t connect. “No signal.” She tried her phone. Same thing. No bars, no data. She frowned. The school website said there was good coverage. Maybe the building blocked it. She grabbed her phone and headed outside. The quad was almost empty now, sun almost gone. Street lamps were starting to turn on. She walked toward the fountain, holding her phone up, turning in circles. Still nothing. One bar flickered for a second then disappeared. She sighed and kept walking a little farther, toward the edge of the lawn near some big trees. Under one of the oaks, three guys stood in the shadows. They were tall, dressed in dark clothes. The one in the middle had dark hair that fell over his eyes, sharp face, the kind of looks that made people stare twice. Handsome, but in a way that felt dangerous, like he knew exactly how to use it. His two friends—one blond with a smirk, the other bigger with a scar over his eyebrow—stood close. They watched her the whole time she walked around with her phone. She didn’t notice them at all. They didn’t say anything, didn’t move closer. Just watched. The dark-haired one tilted his head slightly. “New girl,” he said low. “Breaking the no-phone rule already.” The blond snorted. “She doesn’t even know. Look at her. Totally clueless.” The scarred one crossed his arms. “Why’s she so covered up? Scarf and hood like she’s hiding something.” The leader shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. Rules are rules. If she keeps it up, someone will notice.” They stayed quiet after that, eyes on her as she gave up and started walking back toward the dorm. She felt something off—a cold feeling on the back of her neck, like someone was staring. She glanced around once but saw nothing but empty paths and trees. She shook it off. Just nerves. New place. That’s all. Back in her room, she locked the door again. The cold feeling didn’t go away completely, but she ignored it. She sat on the bed, phone still showing no signal. She had come here to be normal. To study, make a few friends, stay under the radar. But something about this place felt wrong. Like it was watching her back. She didn’t know the three guys under the tree were still there, talking quietly now that she was gone. “Keep an eye on her,” the dark-haired one said. “Something’s different about this one.” The others nodded. Vanora changed into pajamas, careful to keep her back to the mirror so she didn’t catch another glimpse of the tattoo. She climbed into bed and turned off the light. Outside, the campus lights stayed on, steady and bright. But in the shadows, things were already starting to move.