Chapter 4: Eyes Inside the Academy
808 Words
The hallway felt different after the bathroom.
Not quieter. Not calmer.
Heavier.
Soryn walked without stopping, her steps controlled, her expression carefully rebuilt into something unreadable. But beneath that still surface, everything inside her was unsettled. The feeling of his hand on her wrist still lingered like a burn she couldn’t shake off.
Kael Arden had crossed a line.
And he didn’t even realize it.
Behind her, she could still feel his presence, not physically anymore, but in the way the air seemed slightly off balance, like something had shifted and refused to settle back into place.
She did not turn around.
She couldn’t afford to.
Because if she did, she might forget why she was here.
---
At the end of the corridor, a group of students stood clustered near the stairwell.
They moved aside the moment she approached.
Not out of respect.
Out of awareness.
Soryn noticed everything.
The way conversations dropped slightly lower. The way eyes followed her but never held too long. The way even hybrids—strong ones—gave her space without being told.
That was not normal.
It meant they sensed something.
Or feared something.
She passed them without a glance.
But one voice cut through the distance anyway.
“Well… that’s her.”
Soryn slowed slightly.
Not stopping.
Just enough to hear.
A boy leaned against the wall ahead, arms folded, uniform slightly undone in a way that looked intentional rather than careless. His presence was different from the others—too confident, too grounded.
His eyes met hers directly.
No hesitation.
No fear.
Only interest.
“That’s the new transfer,” another student whispered. “The one they said came from… outside the system.”
The boy pushed himself off the wall and stepped forward.
“I’m Kieran Voss,” he said casually, as if introductions meant nothing. “Try not to die here. It gets messy.”
Soryn studied him for a second.
There was something in his aura.
Not human.
Not vampire.
Not werewolf.
Something in between.
Or something worse.
“I don’t need advice,” she replied flatly, and walked past him.
A faint smile tugged at his lips.
“Everyone says that,” he murmured behind her. “Until they start bleeding.”
---
Elsewhere in the academy, Kael stood near the open courtyard, his hand still faintly aching where her grip had been.
He stared at it longer than he should have.
There was no mark.
But the sensation remained.
Like something had touched him and refused to leave.
“You’re distracted.”
Kael looked up.
A girl stood a few steps away, leaning lightly against the pillar, her expression soft but her eyes sharp. Too sharp.
Elira Dane.
His ex-girlfriend.
Or what was left of that history.
“I’m fine,” Kael said simply.
Elira tilted her head. “You’re lying again.”
He didn’t respond.
Her gaze shifted slightly, watching him more carefully now. “It’s her, isn’t it?”
Kael’s expression tightened just a fraction.
That was answer enough.
Elira smiled faintly, but there was no warmth in it. “Be careful, Kael. Girls like that don’t end up in places like this without a reason.”
Before he could reply, she turned and walked away, her steps light, almost casual.
But her eyes said something else entirely.
Observation.
Not emotion.
---
High above the academy floor, in a sealed office lined with old stone and reinforced glass, a man stood watching through a one-way window.
His gaze was fixed on Soryn.
Unmoving.
Unblinking.
“You see it too,” a voice said behind him.
The man didn’t turn.
“Yes,” he replied slowly.
On the desk behind him lay a sealed file.
Soryn Vale.
Unregistered origin.
Unknown lineage.
“Keep her close to Arden,” the voice continued. “If she reacts again…”
A pause.
Then colder:
“…we’ll know exactly what she is.”
The man finally exhaled.
“And if Arden awakens early?”
Silence.
Then:
“Then the academy becomes the least of our problems.”
---
Back in the corridor, Soryn stopped at the end of the hall.
For a reason she couldn’t explain, she turned slightly.
And looked back.
Kael was not visible anymore.
But she could still feel it.
That pull.
That reaction.
That dangerous connection she was not supposed to have.
Behind her, footsteps approached.
Soft.
Controlled.
Familiar without being welcome.
“Miss Vale,” a voice called gently.
Soryn turned.
A teacher stood there now, smiling politely, clipboard in hand.
But his eyes were not kind.
“They want to see you,” he said.
A pause.
“And… Mr Arden as well.”
Soryn’s fingers tightened slightly.
Because she understood something in that moment.
This was no longer just about watching him.
Now—
They were both being watched.
- Writer
