When Vampires Fall

THE GIRL THE RAVENS WATCH

I didn’t sleep again.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw her. The girl in the painting. Black wings. Black fire. My face.

Jules’ hand on my wrist left frost that took an hour to melt. Even now, my skin felt wrong. Cold on the outside. Hot under it. Like something was waking up and didn’t want to go back to sleep.

“Your heartbeat,” he whispered. “It’s wrong.”

He knew.

I sat up in bed. The moon was still out. My shadow on the wall hadn’t moved. But it felt heavier. Like it had weight now.

I got dressed before the sun came up. If I couldn’t sleep, I could at least be early. Early meant empty halls. Empty halls meant no Jules.

It didn’t work.

He was waiting outside C-12.

Leaning against the wall. Arms crossed. No jacket today, just the black button-up shirt of the council uniform. He looked almost human like that. Almost.

The cold hit me before I even opened the door.

“You’re up early,” he said. He didn’t look at me. He was looking at the floor.

“So are you.”

“I don’t sleep.” He finally looked up. His eyes were darker today. No blue. Just shadow. “Vampires don’t need it. What’s your excuse?”

“I like mornings.”

“Liar.”

He pushed off the wall. Stood straight. Now he was blocking the whole hallway.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“Class.”

“First period doesn’t start for an hour.”

“I like to be prepared.”

He stepped closer. One step. “You’re a bad liar, Eloise Joly.”

“You’re a bad stalker, Jules Kai.”

Something flickered in his face. Surprise. He wasn’t used to humans talking back. He wasn’t used to anyone talking back.

“You should be scared of me,” he said. Not a threat. A fact. Like he was reminding me the sky was gray.

“I am.” That wasn’t a lie. I was terrified. But fear and obedience weren’t the same thing.

He studied me. “No. You’re not. Not really. You’re scared of something else.”

He was right. I was scared of the thing under my skin. The thing that got warm when he touched me.

“Move,” I said. “I’m going to be late.”

“To an empty classroom?”

“Yes.”

He didn’t move. Instead, he reached into his pocket. Pulled out a folded paper.

My letter.

He held it out to me.

I didn’t take it. “I thought you confiscated it.”

“I did. I’m giving it back.”

“Why?”

“Because I read it ten times. And I still don’t understand it.” He shook the paper a little. “Never burn. Never resurrect. Never be seen. Who writes that to a child?”

“Someone who wanted me alive.”

“Alive isn’t the same as safe.” His eyes dropped to my wrist. The one he grabbed last night. “Does it hurt?”

“No.”

“Another lie.”

I snatched the letter from him. The paper was still cold. “Are you done? Can I go?”

“No.” He stepped back. Cleared the hallway. “But you can go.”

I walked past him. Didn’t run. Running was prey behavior.

“Eloise.”

I stopped. Didn’t turn.

“Stay away from the library,” he said. “Next time, I will report you.”

I kept walking.

I didn’t go to the library. I went to the east courtyard. The one humans weren’t supposed to cross.

If Jules was going to watch me anyway, I might as well make it easy for him.

The courtyard was empty this early. Mist clung to the grass. The vampire tower stood at the far end, black against the gray sky.

I sat on the edge of the fountain. It didn’t have water. Just old stone and dead leaves.

I pulled the letter out. Unfolded it.

The original writing was there. The three rules.

I remember the fire. Do you?

His handwriting. He didn’t deny it.

I ran my thumb over the words. They were colder than the rest of the paper.

What fire?

The painting in the library. The girl burning. Was that the fire?

Did I die?

No. That was crazy. I was seventeen. I remembered being ten. I remembered scraping my knee when I was eight. I had a life. A boring, human life.

Didn’t I?

The memories were there. But they felt thin. Like paper instead of stone.

“Rough morning?”

I jumped.

Zed Lucian sat on the other side of the fountain. He hadn’t been there a second ago. Demons moved like that. Like smoke.

“You’re on my side,” I said.

“It’s a public courtyard.” He grinned. His teeth were too sharp. “Even humans are allowed here. During daylight. Barely.”

“I’m not breaking rules.”

“Not yet.” He leaned forward. Sniffed the air again, like he did yesterday. “You know, I spent last night thinking about you.”

“Flattering.”

“I asked around. No one knows where you transferred from. No records. No prior school. It’s like you appeared out of nowhere.”

The guardian who raised me said that would happen. “Blackthorn doesn’t ask questions if the money is right.”

“And who paid your money, Eloise Joly?”

“Not your business.”

Zed laughed. “Everything at Blackthorn is my business. I’m a strategist. I see patterns. And you, little human, are a pattern that doesn’t fit.”

He stood. Stretched. His shadow was longer than it should’ve been.

“Be careful,” he said. “Jules isn’t the only one watching you. The ravens are too.”

He walked away. Didn’t use the path. He just stepped into his own shadow and was gone.

I looked up.

On the roof of the vampire tower, a figure stood.

Not Jules.

Black robes. No face.

Astral Raven.

Same as yesterday.

It watched me for three seconds. Then it raised its hand. Pointed at me.

And then it dropped.

Not jumped. Dropped. Straight down, four stories.

It hit the stone and didn’t make a sound.

When it stood, it was ten feet away.

I couldn’t move. My body locked up. Every instinct said run, but my legs said no.

The raven tilted its head. No eyes, but I felt it looking. Into me. Through me.

It lifted its hand again. This time, it touched its chest. Where a heart would be.

Then it pointed at me again.

“You,” a voice said. Not out loud. In my head. Dry. Like old paper. “You are awake.”

I opened my mouth. Nothing came out.

The raven turned. Walked toward the tower.

Before it got there, it stopped. Looked over its shoulder.

“The cycle remembers,” the voice said. “Even when you do not.”

It stepped into the wall and was gone.

I sat there until the bell rang.

First period was Combat Theory. With Professor Hark. A demon.

“Humans,” he said, pacing in front of the class. “You are weak. Slow. Fragile. You will die first in any real fight.”

He wasn’t wrong.

“Which is why you need to be smarter,” he continued. “You need to know where to strike. How to run. How to survive long enough for someone stronger to save you.”

He pointed at me. “You. New girl. Joly. Stand up.”

I stood.

“Attack me.”

The class went quiet.

“Excuse me?”

“Attack me,” Hark repeated. “Show me what a human does when cornered.”

I didn’t move.

“Now, Joly. Or fail.”

I looked at Lucy. She was shaking her head. Don’t, her eyes said.

But if I didn’t, I’d fail. If I failed too many classes, I’d get expelled. If I got expelled, I’d be outside Blackthorn’s walls. No protection. No guardian.

I stepped forward.

Hark smiled. “Good. Now—”

I punched him.

Not hard. I wasn’t stupid. Just a quick jab to his stomach.

My fist stopped an inch from his skin.

He didn’t move. He didn’t block. I just… stopped. Like I hit a wall of air.

“Predictable,” Hark said. “Humans always go for the body. Because you think you’re fighting other humans.”

He flicked his wrist.

I flew back. Hit the mat. Hard. All the air left my lungs.

“Again,” he said.

I got up. Slower this time.

I ran at him. Tried to sweep his legs.

Same result. I stopped mid-motion. Then I was on the mat again.

“Again.”

This happened four times.

On the fifth, I stayed down.

“Get up,” Hark said.

“I can’t.”

“You can. Pain is temporary. Death is permanent.”

I pushed myself up. My arms shook.

“Again.”

I didn’t run this time. I walked. Stopped in front of him.

Then I did something dumb.

I looked him in the eyes. “You want me to fight? Fine. But stop playing with me.”

The class gasped.

Hark’s smile disappeared. “Excuse me?”

“You’re not teaching. You’re showing off. You want me to attack? Then don’t use magic to stop me before I start.”

Silence.

Then Hark laughed. Big. Loud. “She has a spine. I’ll give her that.”

He waved his hand. “Fine. No magic. Come on.”

I didn’t move.

“Scared now?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said. Honest this time.

“Good. Fear keeps you alive.” He stepped back. “Class dismissed. Joly, stay after.”

The room emptied fast. Lucy gave me a panicked look before she left.

Hark waited until the door shut.

“You’re not like the others,” he said. Same thing Jules said. Same thing Zed said.

“I’m human.”

“Are you?” He walked around me. Slow circle. “Your heart rate never spiked. Not once. Even when I threw you. Humans panic. You didn’t.”

“I was too tired to panic.”

He stopped in front of me. “Maybe.” He reached out. Tapped my chest. Right over my heart. “Or maybe you’re not human at all.”

Cold flooded me.

He felt it. I knew he did. The thing under my skin.

He pulled his hand back. “Interesting.”

“Are you going to report me?” I asked.

“To who? The council? Jules Kai already knows.” He grinned. “He’s been asking about you. All morning.”

My stomach dropped.

“What did you tell him?”

“The truth. That you’re either the bravest human I’ve ever met, or the stupidest. Or…” He leaned closer. “Something else.”

He stepped back. “Go to your next class, Joly. And try not to bleed in the halls. The smell makes the vampires hungry.”

I left.

Second period was Alchemy. With Professor Mire. An elf. She didn’t look at me once. Like I wasn’t there.

Good.

Third period was Free Period again.

I skipped it. Went back to C-12. Locked the door.

I needed to think.

Jules knew. Hark knew. Zed suspected. The raven spoke to me.

“The cycle remembers,” it said. “Even when you do not.”

What cycle?

I pulled out the letter. Read the three rules again.

Never burn.

I held my hand up.

Don’t.

I did it anyway.

Just a spark. Smaller than last night.

Black. Cold.

It danced on my finger for one second.

Then my door opened.

No knock. No warning.

Jules stood there.

He saw the spark.

I closed my fist. Too late.

He didn’t speak. He just walked in. Shut the door behind him.

We stared at each other.

“Explain,” he said.

“I can’t.”

“You will.”

“No.”

He crossed the room in one step. Grabbed my wrist. The one with the spark.

His skin was ice. Mine was fire now. I felt it rising.

“Stop,” I said.

“Make me.”

I didn’t want to burn. I didn’t want to resurrect. I didn’t want to be seen.

But he wasn’t letting go.

The cold from him met the heat from me.

And something cracked.

Not the room. Not the air.

Me.

My shadow on the wall moved.

It stood up.

Jules saw it. His eyes went wide.

The shadow had wings. Black. Made of smoke and edges.

“Impossible,” Jules whispered. Same word as yesterday.

The shadow looked at him. Then at me.

Then it stepped forward. Off the wall.

Into the room.

Jules let go of me. Stumbled back.

The shadow didn’t attack. It just stood there. Between us.

Then it spoke.

Not out loud. In my head. In Jules’ head too, because he flinched.

“She is awake,” the shadow said. “The cycle begins again.”

And then it was gone.

Just gone. Like it was never there.

The room was normal. No wings. No smoke. Just me and Jules and my heartbeat going too fast.

Jules looked at me. Really looked.

“You,” he said.

“Me,” I said.

He turned and left. Didn’t slam the door. Didn’t say another word.

I slid to the floor.

The cycle begins again.

What did that mean?

What was I?

I looked at my hand.

No frost. No burn.

Just me.

But for how long?