The night before
1967 Words
I woke to the sound of rain and a faint ache behind my eyes — the kind that comes from bad dreams you can’t quite remember.
The morning light was dim and gray, slipping through the curtains like fog.
For a few seconds, everything felt still.
Then last night came back in fragments — laughter, flashing lights, Kade’s voice, the fight.
And those eyes. Silver. Unnatural.
I rolled out of bed and checked my phone. The group chats were chaos.
Did you see Kade lose it last night?
Mason shouldn’t have challenged him.
Guess he learned not to pick fights under a full moon.
I froze on that last one. Full moon.
But when I blinked, the message was gone — deleted before I could read it again.
⸻
Downstairs, the house smelled faintly of pine and coffee. My uncle Elias sat at the table, reading the newspaper. He looked calm — too calm.
“Rough night?” he asked without looking up.
“You heard about it?”
“Small town,” he said simply. “News travels faster than sense.”
I waited for him to ask questions — what happened, who started it, why I was there — but he didn’t. He just turned a page and said, “You should stay away from Kade for a while. He draws trouble.”
Something about the way he said trouble made my skin prickle.
Like he didn’t mean fights or gossip. Like he meant something else entirely.
I frowned. “Everyone’s talking about him. Like they’re afraid.”
Elias finally looked up. His gaze was sharp, thoughtful. “Maybe they remember what he’s capable of.”
“Capable of what?”
He smiled faintly — not kind, not cruel, just tired. “You’ll understand one day.”
⸻
By the time I got to school, the rain had thinned to mist. The halls were crowded, but quiet — too quiet for a Monday after a town-wide party.
People greeted me with polite smiles, but their eyes lingered a little too long. Like they were waiting to see what I knew.
Savanah and Clair waved me over at my locker, whispering like they’d been caught doing something wrong.
“Hey,” Savanah said brightly. “You okay after last night?”
“I think so,” I said. “That fight was insane.”
Clair nodded quickly. “Yeah. But, you know… boys.”
She forced a laugh. It sounded fake. Both of them kept glancing toward the end of the hall — where Kade’s empty locker sat untouched.
I lowered my voice. “Is Mason okay?”
Savanah’s smile faltered. “He’ll be fine. He always is.”
Her tone made it sound rehearsed.
“What was that even about?” I asked.
Clair shrugged. “Nothing important.”
The two exchanged a glance that told me it was very important.
But instead of answering, Savanah looped her arm through mine and said, “Come on, you’re new here. Don’t get caught up in all the weird Pineridge drama.”
Weird Pineridge drama.
I’d only been here a few weeks, but already it felt like the whole town was reading from the same secret script — and I was the only one who hadn’t been given a copy.
⸻
At lunch, the cafeteria hummed with low voices and forced laughter. Luca sat alone at the far table, tracing something on his notebook — a shape that looked like a crescent moon.
When he saw me, he gave a small smile and gestured for me to join him.
“Rough night?” he asked, his tone casual but his eyes serious.
“You could say that.” I paused. “Everyone’s acting like what happened wasn’t… weird.”
Luca’s jaw tightened. “That’s Pineridge for you. People here like to keep their heads down.”
“But you saw it, right? Kade’s eyes—”
He cut me off. “Don’t talk about it here.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re asking questions that don’t get answers.”
His voice was calm, but there was something underneath it — warning, maybe even fear.
I leaned in. “Luca, what’s going on with this town?”
He looked at me for a long time, then said quietly, “You’ll figure it out soon enough. Just… be careful who you trust.”
And then, as if on cue, the bell rang — sharp, jarring, too loud. Everyone moved at once, scraping chairs, throwing trays away. Luca stood and walked off without another word.
⸻
That afternoon, when I left school, I could feel it — the weight of the town pressing in. People smiled as they passed, but their eyes flicked toward the woods before darting away.
Even the forest seemed alive, breathing, watching.
At home, Elias wasn’t there. A note sat on the counter:
Out for the night. Lock up. Don’t go outside after dark.
My hands trembled as I set it down.
Outside, the fog had thickened, spilling between the trees like smoke.
Something howled in the distance — deep, guttural, too close to sound like any animal I knew.
The same sound I’d heard that first night in Pineridge.
Except this time, I thought I heard another voice beneath it — faint, almost human.
A name.
My name.
⸻
The next morning, the air in Pineridge felt heavier — colder, thicker somehow, like the fog had soaked into everything. Even the sunlight looked pale and strained as it pushed through the clouds.
When I stepped into the school courtyard, conversations quieted just a little too quickly. Heads turned. Eyes lingered. People smiled in that polite, practiced way that never reached their faces.
And then, like a chill running through the crowd, I noticed him.
Kade.
He stood by the far wall, one hand in his pocket, talking to a few guys from the football team. His black hair was damp from the mist, his gray T-shirt clinging to his shoulders. But what caught me wasn’t how he looked — it was how everyone looked at him.
Cautious. Respectful. A little afraid.
When his gaze found mine, it was like the world tilted for a second. The noise of the courtyard dulled, fading into something distant and muffled. His eyes — those same impossible silver eyes — locked on me, unblinking.
He didn’t smile. He didn’t look away.
Just watched.
I froze mid-step, unsure whether to wave or pretend I hadn’t seen him. Before I could decide, Luca appeared at my side, his usual calm a little too tense today.
“Come on,” he murmured, placing a gentle hand on my elbow. “Let’s go inside.”
“Luca—”
“Don’t look at him,” he said quietly. “Just… don’t.”
I didn’t move. “Why? He didn’t even do anything.”
Luca exhaled, jaw tightening. “That’s the problem. He doesn’t have to.”
When I finally looked back toward Kade, he was still watching me — but now there was something else in his expression. Not just curiosity. Possession.
And when he saw Luca’s hand still on my arm, the air seemed to shift.
It was subtle — just a ripple of tension, a vibration under my skin, like static before a storm. Kade’s lips parted slightly, almost baring his teeth, before he turned and walked off without a word.
⸻
By second period, everyone was whispering again — but this time not about the fight. About me.
I caught fragments in the hallways:
“She’s the new girl, right?”
“Kade’s been watching her.”
“Maybe he’s just… drawn to her.”
The tone in their voices wasn’t teasing — it was wary, like they knew something dangerous I didn’t.
Luca kept his distance all morning. Every time I caught his eye, he looked away. When I finally cornered him after class, he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Look, Aria… just be careful around Kade.”
I frowned. “You already said that.”
“Yeah, and I meant it.” His voice was low. “He’s not someone you want attention from.”
“Why? Because he gets into fights?”
Luca hesitated, glancing around before leaning closer. “Because when Kade wants something, he doesn’t stop.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I didn’t say anything. But the words followed me all day, echoing louder every time I felt Kade’s eyes on me — in the hallway, across the cafeteria, out in the parking lot.
He didn’t approach me directly. He didn’t have to. His presence alone filled every room I walked into, silent and charged.
⸻
After lunch, I was walking toward my locker when it happened again.
A group of guys brushed past me, laughing too loud, one of them bumping my shoulder hard enough to make me stumble.
Before I could even react, Kade was there.
He moved fast — too fast — crossing the hall in a blur. He caught the guy’s arm mid-motion, grip firm but calm, voice low enough that I couldn’t hear the words. But whatever he said drained the color from the boy’s face.
Then Kade released him and turned his attention to me.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
His voice was smooth, quiet — but there was a weight to it, something that made my pulse race for reasons I didn’t understand.
“I’m fine,” I said, forcing a smile.
“Good.” His eyes lingered on me, softening slightly. “Wouldn’t want anyone getting hurt.”
There was a pause. Too long, too heavy.
Then he turned and walked away.
The boy he’d grabbed muttered something about “not worth it” before disappearing down the hall. The others scattered.
I stood there for a long moment, heart hammering, watching Kade’s retreating figure.
That pull I’d felt before — the strange, magnetic hum under my skin — returned stronger this time. Like something inside me was waking up, answering his presence.
⸻
By the time the final bell rang, the sky had darkened again. The clouds hung low and gray, pressing down on the town.
Luca was waiting by the exit. “You okay?” he asked quietly.
“I think so.”
He looked past me, toward the parking lot, where Kade stood leaning against a black car, staring directly at us.
Luca’s expression hardened. “Don’t go near him. Promise me.”
“I can handle myself,” I said.
“This isn’t about handling yourself.” His voice cracked slightly. “You don’t know what he is, Aria. You don’t know what we are.”
The words hit me like a cold wind. “What do you mean—”
He shook his head, cutting me off. “Forget it. Just go home before dark.”
And then he walked away, leaving me standing alone at the doors — Kade’s eyes still burning into my back like a silent challenge.
⸻
That night, I couldn’t stop thinking about the way everyone had acted. The looks, the silences, the unspoken agreement that no one would ever mention what they all seemed to know.
It wasn’t just that Kade was different.
It was that the whole town was.
And whatever they were pretending not to be…
I was starting to feel it too.
Something in me was changing — restless, wild, waiting.
When I looked out my window, the moon had begun to rise, half-covered by clouds.
The pines below swayed in the wind, whispering secrets I couldn’t yet understand.
But one thing was clear —
Kade wasn’t going to stop watching me.
And deep down, I wasn’t sure I wanted him to.
- Writer
