THE SEER AND THE SLAYER

The students at Bellgrave High didn’t know her secret.They passed her in hallways with half-smiles, shared lockers beside her in the gym, and sat behind her in chemistry. No one noticed the way she always wrote with her left hand but switched to her right when someone looked. No one questioned the thin medical patch taped just over her ribcage, where her heartbeat pulsed too far from the centre when she swims at the pool. Aurora Vale was the girl no one could quite remember but somehow always noticed. She preferred it that way quietly, contained, invisible. Because secrets like hers didn’t survive in the open.They bled, and they died. The morning air was soaked in September’s moodiness grey skies, wet sidewalks, the heavy scent of rain clinging to the brick walls. Bellgrave looked like it always did, tired and a little haunted. The kind of town where the fog didn’t lift until noon and some windows stayed shuttered even when no one lived behind them. Aurora stood by her usual window in Room 213, second row from the back. The glass fogged faintly as she leaned closer, pretending to watch the trees. Their leaves had begun to turn mottled yellows and bruised reds curling at the edges like forgotten letters, but really, she was watching the gates. There was a rumor, started last night, that a new transfer student was joining senior year. No one knew his name. Bellgrave didn’t get transfers. People didn’t move here. They disappeared from here. "Earth to Aurora," said Isla Monroe, sliding into the desk beside her. As usual, Isla smelled like citrus perfume and recklessness. Her strawberry blonde hair was pulled up in two twisted buns, and her eyeliner a little smudged from the rain. Aurora blinked. "Sorry, what?" "I said." Isla leaned closer, voice lowered "that the new guy is hot. Like, actually hot and definitely dangerous." "Right,"Aurora said softly, eyes flicking back to the gate. A car had just pulled up sleek, black, and old-fashioned in a way that didn’t match the cracked pavement of the parking lot. Its windows were tinted too dark. Isla sighed. "God, you’re hopeless." Aurora didn’t answer. She felt the world shift just a fraction as the car door opened. The classroom door creaked open, and the world tipped a little. He stepped inside like the room owed him something. Tall, pale, and dressed in all black. His hair was dark as stormwater, cut close on the sides but longer at the top, a little messy like he’d run his hands through it too many times. There was nothing special about him, but somehow, the air felt quieter the moment he entered, like it had stopped breathing. "Aurora," Isla whispered, not bothering to hide the way her gaze dragged over him. "If I die today, this is why." Mr. Kells, their exhausted homeroom teacher, barely looked up. "Class, this is Kael Darrow. He’ll be with us the rest of the year." Kael. The name settled in Aurora’s spine like a warning. There was no reason for her heart to race, but it did.There was no reason for her to feel watched, but she did. He scanned the room once, just once, and then his eyes locked on her. There was no flicker of recognition, no frown, no smile, just stillness. Like she wasn’t a stranger at all, but someone he already known. "Take any open seat," Mr. Kells mumbled, returning to his coffee. Kael moved, boots silent against the tile, and slid into the desk directly behind Aurora. She stared straight ahead, spine rigid, pulse hammering. She told herself not to react. Told herself not to care. But when the bell rang and class began, she could feel his gaze settle between her shoulder blades. Not in curiosity but in knowing. That afternoon, the halls were loud with the sound of lockers slamming and the distant chatter of early October dancerumourss. Aurora walked alone. Her routine was precise hallway, locker, side exit, down the east steps where fewer eyes wandered. She liked predictability, patterns, and things that made sense. But just as she turned the corner, someone was already there. Kael. Leaning against the stone wall like he belonged in a painting, no one dared to touch. The sun had broken through the clouds just enough to sketch light across his profile sharp cheekbones, straight nose, and unreadable mouth. His hands were in his pockets. His tie was loose. He didn’t look like a high school student. He didn’t look like he belonged anywhere near one. Neither did he speak nor did he smile, he jut looked at her. And then, too casually, he asked, "Left-handed or hiding it?" Aurora froze. The question punched the air from her chest. "What?" His eyes flicked to her jacket sleeve. "You carry your bag on your left shoulder. Most people use their dominant side. Unless they’re hiding something." Aurora didn’t answer. Kael stepped closer, not close enough to touch her, but close enough that her body felt the space between them go taut. "You're quiet," he said, voice low. "Careful, always watching." Aurora stayed still, eyes narrowing. "Is there a point to this?" He took a slow step toward her. "You hide it well," he said. "The hand." Her blood turned cold. Kael tilted his head slightly. "You write with your right in class, but you favour the left when you’re not thinking. It's subtle. Most wouldn’t notice." He glanced down, and she realized too late that her left hand was holding the strap of her bag. Kael’s eyes lifted, expression unreadable. "You’re left-handed." Aurora stiffened, heart climbing her throat. Her mouth opened words half-formed, meaningless. He didn’t move. Not really. But the look in his eyes shifted like he’d uncovered a piece of a puzzle only he could see. Aurora had hidden it for years. The left-handedness. The heartbeat that thumped against the wrong side of her chest. The strange sensitivity to metal. The dreams she couldn’t remember but always woke from with blood beneath her nails. No one had ever noticed until now. She didn’t realize she was clutching her pen until it almost snapped in her hand. She took a step back. The sky above them had turned the colour of bruises. Kael’s gaze locked on hers sharp, unblinking, cold. "Funny," he said softly. "So were the last three people I buried." And then he walked away, leaving her breathless in the silence. 👁 What do you think Kael knows?