The Hybrid Girl Captured by the Werewolf

The Girl with Red Eyes

Cellestine stared intently in the mirror. Her eyes are red. She is sure this time. It's not that obvious, but her eyes definitely changed color. From a glance you'd only notice a slightly red hue, but looking at it from the right angle, it's very noticeably red.

Is this related to her ability?

She couldn't help but feel lucky that she decided to wear a hoodie when she went for a run earlier. It also helped that it's not that bright outside yet, or else, some people might have noticed her strange eyes.

Cellestine rummaged through the contents of the cupboard and found her set of contact lenses. Good thing she bought this before. The original purpose of buying this thing was just for experimentation with make-up looks. Didn't expect it would be handy this time.

There is a lively atmosphere on the campus today. After a few months of summer vacation, the school is finally ushering in the new school year.

Students from the dormitories are now heading to the auditorium. You can also see several staff delivering luggage to the dormitories for those students who have just arrived.

The school gate is filled with students who have just arrived and are bidding goodbye to their families. Since this is a boarding school, some students will not be able to go home for months. Especially those from other cities.

Haynes University is one of the most elite universities in the country and it also ranks quite high internationally. All the students who graduated from the university have always had a good reputation in their selected fields. That is why, even though the campus site is quite secluded, many families still want to send in their kids.

The admission to the university, no matter what level, is also very peculiar. Unlike most schools where students would need to enroll, Haynes University only sends out invitations to potential students.

Only those with invitations can be admitted. And because of the reputation of producing graduates that are the best of the best, anyone who receives an invitation for admission to the school will definitely take on the chance of a lifetime.

Speaking of a once in a lifetime chance, the opening ceremony is also an opportunity for talented students to stand out among the student population. There will be different artistic presentations from the different colleges and departments of the university.

Most students will be honored to be given this chance to be famous. Not Cellestine, though.

All she wanted was to just sit with her friends and enjoy the event. But she was suddenly called by the principal of the senior high school department.

"Cellestine, my dear, how are you coping with living on campus?" Wilhelmina Reeves, the principal, said with a smiling face and a gentle voice. She is a beautiful and sophisticated 27-year-old woman with Asian-European descent. She has shoulder length, naturally blonde, curly hair. She has slightly narrowed eyes and soft facial features. She is as tall as Cellestine but she appears taller because of her high heels.

"So far so good. I also have my friends here with me so it's easier. I wonder what aunt Wella called me here for?" Cellestine said, looking at the angel-looking woman in front of her.

Wilhelmina was not a stranger to her. This woman had been visiting her house from time to time before, along with several other men and women. Her mother said that Wilhelmina was like her younger sister and their family are friends. They basically grew up together.

This younger aunt would always bring her different nice things. She liked seeing Wilhelmina and she was always mesmerized by her angelic face. When she was young, she would call her aunt Angel. Everyone, including her parents would laugh at her.

"Can you do your aunt a favor?", Wilhelmina said, holding Cellestine's hands. "The students that were supposed to perform today from our department were unable to come today because of some sort of an emergency. Can you replace them?"

Looking at the expectant eyes of this woman in front of her, as if any words of rejection would cause her to be sad and disappointed, Cellestine had to swallow her unwillingness. No way. Who made her be trapped by beauty?

"Fine," she surrendered.

At the corner she did not notice, there was a cunning glint that flashed through the eyes of the angelic woman in front of her. What performers? All along it was set to be hers. She just did not tell Cellestine because she did not want this little miss to not show up at the event herself.

Wilhelmina knew that this girl had just experienced the sad departure of her parents and maybe she did not want to perform in front of a lot of people. She just wanted to find an excuse to make this girl come onto the stage and introduce her to the whole school.

"A round of applause for the Taekwondo Club!" said the host from the College of Arts. "Now, from a hardcore martial arts performance given by our Taekwondo Club, next on stage will be a very special performer. She had already managed to wow the audiences of Europe, Russia, and the U.S at a very young age. And now, she is the newest addition to the music geniuses of our university. Let us all welcome on stage to perform Brahms - Rhapsody in B Minor Op. 79 No. 1, Hailey Cellestine Haynes!"

She walked up the stage while being welcomed by a loud applause. She even saw several younger and older students alike eyeing her with admiration. She sat on the chair and felt the keys of the piano without playing anything yet. Then, she closed her eyes and imagined her practice room in their house.

Her father is standing behind her while mother is sitting beside her as her page turner. She looked at them both before she started playing. They nodded at her and smiled to say that she should start playing now.

She smiled at them and let her fingers dance about the piano keys.

While playing the piano, she couldn't help but remember the days when she was still practicing this piece with her parents. Her mother in particular. She was also a renowned pianist but she decided to give up her career when she and Charles got married. She said that she married not just Cellestine's father but all the responsibilities that came with marrying him. Cellestine still didn't understand what she meant. But she still admired her mother and she became her inspiration to play the piano herself as well.

When she was almost done playing her piece, she felt a sinister presence just within the auditorium. It gave her goosebumps. She was about to open her eyes to look in the direction where the presence was coming from, when she also sensed an object coming her way from the same direction. Cellestine opened her eyes in time to see that the object was actually a shard of glass, but was big enough to cause fatal damage if it hit her. It's still several meters from her but she can see it clearly, thanks to her newfound ability, as it's approaching rather very fast.

What to do? I can't cause a commotion by jumping off-stage in the middle of my performance.

Then something strange happened. The shard somehow managed to stop mid-air and fell on the ground. Huh? The presence she felt earlier is gone as well. Her eyebrows furrowed but she couldn't really do anything right now.

After a few more notes, she is finally finished with her piece.

"What a moving performance from the Young Miss! A round of applause everyone!" the host said as he entered the stage. She stood up, faced the audience and bowed. She saw the people in the auditorium giving her a standing ovation. But she also saw a girl bending down to pick up something.

When the girl stood up, Cellestine saw a face that was somewhat familiar. The girl held the object up as if for Cellestine to see. The glass shard! Then she winked at Cellestine, turned around and got lost in the crowd of students.

What was that?

--

"Hailey, what's wrong with you? You've been absent-minded since you came back from the stage," Louella said with concern.

"It's nothing really. I'm just wondering why uncle Harvey didn't come back on time. I need to talk to him about something.", Cellestine said as an excuse. Well, she really needed to talk to her uncle, but that is not the reason why she was spacing out.

"Don't worry, girl. I'm sure he'll be back as soon as his stuff is over," Karmi butted in.

"Maybe he'll come back later. No need to worry," Devonne also interjected.

"Yeah."

Their conversation was interrupted by a loud round of applause; apparently, the opening ceremony was already over.

Four girls walked together hand in hand towards the outside of the auditorium.

It's still too early for lunch, at around 10:30 in the morning.

The girls decided that they should just go back to the dorm and prepare their things for their classes that afternoon.

Back in her own room, Cellestine immediately went to the bathroom and took off her black contact lenses.

Lo and behold, her eyes were still red. What's worse, is that the red colour seems to be more intense than what it was earlier in the morning.

Cellestine is a little scared and confused. Can someone tell her what's happening to her?

She pulled out her phone and searched for diseases with symptoms of having red eyes. After reading the results, she laughed at herself. Vampires have red eyes. Yeah, right. You really can't trust everything you read on the internet. She shook her head.

Her mind wandered back to the scene in the auditorium earlier. Does that girl also have abilities like hers? Did that girl save her? Who is she and why is she familiar?

What was that ominous presence that she felt earlier? Did someone want to kill her? What's happening?

She looked at herself again in the mirror. "Deep breaths, Cellestine." She commanded herself. Then she took several deep breaths to calm her racing heart.

"Everything will be alright. You'll be fine," she said to the reflected image of a red-eyed girl.

Then, someone knocked on her door.

"Hailey Cellestine, are you ready? Let's go!" Karmi urged her from across the door.

Cellestine picked up another pair of black contact lenses and hurried out of the bathroom.

"Wait for me!"

She hurriedly walked out of the bathroom and didn't notice the white cat that was curled up on the top of the bathroom window, gazing intently at her.