Chapter 3
1913 Words
Amara stared at Kael.
For a moment, the classroom seemed to disappear.
The students around them were still whispering, chairs were scraping against the floor, and somewhere in the hallway a teacher was shouting for everyone to return to class. Yet Amara heard none of it clearly.
All she could hear was Kael’s voice.
Don’t let it touch your blood.
“What does that mean?” she whispered.
Kael didn’t answer immediately.
His eyes moved toward the classroom door.
The creature was gone.
Whatever had been scratching against the other side had disappeared as quickly as it had come. The only evidence that it had ever been there was the long, crooked scratch marks running down the wooden door.
Amara swallowed.
“You said I need to remember who I am.”
“I did.”
“And you said you came here because of me.”
Kael’s jaw tightened.
“Yes.”
“Then tell me the truth.”
He looked at her.
“I am.”
“No, you’re not.”
Something flickered across his face.
Amara stepped closer. “You know my name. You know about my dreams. You know about this.”
She touched the crescent-shaped mark on her wrist.
“You knew something was going to attack me before it happened. You can do magic. And somehow, you expect me to believe that you’re just a normal transfer student?”
Kael said nothing.
“That isn’t an answer.”
“I never said I was normal.”
Despite everything, Amara almost laughed.
“You know what? That’s actually the first honest thing you’ve said.”
A tiny smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
It disappeared almost immediately.
“Amara, you need to listen to me.”
“I’ve been listening.”
“No. You haven’t.”
His voice was quieter now.
“Because you’re looking at me like I’m the person you should be afraid of.”
“Aren’t you?”
Kael held her gaze.
“No.”
“Then who should I be afraid of?”
His expression changed.
“The people who are looking for you.”
A chill ran through her.
“Who?”
“I don’t know all of them.”
“Then how do you know they’re looking for me?”
“Because they’ve been searching for you for seventeen years.”
Amara froze.
Seventeen years.
Her entire life.
“What?”
Kael took a step toward her.
“I found you first.”
“Why?”
“Because I was sent to.”
“By who?”
He hesitated.
“The king.”
Amara blinked.
“The king?”
Kael nodded.
“Of what?”
He looked at the crescent mark on her wrist.
“The Moon Kingdom.”
The words sounded ridiculous.
A hidden kingdom.
Magic.
Creatures.
A prince.
Amara should have laughed.
Instead, she felt the strange pressure in her chest that always came whenever Kael spoke about things she somehow recognized.
“Why would a king care about me?”
“Because your existence affects his kingdom.”
“That’s impossible.”
“I wish it were.”
Before Amara could respond, the classroom door opened.
Their teacher stepped inside.
“Everyone back to your seats.”
Students immediately scattered.
Kael moved away from Amara as though their conversation had never happened.
She watched him walk to his desk.
How could someone say something so impossible and then sit down like nothing had happened?
Amara returned to her seat beside Selene.
Her best friend leaned toward her.
“Okay.”
Amara glanced at her.
“Okay what?”
Selene lowered her voice.
“Who is that boy?”
“I don’t know.”
Selene raised an eyebrow.
“You’ve been talking to him for almost ten minutes.”
“I still don’t know.”
“That’s concerning.”
“You have no idea.”
Selene studied her face.
“You look pale.”
“I’m fine.”
“You say that every time you’re definitely not fine.”
Amara forced a smile.
“I’m fine.”
Selene sighed.
“Fine. But when you eventually tell me you’re secretly a princess from another dimension, I want it on record that I knew something was wrong first.”
Amara’s smile disappeared.
“Don’t joke about that.”
Selene noticed.
“Why?”
“Just don’t.”
The teacher began speaking, but Amara couldn’t focus.
Her eyes kept drifting toward Kael.
He was sitting quietly at the back of the classroom, staring at the board.
But there was something strange about him.
He wasn’t taking notes.
He wasn’t looking at the teacher.
He was watching the windows.
Like he was waiting for something.
Or someone.
Amara looked down at her wrist.
The crescent mark had stopped glowing.
But it was warm.
Almost painfully warm.
She covered it with her sleeve.
For the rest of the lesson, Kael didn’t look at her again.
And somehow, that frightened her more than when he had.
⸻
When the bell finally rang, students rushed out.
Selene grabbed Amara’s arm.
“Cafeteria.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“You don’t have to be hungry. I need food.”
“Selene—”
“No arguments.”
Amara followed her.
They walked through the crowded hallway while students talked about the strange blackout that had happened earlier.
Apparently, everyone had noticed the lights going out.
But nobody had seen the creature.
Nobody except Amara.
And Kael.
At the cafeteria, Selene dropped into a chair with her tray.
Amara sat opposite her.
Selene immediately pulled out her phone.
“I did some research.”
Amara sighed.
“About Kael?”
“Obviously.”
“What did you find?”
Selene turned the screen toward her.
“Nothing.”
Amara frowned.
“Nothing?”
“Exactly. No old school records. No social media. No tagged photos. No sports records. Nothing.”
“Maybe he doesn’t use social media.”
Selene gave her a look.
“Promise, everybody uses social media.”
Amara almost smiled.
“Not everybody.”
“Fine. But here’s the weird part.”
Selene leaned closer.
“His transfer documents are strange.”
“How?”
“Mooncrest received them yesterday.”
Amara stared at her.
“Yesterday?”
“Yeah.”
“But he transferred today.”
“I know.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“Exactly.”
Selene lowered her voice.
“And guess what?”
“What?”
“He doesn’t have a listed previous school.”
Amara’s stomach tightened.
“Then where did he come from?”
Selene smiled nervously.
“That is precisely what I was trying to find out.”
Before Amara could answer, the cafeteria lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then went out.
The entire room fell silent.
Amara’s breathing stopped.
She heard a noise.
A low growl.
Not from outside.
From somewhere inside the cafeteria.
Students began screaming.
Chairs fell over.
Someone shouted, “What was that?”
Amara stood frozen.
Then she saw it.
Two silver eyes glowing beneath the tables.
Her heart slammed against her ribs.
The creature crawled out slowly.
Its body was covered in dark, almost smoke-like skin. Its fingers were long and twisted, and its mouth opened far wider than any human mouth should.
Amara couldn’t move.
The creature looked directly at her.
Then it smiled.
“Amara!”
Kael’s voice cut through the chaos.
He appeared from behind her, grabbed her hand, and pulled her away.
“Run!”
They raced through the cafeteria.
Students screamed around them as the creature lunged.
Kael pushed Amara through the emergency exit and slammed the door behind them.
They ran down the hallway.
“Where are we going?” Amara gasped.
“Somewhere safe.”
“You said that last time!”
Kael stopped suddenly.
Amara nearly crashed into him.
He looked at her.
His eyes were glowing faintly silver.
“You need to trust me.”
“Why?”
“Because I know what that thing is.”
Amara stared at him.
“What is it?”
Kael’s face went pale.
“A Blood Wraith.”
The name sent an inexplicable shiver through her.
“What does it want?”
Kael looked at her wrist.
“You.”
“Why?”
“Because it can smell your magic.”
Amara’s heart sank.
“You said people have been looking for me.”
“They have.”
“Are those creatures part of them?”
Kael hesitated.
“Some of them.”
Amara stepped closer.
“Then tell me everything.”
Kael stared at her for several seconds.
Finally, he nodded.
“Okay.”
He took a breath.
“Your mother was from the Moon Kingdom.”
Amara’s eyes widened.
“My mother?”
“She wasn’t human.”
Silence.
Amara shook her head.
“No.”
“She was a sorceress.”
“No.”
“She left the kingdom before you were born.”
“Stop.”
“She hid you in the human world.”
“Stop!”
Kael fell silent.
Amara’s eyes filled with tears.
“My mother was human.”
“I know what you were told.”
“She died when I was young.”
“I know.”
“You don’t know anything about my mother.”
“I know more than you think.”
Amara’s voice trembled.
“How?”
Kael looked at her.
“Because I knew her.”
Her breath caught.
“What?”
“I met your mother.”
The hallway seemed to spin.
“You’re lying.”
“I wish I were.”
“When?”
“Before you were born.”
Amara stared at him.
Kael reached into his jacket and pulled out something small.
A photograph.
Old.
Faded.
He held it out.
Amara slowly took it.
Her fingers trembled.
There she was.
Her mother.
Younger than Amara had ever seen her.
Standing beneath a silver tree.
And beside her was a boy.
A boy Amara recognized immediately.
Kael.
But he looked exactly the same.
Seventeen years old.
Amara’s blood ran cold.
She looked from the photograph to him.
“You haven’t aged.”
Kael didn’t answer.
“You were there.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
He looked away.
“Because I’m not seventeen.”
Amara’s fingers tightened around the photograph.
“How old are you?”
Kael slowly looked back at her.
“Old enough to remember the night your mother disappeared.”
Amara stared at him.
“What happened to her?”
Kael’s expression became unreadable.
“She was betrayed.”
“By who?”
Before he could answer, a deep growl echoed from the end of the hallway.
Kael immediately stepped in front of her.
The lights flickered again.
Something moved in the darkness.
Kael’s hand began glowing silver.
“Stay behind me.”
Amara gripped the photograph.
Then she noticed something she hadn’t seen before.
In the corner of the photograph, behind her mother and Kael, stood another person.
A tall figure wearing a black cloak.
And beneath the hood were two silver eyes.
The same silver eyes she had seen beneath the cafeteria tables.
Amara’s blood turned cold.
“Kael…”
He looked at her.
“That creature was in the photograph.”
His face changed.
For the first time since she’d met him, Kael looked genuinely afraid.
“It found you.”
The creature stepped out of the darkness.
And smiled.
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