BORN OF TWO WORLDS

Chapter 3

Mira had spent the entire walk back to the main part of campus trying to convince herself that the strange encounter she'd just had meant absolutely nothing.

It wasn't working.

There was something deeply irritating about a person who could appear out of nowhere, speak in riddles, refuse to explain himself, and then walk away as though he'd just delivered the most ordinary piece of advice in the world.

Don't look behind you too often. Keep moving.

Who even said things like that?

Mira adjusted the strap of her bag and shook her head, forcing herself to stop thinking about him. She had barely been at her new university for a day, and she refused to spend it obsessing over some mysterious stranger with unsettling eyes.

Besides, she had more important things to worry about.

Like finding her next class without getting lost.

Again.

She pulled out her phone to check the campus map, only to hear someone shout her name from behind.

“Mira!”

She turned around and immediately groaned.

Kai was jogging toward her, one hand holding his backpack while the other waved dramatically above his head as though he had been searching for her across an entire continent instead of half a university campus.

“You finally found me,” she said when he reached her, completely unimpressed.

Kai bent slightly, trying to catch his breath. “Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you?”

“Probably not long enough.”

He stared at her for a moment before straightening. “You know, for someone who spent years complaining that you couldn't wait for us to attend university together, you seem remarkably happy to abandon me.”

“I didn't abandon you. I got lost.”

“You got lost for forty minutes.”

“I was exploring.”

“You walked into the science building.”

“It looked like my building.”

“It had a giant sign that said SCIENCE.”

Mira burst out laughing, and Kai shook his head as they continued walking.

“You haven't changed,” he muttered.

“Neither have you.”

“That was supposed to be an insult.”

“I know.”

He laughed, and for the first time since she arrived in New York, Mira felt completely at ease.

Kai had always been like that.

He could turn an ordinary moment into something ridiculous without even trying, and because they had known each other for years, there was no awkwardness between them. They could go months without seeing each other and somehow fall straight back into the same rhythm.

He glanced at her phone. “So, how's your first week going?”

“It's been one day.”

“Exactly. Plenty of time to judge it.”

Mira smiled. “I like it so far.”

“You've already made friends, haven't you?”

“Obviously.”

Kai sighed dramatically. “I knew it.”

“What?”

“You collect people.”

“I don't collect people.”

“You do. You meet someone for five minutes and suddenly they're telling you their family history.”

“That is because I'm friendly.”

“You're nosy.”

“I'm interested.”

“Nosy.”

“Friendly.”

“Nosy.”

Mira nudged him with her shoulder. “Keep talking and I'll leave you here.”

“You wouldn't.”

“I absolutely would.”

“You'd come back in ten minutes.”

She looked at him.

He looked at her.

Then she laughed.

“Unfortunately, you're right.”

By the time they reached their next lecture hall, Mira had almost forgotten about the mysterious man from earlier.

Almost.

She walked into the literature class beside Kai and immediately noticed him.

He was sitting several rows ahead, alone.

The same dark hair.

The same stillness.

And those eyes.

Mira's steps slowed for half a second before she forced herself to keep walking.

Kai noticed her hesitation.

“Do you know him?”

“Unfortunately.”

Kai looked toward Azrael. “What did he do?”

“Nothing.”

“Then why do you sound like he's personally offended you?”

Mira lowered her voice. “He talks strangely.”

Kai glanced at him again. “Maybe he's just weird.”

“Exactly.”

They found two seats near the middle of the room, and Mira deliberately focused her attention on her notebook.

She wasn't going to look at him.

She wasn't.

She lasted approximately three minutes.

The lecturer entered, placed several books on the desk, and began discussing ancient literature, particularly the fragments historians had recovered from civilizations whose origins remained uncertain.

Mira listened with genuine interest.

She had always enjoyed stories about ancient worlds, especially the ones filled with legends that nobody could completely prove or disprove.

The lecturer eventually brought up one civilization that had appeared repeatedly in old texts, though almost nothing reliable remained about them.

“The Noctari,” he said, writing the name on the board.

Mira's fingers stopped moving.

She didn't know why.

The name felt familiar.

Not familiar in the way a word from a textbook might feel familiar, but in a way she couldn't explain, as though she'd heard it somewhere long ago and simply forgotten where.

The lecturer continued.

“Very little is known about them, and most historians believe the civilization disappeared centuries ago. There are several theories concerning what happened.”

A few students began offering answers.

War.

Disease.

Natural disaster.

Migration.

The lecturer nodded along, occasionally correcting them, until someone asked why there was no definite evidence of their destruction.

“Because history is incomplete,” he replied. “Sometimes entire civilizations disappear from the record.”

Mira stared at the word on the board.

Something about it bothered her.

Before she could stop herself, her hand went up.

The lecturer noticed.

“Yes?”

“I don't think they disappeared.”

The room turned toward her.

Mira hesitated, suddenly aware that she had spoken without completely knowing why.

“I mean... if there are still records describing them, then wouldn't it be possible that they simply left the places where people expected them to be?”

The lecturer smiled slightly. “That's an interesting interpretation.”

A few students nodded.

Then a quiet voice came from several rows ahead.

“They didn't disappear.”

Mira looked up.

Azrael hadn't turned around.

His gaze remained on the board as he spoke, his voice low enough that the room seemed to become quieter just to hear him.

“They were simply forgotten.”

A chill moved through Mira before she could stop it.

The sentence itself wasn't frightening.

His voice was.

There was something about the certainty behind those words that made the hairs along her arms rise, as though he wasn't offering an opinion at all, but correcting a mistake everyone else had been making for centuries.

Azrael finally turned his head.

Their eyes met.

For one strange second, Mira felt that same sensation she had felt in her dream.

Recognition.

Not from memory.

From somewhere deeper.

Then she blinked, and it disappeared.

The lecturer cleared his throat and continued the lesson.

Mira looked down at her notebook, but she couldn't concentrate anymore.

Kai leaned toward her.

“You were right.”

“About what?”

“He's weird.”

Mira covered her mouth to hide a laugh.

“I told you.”

When the class finally ended, students spilled into the hallway, talking over one another as they made their way toward their next lectures. Mira packed her things while Kai waited beside her, and the moment they stepped outside, he pointed toward a large noticeboard covered in colourful flyers.

“There,” he said. “Freshers' event tonight.”

Mira followed his gaze.

A university welcome party had been planned for that evening, with music, student clubs, dance performances, food stalls, games, and enough people to make the entire campus feel alive.

She smiled immediately.

“We're going.”

Kai didn't even look at her. “No.”

“Yes.”

“I already know that look.”

“What look?”

“The look you get before you make decisions for both of us.”

Mira grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the noticeboard.

“You're coming.”

“I have plans.”

“You don't have plans.”

“I could have plans.”

“You're coming.”

“I hate how confident you are.”

“You love it.”

“I tolerate it.”

She grinned.

By evening, the campus had transformed.

Music drifted through the open courtyard, students crowded around different club stands, and groups of freshmen moved from one activity to another while trying to memorize names they would probably forget by the next morning.

Mira loved it.

She moved through the crowd like she belonged there, stopping every few minutes because someone wanted to talk to her or because she'd spotted something interesting.

At one point, a girl approached her with wide eyes.

“Wait, are you Mira?”

Mira smiled. “Depends. Why?”

“I've seen your dance videos.”

Mira laughed. “Oh my God, really?”

They talked for several minutes before taking a picture together, and when the girl walked away, Kai stared at Mira.

“You're famous now.”

“Please.”

“You're literally collecting followers in real life.”

“Shut up.”

He laughed as she opened her camera.

“Come on, we're filming.”

“We just got here.”

“Exactly. Perfect lighting.”

“You've become unbearable.”

“You knew me before I became unbearable.”

“That is unfortunately true.”

They found a quieter corner near the dance club's booth and began recording, with Kai repeatedly ruining perfectly good takes by deliberately dancing offbeat.

“Stop doing that!”

“I can't help it.”

“You're doing it on purpose.”

“Prove it.”

Mira stared at him.

“Again.”

They tried again.

This time, Kai actually followed the choreography, and Mira nearly fell over laughing because she hadn't expected him to get it right.

“You see?” he said proudly. “Natural talent.”

“Don't get excited.”

She replayed the video, smiling as the music continued in the background.

Then something made her stop.

Across the courtyard, beyond the crowd, stood Azrael.

He wasn't participating in the party.

He wasn't speaking to anyone.

He simply stood beneath the dim light near the edge of the courtyard, dressed in dark clothes while everyone around him seemed brighter and louder.

There was something unsettling about how still he was.

Mira's smile faded slightly.

Kai noticed.

“You're staring again.”

“I am not.”

“You absolutely are.”

Mira looked away. “He's just... strange.”

Kai glanced over.

“Maybe he's a vampire.”

Mira laughed. “You watch too many movies.”

“I was joking.”

“I know.”

She looked back toward the spot.

Azrael was gone.

Mira frowned.

She scanned the crowd, but there was no sign of him.

For some reason, that bothered her more than seeing him had.

Later that night, after the party had begun winding down, Mira walked toward one of the quieter paths leading back toward the residence buildings.

Kai had gone ahead to grab something from his room, leaving her alone for a few minutes.

The music behind her slowly faded.

She walked beneath the trees, her phone glowing in her hand as she checked the video they had recorded earlier.

Then she stopped.

Something had moved between the trees.

Mira slowly lowered her phone.

The path was empty.

She looked around, but there was nothing there except the wind moving through the leaves.

Then, for the briefest moment, she saw it.

A shadow.

Not a person.

Not exactly.

It stretched across the ground where there was no object capable of casting it.

Mira's heart skipped.

She stared at it.

The shadow disappeared.

Her fingers tightened around her phone.

She should have been frightened.

Instead, she felt something much stranger.

Recognition.

The same cold sensation from the night she arrived in New York.

The same presence from her dream.

Mira slowly looked toward the old stone building standing beyond the trees.

For some reason, she couldn't explain why, but she suddenly felt certain that whatever she had just seen was connected to it.

And somewhere far across the campus, unseen beneath the darkness, a pair of familiar eyes opened.