Chapter Ten: Reaction
619 Words
By the time I made it to the locker room, the smell hadn’t faded.
If anything, it felt stronger.
Wrong.
Too strong.
I gripped the sink, breathing unevenly.
Why did it affect me like this?
Why did it feel like it was pulling at something inside me?
“Careful.”
The voice was soft.
Smooth.
I looked up.
Seraphina stood by the doorway, watching me.
Her crimson eyes flickered to my stained shirt.
Then back to my face.
“How clumsy,” she said lightly.
My jaw tightened.
“You planned that.”
She smiled.
“I don’t need to.”
She stepped closer, slow and graceful.
“But it is… fascinating.”
My grip on the sink tightened.
“What is?”
“You,” she said simply.
Her gaze dropped briefly to the blood on my shirt.
“You react to it.”
It wasn’t a question.
My heart started racing again.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She hummed softly.
“Liar.”
The word wasn’t harsh.
Just certain.
Before I could respond—
Footsteps echoed behind her.
Heavy.
Familiar.
Seraphina glanced over her shoulder.
Annoyance flickered across her face.
“Your shadow is here again.”
I turned.
Kael.
He stopped the moment his eyes landed on me.
Then—
They darkened.
“What happened?” he asked.
His voice was low.
Dangerously calm.
I hesitated.
“I spilled something,” I said quickly.
His gaze dropped to my shirt.
Then back to my face.
“You’re a terrible liar.”
Before I could respond—
He stepped closer.
Too close.
His hand suddenly lifted—
And brushed lightly against my collar.
My breath caught.
His fingers came away stained red.
For a second—
He just stared at it.
Then—
Something in his expression shifted.
Sharp.
Uncontrolled.
“Whose blood is this?” he demanded.
The air changed instantly.
Seraphina watched, amused.
“Does it matter?” she said lightly.
Kael didn’t even look at her.
His eyes stayed on me.
“It does,” he said.
My heart pounded.
“I said I spilled it—”
“On purpose,” Seraphina added smoothly.
Silence.
Deadly.
Kael’s jaw clenched.
The temperature in the room seemed to rise.
“Who,” he repeated slowly, “did this?”
Something inside me hesitated.
If I told him—
Things would get worse.
If I didn’t—
They’d keep going.
“I don’t know,” I said finally.
A lie.
A clear one.
His eyes narrowed.
But before he could push further—
Seraphina spoke again.
“Interesting,” she murmured. “You’re protecting them.”
“I’m not—”
“You are,” she said, smiling slightly.
Then her gaze shifted to Kael.
“And you…”
Her tone turned amused.
“…are getting involved.”
Kael’s expression darkened.
“Stay out of this, Seraphina.”
She laughed softly.
“Oh, I fully intend to stay in it.”
The tension between them snapped tight.
But I barely noticed.
Because something else was happening.
The smell of blood—
It was stronger now.
Too strong.
My chest tightened.
My breathing became uneven.
And suddenly—
I felt it again.
That heat.
That strange, burning sensation inside me.
Growing.
Spreading.
Wrong.
My hand slipped slightly against the sink.
Kael noticed immediately.
His gaze snapped back to me.
“What’s wrong?”
I shook my head quickly.
“Nothing.”
But it wasn’t nothing.
Something was building.
Something I couldn’t control.
And for the first time—
I was scared of myself.
I didn't understand myself anymore, since coming to this school nothing made sense anymore.
I couldn't wait to go home.
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