Mavamwol

Chapter five: a strange sense awakening

I finally found my class.

After rushing blindly through the crowded hallways—running from the strange figure whose eyes had followed me down the corridor—my chest felt tight, each breath sharp and uneven. My palms were cold, my thoughts tangled. Everything today felt too loud, too bright, too overwhelming.

Before I could force my breathing to calm, a firm voice snapped me back to reality.

“Miss, who are you?”

I flinched.

Standing at the front of the classroom was a tall woman with warm brown eyes and long, flowing hair that brushed past her shoulders. Her presence filled the room with authority so heavy it almost made me shrink. Her gaze locked onto mine—a stare that sliced straight into my soul, like she could see every secret I didn’t even know I had.

“I—sorry, ma’am,” I managed, my voice embarrassingly thin. “I’m the new transfer student… at Helium High.”

Something in her expression shifted. The strictness clouding her features softened into something far more welcoming.

“Oh! Miss Jones.” Her tone brightened as she folded her hands gently. “You’re late, but I’ll give you grace since it’s your first day.” She pointed toward the class with a small smile. “You may take the empty seat in the second row.”

I followed her gesture.

And my entire heart dropped.

Right beside Valois.

Great. Just great. How on earth was I supposed to learn anything sitting next to the boy who had practically stolen my breath the second I laid eyes on him? My legs felt like they were made of air as I walked past rows of staring students, their whispers following me like invisible strings tugging at my back.

My seat was beside the window—sunlight pouring in like melted gold—and right beside him. Valois. His presence alone shifted the atmosphere, like he carried a personal gravity field that pulled attention whether he wanted it or not.

I slid into my seat quietly, trying to gather myself, but the moment I settled, the air changed.

It actually shifted.

A cold aura leaked from his side of the desk—sharp, biting, almost electric—brushing against my skin like a chill wind trapped indoors. I shivered before I could stop myself. And then something else hit me.

A scent.

Not perfume. Not cologne. Not anything normal.

It was like—warmness clashing with cold metal, something strange and heavy, something that made my stomach twist with confusion. The smell wrapped around me, crawling into my senses, making my thoughts blur. My entire body felt alert, wired, unable to settle.

I didn’t understand it… and I didn’t like how deeply I felt it.

Valois turned slightly, his eyes flickering to me with that unreadable intensity he carried. Even behind the faint blue contacts hiding the dangerous red beneath, his gaze held something ancient. Something powerful. Something that made the hairs on my arms rise.

“Are you okay?” he whispered, his voice just barely above a breath.

His pale fingers brushed a strand of hair away from my face. The contact was light, almost accidental, but it sent a shiver down my spine. Up close, I could see the faint glow beneath his skin, like it was illuminated from within.

“You look pale,” he murmured. “Your eyes… they’re brighter than before.”

A nervous laugh slipped out before I could stop it. “I—I’m fine. Really.”

But I wasn’t.

His cold aura pressed harder now, like the classroom itself was shrinking around us. My heart pounded so loudly I was sure he could hear it. Every time he inhaled, the strange scent grew stronger—thick, sharp—filling my lungs until I felt dizzy.

Why was it affecting me like this?

Why did it make something inside me coil up with… intensity? Anger? Heat?

I had never felt anything like it. Not at the orphanage. Not with Carl. Not ever.

The smell filled my senses again, sending a strange warmth through my chest that felt nothing like mine. It was almost like my body recognized something before my mind could name it. My hands curled slightly, my fingers gripping the edges of my desk as I fought the strange, unfamiliar rush building inside me.

Valois noticed.

His eyes narrowed slightly, studying my expression like he could read the chaos spinning inside me. “Your heartbeat…” he whispered. “It’s too fast.”

“I’m just—nervous,” I lied quickly.

But the truth was worse:

I felt a sharp, unfamiliar spike of anger at the scent around him. Like it irritated something deep inside me, something buried, something that shouldn’t exist.

I inhaled again, carefully, trying to steady myself.

Bad idea.

The atmosphere thickened instantly, a wave of heat dragging across my skin. My chest tightened, my head spun, and something warm surged through my veins—too strong, too wild, too strange to be normal.

My breath caught.

I felt… aware. Of everything. Of Valois. Of his coldness. Of the scent that clung to him and burned into me with an intensity I didn’t understand.

I tried to focus on class. Tried to pretend I wasn’t falling apart from something no one else could sense. Tried to keep my expression calm even though my body was reacting like I had stepped into a storm I wasn’t prepared for.

The teacher’s voice echoed faintly, her words sliding out of my attention like water slipping through fingers.

All I could focus on was the cold presence beside me.

Valois didn’t look away. Not once. His eyes stayed trained on me, watching every breath, every shift, every tremble—like he was waiting for something to happen.

Or like he already knew something about me… that I didn’t.

My fingers curled tighter around my desk as my breathing grew uneven. The heat swirling through my chest pulsed again, spreading out, pushing against the cold aura until it felt like two worlds were clashing under my skin.

What was wrong with me?

Why did his presence do this to me?

Why did I feel like I was standing on the edge of something dangerous?

I forced myself to exhale slowly, trying to clear my senses, but the strange scent still lingered—strong, heavy, taunting. It was intoxicating and infuriating at the same time, and it made something fierce rise in me.

Something I didn’t have a name for.

The classroom blurred again for a moment, the world tilting faintly. I gripped the desk harder, grounding myself. I couldn’t lose control. Not here. Not beside him.

Not with Valois watching me like he knew exactly what I was hiding.

Even though I didn’t.

And as the air thickened around us, I realized one terrifying truth:

Whatever was happening to me—

whatever this feeling was—

only I could sense it.

I shot up from my seat so quickly the chair scraped loudly against the floor.

“E-excuse me, ma’am,” I blurted out, my voice shaking. “Please… I need to go outside.”

The entire classroom fell silent.

Dozens of eyes turned toward me at once—curious, confused, some amused—but I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t stay. The air around Valois was too thick, too cold, too drenched in a scent only I could feel.

My breathing grew faster, sharper, like something inside me was clawing for escape.

Before the teacher could even reply, I rushed out of the room.

The hallway hit me like a wave of freedom, cool and open, not suffocating under Valois’ strange aura. I stumbled toward the nearest wall, pressing my hand against the cold tiles as my chest heaved. Each breath trembled its way out of me.

The air here didn’t reek of that metallic sweetness.

Didn’t sting my lungs.

Didn’t twist my insides with a hunger I didn’t understand.

I gulped down the hallway air like it was the only thing keeping me alive.

“What… what’s happening to me?” I whispered, forcing my shaking fingers to curl around the strap of my bag. My pulse thundered violently in my ears, matching the chaotic rhythm of my thoughts.

My vision blurred for a moment—just a moment—as if the world was tilting, reshaping itself in the shadows. I blinked hard, pushing the dizziness away.

This wasn’t normal.

None of it was normal.

Not the cold aura.

Not the scent.

Not the anger.

Not the way Valois’ presence felt like it awakened something I didn’t even know existed in me.

I pressed a hand against my chest, feeling the wild beat beneath my palm, like my heart was trying to break free.

Why now?

Why here?

Why him?

I slid down the wall slowly, sitting on the cold floor as I tried to gather myself. My breaths finally started to steady, but the uneasiness remained—a strange, heavy whisper in the back of my mind.

A whisper telling me that this wasn’t random.

That my reaction wasn’t a coincidence.

That something inside me was changing…

or waking up.

And deep down, I knew one truth with frightening clarity:

Whatever triggered this—

whatever set my senses on fire—

was connected to Valois.

And that terrified me more than anything else.