Beneath the silence
816 Words
Night fell quietly over Blackthorn Academy.
The halls of the Asylum Hostel grew still as voices faded and doors shut one after another. Soft moonlight slipped through the tall windows, casting pale patterns across the wooden floors.
Nyxara lay on her bed, staring up at the ceiling.
She should have been asleep.
Her body was exhausted, her muscles still recovering from days of running. But something wouldn’t let her rest.
Her wolf was awake.
Restless.
Listening.
She turned slightly, glancing across the room. Lena Hale was already asleep, her breathing soft and steady.
Normal.
Peaceful.
Nyxara envied that.
She closed her eyes, trying to force herself to relax.
Then she felt it.
A pulse.
Faint… but undeniable.
Her eyes snapped open.
The feeling came again—like a distant heartbeat echoing beneath the ground.
Nyxara slowly sat up.
“What is that…?” she whispered.
Her senses sharpened instinctively. The air felt heavier now, charged with something ancient and hidden.
It wasn’t wolf.
It wasn’t human.
It was something else entirely.
Drawn by instinct, Nyxara slipped quietly out of bed. Her footsteps were silent as she moved toward the door, careful not to wake Lena.
The hallway outside was dimly lit, shadows stretching along the walls.
She stepped out.
The moment her bare foot touched the floor, the sensation grew stronger.
Below.
Whatever it was… it was beneath the academy.
Nyxara followed the feeling down the corridor, her movements slow and cautious. Every step seemed to pull her closer to something she didn’t understand.
She reached the end of the hall.
Stairs.
Leading down.
Her wolf stirred with curiosity… and warning.
She placed a hand on the railing.
Then paused.
A sound.
Footsteps.
Nyxara’s head snapped up.
Someone else was there.
From the shadows at the far end of the hallway, a figure stepped forward.
Adrian.
He looked just as composed as he had during the day, though his presence felt sharper now in the silence of night.
“Couldn’t sleep either?” he asked casually.
Nyxara straightened slightly.
“I could ask you the same.”
A faint smile touched his lips.
“New places tend to do that,” he said. “Too quiet… or maybe not quiet enough.”
His eyes flicked briefly toward the stairway.
Nyxara noticed.
He felt it too.
Or at least… he sensed something.
She folded her arms lightly, masking her alertness.
“Do you usually wander around at night?” she asked.
“Sometimes,” Adrian replied. “Helps me think.”
He took a few steps closer, his movements slow, non-threatening.
“You seem… tense,” he added. “First day?”
Nyxara hesitated, then nodded slightly.
“It’s just different,” she said.
“That’s not always a bad thing,” Adrian said softly.
There was something in his tone—gentle, almost understanding.
Nyxara felt her guard lower… just a little.
Not enough to trust him.
But enough to listen.
“You’ll get used to it,” he continued. “Blackthorn has a way of growing on people.”
Nyxara glanced once more toward the stairs.
The pull was still there.
Stronger now.
But she stepped back.
“Maybe,” she said quietly.
Adrian studied her for a moment longer, then gave a small nod.
“You should get some rest,” he said. “Tomorrow won’t be any easier.”
Nyxara almost smiled at that.
“Goodnight, Adrian.”
“Goodnight, Nyxara.”
She turned and walked back toward her room.
But as she closed the door behind her, the feeling beneath the ground didn’t fade.
It lingered.
Waiting.
Watching.
—
High above the hostel, hidden in the darkness of the academy’s upper structure…
Prince Cassian Valerius stood motionless.
His gaze was fixed on the corridor below.
He had felt it too.
Not the ancient power beneath the academy—that was old, controlled.
No.
Something else.
Something moving within his territory.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
“Rogues…” he murmured.
Their presence was faint, but unmistakable.
And now…
There was a werewolf in the middle of it all.
Cassian’s gaze shifted toward Nyxara’s room.
She was already becoming involved, whether she realized it or not.
And Adrian…
Cassian’s expression darkened almost imperceptibly.
He knew that one.
Not by name.
But by nature.
Dangerous.
Unpredictable.
And far too close to her.
The prince straightened slightly, his presence settling into something colder.
Watchful.
Protective.
If the rogues were moving already, then time was shorter than he had expected.
And Nyxara…
Was no longer just a passing anomaly.
She was becoming the center of something much bigger.
—
Back in her room, Nyxara lay awake once more.
The silence returned.
But it was no longer peaceful.
Because now she knew…
The safety she thought she had found in Blackthorn Academy was only an illusion.
And whatever lay beneath it…
Had already begun to call to her.
- Writer
