THE SHADOW ACADEMY. MY BULLY VAMPIRE PRINCE

*THE SHADOW ACADEMY: My Bully Vampire Prince* *Chapter 1: The Unwanted Invitation* My name is Elara Quinn, and until this morning, I thought I was going to die poor and invisible. I was scrubbing the floor of the orphanage kitchen, my knees aching, when Madam Agnes threw a black envelope at my feet. "Elara. This came for you. Don't make a mess of it." The envelope was not paper. It was cold, like skin. And it was sealed with black wax, with a symbol of a wolf and a bat crossed over a crown. Inside was one single card. _ELARA QUINN, bloodline confirmed._ _You have been selected for SHADOW ACADEMY._ _Failure to appear will result in death._ I laughed. I really did. It had to be a prank by the other girls. But then the ink on the card started to bleed. And it spelled a new line. _We know what you are. Come before midnight._ My hand started shaking. For eighteen years, I've had this weird thing happening. Whenever I bleed, the blood doesn't stay red. It turns black for a second, and then... things move. Lights flicker. Glass cracks. I am a freak. Before I could think, a black car was already waiting outside the orphanage gate. A man in a black suit looked at me and said, "Miss Quinn. You're late." --- Shadow Academy was not a school. It was a nightmare castle. It was floating in the middle of a black forest, made of dark stone and glass that reflected no light. The sky above it was always night, even though it was still afternoon when I left. The main hall was full of students. And God, they were beautiful. Too beautiful to be human. Their eyes were silver, golden, blood-red. Their skin was glowing. And all of them were staring at me in my cheap, torn sweater and old shoes. "Look who decided to join us. The charity case." The whispers started instantly. I clutched my bag tighter and tried to walk to the registration desk. I didn't see him until I bumped into him. He was tall. So tall I had to crane my neck. Black hair, ice-blue eyes that looked like they could freeze my soul, and a black uniform with a real silver crown pinned to it. He looked down at me like I was dirt on his shoe. "Who let a human stray in here?" His voice was low, cold, and every girl around us gasped like his voice was music. "I... I got an invitation," I stammered, holding out my stupid black card. He didn't take it. He just stared at my face, then at my clothes, and then he smiled. It wasn't a nice smile. "Oh. You're the orphan. Elara Quinn." My blood ran cold. How did he know my name? He leaned down, so close I could smell his perfume - cold mint and night air. "Let me give you your first lesson for free, little mouse. This is Shadow Academy. We don't allow pets here." He turned to the whole hall and announced, "Everyone, meet our new human. She will not last a week." The whole hall burst into laughter. My eyes filled with tears, but I refused to cry. I will not cry. I pushed past him, hard. My shoulder hit his chest. He didn't even move, like he was made of stone. But as I pushed him, my old bag ripped. A small cut from the zipper sliced my palm. A drop of blood fell. It didn't fall on the floor. It fell on his white shirt. Sizzle. The second my blood touched his shirt, it made a burning sound. His white shirt started turning black from that one drop. And a pulse of dark purple light exploded from us. BOOM! All the windows of the academy shattered at once. Every single light went off. The beautiful students screamed. And his ice-blue eyes... they turned completely black, staring at my bleeding hand with pure shock and hunger. "What... what are you?" he whispered, his cold facade completely gone. He grabbed my wrist, hard, his fingers digging into my skin. His grip was freezing. "Release her!" Headmaster Silas was suddenly there, old and terrifying. He pulled me away from the Prince. But the Prince, Kael, didn't look at the Headmaster. He was still looking at me. And this time, he wasn't looking at me like I was dirt. He was looking at me like I was something he wanted to own. "She's mine," he said to the Headmaster, his voice now possessive and dark. "The girl stays with me." --- *End of Chapter 1*