Light seeped into my eyes like slow-dripping honey—thick, stubborn, and entirely unwelcome. The sterile white ceiling loomed above me, unfamiliar and buzzing faintly with overhead lights. One whiff of the air told me everything I needed to know.
Antiseptic. Infirmary.
Perfect. I'd passed out.
Two solid years. That's how long I'd managed to dodge the full-blown panic attacks. But no—day one at Velmora and my brain decided to throw a welcome party by crashing spectacularly.
Groaning softly, I sat up with the grace of an overcooked noodle, rubbing my face like that might somehow erase the mess of whatever had just happened. My chest tightened as flashes of the event hit me: the knock, the shadow, that thing.
"You're finally awake," a voice murmured gently from across the room.
I blinked, disoriented. A girl emerged from the shadows at the edge of the infirmary. She moved with an unsettling kind of calm—shoulders square, long braids cascading down her back like black silk ropes, her glasses perched perfectly on the bridge of her nose. She dragged a stool beside my bed and sat like she'd done this a hundred times before.
There was something about her. Something… uncannily familiar. Déjà vu wearing glasses.
"I—uh… who are you?" My voice came out raspy, like I'd gargled sandpaper.
She didn't answer. Not directly. Instead, she offered a small, unreadable smile.
"That mark on your neck… how long have you had it?"
I blinked. "What? What mark?"
"You haven't seen it yet?" she asked, eyes narrowing slightly. "You might want to check the mirror."
She pointed casually at a door tucked in the corner. A label read Restroom.
I hesitated, thoroughly confused, but curiosity had already dragged me halfway across the room. "Is the nurse in?"
"She stepped out. You're fine."
Famous last words.
I shuffled toward the restroom and pushed the door open, leaving it slightly ajar. The mirror above the sink reflected a version of me that looked... rattled. Pale, tired, and very much regretting his life choices.
Then I turned my head.
And froze.
There, just beneath the right side of my neck, was a faint circular mark etched into my skin like some ancient branding. Intricate lines filled the inside—runes, maybe? Definitely not anything you'd see in a tattoo shop. It looked like something straight out of a cursed grimoire.
My blood turned to slush.
"What the hell…?" I whispered, fingers brushing against the warm skin. It tingled faintly.
And then it hit me.
That was where it touched me.
The shadow. The cloaked figure. It had pressed its finger—or whatever that thing had—right there.
This mark? It wasn't human.
Storming back out, I fixed my eyes on the girl who now looked entirely too calm about this apocalyptic revelation. "What the hell is this?"
She didn't flinch. "Honestly? I have no idea. Or... maybe I'm just not sure anymore. It's all kind of jumbled in my head."
Then, as if it were the most casual thing in the world, she pulled down the shoulder of her uniform—just enough to reveal the exact same mark on her skin.
Same spot. Same runes.
"You too?" I breathed, eyebrows jumping halfway up my forehead.
She adjusted her collar like we weren't in the middle of a supernatural identity crisis. "Sit down. I need to ask you some things."
I dropped onto the edge of the bed, heart still pounding like a bass drum at a rock concert.
"Have you… experienced anything weird? Scary? Anything that makes you question your sanity?"
"Yep," I said, without hesitation. "Today. Which is also how I landed here, in case you missed the dramatic fainting spell."
She leaned in slightly, eyes sharp. "What exactly did you see?"
I licked my lips. "Okay, I was unpacking in my dorm. You know, typical new student stuff. Then someone knocked on the door—except no one was there when I opened it. I closed it, the knock came again, and then... It started. This shadow just—oozed through the door and morphed into this cloaked figure. It touched me—right here." I pointed at the mark. "Then boom. Lights out. And I swear I'm not crazy."
She exhaled deeply. "I believe you. I had a similar experience. Mine felt more like a vivid dream, but if I'm right… we're meant to be five. So we still need to find three others."
I stared. "Five what?"
"In my dream… or whatever it was… I was in the library. Found a hidden passage. Read something—more like a chronicle. About vampires. One called Vladomar. And something about soul-binding."
She lowered her voice, like the walls might be listening. "The marks prove it's real. We just need to find the others. If our marks match, theirs will too."
I sighed. "And how exactly do we find them? They could be anywhere. For all we know, they're halfway across the globe eating croissants in France."
She cocked her head. "Why did you come to Velmora?"
"What?"
"Why Velmora University? Why not literally any other school?"
I squinted. "Because… I've always admired it? I don't know, it just felt right."
"Exactly. Same here. I had no reason beyond… being drawn to it. The prestige? The architecture? The uniforms? I think it's more than that. A calling, maybe."
I rubbed my temples. "Well, whatever the universe wants—I'm not ready. I just want to study, survive, and become a psychologist. Oh, and maybe avoid any future ghost-hand incidents. But first..." I leaned toward her, "...I'm going to need your contact info."
She raised an eyebrow. "Do you have your phone?"
I patted my pockets. Of course not. I left it in my dorm while I was busy passing out from the spectral assault.
"Nope," I sighed.
She pulled out her phone like she'd already predicted that. "Call it."
I blinked. "Wait… are you actually giving me your number?"
My hands trembled slightly as I recited my digits. She was just—wow. And those glasses? How did someone weaponize eyewear to look that good?
"I've texted you," she said.
Joy surged in my chest. "Great! I'll reply later—"
"Don't."
"What?"
She gave me a flat stare. "I don't do chats. Texts are for emergencies only. Like if you spot another marked person. Otherwise, keep the memes and confessions to yourself."
"Cool. Cool-cool-cool. Yeah, totally get it," I said with the enthusiasm of a man watching his hopes spiral into a black hole. "Strictly mark business."
The bell rang for the next class, snapping us back to reality. Velmora's schedule, I'd learned, was odd. More like a structured high school than a university, with only three classes a day and large swaths of time off mid-week. Monday meant full attendance. The dorms would be deserted. But come Thursday through Sunday? A ghost town.
She stood up, likely headed to her next class. I panicked and caught her hand before she could leave.
"Wait—what's your name? I'm Cassian, by the way."
She slipped her hand from mine like a magician escaping handcuffs. "Elara," she said.
Then, turning at the door, she added without emotion, "Also… no one else can see the mark. Just us. So don't go telling people your little horror story—you'll look like an idiot."
And with that, she vanished into the hallway.
Elara.
Of course someone that gorgeous would have a name that sounded like a moon goddess.
I stood there, still halfway obsessed, when the nurse walked in—a kindly woman in a flowing white dress with a clipboard in one hand and a stethoscope in the other.
"You're awake? How are you feeling, dear?" she asked. "I'm Miss Donna—one of the school nurses."
She made her way to my bed, placed the stethoscope against my chest, and listened. "You passed out with a dangerously high heart rate. Once I stabilized you, I checked your file. Turns out you have anxiety disorder. Was today a bit much?"
I hesitated, then decided to test Elara's warning. I pointed at my neck. "Do you see a mark here?"
Miss Donna leaned in, squinting. "No, nothing there. Do you see something?"
So… Elara wasn't lying.
I quickly covered, "Ah, never mind. My vision's still a bit off. Probably imagining things."
She smiled kindly and moved on to check my eyes. "Well, everything else seems fine now. You can stay here to rest or head out if you feel up to it."
"I think I'll leave. I've got a dorm to reorganize and, uh… a potentially world-ending mystery to solve."
She blinked at me. "Pardon?"
"Nothing! I'll head out."
"Do come back if you feel anything else," she said with a warm nod.
I stepped out of the infirmary, the cool hallway air hitting me like a reset button.
The world outside looked unchanged.
But everything—absolutely everything—had just gotten weird as hell.