The vehicle winding through unfamiliar roads, it silent thick and suffocating. Evelyn sat quietly in the passenger seat, her eyes drifting outside.
Her face was calm, almost blank but wariness could be seen in her eyes by even to someone whose not noticeable to others concern.
Her eyes shift away from the road she was staring at, as she glanced down at her knees, then to the flip-flop sandals on her dirty, bristled feet. Feeling embarrassed, she tucked her legs back, trying to hide her legs but no matter what she did there was nowhere to hide.
"No need to be embarrassed," Mr. Morgan said without looking at her, his eyes fixed on the road. Then he added, coldly, "You're already a pathetic being."
Evelyn lowered her head, letting his words sink in like so many others had over the years.
Of course she had heard them before, from him and from many others. Since he took her in at the age of seven, abandoned and unwanted, the insult had been constant. Pathetic was one of the kinder ones.
She'd been called worse. Monster. Foreign. Unwanted.
She didn't need to be told she was different.
She already knew.
Just as her thoughts began to spiral, the vehicle jerked to a stop.
"Get out," Morgan snapped, slamming his door shut.
Without sparing her a glance, after banging the door he circled to the trunk, and yanked it open. He tossed her suitcase onto the gravel with a heavy thud.
"Haa"
'Here we go again', Evelyn sighed inwardly, stepping her legs out. She already knew what this all about. The moment he barged into her room and dragged her half-dressed into the car, she could tell it was another school. Her fifth in just three years.
"Welcome to Srixtage College, Mr. Morgan!"
The voice was warm, professional.
Evelyn looked up to see a woman walking toward them with confident strides. She wore a dark, tailored coat over a sleek blouse and pants, military-styled with polished heels and a silver pin shaped like a serpent's eye on her collar. Her hair was pulled back neatly, but her smile was all warmth, like someone trained to make you feel safe even when you shouldn't.
But Evenly barely registered any of that.
What made her freeze was the name: Srixtage.
'No way!'
Her head whipped to her uncle in disbelief.
She knew he'd had enough. To him, she was more than just strange—she was a burden, a threat, a problem he couldn't fix. But this? This was more than punishment. Bringing her here felt like a death sentence.
"Hello, Miss Evelyn!" the woman's voice startled her from behind. Evelyn hadn't even noticed her walk over.
"H-hello," Evelyn murmured.
"It's a pleasure to meet you." The woman smiled brightly. "I'm Sarah Theodore, Head of Department here... and from now on, I'll be your assistant. Maybe even a friend."
She bent slightly to Evelyn's height, offering a kind smile. Evelyn instinctively leaned away, her wary eyes scanning Sarah's face. Something about her smile felt… just not right to Evelyn.
"Okay," Evelyn managed. "Yes… okay."
"Mr. Morgan," Sarah turned back to him. "You can rest easy. Evelyn will be well taken care of."
Morgan grunted, "I know how different this place is," Morgan muttered. "And how… you people are…"
Sarah gaze turned sharp.
He stopped midway. clearing his throat and back off. "Right. Thanks. Please take care of her. G-good bye" Without even sparing Evelyn a glance, he turned and walked away.
She didn't expect a goodbye. She didn't even expect him to look back. But still, the coldness of it all left her feeling hollow.
"Evelyn Keorgan," Sarah said, this time with a firmer tone. "That's how you will be called from now, understand!"
"Yes, ma'am," Evelyn answer.
"I'm sure by now you know where you've been sent."
Evelyn nodded slowly.
Sarah stepped closer again, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Then you already know how dangerous this place is. How it is."
"Yes, ma'am," Evelyn repeated, her voice barely audible.
But as she looked up at Sarah, something in the woman's expression made her step back, it was a flicker of something inhuman behind the warm smile.
Of course Evelyn knew what kind of place Srixtage was. Among humans, it was like a myth. A forbidden fruit. A place feared, rumored, and avoided.
Her uncle was human, ordinary, and always cautious. He saw non-humans as dangerous and she understood why. She feared them too.
But to them, humans were barely a concern. They lived in their own leagues, their own systems. And Srixtage College? It was one of their most known domain.
A prestigious, elite academy for beings not of the human world. A school so dangerous the human survival rate dropped every year always mentioned in the news broadcasts repeating on and on. To humans, it was a warning.
And now, she was here. Not by choice, but because her uncle had finally decided she was too strange, too troublesome, too other to keep.
He hadn't sent her to school.
He'd sent her to survive...or at least die trying she thought.
"Come with me!" Sarah said briskly.
Evenly pick up her single suitcase and followed.
The entered the large towering structure, walking in, Sarah's voice sudden cut through the air "I heard something interesting, Evenly."
Evenly answer unsure what curiously "Huh? Interesting?"
"Heard you have been expelled from multiple prestige academies already," Sarah keeps on talking, "Oh well... not as if we don't have trouble students here."
"But..." She suddenly paused. So did Evenly.
"Don't you dare try such trouble here!"
With that she turn back at Evenly smiling.
Gulp.
Evenly couldn't help but swallowed hard. Because that smile was scarier than any teacher she'd ever met.
"Now go take your ID from the receptionist!" Sarah added, her voice still pleasant with her eyes sharp.
Still, Evelyn walked forward. What choice did she have?
The glass doors loomed, framed by cold grey stone and strange, blooming black roses. She stepped through.
Inside, everything was too quiet. Students drifted past like ghosts. Some had tails flicking lazily. Others had slitted pupils or moved too smoothly to be human. And yet all barely acknowledged her. Eyes passed over her like she wasn't even worthy prey.
She swallowed.
A receptionist desk waited ahead, manned by a woman with silver eyes and an expression carved from boredom.
"Name?" she asked flatly, not looking up.
"Evelyn…" her voice came out smaller than she meant. Then louder, "Evelyn Keorgan."
The woman clicking keys. Then pause:
"Human. Late admission." A card was slid across the desk. "Dorm Wing 3, Block D, Room 205."
The woman finally looked up, silver pupils gleaming.
"Welcome to Srixtage College. Oh and just… try not to get eaten."
"What?" Evelyn blinked, unsure if she heard right.
But the woman had already turned away.