FAINT HUNGER
Skylar woke before dawn. Her room was cold, dark just the way she liked it. When she opened her eyes, she felt a low hum deep in her bones, like something trying to climb through her lungs.
She sat up. No alarm. No phone buzzing. Just… silence.
A memory flared: herself, younger, running through wind-bent trees. Barefoot. Night-vision green eyes searching the sky. That dream hadn't happened in months. Now it was back.
She shook her head, trying to dismiss it as stress midterms next week, her shift at Carmine's, the bill for last month's car repairs. But she couldn't shake the feeling of something… calling.
FIRST SIGNS
Skylar got up, rubbed her wrists. The bruise from last night's shift was fading but her fingers felt hot. She stretched them, felt a mild pulse in her palms.
She stared at them, confused.
That morning, she walked to campus faster than usual, instinct steering her steps. It was like her senses had sharpened: the early-morning wind felt colder, the sky a clearer blue. She smelled coffee brewing inside The Grind from a half-block away.
She frowned. It was… more than just caffeine calling.
AVEY'S STIRRING
Avery sat in her favorite spot on campus a rooftop bench overlooking the quad. It was early, quiet. Perfect for… thinking. Not feeling. But lately, feelings leaked in.
She pulled her phone out and dialed her mother. No answer. Her father? Same.
She scrolled through recent texts. Her sister's happy face, filters too smooth. Her entourage's weekend plans. Every message felt like noise.
She looked up. The quad was still empty, but one figure wandered through the fog that clung to the grass Skylar.
Avery's chest tightened. Instinctually, she stood, and then sat again. Don't.
But she couldn't look away.
Skylar looked… different in the half-light. More alive. More predatory.
A ripple of something fear? Excitement? rushed through Avery.
QUIET COLLISION
Skylar turned at a sudden breeze, then spotted Avery on the rooftop. She hadn't meant to see her this early; class wasn't for another hour.
But there she was calm, distant, perfect.
Their eyes locked. Skylar held the moment. She felt her heart beat faster, jaws tense.
Avery's face was too controlled, but Skylar saw a flicker something like… curiosity. And what felt like a whisper of fear.
Skylar looked away first. "Crazy morning," she muttered, more to herself than Avery.
Avery stayed silent, but watched her.
THE UNEXPLAINED
By the time Skylar got to Literature of Rebellion, she was disoriented. Her head ached not from last night's traffic but from… something waking up inside her.
The air in class felt thick. Heavier than usual. Like someone had turned the lights up, and she couldn't find the dimmer.
Skylar tried to focus on Baldwin's essay, but instead her mind tracked the sound of Avery's pen scratching paper.
She closed her eyes briefly and felt… rooted. Like an animal sensing prey even if there was none.
She opened her eyes. Skylar was breathing too fast. Her cheeks flushed.
"Everything okay?" Avery whispered as their eyes met.
Skylar said nothing. She just swallowed.
AN UNSETTLING AFTERNOON
Skylar went to Carmine's later that day. Her boss asked her to stock shelves. As she reached up to pull down a box, she felt vertigo like the ceiling rumbled.
She dropped the box. It hit the floor with a thud.
Her boss frowned. "You alright?"
Skylar nodded. "Just hungry."
But she hadn't eaten. Not yet.
She left early.
Outside, the air was calm. But in her mind, the hum was louder.
She walked fast. She needed space. For once she didn't want people. She wanted to be clean unfiltered.
AVERY'S REACTION
That evening, Avery found herself replaying scenes from earlier. Skylar's eyes in the mist. That weird… predatory air around her. The flutter in her chest when their eyes met.
She hated it. Because Avery had never been drawn to studs. Never before.
And yet… she wanted to be drawn.
Avery went into her room, closed the door. She took out the same photograph she'd hidden earlier skylar-shaped child, the woman beside her. She flipped the picture back over.
Something about it whispered truth.
She pressed the photo against her heart. "Tell me everything," she whispered.
NIGHT: THE DREAM RETURNS
Skylar lay back on her mattress, unable to sleep. The hum hadn't left her. She pressed her palm against her chest. It was pulsing.
The dream gripped her again.
This time stronger.
Trees. Moonlight. A scent of pine and… something wild.
Then Avery. She was in the forest too barefoot, watching Skylar. Not afraid. Observing. Then Skylar ran to Avery, but when she touched her electricity. A powerful jolt.
Skylar sat up.
Her heart thundered.
"What is this?" she muttered.
THE UNEASY TRUCE
Next morning, Skylar was late again. She didn't go to class. She needed quiet. She needed space to breathe.
But as she stretched in the empty quad, she sensed Avery's presence before she saw her.
Avery approached hesitant. Careful.
"You're late," she said. Not accusatory. Concerned.
Skylar swallowed. "I… I wasn't feeling well."
Avery nodded. "You seem different."
Skylar looked at her. Stared. Waited.
Avery exhaled. "We… need to talk."
Skylar didn't know why. But something deep inside her said: Yes.
They walked to the empty courtyard off the arts building. Early.
Avery looked at her, hands in pockets.
"I don't know what this is," she said. "But… something is happening when you're near. When you're not I feel it too."
Skylar's voice shook slightly. "Me too."
Their eyes locked.
No smiles. No barbs. Just… suspension.
EMBEDDED QUESTIONS
Avery took a breath. "What are you hiding, Skylar James?"
Skylar waited.
"Nothing good," she said softly.
Avery nodded. "Then let's find out. Together."
Skylar stared at her. Her heart thundered.
They were standing in the early light. Two studs, one tattooed soul on the edge of something ancient. Something neither of them expected.
But they had each other.
And for the first time, both wondered… if that was enough.
UNFINISHED SENTENCES
"So," Avery said again, slowly, trying not to sound too… eager. "What is it you think is happening?"
Skylar stayed quiet, leaning back on the concrete bench behind the sculpture garden. Her hands were in her hoodie pocket. She never fidgeted. Not usually. But right now, she was flexing her fingers, opening and closing her palm like she was testing strength—or resisting something.
"I don't know," Skylar finally said. Her voice was low, tight. "Something's just… off."
Avery sat down, leaving a cushion of space between them. Not too close. But not across the courtyard either. The silence that stretched between them wasn't awkward it was charged.
Avery noticed the slight tremor in Skylar's leg, the way her jaw clenched, then relaxed.
"You ever feel like you're about to remember something… but it's still buried?" Skylar asked, eyes forward, watching students cross the quad like shadows.
"All the time," Avery said quietly. "Except I think I'm always running from it instead."
That made Skylar glance at her.
Their eyes caught again longer this time.
It wasn't romantic. Not yet.
It was something deeper.
Something recognition-like.
THE MARK
Avery hesitated. "Can I ask you something? It's stupid."
Skylar's voice had a strange edge of softness now. "I doubt that."
"Do you have a mark? Like, a birthmark… or something weird on your body?"
Skylar blinked. "Why?"
Avery bit her lip. "I don't know. I used to have dreams… about symbols. Ones that looked like brands. I always thought I was just… making things up."
Skylar exhaled through her nose. "I got one. Kinda near my ribs. Always thought it was a burn scar, but…"
She paused.
Avery turned slightly toward her. "But?"
"It's been darker lately," Skylar murmured. "Like it's changing."
Avery's hand twitched in her lap. She hadn't meant to share that much. Skylar definitely hadn't. But the words just… came. Like their mouths were giving up secrets before their minds could stop them.
"Do you believe in reincarnation?" Avery asked suddenly.
Skylar laughed once, sharp and bitter. "I believe in rent being due. That's about it."
But her laugh didn't last long. Something settled over her face. Not fear, not annoyance.
Memory.
And she didn't like what she saw.
THE WOMAN IN THE PARK
That night, Skylar went for a walk. She couldn't stay in her dorm. Her roommate had friends over. Music blaring. Too many voices, none of them grounding.
She walked toward the edge of campus, to the trail that led into the woods just behind the science building. She used to jog here. But tonight, she just wanted air.
The sky above was overcast. The moon pushed weakly behind thin clouds.
She walked for maybe ten minutes, hands stuffed in her hoodie, headphones in but no music playing.
Then she saw her.
An older woman sixties, maybe sitting on a bench near the edge of the trail, where the trees started to thicken.
She wore a coat that looked too thin for the weather and a headscarf tied tightly beneath her chin. Her skin was dark, creased with age, and her eyes were unusually sharp.
Skylar slowed.
The woman stared at her. Not menacing. Not smiling.
Knowing.
"You're waking up," the woman said, like it was a greeting.
Skylar stopped. She pulled one earbud out. "Excuse me?"
The woman nodded at her, calm. "It happens around this age. Always has. The blood gets louder. The memories come back in flashes. You'll feel it first in your hands. The heat. Then the eyes. Then the dreams."
Skylar's heart pounded. She glanced behind her. No one else was around.
"I don't know you," Skylar said cautiously.
"No," the woman replied. "But I know you. And your kind."
"My kind?" Skylar asked, a bit sharper.
"The old blood. The protectors. The ones who used to walk as wolves but loved like humans. The last ones."
Skylar took a step back. "Okay. No offense, ma'am, but I think you have the wrong person."
The woman simply said, "You're not just human. Not completely. And she's the one pulling it out of you."
Skylar froze.
"She?" Skylar whispered.
"You already know who."
Skylar didn't answer. She turned and walked away fast. Fast enough to ignore the chill crawling up her spine, or the way her ribs ached when she inhaled.
AVERY'S REVELATION
Meanwhile, Avery couldn't sleep.
She lay in her bed, laptop open, screen dimmed.
She searched terms she didn't even understand. Twin flame stud love. Soul markings. Reincarnation between women. Queer past-life memories. Shared dreams.
The results were mostly spiritual fluff, Pinterest quotes, and pop-psych nonsense.
But one blog post made her stop.
"When you meet the one your soul remembers, the body recognizes before the mind. Even if they don't match your type, your rules, or your logic there's a pull. A remembering."
She shut the laptop.
She reached over to the nightstand, opened her top drawer, and pulled out the pendant.
She hadn't worn it since her grandmother's funeral.
The weight of it in her palm was familiar. So was the warmth it held. Her grandmother used to say it came from "the side of the family we don't talk about."
Avery never asked what that meant.
Until now.
She gripped it tighter.
And whispered Skylar's name into the dark.
BACK AT CAMPUS – THE SILENCE BETWEEN THEM
The next morning, Skylar skipped class again. But Avery didn't.
She saw the empty chair. The spot beside her, cold, untouched.
She kept her eyes on the board, but her thoughts wandered. Again. And again.
Until class ended and she found herself standing outside the building, waiting. For what she didn't know.
But Skylar appeared anyway.
Hands in hoodie. Same heavy steps. Same unreadable face.
"You didn't come," Avery said, trying to sound nonchalant.
Skylar shrugged. "Needed air."
They stood there, awkward silence growing.
Then Avery reached into her pocket and pulled out the pendant.
Skylar glanced at it, squinted. "What is that?"
"I don't know," Avery said. "Family heirloom. But it burns when I wear it around you."
Skylar looked up sharply.
"You think I'm cursed or something?" she said with half a smirk, half fear.
"No," Avery replied. "I think we're connected somehow. And I'm scared to know how deep it goes."
Skylar's throat worked.
Then she stepped back.
"I'll see you around."
And left.
Avery didn't follow.
But something in both of them was now awake.
Watching.
Waiting.
Pulling.