✦ SIX MONTHS LATER ✦
EIRA'S POV
"Get up, Eira!"
I groaned and pulled the blanket tighter around myself.
"Eira! Get up!" Tessy's voice grew louder. "You've spent the entire day either studying or hiding in your room."
I buried my face deeper into the pillow.
"Eira! Today, you're coming out of this room."
"No."
"How can you miss the College Annual Fest?"
"Please..." I muttered. "Just let me stay."
"No."
The blanket suddenly disappeared from my hands.
"Tessy!"
"We're going."
I grabbed the blanket and yanked it back over my head.
"NO!"
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then her voice softened.
"Eira... it's been six months since that incident, and—"
I sat up abruptly.
Silence filled the room.
Tessy's expression changed instantly.
Guilt flashed across her face.
"I..." She lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring it up like that."
My throat tightened.
"I don't want to talk about it."
Before she could respond, I rushed into the washroom and locked the door behind me.
A few moments later, her voice came from outside.
Muffled.
Gentle.
Desperate.
"Eira, you need to forget him."
I closed my eyes.
"He was arrogant. He left. Whatever happened between you two, it's over."
Silence.
Then—
"Please don't let him destroy your life."
Her footsteps slowly faded.
"I'll wait downstairs. Please come..."
A pause.
"...for me."
The silence that followed felt heavier than before.
Slowly, I slid down against the door.
My knees curled against my chest.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
But the tears still came.
Six months.
Six whole months.
And still...
I couldn't forget him.
No matter how hard I tried.
No matter how many times I told myself to move on.
His memory followed me everywhere.
Like a ghost.
A shadow that refused to disappear.
Sometimes I could still hear his voice.
Still remember the way he looked at me.
Still remember the way he walked away.
For six months, I never saw Adrian again.
Not once.
Not him.
Not his family.
Not even a trace.
It was as though they had vanished from existence.
As though they had never been real.
The months that followed were cruel.
The whispers.
The stares.
The humiliation.
People judged me.
Mocked me.
Turned my life into a story they could gossip about.
But Tessy never left.
She stood beside me through everything.
Protected me.
Fought for me.
Loved me when I couldn't even love myself.
She was right.
I needed to move on.
I needed to stop allowing a memory to control my life.
Taking a shaky breath, I wiped my tears and stood.
"I won't think about you, Adrian."
The words sounded weak.
But I forced myself to believe them.
Minutes later, I slipped into a beautiful magenta gown and headed downstairs.
"Tessy! Wait!"
She was already halfway to the door.
The moment she saw me, her entire face lit up.
"Eira!"
She ran toward me and threw her arms around me.
"Thank God! You're actually coming!"
"I..." I wheezed. "Can't breathe."
Tessy immediately loosened her grip.
Then she burst out laughing.
For the first time that morning...
I smiled too.
The college looked magical.
Golden lights wrapped around the trees.
Colorful decorations hung from every corner.
Music floated through the cool evening air.
Students rushed around, laughing and shouting with excitement.
For a moment...
Everything felt normal.
"Wow..." I whispered. "The college looks beautiful tonight."
Before Tessy could answer—
"Tessy! The coordinator list is missing!"
A panicked voice echoed nearby.
Tessy groaned.
"Eira, go inside. I'll give this idiot the list."
Before I could respond, she was already running away with Mishel.
I stood near the entrance alone.
Watching.
Waiting.
And suddenly...
A strange feeling settled inside my chest.
Uneasiness.
Something wasn't right.
Something felt...
Wrong.
I glanced around.
Nothing.
Just students.
Music.
Laughter.
Lights.
I shook off the feeling.
Maybe I was imagining it.
An hour later, the formal program finally ended.
Music exploded through the auditorium.
Students flooded the dance floor.
Cheers echoed beneath the lights.
"Eira! Let's dance!"
Tessy's eyes sparkled with excitement.
I immediately shook my head.
"No, please. Let me sit here."
"Eira, come on!"
"Please, Tessy. You go. Enjoy."
She sighed dramatically.
"Fine. But call me if you need anything."
I nodded.
Tessy disappeared into the crowd.
But the strange feeling remained.
In fact...
It was getting stronger.
The noise suddenly seemed distant.
The lights appeared dimmer.
My heartbeat sounded unnaturally loud.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
I searched for Tessy.
"Tessy!"
My voice disappeared beneath the music.
"Tessy!"
Nothing.
She was already lost among hundreds of students.
I sighed.
Maybe I should just go home.
I stood and quietly slipped away from the crowd.
NO ONE'S POV
A shadow moved behind the stage.
A man crouched beside one of the massive support pillars holding part of the temporary structure in place.
His face was hidden beneath a black hood.
A slow smile spread across his lips.
"Finally."
His fingers closed around the first metal fastener.
He loosened it.
Clink.
The second.
Clink.
The third.
Clink.
One by one, the fasteners came loose.
The pillar shifted.
Barely.
But enough.
The man's smile widened.
"I'm back, Miss Eira Banes."
His voice was low.
Venomous.
Filled with hatred.
"Six months..."
He looked toward the crowded auditorium.
Toward the girl in the magenta gown.
"...and you still haven't learned."
The final fastener dropped.
The pillar groaned.
The man stepped backward.
"Today, you'll pay for everything."
His gaze remained fixed on Eira.
Then he laughed.
Quietly.
Cruelly.
Like a predator watching its prey walk into a trap.
"Peter Dawson is back."
ADRIAN'S POV
Eira.
Even after six months...
My mind still found her.
Every dream.
Every memory.
Every sleepless night.
I had tried to forget.
I had failed.
Then—
I saw her.
She stood beneath the golden lights of the college, wearing a magenta gown.
For a moment, I simply watched.
Her face.
Her eyes.
The familiar softness I had spent six months trying not to remember.
Something inside me tightened.
Then I noticed it.
The pillar.
It was moving.
Slowly.
Dangerously.
Straight toward her.
My blood ran cold.
"No."
The vision changed.
The pillar gave way.
Metal screamed.
Students scattered.
Eira looked up.
Too late.
"EIRA!"
I shot upright.
My breathing was ragged.
My chest rose and fell violently.
I stared around my room.
Darkness.
Silence.
The vision was gone.
But the fear remained.
It wasn't a dream.
I knew it.
It had felt too real.
The images were still burned into my mind.
Eira.
The falling structure.
The terror in her eyes.
Something was happening.
Something was coming for her.
I clenched my fists.
"Eira..."
My gaze fell to the locket around my neck.
The locket she had given me.
I closed my fingers around it.
"I need to go to her."
I moved toward the door.
Fast.
Too fast.
"Where are you going?"
Mike's voice stopped me.
I turned sharply.
"I need to go."
"That's not an answer."
His gaze narrowed.
I could already feel my control slipping.
"Don't try to be my real father."
The room instantly grew colder.
Mike's expression hardened.
"I won't, if you stop behaving like a human."
Something inside me snapped.
"GO INSIDE!"
My roar shook the walls.
Silence followed.
Heavy.
Dangerous.
I turned away from him.
A second later, I stormed into my room.
The door slammed behind me.
CRASH!
The sofa flew across the room and smashed against the wall.
My breathing became ragged.
Fear.
The emotion felt foreign.
Unwelcome.
Yet it refused to leave.
I looked down at the locket in my hand.
My grip tightened.
"Nothing will stop me."
My voice softened.
Almost breaking.
"Please..."
I closed my eyes.
"Wait for me."
The metal felt warm against my skin.
Not like a piece of jewelry.
Like her touch.
Like her presence.
Like the memory of everything I had spent six months trying to forget.
For the first time in centuries...
I prayed.
"I'm coming, Eira."
Then, without another second of hesitation—
I leapt through the window.
And disappeared into the night.
EIRA'S POV
I walked away from the auditorium, the music fading behind me.
The corridor was nearly deserted.
My footsteps echoed against the polished floor.
One.
Two.
Three.
I stopped.
Something was wrong.
I slowly looked behind me.
Nothing.
The hallway was empty.
I turned forward again.
Then—
Crack.
A sound came from somewhere above me.
My heart stopped.
I looked up.
The lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then went out.
Darkness swallowed the corridor.
My breathing quickened.
At the far end of the hallway stood a figure.
Motionless.
Watching.
I couldn't see his face.
"Hey!"
My voice echoed through the darkness.
"Who are you?"
No answer.
The figure didn't move.
Then—
He disappeared.
Right before my eyes.
My stomach twisted.
No.
I was imagining things.
I had to be.
With trembling fingers, I pulled out my phone and switched on the flashlight.
The narrow beam cut through the darkness.
Nothing.
I hurried toward the exit.
Then—
A low metallic groan echoed behind me.
I froze.
Slowly, I turned.
The corridor remained empty.
But something felt terribly wrong.
I started walking faster.
Then faster.
The college gates finally came into view.
Relief washed through me.
I was almost out.
Almost safe.
Then suddenly—
A deafening crack tore through the night.
I looked up.
My eyes widened.
The massive structure above the entrance had begun to collapse.
Students screamed.
People scattered.
My feet refused to move.
For one terrifying second, I stood frozen beneath it.
Then—
"EIRA!"
A familiar voice thundered through the chaos.
My heart lurched.
I turned toward the sound.
But before I could see who had called my name—
Something struck me from behind.
Pain exploded through my skull.
The world tilted.
The ground rushed toward me.
And darkness swallowed me whole.