One hand grabbed hers, the other settled around her waist.
Jane didn't know how to dance, and he hadn't lied when he said he would do the dancing.
She kept spinning to the rhythm with her whole body weight resting in his lead. Even when she tried to follow on her own, she couldn't. The music grew faster and sharper like they were in the middle of a workout instead of something from a movie.
"Was I ....on.... a battlefield," Jane muttered between her breaths. She had been trying to keep up with his pace, including getting dragged around like a doll.
"This is only the first part."
Jane's mouth opened in disbelief.
Before she could gather her thoughts, he released her. Another student immediately caught her hands and pulled her into the rotation.
Faces came and went as abruptly as they began, a dizzying carousel of strangers. Throughout the rotations, her gaze stayed fixed on one detail: the pins on their chests. At Jane's height, looking at their faces was giving her neck pain.
Most wore the same pin as Jane, or a star variation embedded with diamonds. She counted maybe one with a lightning shape. But none of the students wore the glass pin. Odd, considering she'd seen a few of them earlier.
With one last spin, the world stopped. She found herself back in the arms of her original partner.
From somewhere above her head, his voice came down.
"You are tired, aren't you?" He said, looking as fine as ever.
She stared back, her mouth forming a stiff line. What she really wanted was to faint right here and be magically teleported back to her bed. She shouldn't have let his good appearance affect her decision hours ago.
The lights deepened to a warm glow while a slow classical melody began to fill the air. It could've been romantic if they weren't strangers.
Leaving right now would be unnecessary, so she used him like a resting pole, leaning slightly until her strength returned.
Suddenly, without a sound or warning, he leaned in.
Something brushed against her neck, like an ant crawling on the skin, except when she glanced, there was nothing. Just his breath.
Her back arched instinctively, creating a stiff wall between them. She hoped he would pick up on the signal she was sending, but he didn't move.
She tried again, with words.
"You're a bit too close. Can you…move back a little?"
The boy, whose name she forgot to ask, didn't answer immediately. He stared at her. There was a hint of surprise on his face, mixed with annoyance, though the faint glow in his eyes made it impossible to tell if he was angry or amused.
Just when Jane thought something would happen, he stepped back.
"My sincere apologies. I got a little caught up," he said.
But the peace didn't last long.
As he moved to draw her back into the frame, his grip faltered. Jane's heel caught on the smooth floor, and she stumbled. The pull she expected never came in time.
"Sorry, I couldn't see the—"
Oops, a very passionate couple.
She stood across from the boy, who was hiding his face in the girl's neck so she couldn't see what he was doing. His hand, tense and abnormal, was gripping the girl tightly, like he wanted to crush her bones.
That detail caught Jane's eye and made them wander longer than they should have. If she had turned away just a second sooner, she might have spared herself a lot of trouble. Stay naive, but ultimately the same outcome.
The light swung through where they stood, lifting the veil that had been hiding all the filth.
His mouth was stretching unnaturally wide as it clamped onto the girl's neck. Veins rose like red worms beneath his pale skin, pulsating with the movement of his throat. His cheeks flushed pink, either from the thrill or the blood rushing into his system. His pointy ears twitched with each swallow, flicking up and down like they were picking up some signal.
Jane quickly looked away, trying not to "wake the lion".
But the scene kept replaying in her head until it was replaced by something even worse.
The whole room was submerged in waves of blue and purple, like a castle underwater. It might've been beautiful, hypnotic even, if Jane could ignore the horror unfolding around her.
Everywhere, they climbed onto each other like wild animals. Some fed alone; others formed herds. Their eyes glowed like the pins on their chests while their teeth sank deeper and deeper into flesh. Thick streams of blood ran from the corners of their mouths, dripping onto the marble floor.
Jane gasped for air. She could taste it in her mouth – damp and rusty.
"Calm down."
The voice came from her partner, but he wasn't talking to her.
"Shut up and drop your stupid role-playing already!" The other boy raised his head, blood coloured his lips, and went right back to his meal. His prey had already closed her eyes, limp in his arms.
The focus shifted back to Jane.
"How about I give you a fifteen-minute head start?"
He smiled – the most genuine, no, the biggest mouth she had ever witnessed. His fully-grown canine flashed under the swinging lights, daring her to start the game that she had no intention of participating in.
✦✧✦✧
The wind howling next to her ears, the clock counting behind her back, but louder than either was the question circling in her head: What was that!?
It was obvious what they were, yet some part of her still refused to believe she had actually stumbled into one of them, let alone an entire nest.
Jane pulled her head back to the real problem: Where the fuck would she go?
The dorm was the first thing that popped up, but the academy was practically a maze. If she tried to navigate the halls, she might just run around the school until he caught her.
Storming into a crowded place wasn't an option, either. Jane doubted anyone here would help.
She needed somewhere hidden, somewhere she could find, somewhere that would be a disadvantage to both of them.
The forest.
Surprisingly, her arms were the first to give up, aching from pulling up the dress as she ran. The thought of ripping the fabric crossed her mind, but there was one big reason not to: it was borrowed.
She made a small stop at a garden bench. Her fingers crawled on her back as she tried to unlace the bodice and stripped down to the slip dress beneath. She left the pile on the bench and turned back to the treeline.
The forest welcomed her in. And with no hesitation, she emerged into the unknown darkness.
Ten minutes passed. Maybe fifteen.
Every muscle in her legs screamed, burning as if they were bitten by thousands of fire ants. Branches whipped against her bare arms, leaving stinging scratches.
She didn't dare to stop, but she knew she'd be caught if she kept running aimlessly.
Jane slammed her shoulder against a random tree. Her chest was blowing up and down, soaking in sweat. Her eyes scanned around the dark forest, looking for a hiding spot.
There
Standing still and steady, a hollow tree.
Jane crawled inside. The space was tight, barely wide enough to cradle a single body. Small spaces usually irritated her, but tonight, the rough wood pressing against her back was comforting.
The hollow trunk amplified the sound of her own heartbeat, denying her effort to control it. She stared into the darkness beyond the opening, waiting for something to break the silence.
Her fingers curled around a stone she had picked up from the earth. The sharp edge dug into her palm before it could hurt anyone else.
In that moment, a foolish hope bloomed in her chest, that magically, someone would come and save her. She missed her mom, her dad, and even their arguments every time they were stuck in the same room too long.
But every dream came to an end.