9
Alina.
If there was a trick to making yourself invisible at Umbra Noctis, I never found it. No matter how small I made myself, no matter how quiet, someone always noticed. And when people notice you here, it's rarely for good reasons.
It started slowly at first. A look here, a whispered joke there. By now, a few weeks into the term, the novelty of a new "human boy" in North Tower had worn off, but the hunger for entertainment never faded. I tried to keep my head down, walk the halls fast, stick to the edges. I knew the patterns of the teachers and the safe hours for the library. It didn't matter. The predators at Umbra Noctis always found their prey.
The girls started It, and it was almost a relief at first. They circled me after spellwork class, faces painted perfect, hair glossy and shining in ways I could never achieve, even if I tried. The leader, a vampire noble, with razor-sharp cheekbones, leaned in close and smiled, all fangs and condescension.
