AFTER 6 MONTHS.
✦ EIRA'S POV ✦
"Get up, Eira!"
"Eira! Get up!!! The whole day you just study or stay locked in your room."
"Eira!!! Today you have to come out of your room."
"Eira! How can you miss the College Annual Fest?"
"Please… just let me stay," I muttered, pulling the blanket tighter around myself.
"No!!! We are going there," Tessy declared, grabbing the blanket and trying to pull it away.
"NO!" I yanked it back over my head.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then her voice softened.
"Eira, it's been six months since that incident and—"
Before she could finish, I sat up abruptly.
The room fell silent.
Tessy's expression changed instantly.
Guilt flashed across her face.
"I… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say it like that," she whispered.
My throat tightened.
"I don't want to talk about it."
Without waiting for a reply, I rushed into the washroom and locked the door behind me.
A few moments later, her voice came from outside.
Muffled.
Gentle.
Yet desperate.
"Eira, you need to forget him. He was arrogant. Forget him. Please, don't let him destroy your life. I'll wait for you downstairs. Please, come… for me."
Silence filled the small room after her footsteps faded.
Slowly, I slid down against the door.
My knees curled to my chest.
My eyes squeezed shut.
Yet tears still escaped.
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 leave.
Sometimes I could still hear his voice.
Still remember the way he looked at me.
Still remember the way he walked away.
After that day...
I never saw Adrain again.
Not him.
Not his family.
Not even a single trace.
It was as if they had vanished from existence.
As if they had never been real at all.
The days that followed were cruel.
The whispers.
The stares.
The humiliation.
People mocked me.
Judged me.
Turned me into a story.
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 letting a memory control my life.
Taking a deep breath, I wiped my tears and stood.
"I won't think about you, Adrain."
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.
"Thanks a lot, Eira!!"
"I... I can't breathe," I wheezed.
Tessy immediately loosened her grip.
Then burst into laughter.
For the first time that morning...
I smiled too.
The college looked magical.
Golden lights wrapped around trees.
Colorful decorations hung from every corner.
Music floated through the cool evening air.
Students rushed around excitedly.
For a moment...
Everything felt normal.
"Wow… the college looks so beautiful tonight."
Before Tessy could answer—
"Tessy! The coordinator list is missing!"
A panicked voice echoed nearby.
Tessy groaned dramatically.
"Eira, you go inside—I'll give this idiot the list."
Before I could reply, 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.
Like something wasn't right.
Something felt...
Wrong.
Then—
"Wait! Who called the trash here?"
I froze.
That voice.
Victoria.
Of course.
Turning around, I found her standing there in an expensive black dress.
Beautiful.
Elegant.
And somehow still unbearable.
Her lips curved into a cruel smirk.
"I can't believe you dared to show up here."
She crossed her arms.
"Wait—don't tell me you're still searching for—"
"AAAAAA!!! SNAKE!!!"
Victoria's scream exploded through the entrance.
She jumped nearly three feet into the air.
Flailing wildly.
The crowd immediately turned.
Laughter erupted everywhere.
Behind her stood Tessy.
Holding a rubber snake.
"Oops, sorry, it fell on you."
The laughter doubled.
Victoria's face turned crimson.
"You!!!"
She looked ready to commit murder.
Tessy wasn't impressed.
"Next time you say one word about my friend, I'll throw a real snake on you."
Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed my wrist and pulled me away.
Leaving Victoria standing there while everyone laughed.
An hour later, the lecture finally ended.
The music grew louder.
Students flooded the dance floor.
Cheers echoed through the auditorium.
"Eira! Let's dance!"
Tessy's eyes sparkled with excitement.
I immediately shook my head.
"No, please, Tessy. 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 moments later.
But the strange feeling remained.
In fact...
It was getting stronger.
The noise suddenly felt distant.
The lights felt dimmer.
My heartbeat felt louder.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Maybe...
Maybe I should just go home.
"Tessy!! Tessy!!!"
I tried calling her.
But the music swallowed my voice.
She was already dancing with the others.
Lost among hundreds of students.
I sighed.
I'll go myself...
✦ NO ONE'S POV ✦
"Finally."
The man smiled beneath his black hood.
"The day I've been waiting for has come."
Hidden behind the stage area, he crouched beside one of the massive decorative pillars supporting part of the event structure.
One by one...
He loosened the giant metal staples holding it in place.
Clink.
Clink.
Clink.
Each one fell silently onto the ground.
His smile widened.
"I'm back, Miss Eira Banes."
His voice slithered through the darkness.
Cold.
Venomous.
Filled with hatred.
"Today, you'll pay the price."
The final staple dropped.
The pillar shifted slightly.
Dangerously.
The man stared toward the crowded hall.
Toward the girl in the magenta dress.
Then he laughed.
Low.
Disturbing.
Like a snake hissing before striking.
"Peter Dawson is back."
✦ ADRAIN'S POV ✦
Eira.
Even after six months...
My mind still found her.
Every dream.
Every memory.
Every sleepless night.
And now—
There she was.
Walking through the college grounds.
Wearing a magenta dress.
The same shy expression.
The same eyes.
The same girl who had somehow become impossible to forget.
For a brief moment, I simply watched her.
Memorized her.
Then—
My blood ran cold.
The pillar.
It was falling.
Straight toward her.
"No."
The word escaped as a whisper.
Then panic exploded inside me.
"EIRA!!!"
I shot upright from the sofa.
Breathing hard.
My chest rising and falling violently.
The vision felt too real.
Far too real.
It wasn't a dream.
I knew it wasn't.
Something was happening.
Something was wrong.
A terrifying feeling gripped my entire body.
The same feeling I got before disasters.
Before death.
Before loss.
"Eira..."
I clenched the locket hanging around my neck.
The locket she had given me.
My fingers trembled.
"I need to go to her."
I moved toward the door.
Fast.
Too fast.
Then—
"Where are you going?"
Mike's voice stopped me.
I turned sharply.
"I need to go."
The words came out harsher than intended.
"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 snapped.
"GO INSIDE!!!"
The roar shook the walls.
For a moment, silence followed.
Heavy.
Dangerous.
Then I turned and stormed back into my room.
The door slammed so hard the entire mansion trembled.
CRASH!
The sofa flew across the room.
Splintering against the wall.
My breathing became ragged.
My chest hurt.
Fear.
The emotion felt foreign.
Unwelcome.
Yet it refused to leave.
Slowly, I looked down at the locket in my hand.
My grip tightened around it.
"Nothing can stop me."
My voice softened.
Almost breaking.
"Please… 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.
My eyes closed.
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.