I left the security guards with their unconscious attackers and walked the rest of the way. The sun was going down, and the campus of Eden Academy looked like a dark castle. It was the same as I remembered, but different. The perfect lawns looked like traps. The tall walls looked like a prison. Every shadow seemed to hold a memory, but I wasn't the same person who had run from them. I was going back. I wasn't running this time. I was walking into the fire.
I remembered Elen's words in my mind. He never said much, but his lessons were a map. "A predator doesn't wait for a map. He makes one."
I didn't have a map of Eden's security systems, but I was making one as I walked. I saw the cameras, the blind spots, the guards' routes. Aura, my system, was already buzzing in my head, helping me.
"Scanning. Camera on the north wall is a low-quality model. Easy to bypass. Main gate has a new biometric scanner. Your face won't be in the system."
I was okay with that. My face had changed. My clothes were new, a simple black jacket and pants that didn't draw attention. I had a new identity, a new name, a new history. All of it came from Alex's company.
I walked to the main gate. I gave the guard my new student ID. He looked at me, then at the ID. His eyes went wide.
"You're... you're Balen?" he asked, his voice low.
My heart almost stopped. He knew me. He remembered me. A cold, hard line formed in my heart. He wasn't mistaken. He knew exactly who I was.
"I am Balen," I said, my voice steady and clear. It was my real name, the name I had run from, but now it felt like a weapon.
The guard just shook his head. "I don't believe it. That kid... the one who ran away. The one they called 'Bhosty.'"
A cold feeling came over me. The name. The word. It was a knife. A part of me wanted to run, to yell, to hit him. But I remembered another of Elen's lessons. "Anger makes you blind. Control is power."
I took a deep breath. I looked at the guard. I didn't get angry. I didn't get scared. My body was still, my face was calm. I was a professional.
"I am a new student. Here are my papers. You can check them," I said, my voice quiet.
The guard looked at my face, then at the perfect papers. He didn't know what to do. His eyes were confused. He finally gave me my ID. "Welcome to Eden," he said, his voice slow.
I walked past him and into the school. It was all the same. The green grass. The old buildings. The smell of dust and old books. But everything was different. The faces I saw were not just students. They were ghosts. The place of my worst nightmares was my new home. I had a mission. I had a job. And I had my name back. This time, I wasn't running. I was here to fight.