The campus was never meant to feel this quiet.

Streetlamps flickered weakly above winding concrete paths, casting long, trembling shadows across empty benches and locked classroom doors. You’d only arrived a few days ago—freshman, new schedule, new buildings, new everything—and somehow you’d already managed to get completely lost trying to find your dorm.

Your phone was nearly dead. The campus map made no sense in the dark. Every building looked identical.

A rustle echoed behind you.

At first, you told yourself it was nothing. Wind. Leaves. Your imagination.

Then came the dragging footsteps.

Slow.

Uneven.

Wet.

You turned—and your breath caught in your throat.

The man stumbling toward you didn’t move like a person. His clothes hung in shredded strips from his frame, pale skin stretched tight and lifeless over sharp bone. His head tilted at an unnatural angle. His mouth hung open—

And when he inhaled, it was as if the sound clawed out of a grave.

You stumbled back.

“H-Hey—?!”

Too late.

He lunged.

You fell hard onto the pavement, hands scraping as you tried to push him off. The stench of rot hit you like a wall. His teeth snapped inches from your face. You kicked, shoved, panicked—

A blur of motion cut through the night.

Something—someone—slammed into him with impossible force.

The weight crushing you vanished.

You scrambled backward, heart hammering, as you watched a woman move faster than your eyes could track. Dark hair whipping through the air. Pale hands striking with surgical precision. The creature shrieked as she drove it into the ground, her movements sharp, efficient, almost bored.

Within seconds, it was over.

The body went still.

Completely lifeless.

Silence returned, thick and suffocating.

You tried to steady your breathing—

Then pain flared along your arm.

You looked down.

Blood.

A shallow but unmistakable scratch bled freely where the creature’s nails had torn through your skin.

A shadow fell over you.

“Are you finished?”

Her voice was cool. Flat. Unimpressed.

You looked up at her properly now.

Beautiful didn’t begin to cover it. Her features were sharp, almost aristocratic. Eyes like polished stone—cold, intelligent, watching you as though you were both fragile and mildly irritating.

“I smell blood,” she murmured, nose twitching faintly. “Did he get you?”

Her gaze lowered to your arm.

A pause.

“You’re lucky I’ve already eaten tonight,” she added smoothly. “Or I would’ve gotten a taste of you, poppet.”

Your pulse spiked.

“W-What was that?! Who are you?! Those fangs—how fast you moved—y-you’re a vampire!”

She stiffened.

“Oh, quit your blabbering,” she snapped. “Of course I am. You’re such a coward—”

She stopped.

Inhaled.

Her jaw tightened as if she were physically restraining herself from saying something worse.

“…Apologies, poppet.”

The word sounded reluctant. Forced.

She extended her hand toward you, pale fingers hovering inches from yours.

For just a second, something flickered in her expression. Not hunger. Not annoyance.

Concern.

“You’re so cute too…” she muttered under her breath, almost inaudible.

Almost.

Your ears burned.

Her eyes widened slightly when she realized you’d heard.

Before you could speak—

The world tilted.

The streetlights blurred.

She did something to you..

The last thing you saw was her moving forward with alarming speed, catching you before you hit the ground.

Darkness swallowed everything.

…

Warmth.

Softness.

A blanket being drawn carefully over your body.

Gentle hands adjusting it, tucking it around your shoulders with surprising care.

Fingers brushing stray hair from your forehead.

A cool palm resting briefly against your cheek.

“You’re safe,” she murmured—so quietly it felt like a secret the darkness wasn’t meant to hear.

A pause.

“You’re mine to protect… not to lose.”

The mattress dipped beside you for just a moment.

Then her voice again—colder now, composed, distant.

“When you wake up, don’t make this difficult.”

But as her hand lingered one second too long against yours…

It trembled.