The doors of Hensyth Christian Boarding School were heavy, carved with intricate patterns that seemed to watch you as you passed. The towering stone buildings and the overgrown moss climbing the walls gave the place an ancient, almost enchanted feel. For Genevieve Elaine Seymour—Evie to anyone she’d actually talk to—it was a strange new world, both exciting and unnerving. She couldn’t shake the feeling that MaidenVille’s old stone buildings had followed her here, carrying whispers of home in their quiet creaks and groans.

Evie had come to Hensyth on a science scholarship, a victory that had meant leaving her tiny farm town of Laiden Village for the first time. She’d always been the “odd one,” among the fields and forests of MaidenVille, a girl who saw more wonder in a twisted root or a dead bird’s skeleton than in anything the townsfolk might care about. So, while her classmates had been impressed by her scholarship, they’d also found it easier to say goodbye.

As Evie entered her new dorm room, her eyes darted around, noting the high ceilings and the faded tapestries hanging over stone walls. She felt like she’d stumbled into some medieval hall. The school brochure had failed to capture the eerie charm of it all, the shadows cast by the narrow, arched windows, the musty scent that hung in the air. She let out a small, excited squeak without realizing it.

Evie spun around to find her roommate watching her from across the room. “Oh, hey there!” She mumbled out in Shock