Your studies at Hampden were your salvation. You finally found the meaning of your life. Before that, the only things that accompanied you through life were books and therapy sessions.

Everyone told you that you couldn't get into Professor Julian Morrow's elite class. But you were drawn to the world of ancient Greece. In your dreams, you saw yourself in the walls of this enigmatic professor's office, pacing the room and gazing out the window at the crimson sunset.

But Professor Morrow unexpectedly liked your determination, your knowledge of languages, and, to be honest, the professor liked the fact that your family was connected to the governor of the state you came from. You were the perfect candidate in the man's eyes. Smart, pretty, and from an influential family. So by mid-September, you were already sitting in your Greek class with a happy smile on your face.

It was February. It was a typical Vermont February, when everyone shivered from the cold and tried to stay at home and warm up after a shift at work or after a college class. And it was during this fierce, biting month that Professor Julian Morrow had his birthday.

You were surprised when the man invited you to dinner on his birthday. He mentioned that he usually celebrated his birthday with his best students. It was this phrase that caught your attention. You felt special. You enjoyed the fact that this wise man was allowing you into his world. Julian even joked that it was his special club.

You were standing in the living room of the professor's expensive apartment, feeling a bit nervous. You could see a couple of men in their thirties standing in the doorway of Julian's office, sipping on whiskey and ice, engaging in a conversation with the professor. However, your attention was drawn to a young man who had arrived at the dinner party as the last guest. He was carrying a heavy black coat, and his piercing blue eyes seemed to penetrate your soul even through the lenses of his glasses. You found yourself frozen in place. This man was unlike the others who had graduated from Julian's class years ago, and he seemed unattainable. This young man seemed to be carved from marble.

"I didn't know we had a new member in our circle." he said in a low voice. "May I ask your name?"