Free Web NovelChapter 154: Vince Vale Waits.
Students recognized me as I walked through the campus. I could hear it moving through the groups, the specific murmur of people sharing information, faces turning, the particular attention of a student population that had heard something and was confirming it with their own eyes.
One of them who went outside and came back.
"You’re Bram, right?" A girl stepped directly into my path, books clutched tight to her chest.
"Yeah," I said, sidestepping her without breaking stride, boots scuffing against the polished stone walkway.
Up the stairs. Each step echoed. Into the classroom.
The front desks sat empty. No Vince. No purple hair, no sudden drop in temperature that always announced his presence. I still didn’t know if he was dead or recovering somewhere in the Vale mansion under Sophia’s careful management. The system had stayed silent about him since the forest.
No Harmione either. Probably still resting. And at the back, Azure’s seat was empty.
I stopped in the middle of the room. Every student turned to look at me. The entire class went still, the specific collective pause of people waiting to see what the interesting thing would do next.
Arms caught my shoulders from behind.
"Bram." Isabelle’s voice, bright and breathless.
I turned. She crashed into the embrace fully, face pressing hard against my chest, arms locking tight around my back. Her hair smelled like citrus and something sweet. She held on for a long second, then lifted her face, eyes shining.
"I can’t believe you’re back," she said, voice cracking slightly. "Does Anna know?"
"Not yet."
Her eyes went wide. "She’d lose it." She glanced at her watch, then apparently decided a call wasn’t enough. She pulled away and sprinted out of the classroom, feet pounding the floor, the speed of someone carrying news too big to wait.
I walked out and took the stairs down, hand sliding along the cool railing.
Azure, I thought, weaving through clusters of students. She’d be in her room.
"Abram."
I stopped mid-step.
Annabelle was coming toward me fast, Mable right behind her, Isabelle trailing both of them and still slightly out of breath from her sprint.
I stood still and let them come.
Annabelle didn’t slow down.
She hit me at full speed, arms locking around my neck, her whole body slamming into mine with stored-up momentum that nearly rocked me back a step. Fresh soap and her signature perfume flooded my senses, sweet and clean and unmistakably her. Her chest pressed tight against mine, heartbeat hammering through her shirt.
"You came back for me," she said against my neck. Not a question.
"Told you I wouldn’t die outside," I answered, voice low.
She squeezed harder, fingers digging into the back of my neck, then tilted her head and kissed the side of my throat, warm, quick, lips lingering just long enough to leave a faint damp mark before she pulled back.
Mable came forward next. Unhurried. Graceful in that effortless way she always moved, new braid locks threaded with small gold beads catching the hallway light, her deep chocolate skin glowing with the quiet health of someone who had been sleeping, eating, and leveling properly while I was gone.
"I prayed for you," she said, stepping in close. "Every day. I’m sorry I didn’t come to say goodbye."
"It’s okay," I said, wrapping my arms around her.
Annabelle was back before we finished, pressing in from the side. Then Isabelle joined, smaller arms circling my waist. The four of us stood tangled in the middle of the hallway, bodies warm, breaths mingling, the specific knot of people who had become something to each other without ever planning it.
We finally stepped apart. Three girls facing me now, Annabelle’s excitement barely contained, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
"Are you staying?" she asked, eyes bright.
"Just visiting. I head back in the morning."
"May told us," Annabelle said, tone already layered with opinions. "That you’re at the capital now. Working for Mable’s father."
"Yes."
"The government is closing all ability schools," Mable added, voice calm but serious. "Heard it from my father."
"Really?" Isabelle’s eyes widened.
"Results aren’t coming fast enough," Mable said. "It’s only a matter of time."
"So what are you doing right now?" Annabelle asked, looking straight at me.
"Walking around," I said. "Finding my way back into the place."
"Then you still have time," Mable said, reading something on her watch. She glanced at the other two. "Let’s give him space. We’ll link up later."
They each gave me a quick peck, Annabelle’s lingering a second longer, lips soft and warm against my cheek. Then they turned and walked back toward the main building together, heads already close, voices rising as they planned something I wouldn’t hear about until it arrived.
I started walking toward Vale 2.
This school had built something in me before I even knew what I was being built into. The corridors, the library, the classroom where Daphne had clapped her hands and a fat boy had learned about consequences. All of it compressed into the few weeks between the Life Layer and the plain.
I passed the exact spot outside Vale 2 where Celestine had put her teeth in my neck. The memory hit sharp, the cold of her mouth, colder than Vince’s, more precise, more patient. The bell cutting through the dark. Her pulling back with my blood on her lips, asking what I was.
You’ll find out soon enough, I thought. You’re on the list.
Pour into them, Eleanor’s voice echoed again. Don’t spare any.
I went up the stairs, boots quiet on the stone. I reached Azure’s door and knocked twice. Nothing.
Where are you, I thought. Are you okay.
I pushed the door. It swung open without resistance. Vince Vale sat on her bed. freeweɓnovel.cѳm
Not the broken, raging version I had fought in the forest. This was the composed one. The one that walked into classrooms and made the temperature drop. Purple hair perfectly in place, all black clothes, completely still. He was staring at his own reflection in the mirror on the opposite wall.
His reflection found mine in the glass first. freewebnøvel.com
He was in full vampire form. Veins stood out dark beneath pale, almost translucent skin. His eyes carried that unnatural depth, pupils dilated wide. The sharp tips of his fangs were visible even at rest, resting lightly against his lower lip.
His head turned slowly. Real eyes met mine.
