Chapter 55

The corridors were louder than usual that morning—too loud. It felt like the entire school was buzzing with whispers, footsteps echoing off polished tiles, and the sound of secrets being passed like wildfire.

"Did you hear she woke up?" a girl near the lockers said, voice trembling with excitement.

"Chloe? Yeah, my mom said the doctors called it a miracle."

"I heard she died for like... a whole minute."

"No, it was hours."

"Hours? That's impossible—"

I kept walking, trying to drown out their words, but every corner I turned, there it was again. Chloe's name floating around like smoke in the air.

It was surreal—just yesterday she'd been pale and lifeless in a hospital bed. Now she was back home, smiling for the cameras, and the mayor's office had already released a statement calling it a "medical wonder." I should've been happy. Relieved. But every time I thought about her lying there with Damon's words echoing in my head—she's turning—I felt sick.

Vanessa brushed past me, her curls bouncing as she slammed her locker shut. "They're treating it like a fairytale," she muttered. "Do you know how creepy that is? They're saying she saw heaven or something."

I sighed. "People always romanticize what they don't understand."

She turned to look at me, her expression softer now. "You didn't take that nap either, did you?"

"Nope."

She smiled sadly. "Join the club."

We walked down the hall together. It felt wrong being here, pretending everything was normal. The smell of cheap perfume, the sound of gum popping, the constant chatter—it was too normal. My best friend was home recovering from death, and the rest of the world was just... moving on.

That's when Vanessa stopped so abruptly I almost bumped into her.

"Did you feel that?" she whispered.

"Feel what?"

She looked ahead, eyes narrowing. Down the hallway, near the office, two students stood by the notice board. A boy and a girl. They were new—I could tell from the way everyone gave them the curious once-over. The boy was tall, with sharp cheekbones and quiet eyes that seemed to see everything. The girl—she had this presence, like she carried her own atmosphere around her.

Vanessa's voice dropped. "There's something... different about them."

I raised an eyebrow. "Different how?"

She turned to me, serious. "You're going to think I'm crazy, but I can feel it. The air around them—it's heavy. Like... magic."

"Magic," I repeated flatly.

She gave me a look. "Don't start, Liz."

"I'm not starting, I just—Vanessa, we literally just got through one supernatural crisis. Maybe let's not walk straight into another one?"

But I already knew that look on her face. The determined, I'm-doing-this-even-if-you-tackle-me look.

So I sighed. "Fine. But I'm coming with you."

\---

We waited until the hallway emptied between periods. The new kids were standing near the lockers now, flipping through their schedules. The girl's long braids caught the sunlight from the window, her posture stiff, guarded. The boy leaned against the locker beside her, calm but watchful.

Vanessa nudged me. "Now."

I muttered, "This is a terrible idea," under my breath, but followed anyway.

"Hey!" Vanessa called, all sunshine and friendliness as she approached. "You guys are new, right? I'm Vanessa. This is my friend, Elizabeth."

The girl turned, polite but cautious. "Hi."

Vanessa smiled. "Welcome to Saint Joseph's High. It's kind of chaotic but you'll get used to it."

"Thanks," the boy said. His voice was low, smooth. "I'm Micah. This is my sister, Layla."

Layla nodded once. No smile. Just... studying us. Like she was measuring something.

There was a moment of awkward silence before Vanessa spoke again, her tone a little more careful. "So, um, I know this is going to sound weird, but... are you—" she lowered her voice—"like me?"

Layla's eyes sharpened instantly. "Like you?"

"Yeah, you know..." Vanessa hesitated, glancing around. "Witchy."

Layla's jaw tightened. "No."

The air between us shifted. Cold. Heavy.

Vanessa blinked. "Oh, sorry, I just—"

"I'm not one of you," Layla said sharply. "And neither is my brother. We don’t associate with your kind."

I frowned. "Wait—hold on? Our kind As in—"

Layla cut me off. "Stay away from us."

Her tone wasn't angry—it was fearful. Like she wasn't just warning us for her own sake.

"Hey," Vanessa started, reaching out, "I didn't mean to—"

But before she could finish, Layla stepped back, eyes flashing. And suddenly Vanessa was in the air.

It happened so fast I barely registered it. One moment she was standing, the next she was flying backward, slammed against the lockers with a loud ‘bang’ before crashing onto the floor.

"Vanessa!" I screamed, dropping to my knees beside her.

Micah's eyes widened—he looked genuinely shocked—but he didn't move to help. He just grabbed his sister's arm. "Layla, stop. Let's go."

She looked shaken too, like she hadn't meant to do it. But then her expression hardened again. "They shouldn't have come near us."

And just like that, they were gone.

\---

I turned back to Vanessa, who groaned softly as she sat up, rubbing the back of her head.

"What the hell was that?" I asked, half-panicked, half-angry.

She coughed out a small laugh. "I think we just met more of  them."

"'Them' as in witches or people who throw others across the hallway without blinking?"

She winced but managed a small smile. "Both, maybe?"

"Vanessa, you could've broken your neck!" I snapped.

She looked at me, eyes fierce despite the pain. "Liz, don't you get it? They knew what I was. They  felt it. That girl—she's like me. She's one of us."

"Yeah, and she just sent you flying across the hallway like a frisbee!"

"Okay, bad start," she admitted, brushing dust off her uniform. "But still. If there are others out there, I need to know. My Grams warned me New Orleans was changing—this proves it."

I sighed, helping her stand. "Your Grams also told you not to mess with things you don't understand."

"I don't care," she said stubbornly. "If there are witches here, if there's some kind of energy shifting—I'm not going to hide from it."

Her determination both terrified and impressed me. Typical Vanessa. She'd face down the devil himself if it meant getting answers.

As we walked toward the cafeteria, the gossip had already spread. People were talking about a "fight" in the hallway, others saying they saw Vanessa levitate. Of course, the human brain makes its own excuses—"bad lighting," "wind," "weird prank."

But I knew better.

Something new had entered our lives again, something that carried the same eerie chill I'd felt since the night Chloe was attacked.

The universe had a cruel sense of humor. We'd just barely survived one supernatural disaster, and now it was inviting another to school.

Vanessa leaned closer to me as we walked. "You know what's funny?" she whispered.

"What?"

She smiled wryly. "You keep saying we need to stay away from trouble, but trouble keeps finding us."

I didn't laugh. Not this time. Because deep down, I could feel it too—the air around us was shifting, the same way it did before the storm hits.

And this time, it wasn't just vampires.