Chapter 1 Shadows in the Hallway
Luna's POV
"Cheap whore! Suck my ass, loser! You think you're the prettiest? You're just an ugly bitch!"
The words hit me like stones. Laughter erupted around me, bouncing off the lockers and making my ears ring.
Crumpled tissues flew through the air, one smacking my shoulder, another landing in my silver hair. I forced my shoulders back and kept walking, with my chest tight, and my stomach twisting, like I had swallowed fear.
I had practiced this act for years, pretending to be normal, I kept my head down, with a faint smile. Keep walking. Don’t give them the satisfaction. I whispered to myself, but today, it hurt more than usual. Maybe because I was tired. Tired of the whispers, the pointing, the endless parade of cruelty.
“Come on, Luna, don’t look like that. Smile for us!” the dark-haired girl mocked, throwing another tissue in my path. I picked it up, tossed it into the trash with a flick of my fingers, but it felt meaningless.
Their laughter only grew louder and sharper. Every insult was bothering me, like tiny claws eating away at my skin.
“You think anyone likes you? Pathetic!” A boy leaned against the lockers, arms crossed, watching me like I was a show.
I wanted to disappear. To vanish, and erase my silver hair and amber eyes, the way I stuck out like a sore thumb. But I couldn’t, not yet. I clutched my books to my chest, walking carefully, step by step, pretending the hallway was empty, pretending I didn’t hear the whispers and muffled laughter trailing behind me.
And then I felt it, a tingle along my skin, almost electric. The air itself seemed charged. I stopped for a second, my heart pounding, as a subtle shift brushed through my senses. I had felt it before, in the forest, when I walked among the trees alone. A pulse, a rhythm, and a hint that the world had layers I wasn’t supposed to notice. But here, in fluorescent-lit hallways, it was stronger. I swallowed, forcing the feeling down. Focus. Survive.
“Watch her trip!” someone shouted, and the hall exploded in laughter.
I didn’t. My legs moved with precision.
Step by step. Keep going.
At my locker, I spun the dial and grabbed my notebook, pressing it to my chest. The laughter faded slightly as the hall emptied with the sound of the bell, but the tension lingered. Every glance over my shoulder made my skin crawl.
Then I saw him.
He leaned casually against the far wall, the last person I expected to notice me.
Kai Blackthorne, the new transfer student with icy blue eyes and dark hair falling across his forehead. He didn’t laugh, he didn’t mock, and he didn’t point. He just…watched. Calm and intense. Something about the way he looked at me made the hair on my arms rise.
It wasn’t an attraction, at least, not just that. It was something deeper. Something I couldn’t name. My chest tightened, and the tingle from before surged stronger.
My instincts screamed that he wasn’t like anyone else. And for the first time, the fear in my stomach mingled with curiosity.
The next day at lunch, the bullies didn’t let up. They cornered me near the stands, pushing my books onto the ground.
“You’re pathetic, Luna. Everyone knows it,” the dark-haired girl spat. “No one likes a freak.”
I dropped to my knees to gather my things, trembling, not from fear, not entirely, but from a strange energy that pulsed through me, almost like my own heartbeat syncing with the world around me.
And then it happened.
A paper cup sailed through the air, aimed at my head. I swiped it instinctively, but the moment I did, the wind shifted. The cup froze midair, spinning slowly as if caught in some invisible current, before landing softly on the ground behind me.
My eyes widened. I hadn’t moved it. Not consciously.
The bullies stared. I stared. The air seemed thick, heavy, buzzing with tension.
And Kai, he appeared then, silent as a shadow, stepping between me and the worst of them. His hand flicked toward one of the girls, and a sudden gust of wind sent her balance staggering.
“You should leave her alone,” he said, his voice low, and smooth, with an edge I couldn’t ignore.
They laughed at first, until the air shimmered faintly around him, almost like heat rising off pavement in the summer. The laughter died, replaced by uneasy glances and whispered curses as Kai’s gaze locked on each of them in turn.
I didn’t understand it. I shouldn’t have understood it. But something inside me was dormant, hidden, and something I had always felt but never controlled, pulsed in response. My skin prickled, and my fingers tingled, and I knew in my bones that I could feel his power…like it was reaching out to mine.
And then it ended as quickly as it began.
Kai stepped back, and the bullies ran away, muttering empty threats that didn't scare me. He turned to me, his eyes dark and unreadable.
“You need to learn control,” he said softly, almost a warning. “Before it’s too late.”
I opened my mouth to ask what he meant, but the sound caught in my throat. Behind him, in the shadows near the stands, I saw movement that didn’t belong, a figure watching, tall, cloaked in black, barely a step away, yet impossible to miss. Its eyes glowed faint red under the flickering sunlight.
I blinked, and it vanished.
My heartbeat raced. My chest burned.
And I realized, whatever this was, whatever the pull I felt in the forest and around Kai, I was no longer safe. Not at school, not in town, not anywhere.
The wind whispered through the trees at the edge of the field, and I thought I heard a voice. My own name.
Luna…
I spun around, but the hall was empty.
The stands, the lockers, the cafeteria, it was all normal ag
ain. Too normal.
Something was coming.
And I had no idea if I would survive it.