Mina woke to the soft, pale light filtering through the heavy curtains, a sense of unease still clinging to her from the night before. She lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, trying to convince herself that what she'd seen outside her window had been a figment of her imagination, a shadow, a trick of the light, anything but the creature with glowing eyes.
Her room was quiet, the only sound the faint rustling of leaves outside. But in the silence, her thoughts raced. What if it had been real? What if the academy wasn't just strange because of its Gothic architecture and mysterious students, but because it housed real monsters?
She shook her head, forcing herself to sit up. "It was just a dream," she muttered to herself, but the words felt hollow. The image of those glowing eyes was seared into her mind.
Dragging herself out of bed, Mina padded over to the window, peeking out through the crack in the curtains. The tree line was still, bathed in the early morning light. No shadowy figures, no glowing eyes. Just the quiet calm of a new day.
Mina sighed in relief but couldn't fully shake the tension coiled in her chest. She knew it wasn't normal to feel this unsettled, but Blackwell Academy wasn't exactly a normal place. From the moment she arrived, everything about the school had felt off, like it was hiding something beneath its pristine surface.
As she turned to get ready for class, Mina caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror. Her wild hair was even worse than usual, a tangled mess that looked like she'd been wrestling with her pillow all night. And maybe she had, in a way, considering how restless her sleep had been.
"Great," she muttered sarcastically. "I look like a horror movie extra."
She began the arduous task of taming her hair, half-listening to the faint sounds of students moving in the hall outside her room. Today was the first full day of classes, and while the idea of diving into her studies was exciting, the thought of facing all those students, many of whom still seemed way too perfect to be normal, was enough to tie her stomach in knots.
Pulling on her uniform, she straightened the tie and tried to ignore the creeping feeling of being watched. There was something about her dorm room that made her feel like there were eyes on her all the time. Maybe it was just her imagination, fueled by the strange events from the night before. Or maybe… it wasn't.
By the time Mina made her way to the main building, the halls were bustling with students heading to their first classes of the day. The sound of footsteps and chatter echoed off the stone walls, the atmosphere alive with energy. Blackwell Academy was a mix of old-world grandeur and modern academia, and as she passed through the hallways lined with portraits of past headmasters, Mina couldn't help but feel like the eyes in the paintings were following her.
"Morning!" Eliza's bright voice broke through the din, and Mina turned to see her friend bounding over with the same enthusiasm she always seemed to carry.
"Hey," Mina greeted, trying to force a smile. But her mind was still stuck on the creature outside her window, and she couldn't fully push aside the unease.
"You okay?" Eliza asked, her smile faltering just a little. "You seem… off."
Mina hesitated. Should she tell Eliza what she'd seen? Would she even believe her? It sounded crazy, and Mina wasn't sure if she even believed it herself. In the end, she decided against it. The last thing she needed was to look like she was losing her mind on the first day of classes.
"I'm fine," Mina said, giving a small shrug. "Just didn't sleep well. New place and all, you know?"
Eliza nodded sympathetically. "I get it. This place can be pretty overwhelming, especially at first. But hey, first day of classes! At least we get to dive into something interesting."
Mina tried to match Eliza's enthusiasm, but the feeling of dread still lingered at the back of her mind. As they made their way to their first class, History of Blackwell Academy, Mina couldn't help but wonder if maybe she should be paying more attention to what was happening around her, and what this place was really hiding.
The History of Blackwell Academy classroom was an imposing space, much like everything else in the school. The walls were lined with shelves crammed full of old, dusty books, some so ancient their spines had cracked and faded. The desks were arranged in neat rows, each one paired with a leather chair that looked like it belonged in an old Victorian study.
Professor Alden stood at the front of the room, his tall, thin frame casting long shadows under the dim light of the chandeliers. He was as stern and serious as the room itself, his sharp eyes scanning the students as they filed in. Mina couldn't help but feel like he was judging each of them, measuring their worth.
"Welcome to Blackwell Academy's history class," Professor Alden began, his voice carrying through the room with a certain gravitas. "Here, you will learn about the rich and complex history of our institution, a history intertwined with both greatness… and darkness."
Mina's interest piqued at the mention of darkness, and she leaned forward in her seat, trying to focus on every word. Professor Alden began recounting the academy's founding centuries ago, but it was when he mentioned the Shadow Wars that Mina's curiosity was truly captured.
"The Shadow Wars," he said, pacing slowly in front of the class, "were fought long ago, a conflict that nearly destroyed everything. It was a war between humans and creatures that most believed to be mere myth. Blackwell Academy played a crucial role in maintaining peace, creating an alliance between these beings and humanity."
Mina's stomach twisted at his words. Creatures? Was that what she had seen outside her window? Some remnant of this ancient war? She cast a glance around the room, wondering if anyone else seemed to be reacting to the professor's revelation. But most of the students appeared unaffected, as if this was just another lecture to them.
Her thoughts were interrupted when Professor Alden locked eyes with her for a brief second, his gaze sharp and piercing. It was as if he knew she was connecting the dots, as if he could sense her growing suspicion.
After class, as the students began to leave, Mina lingered by the door, her mind swirling with questions. What had really happened during these Shadow Wars? And how much did the academy still keep hidden?
Eliza caught up to her as they left the classroom, her usual upbeat energy radiating. "Can you believe all that history? This place is like something out of a novel!"
Mina nodded absently, still lost in thought. "Yeah, it's… something."
As they walked down the hall, Mina's thoughts were interrupted by a group of older students standing nearby, speaking in hushed tones. They didn't seem to notice her as she passed, but their conversation caught her attention.
"…the prophecy… it's starting. The signs are all there," one of the students whispered.
Another one nodded, glancing around nervously. "We can't let her find out. Not yet."
Mina's heart skipped a beat. Her? Were they talking about her?
She kept walking, pretending not to have heard them, but the words echoed in her mind. A prophecy? What were they hiding? And why did she have the distinct feeling that she was somehow at the center of it all?
Mina couldn't shake the eerie feeling that followed her after overhearing the older students' conversation. The words "prophecy" and "signs" clung to her like a shadow, deepening her sense that something was seriously wrong at Blackwell Academy. She needed answers, but where to start? The more she thought about it, the more she realized the library might hold some clues. After all, where else could secrets be buried so well than between the dusty pages of ancient tomes?
That evening, Mina sat in the Owlbeak common room, its familiar dim lighting and towering bookshelves doing little to ease the knot in her stomach. The other students seemed absorbed in their own studies, flipping through thick textbooks or whispering about their coursework, but Mina couldn't focus.
She had tried asking a few of the more approachable students about the Shadow Wars, but their responses were frustratingly vague, as if they either didn't know or were purposely withholding information. A few of them had merely smirked and shrugged her off, giving her nothing useful.
Frustration gnawed at her. It felt like every question she asked only led to more mysteries.
"I need to know more," she muttered to herself, tapping her fingers on the arm of her chair. "If no one will tell me, I'll just have to find out for myself."
Making up her mind, she stood up and headed toward the library. If there was any place that held the answers she was looking for, it was there.
The library was as imposing and mysterious as she remembered it from her brief visit with Viktor. The massive, towering shelves stretched up to the high, vaulted ceilings, packed with rows upon rows of books, some of them so old they looked as though they might crumble to dust at a touch.
The faint glow of the gas lamps cast long shadows across the marble floors, and the air was thick with the musty scent of ancient parchment and ink. It was easy to imagine secrets lurking in the shadows of this place, waiting to be uncovered.
Mina made her way toward the farthest corner of the library, where the oldest and least-visited books were kept. She had a hunch that whatever she was looking for wouldn't be in any of the more recent records, it had to be something ancient, something tied to the academy's earliest days.
As she moved deeper into the library, the sounds of other students faded, and soon she was alone among the towering stacks. The silence was almost oppressive, broken only by the soft creak of the floor beneath her feet.
She ran her fingers along the spines of the old books, scanning their titles. Some of them were in languages she couldn't recognize, others had symbols or sigils instead of words. Finally, she came across one that caught her eye, The Chronicles of the Shadow Wars.
Her heart leaped as she pulled the book from the shelf, the old leather cover creaking in protest. The title was faded, but there was no mistaking it. This was what she had been searching for.
Mina found a quiet table in the back of the library and opened the book carefully, the pages yellowed and fragile. The text inside was dense, written in a flowing, almost lyrical style, but as she read, pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place.
The Shadow Wars, it seemed, had been a brutal conflict between humans and creatures of the night, vampires, werewolves, demons, and other things that most people believed to be mere myth. Blackwell Academy had been founded as a sanctuary, a place where an uneasy truce had been brokered between the two sides. The academy's founders had worked to maintain the balance between the human and monster worlds, ensuring that neither would overstep their bounds.
But there was something else, something darker.
The book spoke of a prophecy, one that foretold the return of the monsters' power and the fall of the fragile peace. At the heart of this prophecy was a human, someone who would either preserve the balance or destroy it entirely. The book was frustratingly vague about the details, but it was enough to make Mina's heart race.
Could that be what the older students were talking about? Was the prophecy still in play? And why did she have the strange feeling that she might be connected to it?
As she flipped through the pages, her fingers trembling slightly, she found a passage that made her blood run cold. It spoke of an ancient pact, made long ago between the academy and a group known only as the Gentlemen. These men, the book said, were not entirely human, but they had been entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining the balance between the two worlds. They were powerful, secretive, and dangerous.
Mina sat back in her chair, her mind racing. The Gentlemen. That had to be Viktor's group, the elite students who seemed to hold so much power at the academy. It was no coincidence that they were connected to the prophecy, and if the book was right, they were far more than just students.
She closed the book, her heart pounding in her chest. She had learned more than she expected, but now that she knew, she felt a rising sense of dread. If the prophecy was real, and if Viktor and his friends were involved, then she was in way over her head.
Back in her dorm room, Mina couldn't sleep. The events of the day had left her mind buzzing with too many thoughts to quiet. The history of the academy, the prophecy, the Gentlemen, it all felt like the pieces of a puzzle that were starting to come together, but the picture they were forming was dark and dangerous.
She tossed and turned in bed, the uneasy feeling of being watched creeping over her once again. Her thoughts kept returning to the glowing eyes outside her window, the strange warnings Viktor had given her, and the cryptic conversations she had overheard.
There were too many secrets at Blackwell Academy, and Mina was beginning to realize that she might be at the center of them.
As she finally began to drift into a restless sleep, she heard a faint noise outside her window. Her heart skipped a beat, her eyes snapping open. There it was again, that soft rustling, followed by the unmistakable low growl she had heard the night before.
Mina's breath caught in her throat. She didn't want to look, didn't want to see what was lurking outside, but something inside her compelled her to move.
Slowly, she pushed the covers back and crept toward the window. Her fingers trembled as she reached for the curtain, pulling it aside just enough to peek out.
Her blood ran cold.
There, just beyond the tree line, was the same shadowy figure she had seen before. The glowing eyes were fixed on her, unblinking, as if watching her every move. The creature stood still, its form barely discernible in the darkness, but Mina could sense the power radiating from it.
She stumbled back from the window, her heart hammering in her chest. What was it? Why was it watching her?
Suddenly, she remembered Viktor's warning: Stay out of the shadows.
Her breath came in short, panicked gasps as she hurried back to her bed, pulling the covers over her head like a child afraid of monsters under the bed. But she knew the truth now, at Blackwell Academy, the monsters weren't just under the bed. They were everywhere, and they were watching.
Mina spent the rest of the night wide awake, her mind racing with fear and questions. She had uncovered more than she had bargained for, and now, it seemed, she was caught in something much bigger than she ever could have imagined. Whatever was out there, it wasn't going to leave her alone.
And she had a sinking feeling that this was only the beginning.