Chapter 3 – She Smelled Like Rain
Humans are loud. Predictable. Emotional.
And yet… they're harder to understand than I expected.
A week passed since the hallway incident. The boy I saved? Never spoke to me again. Maybe he feared me. Good. He should.
I didn't come here to make friends.
I came here to survive. To return.
But lately… I felt something odd.
It started on a cloudy morning. The kind of day where the sky forgets how to shine.
I was walking to school, hands in my pockets, ignoring the world as usual. Then… I saw her.
She was standing under a broken umbrella, staring at the clouds. Not trying to hide from the rain. Just… standing there. As if waiting for something that would never come.
She didn't notice me. Or maybe she did. But she didn't look.
Her hair was dark brown, long and messy from the wind. She wore the same uniform, skirt wet from the drizzle, but she didn't care.
Everyone else ran. She stood.
And something about her… smelled like rain.
Not the scent, but the feeling. Sad. Quiet. Heavy.
That's when it hit me — her emotions.
Grief.
It flooded out of her like a whisper. Cold and slow. The kind of pain that doesn't scream, but lingers.
I could feel it in the air. My veins warmed. My body reacted.
This wasn't just sadness. It was deep. Real.
I didn't move toward her. I didn't say a word. I just stood there, a few feet away, and let my body drink in the feeling.
And for the first time in days…
My power stirred stronger.
In class, she sat near the window — two rows behind me. I'd never paid attention to her before.
Her name was Elara.
Soft voice. Kept to herself. Always looking out the window like she wanted to escape. No one really talked to her, but she didn't seem to mind.
I didn't plan to talk
to her either.
It happened during gym class.
The teacher made us run laps. I didn't care. My body was strong — even in this sealed state, I could outrun anyone.
But halfway through, I noticed Elara had stopped. Kneeling. Hand clutching her side.
"Hey, Elara!" someone shouted. "You okay?"
She didn't respond.
People circled. Some panicked. The teacher rushed over.
I stayed still.
Her energy dropped. Her emotions flared — pain, fear, embarrassment. I could taste them.
And yet… I felt something else, deep in my chest.
A strange… pull.
It wasn't just her emotions.
It was… her.
They sent her to the infirmary. Everyone else went back to running. But I slipped away.
Silently. No one noticed.
When I reached the nurse's room, I waited outside, leaning against the wall. I didn't know why.
Minutes passed.
Then the door opened.
She stepped out, holding a paper bag of medicine, eyes slightly dazed.
She looked at me — finally.
Those eyes… soft brown, but cloudy. Like they'd seen too much, too soon.
"You followed me?" she asked quietly.
"No," I replied. "I was already here."
She stared for a moment… then gave the faintest smile.
"…Liar."
She walked past me.
But as she did, her shoulder brushed mine.
My heart… skipped.
What the hell was that?
Back in my room that night, I sat with my hand outstretched. My palm shimmered with dark mist — stronger than before.
Her emotions fed me. Not just because she was sad.
But because she was real.
In this fake, noisy world, she was one of the few who wore her pain like a second skin.
And for some reason… I wanted to understand it.
I'm not human. I'm a vampire prince. I was born in shadows, raised in blood.
Love? Feelings? Weakness?
They don't belong in my world.
But then again… this isn't my world anymore.
And somehow, in this world of sheep…
She might be the wolf in disguise.
Not feed on it.
Understand it.
But fate is a strange thing.