Outsider

"They say the devil once walked these halls... but the truth is far worse. He enrolled."

 -From The Seeker.

Wren's POV,

The slam of Piper's palm against the table sent my fork clattering, the sound sharp as a gunshot in the hum of the dining hall. Casimir didn't even flinch, just smirked, slow and serpentine, his low chuckle slithered through the sudden silence. His fingers dipped into his pocket, slow, deliberate... teasing. Piper's eyes locked onto the movement, her breath hitching as he slid a folded slip of paper from his breast pocket. Then, like the first crack of lightning before a storm, her lips split into a wild grin.

Her eyes locked onto it like a hawk spotting prey.

"Is that... ?" Her voice was a breathless whisper. "Is that what I think it is?!"

"Yep." His grin was all teeth. Mirroring hers.

"No. Way."

She snatched the paper midair when he tossed it, unfolding it with trembling fingers. Her eyes devoured the contents... pages upon pages of dense, inky equations, numbers spiraling like secrets too dangerous to speak aloud. A choked sound escaped her throat. For a moment, the world stilled. Then...

"Oh my god. Fuck yes. This... this is.." Her whisper was reverent. "This is... fuck, this is perfect. But who...? " Her head snapped up, eyes narrowing, suspicion flashing. "This isn't your work. It's not you. You didn't do this. "

Casimir's grin widened. "Nope."

I leaned in, catching a glimpse of dense, inked equations crawling down the page like spider legs. To simply put it was... a labyrinth of calculations, symbols bleeding into each other. Piper's fingers traced the lines like she was absorbing them through her skin. Then her head jerked up, eyes blazing.

"There's a new guy," Casimir's gaze flicked to me, lazy and deliberate. "Came today. Like you."

A jolt shot through me. Another outsider.

A flicker of kinship sparked in my chest. At least I wasn't the only fresh meat in this place.

Piper's shock was palpable her breath caught as she scanned the final lines. "No way. Impossible! He's never even sat in Malwick's class, and he cracked this? With this method?"

Casimir's nod was a slow, satisfied thing. They erupted into synchronized glee, high-fives... They high-fived so hard the sound cracked through the cafeteria, their laughter giddy, unhinged, a ridiculous handshake followed after, giggles spilling like stolen wine. Even Lily's lips twitched, though she hid it behind a sip of water, her eyes meeting mine with something unreadable.

"A new member!" Piper crowed.

Member? My pulse jumped. Member of what? 

My question died as they dissolved into laughter, giggling like they'd just pulled off a heist. Casimir's usual predatory grace replaced by boyish mischief. For a heartbeat, he looked almost human. He looked younger like this... the usual mask of cool detachment slipped. 

 "This is fucking good news, Cas," Piper added, bouncing in her seat. "And just in time for the Neverfall Ball,"

I stiffened, couldn't help it. "The what?" The name tasted like cheap velvet and bad decisions. Neverfall Ball? The name alone made me cringe.

Casimir's eyebrow arched. The look he gave me was so smug and unexpected. "Problem, Whitaker?"

I choked on my chicken, coughing violently as Lily sighed and thumped my back.

Lily took pity, dabbing her lips with a napkin. "It's Vermont's oldest tradition. A masked ball... music, dancing, secrets. At midnight, the masks come off." Her smirk was knife-sharp as she speared a piece of lettuce,. "Metaphorically. Sometimes literally."

Piper seized my hands, her grip feverish, screaming faces of her painted nails digged in. "It's epic. We have to go. Dates optional... boy, girl, whatever. Chaos mandatory. Just say yes."

"When?" I managed, already half-dreading the answer.

"Ten days," Lily said, her gaze drifting to the high windows, where the moon hung like a watchful eye.

Casimir flicked her forehead. She stabbed his ribs in retaliation. His pained grunt was absolutely performative... but the way his eyes lingered on me? That was real.

The bell tolled, deep and sonorous, scattering students like startled crows.

But as we rose, I caught the way Piper folded that paper, too carefully.

The gaze came again... heavier this time.

It was different too. I couldn't correctly pinpoint it but.. this. This one was.. malicious.

A slow, searing pressure building between my shoulder blades, like a brand pressed to bare skin. I turned, scanning the crowded dining hall. Nothing. No one.

But then something...?

A flicker of movement near the doors.

Casimir's eyes locked onto a shadowed figure seated alone at a distant table. A silent exchange passed between them, something dark and knowing. My stomach twisted.

I squinted through the candlelit haze.

Her.

Valerie.

Perched at the 334 table like a vulture over carrion, her amber-and-silver eyes catching the light in jagged, unnatural fragments. She wasn't eating. Wasn't speaking. Just watching, her fingers steepled beneath her chin, lips curled in a smile too sharp to be human.

But the true horror sat beside her.

A boy with no shadow.

His face was wrong... too symmetrical, too still, like a wax effigy left too long in the sun. His skin glowed sickly pale, veins beneath it too dark, too pronounced, like ink spilled beneath parchment.

And his hands.

Long, bone-white fingers curled around a knife, not to eat, but to tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

In time with my heartbeat.

Piper followed my gaze... and froze. Students jostled past her, but she didn't move. Didn't blink. Just stood there, her breath coming in shallow, panicked bursts.

Lily's hand clamped around my wrist like a manacle. "Don't look at him," she hissed.

Too late.

The boy's head tilted.

His neck cracked, the sound like branches snapping underfoot.

And then...

He smiled.

His lips stretched too wide, splitting his face like a wound, revealing rows of teeth filed to needlepoints.

But his eyes.

God, his eyes.

Amber.

Not human.

They swirled, liquid gold and black, pupils elongating into vertical slits, a predator's gaze, locking onto mine with terrifying focus.

"He's the reason," Casimir murmured, his voice a cold whisper against my ear, "Vermont doesn't need a principal."

What's that supposed to mean? What about Mr. Raven? I wanted to ask but my lips trembled under his gaze. I was afraid to breathe talk more of moving my mouth to speak.

Not giving me a moment to process my thoughts.

The world snuffed out.

Every candle in the hall died at once, plunging us into absolute darkness.

For three heartbeats, there was nothing.

No sound.

No breath.

Just the echo of that smile burned into my vision.

Then... Light returned.

Valerie's table stood empty.

Their plates sat licked clean, the wood beneath them stained red.

And the knife..

Embedded upright in the table, its blade still vibrating from the force of the thrust.

I looked around perplexed, people were still leaving like nothing happened. Like I was daydreaming. Though, I wasn't dreaming alone.

Piper exhaled, her voice trembling. "Fuck. He's hunting early this year."

What the fuck was that supposed to mean??

Lily's grip on me tightened, her nails drawing blood. "Run."

But as we turned,

A whisper brushed against my ear, so close I felt the breath against my skin.

"Soon."

My blood ran cold but it wasn't enough because I heard it.

Laughter.

From inside the walls.

I didn't sign up for shit like this. When I entered Vermont!