Whispers in the Hall

The next morning started quietly.

Too quiet.

Eliot opened his eyes to the golden light streaming through the half-open curtains. He blinked, took a breath, and for once, there was no screaming in his head, no nightmare yanking him out of sleep.

Just the smell of pancakes.

Wait. Pancakes?

He stumbled out of his room, hair a mess, t-shirt twisted around his torso, and walked into the kitchen to see Selena humming while flipping something on the stove.

She wore his apron. Badly.

It was inside out, and the "I'm silently correcting your grammar" print was backward.

"You're cooking?" he said slowly.

She turned, pan in one hand, smirk already loaded. "I figured I should reward my favorite blood bank for being such a good donor yesterday."

"With… pancakes?"

"With questionable pancakes," she admitted, flipping one that was more charcoal than golden brown.

"It's the thought that counts."

Eliot sat down, still groggy. The plate she handed him steamed gently. He poked it.

It jiggled.

"That's not supposed to happen."

"Eat it anyway," she said, sitting across from him with a grin. "Vampire chef privilege."

"You're not even eating any."

"I already had my breakfast." She winked.

"Still savoring it."

Eliot flushed. "Stop making that weird."

Selena leaned forward, chin on her hands. "Make me."

They walked to school like nothing was strange, like two normal teens bantering their way through an average morning. Except Selena's eyes glinted red in the shadows, and Eliot's scarf was suspiciously high up his neck.

Still, there was something peaceful about it.

Until they got to the school gate.

Selena stepped into the courtyard, and like sharks scenting blood, every male student within visual range subtly, or not so subtly, turned to stare.

Eliot was used to being invisible. Now, walking beside her, he felt like he was wearing a neon "WHY HIM?" sign.

A guy bumped into him and didn't even apologize.

Selena, unfazed, laced her arm through his.

"Let's make today fun," she whispered.

"That's what I'm afraid of."

The real tension started mid-morning.

Eliot noticed it first. A feeling. A pull.

He couldn't explain it, but it was like… someone was behind him. Always. Watching.

He'd turn, and there'd be nothing. A backpack. A window. A hallway mirror. But the feeling didn't go away.

During lunch, while Selena pretended not to be jealous of a girl asking Eliot about class notes, he spotted her again.

A girl in their year.

Thin, pale, with long dark bangs that covered one eye. She stood near the vending machines, motionless. Her head tilted slightly, not staring at Eliot, but not looking away either.

He nudged Selena. "Hey. That girl. Over there"

Selena looked. The girl was gone.

"You okay?" she asked.

Eliot rubbed his arms. "Yeah… just thought someone was staring."

The feeling got worse.

By the time classes ended, he couldn't shake the sense of being followed not just from behind, but from everywhere. The air felt too heavy. The hallway shadows are too deep.

Selena noticed.

As they walked to grab a snack from the school store, she casually looped her pinkie around his.

"You're tense," she asked with a worried.

"I'm fine," he replied with a sharp but disturbed tone.

"Liar." She looked around, eyes scanning. "You're not crazy. Someone's watching you."

Eliot slowed. "You saw it?"

"No. But I feel it."

They stepped into a quieter wing of the school building, older, barely used. As they passed the empty art room, Selena suddenly froze.

"...There."

Eliot turned. At the end of the corridor, near the stairwell, the pale girl from earlier stood motionless.

Selena's smile dropped.

"Stay here."

Before Eliot could speak, Selena blurred forward too fast for human eyes, a sudden gust of wind blowing Eliot's hair back.

But the girl moved too.

She twisted unnaturally, her limbs cracking as she leapt back into the shadows and vanished. Not ran. Vanished.

Selena stood frozen, scanning.

Then cursed under her breath.

"Not human."

She returned to Eliot's side, eyes narrowed.

"That girl's not what she looks like."

"So what now?"

Selena exhaled. "We hunt."