TERRA'S POV
Moments after Annie vanished, Sam found Charles collapsed in the restroom, deathly cold. He rushed him to the clinic, half-dragging, half-carrying him.
The clinic reeked of antiseptic and panic. Charles lay sprawled on the cot skin clammy, eyes half-lidded, breath shallow. Mrs Adams stood beside Sam while Raymond, sleeves rolled up, did everything in his power to stabilize him.
"What happened" Mrs Adams demanded turning to Sam who looked shaken
"I... I don't know," He stammered. "I went into the restroom and found him like that."
Then Mrs Adams turned sharply to Raymond, her voice low but urgent. "Mr. Raymond? Anything?"
He shook his head grimly. "Nothing physical explains this. Whatever's wrong… it's beyond normal medicine."
Minutes passed, the tension stretching the air was tight then Charles stirred.
Raymond leaned in. "Charles? Can you hear me?"
Charles blinked rapidly, then winced as he sat up slightly. "What… where am I?"
"The clinic," Mrs Adams said gently. "What happened to you?"
He stared at the ceiling, disoriented. "There was a girl… in the restroom. She kept talking to me like she knew me. Said weird things… asked how I'd survive."
Mrs Adams narrowed her eyes. "What's her name?"
"Um… Angel? No, wait… Annie. Yeah. Annie."
Both Mrs Adams and Raymond exchanged a sharp, silent look.
"Annie?" Raymond repeated.
Charles nodded. "She was pale, cold. Her eyes… her eyes weren't right. Then she touched me and... I blacked out."
"Are you sure?" Mrs Adams asked, voice tightening.
"Would I lie about this?!"
Before another word could be spoken, Charles's body convulsed violently.
His back arched off the cot as if some invisible force had yanked him upward. His limbs flailed, jerking and spasming with unnatural intensity. The lights overhead flickered, shadows dancing madly across the clinic walls
"Charles!" Sam shouted, heart leaping to his throat. He didn't dare move, paralyzed by the sight. "What's happening?!"
A horrible, guttural sound tore from Charles's throat as foam bubbled up and spilled from the corners of his mouth. His eyes rolled back, showing only the whites. He choked, limbs thrashing like a marionette with tangled strings.
"Hold him down!" Raymond barked.
Sam hesitated, then lunged to help, gripping Charles's shoulder as gently as he could while Raymond pressed down across the chest murmuring spells under his breath.
"He's burning up," Raymond said grimly. "His temperature's inhuman."
Mrs Adams voice cracked. "What the hell is going on?!"
Raymond's hands glowed faintly with shimmering blue light as he tried another cooling incantation. Sweat beaded on his brow. "Whatever magic Annie used, it's killing him."
Despite Raymond's efforts to anchor his thrashing limbs, Charles's body suddenly went rigid.
The room plunged into eerie silence, save for the dripping faucet and the thrum of fluorescent lights.
Raymond slowly withdrew his hands. The glow faded from his fingers. He stared down at Charles's lifeless form, his shoulders sagging.
"…We lost him," he murmured.
Sam stumbled back a step, his breath catching. "W-What?" His voice was thin. "He was fine a minute ago..."
Charles corpse laid on the cot, his skin paled rapidly, turning ashen, then tinged with a sickly green hue. Dark veins spiderwebbed across his neck and temples. His cheeks hollowed. His lips faded to a bluish grey. The transformation was slow, grotesque and deeply unnatural.
"My God…" Mrs Adams whispered. "Why does he look like that?"
Raymond stood, eyes still fixed on the body. His jaw clenched.
"Because…" he said bitterly, "he's been dead. A long time."
Mrs. Adams's face went pale. "That doesn't make any sense"
Raymond turned slowly to face her. "Not entirely it looks like he's been kept alive by enchantments."
Mrs. Adams exhaled shakily, pinching the bridge of her nose. "What are we supposed to tell his parents now?"
Silence hung heavy in the room, no one had an answer.
...
Finally, the weekend arrived, as usual, Pink and her girls went to have fun at the beach and I wasn't invited.
I spent the day in my room, wrapped in a blanket fortress, watching back-to-back movies on my laptop. Not exactly the dream Saturday but it was drama-free, at least.
Around noon, the sound of laughter floated through my window high-pitched, carefree, and laced with the sting of exclusion. Everyone's having a fun weekend, I turned the volume up, pretending I didn't care.
By the third movie, I had wrapped myself in a blanket like armor and eaten way too much microwave popcorn. Just as the credits rolled, my phone buzzed. A text from Jesse:
"You alive in there? Wanna hang?"
I stared at the screen for a second, debating. He wasn't exactly my go-to person, but after everything we'd been through earlier this week, he felt more real than the girls tanning in matching bikinis.
"Sure," I typed back. "Meet me at the smoothie joint?"
Maybe the day wasn't going to be about being left out after all.
...
He showed up ten minutes late unsurprisingly wearing a hoodie two sizes too big.
"You look like someone who's either been dumped or cursed," he said, nudging my shoulder as we stepped inside.
"Neither," I replied. "Just a girl recovering from social exile."
He laughed, the sound low and familiar. "Well, lucky for you, exile comes with smoothies and sarcasm."
The smoothie joint was quiet just the hum of the blender and the faint buzz of lo-fi music. We grabbed a corner booth, far from the windows, and ordered two berry blasts. Mine with extra chia seeds, his with extra attitude.
"So," Jesse said, stirring his drink lazily, "what's it like sharing rooms with Pink now?"
I groaned. "Imagine a goldfish bowl. And you're the fish no one feeds. That about covers it."
He grinned. "Honestly? Sounds better than being swarmed by hormone-crazed fan girls every five minutes."
We talked about random things, favorite movies, weird teachers, whether Caveroop's cafeteria pizza was actually edible. Honestly, it was kind of refreshing.
At one point, Jesse pointed out a kid struggling to carry four smoothies at once and made me laugh so hard mango shot out my nose. Gross!
Eventually, the sun started dipping and the air took on that soft golden glow only weekends seemed to have. We left the smoothie place and walked slowly, no real destination in mind.
"Thanks for today," I said. "this was the kind of break I needed."
Jesse glanced sideways at me. "Anytime, exile girl."
We bumped shoulders gently and kept walking, our steps in sync, like maybe, just maybe I wasn't as alone as I thought.
That night, Summer walked home alone beneath the soft hum of streetlights. The warmth of the day still clung to her skin, scented with salt and sand. She had spent the afternoon at the beach with Pink and her friends, laughing beneath the sun, letting the crashing waves drown out all the chaos. For a few hours, everything felt normal.
Then, a strange stillness fell over the block, quiet, nobody in sight. No crickets, not even the breeze stirred the leaves in the trees. The air felt thick, as if the night itself was holding its breath.
A chill ran down her spine.
Why was it this quiet?
She glanced at her phone, almost curfew.
"I better get home fast," she mumbled to herself. Her house was just a few blocks away.
As she strolled down the street, she noticed a car parked with its door wide open. From inside came moans.
Great.
Another couple making out on a quiet night.
But it was almost curfew.
As she walked past for a better look, she froze. A figure was hunched over another, a lifeless body slumped beneath, pressed against the car seats. The sound came next: the sickening, wet noise of feeding. Blood shimmered in the dim light, trickling from the lips of the figure on top and pooling beneath the victim.
Summer's breath hitched.
A vampire.
Terror gripped her. Her legs screamed to run.
"Run now before you end up like Terra!"
She'd heard what happened how close I'd come to dying in a vampire's grasp. The horror was still fresh in her memory.
But something about this vampire stopped her from bolting.
There was a strange familiarity to the figure, the shape of her shoulders, the curve of the jaw, the dark hair, tousled and damp with blood, stirred something deep in Summer's chest.
The vampire turned slightly, and the moonlight caught the face, her heart dropped.
"Regina?"
Regina scoffed as she pulled away from her victim and turned to her sister.
"Hello, sis," she said with a smile, wiping blood from her lips with the back of her hand. Her fangs slowly receded.
"Wh-what are you doing?"
"Well, what does it look like I'm doing?"
Still shaken, Summer sputtered, "We... we don't feed."
Regina let out a short laugh. "I do now."
"What happened to you?"
"You wouldn't understand, baby sis."
Summer, almost in tears, whispered, "Why? What have you done to yourself?"
Regina smirked. "I upgraded. Now go home because I can smell you." She sniffed the air licking her lips "And I'm still hungry."
Summer hesitated, but realizing the threat was real, she ran as fast as she could, to the house slamming the door behind her and bursting into tears.
Peeking through the window, she saw Regina watching her. Her eyes were dark, black veins etched across her face as she smiled… then slowly vanished into the mist that began to spread across the street.
Summer sobbed, whispering to herself, "What have you done?"
...
Monday came fast, boring and hectic as usual.
At least I had enjoyed the weekend, that rare slice of peace, even if short-lived.
But the moment I stepped into the crowded hallways of Caveroop High, the noise, the chaos, the tension, it wrapped around me like a heavy fog.
Class was normal. Notes, half-listening, dodging glares from people who still thought I was some kind of freak show.
Between second and third period, I saw Jesse.
We practically bumped into each other outside the science wing. He was cool, calm. He looked... different. Or maybe I saw him differently now. He'd always been a total jerk, a coldhearted asshole but now... he seemed warm. His charm felt brighter, and I couldn't help but stare.
"Hey," he said, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.
"Oh... hey," I replied, snapping back to reality and hugging my books tighter. We paused. The silence between us felt way too loud.
"You look…" Jesse started, but before he could finish, Pink practically appeared between us all perfume, lip gloss, and way-too-obvious intentions.
"There you are, Jesse!" she beamed, looping her arm through his and ignoring me completely. "I was looking everywhere for you! You're still coming to the pool party Friday, right? I saved you a spot next to me."
Jesse blinked, clearly caught off guard. "Uh… I don't…"
"You have to," she cooed, tightening her grip like she was claiming him for sport. "It won't be the same without you."
I stepped back, rolling my eyes. A pool party? Really?
I walked past them and went to class.
We had Chemistry, and Summer, my partner wasn't in school. That was weird. She always showed up early, and she never missed practicals. Maybe she was sick or something. I tried to shake it off and partnered with Genora instead.
During recess, I stopped by the café to grab a quick lunch and spotted a quiet corner near the window where Genora and Sam were already seated. They were deep in conversation about something nerdy, probably cryptid sightings again but smiled when they saw me.
"Hey," I greeted, sliding into the seat across from them. My tray clinked softly as I set it down.
Then it happened.
A cold splash soaked my back and shoulders. I flinched as sugary liquid dripped down my neck, seeping into the collar of my shirt.
The café went dead silent, every head turned.
Pink stood over me, holding an empty cup and a smirk sharper than a knife. "Oops," she said with a smirk. "Sorry, thought you were the trash can."
Clary, standing beside her, doubled over in laughter. I blinked, stunned, drenched. My hands clenched into fists.
Across the café, Eska sat with Zack, her gaze fixed on me. She didn't laugh, didn't even blink.
I sighed and rolled my eyes, wiping my arms with a napkin. My shirt clung to my skin, sticky and uncomfortable.
Genora jumped up immediately, digging tissues out of her bag. "Here, here, let me help."
As she dabbed at my back, I turned to Pink slowly. My voice came out calm. "What now?"
Pink's smirk widened. She stepped closer, her voice low and venomous. "Nothing much. Just a little reminder that I'm onto you." She slapped her palm onto the table with a loud smack, rattling the trays and nearly tipping over my drink. "What the fuck were you doing with Jesse outside the science wing?"
I raised a brow. "How does that concern you?"
Her smirk flickered. "Excuse me?"
"Look, Pink," I said, meeting her eyes without flinching. "I'm not doing this with you today. Okay?"
She blinked like she didn't expect me to talk back.
Then she scoffed. "Let me make myself very clear, bitch. I don't ever want to see you near Jesse again."
I exhaled slowly. "Fine," I said, voice clipped. "Can you go now?"
But she wasn't done.
She reached across the table, snatched Genora's chocolate milk, and without hesitation, poured it over my head.
A collective gasp rippled through the café. Utensils stopped clinking. Laughter died, even Clary looked stunned then, something inside me broke loose.
I stood up slowly, chocolate dripping down my forehead, soaking my hair, pooling into my tray. My hand shot forward, and I grabbed Pink's wrist tight.
Her eyes widened as I stared straight into her soul.
"You know, I've had enough of your childish crap," I said. "Who do you think you are, the self-absorbed queen?"
Gasps echoed, phones were out now, recording but I didn't care.
"You think you're so good at bullying me? Fine. Let's play. I bet two can play this game. And from where I'm standing, you're still desperate for the attention you don't deserve." I scoffed "You're still just a learner."
Her wrist trembled in my grip, I could feel it, that tiny flicker of doubt. She tried to yank free, but I didn't let go until the lunch bell rang, and the intercom buzzed to life:
"All students, please report to the main hall for an important announcement, immediately."
I hissed, released her hand, and brushed past her, our shoulders colliding. People murmured. Even Pink looked more shocked than anyone else.
I went to the restroom to clean up before going to the auditorium.
The auditorium buzzed with rumors by the time Mrs. Adams stepped up to the mic, her face a strange mix of stern and shaken.
"I'll get straight to the point," she said. "There was a tragic incident on Friday afternoon. We had an unexpected visit from a former student... Annie Broadway. And tragically, one of our students, Charles Coleman, has died."
Gasps echoed through the room, my chest tightened. I turned and searched the crowd for Clary. She was at the back, frozen, her eyes wide as her sister's name was mentioned. Tears slid down her cheeks.
Who knew how devastated she must be?
"Counselors will be available this week for anyone who needs support," Mrs. Adams continued. "But in the spirit of keeping our community strong, we also have another announcement. As of this Friday, the Caveroop High basketball season will officially resume."
A wave of noise rippled through the room. Some kids whispered about Charles. Others lit up at the news of the game.
I stayed silent, I didn't know what to feel. Was Charles gone… again? Did Annie kill him? How?
My thoughts were a whirlwind. Then someone brushed my shoulder, it was Zack. He wore a concern look on his face.
"You okay?" he asked.
I didn't know how to answer., my eyes followed Clary as she left the room.
"I-I need some air," I whispered, and walked out.