The next day in Nightfang Tower, Jason was still passed out in bed. His whole room was red, black, and gold. The walls had these deep red and black designs on them, and golden lights glowing faintly along the corners. His bed was messy as always, covers everywhere, but the blankets were red with little black fire-looking patterns stitched in gold around the edges.
Trophies were literally everywhere. On the shelves, on the floor, even one floating above his desk like it had its own attitude. Some were glowing, some were cracked, and one had his name carved in it: Jason Dusk – Top Player of Nightmare Hunt. He was kinda proud of that one.
He let out a big yawn, stretching his arms up like he was reaching for the ceiling. His room was huge—like way too big for one guy—but that's how it worked in the school. Every student got a week to decorate their room however they wanted, and Jason definitely went full extra with it.
He blinked a few times, groaning. His hair was sticking up all over the place and his fangs were kinda poking out 'cause he didn't bother hiding them yet.
He sat up slow, mumbled something random, then dragged himself out of bed. Still half asleep, he shuffled toward the bathroom like a zombie.
The bathroom was also black and red. Black floor, red glowing mirror, and even the soap bottle looked like a mini vampire skull. Jason looked at his reflection and snorted.
"Yeah... still hot," he said to himself with a smirk, then splashed water on his face.
Jason brushed his teeth slowly, barely paying attention. He spit the toothpaste out, rinsed his mouth with water, then spat again. He looked at his teeth in the mirror and nodded, "Okay, this one's great." After a quick shower and putting on his uniform, he walked down the hall with his hands shoved in his pockets.
He headed toward Thornfall. The building was mostly green with touches of blue and purple, and gold accents that caught the light just right. As he passed Cole's dorm, some students gave him strange looks, but Jason didn't care and kept walking.
When he reached Cole's room, he knocked three times. "Okay, funny. Cole, open up!" He pressed his hand on the door, pushing it open slowly, but the room was empty.
WHERE IS MY BEST FRIEND!?Jason screamed.
Jason glared. "Jack…"
He spread his black wings and flew to
Nightfang Tower, pushing Jack down hard.
"Idiot," Jason said, slapping him.
"Where is he?" Jason asked.
"Where is who?" Jason replied.
"Cole. Where is he?"
Jack shrugged. "I have no idea."
Jason slapped him again. "If you don't say where he is, you're not gonna have a good day. I swear it."
"I don't know!" Jack said.
Jason grabbed Jack by the throat, but Jack flipped him over, breathing heavily.
Jack threw multiple punches. They were fighting hard when students came.
Headmistress Elera showed up. "What's going on? Why are you fighting?"
Jason said, "He kidnapped my best friend!"
Jack said, "I didn't!"
Elera said, "Office. Now."
Jack and Jason glared at each other, tension thick in the room.
They walked toward the office — but it wasn't like any ordinary office. The door itself was tall, framed with swirling symbols glowing faintly. Inside, the room stretched wider and higher than expected, almost like a small hall. The walls shimmered, shifting through the colors of all five towers—red, blue, green, purple, and gold—before Elera raised her hand, weaving hand magic that made the whole room pulse softly in the deep dark hues of Nightfang.
Elera looked at them sharply. "Explain why you two were fighting."
Jason didn't hesitate. "He kidnapped Cole!"
Jack rolled his eyes and added, "I'm just thirteen... I can't kidnap anyone. I'm way too weak for that," giving his best innocent puppy eyes.
Elera frowned. "Did you or did you not kidnap Cole?"
Jack stood firm. "I didn't!"
Jason cut in, "He did! I can prove it if I have to!"
Elera shook her head. "Legally, I can't take any action yet. There's no proof."
Jason slammed his hand on her desk in frustration. "Ugh, this school is the worst!"
He stormed toward the door, breathing hard.
Elera muttered under her breath, "I don't get paid enough for this crap."
Jason walked out of the principal's office, slamming the door behind him.
Elera sighed, rubbing her temples. "Well... go."
Jack nodded quietly, then turned to leave.
As he stepped out, a magic book from the shelf floated out, glowing faintly. It spun in the air and burst into soft light—
From it stepped a person.
Lena.
She dusted off her cloak and said, "You do know he's from Nightfang, right?"
Elera blinked. "...I forgot that. Wait—hold up—"
She shot up from her chair and shouted, "WHAT?!"
But when she rushed to the hall, both Jason and Jack were gone.
Elera muttered, "Dang it."
Back with Jason.
He was hiding behind some thick bushes, crouched low. The leaves were big and green, brushing against his shoulders as he peeked through. A couple tall trees shaded the area, and near them were bags of cold blood for the vampires—gross, but normal here.
Jason narrowed his eyes at Jack, who was standing with his group of friends, laughing like nothing was wrong.
Jason clenched his fists.
He needed his best friend back.
He swore, right there in those bushes, he would take revenge.
Meanwhile, somewhere else—
Cole was stuck. Tired. Annoyed. And clearly over it.
"I don't have anything!" he shouted.
Lisa rolled her eyes. "Stop lying. You have the ring."
"I do not," Cole snapped back.
"You do."
"I do not!"
Lisa got closer and said, "You doooooo. And you're lucky Jack isn't here right now."
She slid her finger across her neck slowly. A death sign.
Cole's eyes widened slightly. "Wow. Creepy."
Cole gritted his teeth. "They'll notice I'm gone."
Miracle was sitting in the corner, filing her nails with this creepy metal thing that made this sharp shhhhkkk sound every time she dragged it. She didn't even look up.
"If they would," she said casually, stretching her claws, "you'd already be out of here."
Cole snapped, "You guys won't get away with this!"
Lisa rolled her eyes like he was some annoying fly. "Oh please. We're thirteen. Worst thing that happens is a warning. Now shut the hell up."
Cole's chest rose and fell. His fists were shaking. "What can the ring even do, anyway? If I had it?"
Lisa's eyes lit up, her voice dropped low and excited.
"It can unlock powers normal witches dream of.
It can mix fire with electricity.
It can break magic barriers.
It can even control shadows and freeze time for, like, ten seconds."
Cole stared at her, his face twisted in disbelief. Then he exploded—
"THEN THINK! IF I DID HAVE IT, WOULDN'T I BE FREE BY NOW?!"
Lisa said, "Give me a good argument why I should let you free."
Cole said, "LOOK AT MY FINGER. I DO NOT HAVE THE RING."
Miracle said, "Welp, maybe you know where it is. You are a prince after all."
Cole said, "You guys are dumber than me and that's mostly not possible."
Alex walked over to Lucas and said, "I think this is going way too far. What if they catch us?"
Lucas shrugged. "They won't."
Alex frowned. "How do you know?"
Lucas looked around. "We're in a cave, in the middle of nowhere. No one's gonna say, 'Let's go search underground for kids who took someone from school.' That's crazy."
The room they were in was mostly dark. A little bit of light came from glowing rocks in the wall purple and blue. The floor was hard and a bit wet. In the corner, there were some blankets, empty snack bags, and a flashlight running low. It smelled a bit like wet stone and dust. Everything felt quiet, like the cave was holding its breath.
Alex said, "We're going to jail if they find out!"
Lucas crossed his arms. "Since when did jail ever scare you?"
Alex groaned. "Ugh! It's not that. If we get a record, we're not getting into that good university! This could ruin everything!"
Lucas rolled his eyes. "We're not going to jail."
That's when Alex lost it. He ran straight at Lucas and shoved him with full force, both hands slamming into his chest. Lucas flew back and hit the wall hard. The wall cracked loudly old stone split and chunks broke off, crashing to the ground. Dust filled the air, and a hidden gap behind the wall appeared, dark and narrow.
Lucas coughed, trying to catch his breath. "What the hell was that for?!"
Alex stood there, chest rising fast. "Because you're not taking this seriously," he said. "And this isn't a joke anymore.
Lucas said, "Live a little, this is nothing."
Alex snapped, "Nothing?! We're kidnapping and torturing someone!"
Lucas shook his head. "Not torturing. We don't hurt him. He gets food and drinks now and then. We're villains, not monsters."
Alex pointed at him. "This is the problem. You always try to talk yourself out of heavy shit, knowing damn well this isn't right."
Lucas stepped closer. "Then back off. No one is forcing you. If you don't like what we're doing, leave, Alex."
They stared at each other, both breathing hard, their voices turning into growls.
Suddenly, a loud alarm echoed through the cave.
Alex's eyes widened. "What's that smell…?"
He sniffed the air. "Fire!"
Meanwhile, with the girls…
Lisa and Miracle stood in a stone hallway lit with magic crystals. Lisa threw a fireball, her hands glowing red-hot. Miracle blocked it with a shield made of dark light.
"You're not listening!" Lisa yelled.
Miracle fired back a blast of purple sparks.
Lisa screamed and threw fire again—stronger this time. Three big fire waves shot from her hands. One of them hit the wall behind Miracle, and it exploded.
Flames burst out of the crack, catching the curtains, the wood crates, then the ceiling.
The fire spread fast.
Lisa froze. "Jack is gonna kill us!"
Miracle stepped back. "Who's 'us'? It's you, dumbass!"
Back with the boys…
Alex looked up. "Who started the fire?!"
The orange glow lit the cave as smoke rose through the tunnels.
Then a loud robotic voice echoed through the walls:
"ALL VAMPIRES IN THE CAVE, EVACUATE. FIRE DETECTED."
Lucas's face went pale. "We're so screwed."
Everyone started running. The vampires rushed through the tunnels, panicking. Some tried to throw water at the fire, but it only made things worse—the flames grew even stronger like they were alive.
Only five vampires made it outside in time.
Back inside, Cole was still tied to the chair. He pulled hard, trying to break free.
Cole screamed, "DON'T FORGET ABOUT ME!!"
Alex turned his head fast, eyes wide. He ran through the smoke, coughing and shielding his face.
He reached Cole and dropped to his knees.
"I got you!" Alex said. He yanked the ropes, but they were too tight. So he grabbed a sharp rock from the floor and started sawing through them fast. The smoke made his eyes water, but he didn't stop.
"If you ever try to sue one of us," Alex said while working on the ropes, "at least don't include me and Lucas."
Cole blinked through the heat. "Who's Lucas?"
Alex cut the last rope and grabbed Cole's arm. "No time. Go! Now!"
They ran as the fire behind them kept growing. The walls were orange, smoke thick in the air.
BEEEEP. BEEEEEP. BEEEEEEP. BEEEEEP.
The alarms kept screaming as the fire moved closer.
Lisa said, "There is no way this fire started just cause of my little fire blast."
Then she paused. Her eyes locked on someone standing at the back of the room. A guy. He had messy red hair and black streaks, holding a gasoline can in one hand and a fire lighter in the other.
Miracle stepped forward and said, "Could be him… hey! What's your name?"
The guy looked up slowly. It was Jason.
Jason said, "None of your damn business."
He took one step closer, the firelight making his face glow red.
"You guys kidnapped my best friend," he growled. "If you don't give him the fuck back, I swear, I'll burn down the last remaining piece of this place."
"Whoa, whoa!" shouted some of the other vampires, holding up their hands, trying to calm him.
But Jason wasn't playing. His eyes were wild. The fire lighter clicked open in his hand.
Jason said, "Last chance."
Lisa snapped, "Over my dead body!"
Without another word, Jason threw the gasoline into the flames and lit it. The fire exploded upward, spreading faster than before — wild, angry, and hot.
Cole and Alex rushed through the smoke. Alex tried to help evacuate the others, shouting, pushing people forward. It worked — vampires stumbled out, coughing and running.
And then…
BOOM.
The explosion ripped through the cave.
Wood splintered. The ceiling cracked. Smoke burst everywhere.
The entire cabin collapsed, pieces of stone and burnt wood falling like rain.
Lisa and Miracle stood frozen, their faces pale and eyes wide.
But out of the wreckage…
Alex and Cole stumbled out, covered in dust and ash. Behind them, the remaining vampires followed slow, but safe.
Lucas crawled out shortly after, just like the other vampires who had been inside.
Everyone looked rough hair messy, clothes burned, faces black from the smoke
but only Cole had blood on him, since he was the only one who wasn't a vampire.
Alex coughed hard, wiping the ash from his face.
He turned to Lucas and said, "I told you this would end bad."