There's a certain type of silence that only happens in terrifying places — thick, humming, like it's holding its breath. That's the exact silence I woke up to the next morning.
Well, that and the sound of Kevin (my vampire bat roommate) barfing up what looked suspiciously like glitter.
"I don't want to know," I muttered, sitting up and rubbing my temples.
The enchanted dorm mirror lit up and displayed my schedule in bloody cursive:
AMELIA BLACKTHORN – SCHEDULE
Intro to Cryptid Communication (Room 666B)
Undead Biology (Mandatory for mortals)
Bloodcraft Theory
Detention (Pre-assigned. Thanks, Yeonjun.)
"Wait, what the heck?! I've already got detention?" I groaned.
Kevin squeaked. Translation: You should have expected it, you walked with Yeonjun.
Period 1: Cryptid Communication
Professor Gloom was a swamp creature in a trench coat who gurgled when he spoke.
"Repeat after me," he burbled, "Grnch-kr'lsss-hah!"
"Gernick—gak!" I choked. My tongue did something anatomically illegal. A goblin two seats over laughed so hard he turned into smoke.
"Excellent first curse attempt!" the professor cheered.
Somewhere behind me, a shadow giggled. It had three eyes and no body.
Just another day in class.
Period 2: Undead Biology... and the Yeonjun Problem
When I walked into the biology lab, Yeonjun was already there — lounging across a black marble counter, twirling a scalpel between his fingers.
"Morning, coffin girl," he smirked. "Ready to slice open a corpse?"
"I was hoping for a frog, actually."
"Nope. Today's assignment: dissection of the undead. Don't worry, it's probably not conscious."
He grinned as I turned pale. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
"Immensely," he whispered, leaning in. "I like seeing how far I can push you before you snap."
I huffed and turned away. "You'll find out soon enough."
The lab lights flickered. A corpse twitched. And somewhere in the room, a classmate dropped a spleen into a love potion by accident and turned the professor into a tree.
Unexpected Truth: Yeonjun Isn't Just Hot, He's… Helpful?
Halfway through our assignment (removing ghost venom glands from a zombified bird-hound), my gloves ripped. Great.
Yeonjun tossed me a new pair without looking. "You'll need those unless you want to hallucinate your worst fear for 12 hours."
I blinked. "Why do you know that?"
"I didn't," he said with a shrug. "You're just lucky I'm charming and smart."
I didn't respond.
Mostly because the bird-hound lunged, and we both screamed like toddlers and ducked under the desk. He ended up half on top of me, breathing hard.
We froze.
Our eyes met.
"Wow," he whispered. "First base already?"
I shoved him off. "We're not even in the same sport."
Lunch in the Underworld Cafeteria (Would Not Recommend)
Cafeteria options:
Blood Slushies (A+)
Phantom Noodles (scream every time you chew them)
"Meat" Surprise (quotation marks very suspicious)
I picked a black apple and sat in the corner. Yeonjun showed up two minutes later like a vampire-shaped pest.
"You're sitting alone?" he asked, pretending to be shocked. "How tragic. Lucky for you, I'm here."
"I'm not sitting with you."
"You say that, but your eyes say, 'Please Yeonjun, teach me the ways of the night.'"
I glared. "My eyes say, 'Please Yeonjun, trip over a ghost and land in demon poop.'"
He snorted into his drink. "You're funny when you're angry."
"And you're tolerable when you shut up."
Secrets in the Halls
That's when it happened.
While walking to my next class, I took a wrong turn and found a door. Just... sitting there in the middle of the hallway. No wall around it. Just floating.
Etched on the wood in glowing red script:
DO NOT OPEN — Unless You Belong Here
So, obviously, I opened it.
Darkness. Screaming. A cold wind. And then—
I was yanked back by a hand on my wrist.
Yeonjun. Jaw clenched. Eyes furious. "What. The hell. Are you doing?"
I stared. "It was just a door—"
"That door leads to the Shadow Archives. One step in and you might not come out with your mind intact."
He was close again. Too close. His fangs were showing, not because he was hungry, but because he was scared.
"Don't do that again, Amelia."
His voice cracked.
And for once, I wasn't snarking back. I just nodded.
Surprise Detention (With Extra Spook)
Turns out, Yeonjun got us both on Headmistress Morrigan's blacklist for "disrupting the balance" during the zombie-bird dissection.
Detention was in the Dungeons. With a banshee monitor. And a board that listed crimes in glowing red letters:
Amelia Blackthorn – Meddling Mortal Syndrome
Yeonjun – Chronic Flirt Disorder
"I don't have a syndrome," I muttered.
Yeonjun shrugged. "You're in my world now, Amelia. You're different. That's dangerous."
I stared at him. "So what am I supposed to do?"
"Survive," he said simply.
"And if I don't?"
He smiled without humor. "Then you're more human than I thought."