Jorin kept throwing glances over his shoulder, eyes narrowing at Kael, who sat slouched in the very back corner. Kael knew he was being watched but refused to give him the satisfaction. His gaze stayed pinned on the window.
Outside, students were already showing off their spirit pets. One kid had a hawk trailing sparks as it swooped. Another commanded a beast made of solid flame. Kael's throat tightened. He hated how much he envied them.
Then his breath caught.
Among the crowd, a girl with bubblegum-pink hair stood, sunlight bouncing off her strands like fire. Kael leaned forward, trying to catch even the smallest glimpse of her face. He couldn't see it—but her body language, the way she carried herself—
His chest clenched. No way…
Delilah.
The memory hit him so hard he almost staggered. Fourteen years old again, standing in the park at night, listening to her whisper his name, confess her feelings, his dumb heart blurting out his own in return. A memory too sweet to belong in this rotten world.
"KAEL ARDYN!"
The shout shattered it. Kael blinked, realizing too late the teacher had already called him twice. The entire class turned to look. Half of them had their spirit pets already summoned.
Jorin smirked, resting a hand on the sleek shadow panther curled at his feet, its eyes glowing like embers. Ryn's storm falcon crackled with lightning as it perched on his desk. Ammy's armored beetle gleamed like polished steel, clicking its mandibles.
The teacher's arms crossed, his tone sharp. "Are you deaf, or just useless? Summon your pet. Now."
Kael exhaled slowly, knuckles whitening under his desk. The system flickered awake on his palm. His heart pounded for two reasons—the summon, and that glimpse outside.
Delilah… it can't be you. Can it?
Kael sighed and pushed back his chair. The room went silent as he stepped into the open, lifting his hand. A single tap against the glowing system screen was all it took.
Zaida materialized in front of him.
Not the slimy, broken thing she had been when she first hatched, but something different—sharper. She stood straight in a black vest crop top and a short pleated skirt Kael had bought her, pale skin gleaming faintly under the classroom lights.
Gasps cut through the silence.
Kael didn't need to look around to know why. He had already done the research in secret. Zombies weren't supposed to exist outside of horror tales—they were classified as forbidden. Yet here she was, his contracted spirit pet, standing like a living curse in the middle of the classroom.
The teacher's mouth opened, but no words came out. He simply stared, frozen.
Then the academy itself seemed to shudder.
The protective barrier outside trembled, rippling like disturbed water. From beyond its walls, distant shrieks erupted—low, guttural, inhuman. Demons clawed and howled, throwing themselves against the invisible shield, their frenzy triggered by Zaida's mere presence.
And still, she just tilted her head, crimson lips curving faintly… almost like she found it amusing.
The air in the classroom turned brittle, like a glass about to shatter.
"...The fuck is that?" someone whispered.
"Wait i thought those species went extinct like...years ago.."
"No way. That thing's… wrong."
A few students tried to mask their fear with shaky laughter. Others clutched their pets tighter as if they might bolt. Some pets growled, ears flat, claws scraping the stone floor. But most? Most cowered.
Kael's voice cut through the tension like a blade. Calm. Cold."Her name is Zaida."
The words landed like a hammer.
Jorin snorted nervously, though his voice cracked when he tried to sound cocky. "Pfft—Zaida? More like Zombida. Damn thing looks like it crawled out a grave."
No one laughed.
Coming from someone who got turned on by her is diabolical, really. Kael thought to himself but said nothing.
All eyes were on her.
Zaida's head tilted toward Kael, her pale skin catching the torchlight. Her stitched wounds pulled tight as her lips curved into that eerie, broken smile. And then—
She spoke.
"Master…" Her voice was soft, syrupy, almost tender—but beneath it was something jagged, something wrong. "Shall I feast?"
The words were a blade across the class's nerves.
"What the hell—she just talked!""Spirits don't talk!""Teacher—what the fuck is going on?!"
Master Deylan's face drained of color. His hand twitched toward the tome at his belt, but he didn't open it. Not yet. He was staring, just like the rest of them.
"Zaida…" Kael muttered under his breath, his expression unreadable.
Zaida blinked at him. Once. Twice. Her smile widened, too wide, teeth glinting. She took a single step forward, and every pet in the room either whimpered or bristled violently.
She whispered again, voice slicing through the chaos, "They reek of life. I'm hungry."
His classmates backed away, chairs screeching.
"Ok thats creepy. No wonder those things were hunted and slaughtered."
Zaida's eyes snapped to the speaker. Her pupils dilated, and for the briefest heartbeat, everyone swore they felt claws brush their throats.
Kael didn't flinch. His voice was low, steady, carrying across the frightened room:"Stand down, Zaida."
The zombie girl froze. And then—like a puppet cut from its strings—she tilted her head back at him and whispered, "As you command, Master."
Kael sat back down, calmly.
The room stayed frozen in silence until Master Deylan finally spoke, voice low but edged like steel."Kael… see me after class."
Kael gave a single nod and leaned back in his chair. Zaida stood silently beside him, her eyes glowing faintly. He turned his head toward the window again.The pink-haired girl was gone.
I really need to get her out of my head.