It was Wednesday night, and the campus was quieter than usual. Most students had gone to bars or parties, but Kara preferred the quiet walk to her dorm, cutting through the central courtyard.
The cold wind made the trees sway as if whispering secrets, and the lampposts cast long shadows on the ground. That's when she saw her.
Alice.
She was standing by the side gate, as if waiting for someone. Her red coat, now partially open, revealed a simple black sweater. But there was something strange about her posture: upright, motionless, her gaze fixed on a distant point.
Kara thought about calling out to her, but before she could, a metallic noise echoed from the narrow alleyway between two buildings — the sound of something heavy falling.
Two guys, laughing loudly and visibly drunk, stumbled out of the alley. One of them slammed violently into a girl who was passing by, knocking her books to the ground and making her stumble back against the wall.
Kara took a step forward, ready to intervene, but Alice moved first.
It wasn't just speed. It was... impossible. In the blink of an eye, she was standing between the guys and the girl, as if she had materialized on the spot.
"Are you okay?" Alice said, her voice calm, but with a tone that carried a strange, almost hypnotic authority.
The guys looked at each other, confused. One of them muttered something and, without another word, backed away with his friend, disappearing into the darkness.
The girl, still shaky but impressed, offered a quick thanks before heading toward her dorm.
Kara stood frozen, her heart pounding.
"How... did you do that?" she asked, once she managed to get closer.
Alice turned around slowly.
"Do what?"
"You were over there... and suddenly... you were here," Kara gestured, trying to find the words.
"Nobody moves that fast."
Alice's gaze met hers, intense and silent.
"Maybe you just imagined it."
"I didn't imagine it," Kara insisted.
"I saw you."
Alice took a step forward, getting close enough for Kara to smell that unusual scent of flowers and metal.
"Kara... I just ran as fast as I could to help, that's all."
"Seriously?"
"Yes." Alice looked away, and for the first time, Kara saw something like... joy?
"I had a little adrenaline rush."
Before Kara could say anything else, Alice was already walking away, down the same alley the guys had come from.
"See you around, Kara," Alice said in a casual tone.
With every step, the darkness seemed to swallow her up, until not even the flash of her red coat remained.
Kara was left alone, startled and confused by what she'd seen, the sound of her own heart echoing loudly in her ears. And despite the unease, one thought kept repeating itself:
She was determined. She wanted to know more about the intriguing girl in the red coat.