Isabelle's POV
The cafeteria didn't feel like a dining hall, it felt like a trap. The marble counters were stacked with herb chicken and pastries that looked like they belonged in a museum, not on a tray. I grabbed my lunch but my fingers were shaking so hard the plastic tray rattled against the counter.
I sat by the window, trying to be invisible, when Julien Rousseau started walking toward me. He didn't just wave from across the room, he cut right through the crowd. I tried to sit up straighter but the chair legs let out a dry squeaky sound against the floor. Every head in the room turned.
My cheeks heated up from the dirty looks and glares they shot at me.
"Hey," Julien said, pulling out a chair. "I didn't think I'd find you hiding over here."
"I'm just... figuring out the invisible lines," I said, tucking a loose red strand of hair behind my ear.
He laughed, a low, easy sound. "There aren't any assigned seats, Isabelle. Though, choosing the strawberry tart on your first day is a bold move. Most people wait at least a week before they give up and admit the pastry chef owns their soul."
I felt my face go hot again. "I just... it looked good."
"I'm just kidding. It's the best thing on the menu," he said, leaning in. "Mind if I sit with you?"
I stared at him for a second too long.
Mind?
"Not at all," I managed, trying to sound like I wasn't currently having a heart attack.
We talked for a bit, mostly about how I'd gotten lost in the "dungeons" of the math wing but the air in the room suddenly changed. It got cold. Julien's smile stayed but his shoulders went rigid.
The doors were flung open with a bang. They hit the wall with a crack that made me jump. Arabella Fontaine walked in like she owned the entire cafeteria. Camille and Liliana were right behind her while Celeste trailed in the back with those flat, empty eyes that made my skin itch.
Arabella spotted me and headed straight for my table, a slow, ugly smirk on her face.
"Well… Well … Well, look what we have here," she said, her voice carrying across the silent hall. "The little charity case is eating. I thought I smelled something... common." Julien stopped mid-bite.
I gripped my fork until my knuckles hurt.
"Is that a meal that costs more than your entire wardrobe, Isabelle?" Camille asked, rolling her eyes. "How does it feel to be a project?"
Arabella leaned over the table, her face inches from mine. She smelled like a flower shop left in a hot car, expensive and suffocating. "You think because you're sitting here, eating our food in that rag, you think you belong now? We don't forget and we definitely don't forgive. You're a stain on the silk. We're going to bleach you out."
I couldn't breathe. I felt like I was back in the orphanage hallway with Claire's hand in my hair. But then, Julien stood up. He didn't rush, he just rose, looking down at them with a look that could have frozen the sun.
"I think you all should leave," Julien said. His voice was quiet but it was lethal.
Arabella let out a sharp, fake laugh. "Since when do you play with the help, Julien?"
"She's with me."
The room went dead. People stopped mid-chew. Arabella's face twitched.
"You're defending her?" she hissed.
"I am," Julien said. "Now, move along. You're making the room feel crowded."
Arabella stared at him, then at me. She leaned in one last time and mouthed: Watch your back.
When they finally left, Julien let out a long breath and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry. They... wealth doesn't always come with manners. You okay?"
"I... yeah. Thank you. You didn't have to do that."
"I wanted to," he said, giving me a soft, reassuring smile. "Come on. Eat. You'll need the energy for the Music Hall."
The Music Hall
Walking into the Music Hall felt like entering a cathedral. It was all velvet, gold light and the scent of rosin and old wood. Julien led me to the center, and my heart started thumping against my ribs again.
"It's a dream," I whispered.
"I thought you'd like it," he said. "It's the only place here that isn't a museum."
The other students were curious but one girl with auburn hair looked skeptical. "So, you're the one the Director mentioned? You actually play?"
Julien just nodded, a weird spark of pride in his eyes. "She plays violin."
They asked me to audition. Nothing big, just a few bars. My fingers were trembling as I tucked the violin under my chin. I took a breath, smelled the old varnish and closed my eyes.
Then I played. I played for the stars I used to see from the orphanage attic. The music started low, a weeping sound that climbed into something fierce and desperate. When the last note faded, the room stayed silent for a long, uncomfortable moment.
"Holy..." a boy in the back whispered.
"Isabelle," another said, her voice small. "That was... incredible. Where did you learn to play like that?"
I lowered the bow, my face burning. Julien was staring at me like he'd never seen a violin before. "That was... you're amazing, Isabelle."
But then I saw him. Dmitri was standing in the doorway. He watched with those dark gray eyes, unreadable and sharp. As he turned to leave, he muttered something just loud enough for me to hear: "Interesting."
By the time I made it back to the hostel, the sky was a bruised, heavy purple. I let the heavy oak door of my room click shut and just leaned against it for a second, my heart still humming from the music hall. I kicked off my stiff new shoes and collapsed onto the bed, the silk sheets feeling cool and impossibly smooth against my skin.
For the first time in fifteen years, I didn't feel like I was just surviving. I felt like I was actually starting to live. Even after all of today's drama, trying to ignore Dmitri's warning which was the most terrifying, I thought it couldn't get any worse.
No matter how hard it gets, I'm not going back. I've survived the orphanage for fifteen years. Whatever this place throws at me, I can survive a few more.
I reached for my bag to pull out my rosin but my hand brushed something that shouldn't have been there.
I sat up, my breath hitching. Resting right in the center of my pillow was a small, rectangular box wrapped in charcoal-grey paper. No ribbon. No card. Just a sharp-edged package that looked like it had been placed there with clinical precision.
My first thought was of Julien. Maybe he'd sent a "congratulations" gift for the audition?
I tore the paper open. My stomach did a slow, nauseating roll.
Inside wasn't the kind of gift I was expecting. It was a brand-new, high-end set of violin strings, the kind I could never afford in three lifetimes. But they were sitting on top of something else. A Polaroid photo.
I picked it up, my fingers trembling. It was a shot of me today. I was sitting in the cafeteria, looking small and terrified, with Arabella's hand inches from my face. It was taken from a high angle, as if someone had been watching from one of the upper windows.
I flipped the photo over. Scrawled in black ink, in a handwriting that was sharp and aggressive, were four words:
"Stay out of the light, little ghost."
There was no signature but I didn't need one. I could almost feel the weight of those grey eyes on me again. Dmitri.
I looked at the expensive strings and then at the photo of my own humiliation. The warmth I'd felt from Julien's smile vanished, replaced by a cold, prickling dread. He wasn't just watching me; he was documenting me.
I got up and checked the lock on my door twice. Then I pushed my heavy violin case under the bed and crawled under the covers, fully dressed. I didn't feel like a student anymore. I felt like a bird that had been let out of its cage, only to realize it was still inside a much larger room with a hunter.
I stared at the ceiling until the purple sky turned to black. I looked at the strings. Beautiful. Deadly. Just like him.