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as Mrs. Camden, their English professor, droned on about their upcoming project. She wasn't even paying attention—not fully. Her mind was still replaying her interaction with Adrian from the morning.

That guy was weird. The worst part? He was weird in a completely different way from the others. If Azul was cryptic, Calixto was insufferable, and Silas was just plain annoying, then Adrian was..unreadable.

Not the point right now, Y/N.

She refocused just in time to hear Mrs. Camden's final words; "You'll be working in pairs, analysing your assigned text and presenting your findings next week."

Y/N exhaled through her nose. Not bad. At least she wasn't stuck with—"L/N and Viktor"

Oh for fuck's sake.

Y/N's head snapped up as she turned toward Silas, who was already smirking like he'd won something. "Looks like we're stuck together, human." His voice was nothing short of smug.

She scowled. "You say that like it's my fault."

"Looks like I'll be carrying the team."

Y/N turned to him slowly. "Excuse me?"

"I just mean you're more of a vibes over studying kind of girl?" he mused, eyes dancing with amusement. "I, on the other hand, am quite the academic."

She scoffed. "What you are? Is full of shit."

Silas grinned, completely unfazed. "Big words from someone who can't pour twenty-two millilitres."

Her eye twitched. Adrian. That traitor.

Silas leaned back in his seat, arms folded lazily behind his head. "I'm not complaining. Unlike you, I know I'll get a decent grade." Y/N rolled her eyes, suppressing the overwhelming urge to strangle him. "Whatever Silas."

The teacher clapped for attention, silencing the class. "Alright, everyone! This project will require critical analysis, research, and collaboration. I've assigned your partners based on balancing strengths and weaknesses."

Silas snorted. "Guess that means I'm the strength, and you're the weakness."

Y/N didn't even hesitate. "Oh, so you admit you need me to make you look strong? Cute."

Silas' smirk shifted into a scowl as he sat up in a stiff position, scoffing as he straightened his tie.

"As part of this assignment," the teacher continued, "you'll spend today's period in the library, beginning your research."

Y/N almost sagged in relief. At least they wouldn't have to sit in the same room as the teacher and deal with Silas' unbearable smugness.

But then he leaned closer, his voice low enough that only she could hear.

"Try to keep up.. human." he murmured. "I'd hate to leave you behind."

Y/N forced a tight-lipped smile. "You won't. I walk faster when I'm running away from things I hate."

He actually laughed at that. "Good luck with that. You're stuck with me all week."

Y/N bit back a groan.

This was going to be the longest assignment of her life.

★

The library was massive.

Auragon Academy held a collection of over 8,000 books, spanning centuries of history, supernatural mythology, and arcane knowledge. Unlike the modernised sections of Auragon, this part of the school still held onto its ancient, eerie atmosphere.

Towering shelves lined the walls, heavy with dust-covered tomes, and the scent of aged parchment filled the air. The high-arched ceiling was covered in intricate paintings depicting celestial bodies and creatures—most Y/N didn't even recognise.

It was undeniably breathtaking.

Unfortunately, she had to spend the next hour of it with Silas.

They settled at a long wooden table near the back. The project was on the evolution of folklore in literature, and each pair had to pick a notable historical legend to research.

She dropped her bag onto a library table, plopping into the chair across from Silas, who, as usual, looked infuriatingly relaxed.

Silas sighed as if this was a great burden before grabbing his pen. "We split the work. I'll handle the analytical parts, since I doubt you can keep up."

Y/N narrowed her eyes. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"You're an asshole."

"And you're easy to rile up" he mused, twirling his pen. "It's fun."

Y/N huffed and slammed her book open. "Fine. Whatever. Just shut up and work."

For a while, they did.

The two fell into a tense, mutually irritated silence as they each read through a book. Y/N, busy jotting down notes, writing and crossing things out, flipping back and forth through pages. Silas' cold precision, methodical, smooth handwriting, barely having to correct himself.

It was infuriating how effortless he made it look.

Y/N clenched her jaw.

No way am I letting this asshole outdo me.

Time was quick to pass by—the library was silent except for the faint scratching of pens against paper and the distant flipping of pages. Y/N was halfway through her notes when she glanced up, half-expecting Silas to be slacking off.

Instead, she found him deep in concentration, his pen moving smoothly across the page. He had one earbud in, head tilted slightly as he listened to something, his brow furrowed in mild focus.

Hmph.

He actually looked... normal. Not smug, not insufferable—just lost in thought.

Weird.

Her attention drifted.

With the project nearly halfway done, she felt justified in taking a short break. Standing, she stretched before letting her curiosity guide her deeper into the library's restricted archives.

★

At some point, while Silas was still focused on their notes, Y/N had taken her leave, weaving in and out between the ongoing rows of bookshelves. Her eyes drifting across the many books nearby.

Her fingers absentmindedly trailed along the spines until—

A book, dusty and a deep shade of red, fell onto the floor.

As she glanced down to the fallen scripture, she noticed the deviant size of the book. She noticed it was much larger than the other ones, looking back at the perfectly aligned series of books.

Kneeling down, she went to grab the abnormal book—again glancing back at the gap in the shelf when it fell from.

Must've been misplaced?

She thought to herself, brushing of the excess dust from the book—and as she did, the golden intricacies laced and patterned onto the cover and spine of the book caught her eye. Her finger gently lined out the cursive writing on the page..

?????? ???????????????? ??????????????????

She frowned. Lockwood? Like Headmaster Lockwood? Is this his family history?

That was strange. The name sounded important, but why did it give her a weird feeling?

Flipping it open, she skimmed the first few pages. Most of it was about the original family lineages and early history of Auragon. Not as the school but as an 'Institute for Science'.

It was known that Auragon Academy used to be an establishment for Science— that involved experiment, a lot of experiments.

It researched mainly psychology and biology but also other sciences. However, as society grew more conscious and wary about 'ethical issues' the institution was, after many years, shut down—but that was decades ago.

Her eyes continued to follow through the words on the pages, until she paused, reading a specific sentence.

Y/N blinked. 'unnatural ties with the wilderness'? What does that mean?

She began to assume that they had many connections with the animals that were being tested, seeing that they were so against the animal testing, especially against the canines.

The more she read, the eerier it got. Mentions of mysterious disappearances, strange animal attacks on people, and something about blood ties to an old curse.

Blood ties..? Vampires?

She flipped the page;

She almost desperately turned for the last page, but her eyes widened as the last page was missing. What was this?! Some sort of mystery drama!?

Her eyes wandered around the shelves and in between the other novels—book clutched tightly, still in hand—only for the book to suddenly vanish from her hands.

★

She startled as Silas snapped it shut, his fingers gripping the cover tightly.

"What are you doing?" Y/N blurted, staring at him.

Silas didn't answer. He simply reached up and slid the book back into its place, blocking her way to make sure it was out of her reach.

"Hey—!"

"Get back to work."

Y/N scowled. "What is your problem?"

He didn't look back. "Don't go digging where you shouldn't human." There was no teasing in his voice. No smugness. Just something firm, almost warning.

Y/N stood frozen for a moment before exhaling sharply, "You should mind your own business Silas"

"You first." he said with a scowl, turning on his heel.

She turned to follow him—but just before she left, something caught her eye.

A loose page under the bottom of the shelf.

She bent down and picked it up. The paper was old, clawed at the edges like something had ripped it out violently.

It was just one word, almost indecipherable, with multiple pen scratches and visibly tattered, written in an old script:

????????????????????????????????????????

A chill crawled up her spine.

Werewol—brRRING!

The school bell snapped her out of it.

"Y/N!" Silas called impatiently.

Shoving the page back, she hurried after him, forcing the creeping dread in her stomach to settle. But something told her she shouldn't forget that name.

Lockwood.

But what the hell was Silas trying to hide?