✨ Chapter 15 – The Symbol in the Blood
The moment the group returned to the academy, they hurried straight to the sound-proof investigation room the Headmaster provided.
Ariana locked the door behind them.
The glowing runes on the walls hummed softly — no sound in or out.
They spread her notes across the main table.
Scraps of parchment, copied diagrams, her messy childhood handwriting…
All the evidence she had smuggled out as a child, now spread before Elmwood's most powerful students.
Rylan raised a brow at one of the pages.
"You spelled 'vampire' wrong in three different ways."
Ariana glared.
"I was TEN."
Calen snorted.
"You were a nerd at ten."
Kai ignored them.
He was already reading.
Zane stood by him, absorbing details quickly, eyes scanning every page.
Ariana felt her nerves rising.
"Do they… make sense?" she asked quietly.
Kai nodded, eyes serious.
"A lot more sense than you think."
The Diagram
Zane motioned her closer.
"Ariana, look at this."
He pointed at a diagram she had copied long ago — one showing the DNA structure of the last known Dark Vampire.
Her childish handwriting labeled each section:
V1 – Core
V2 – Magic control
V3 – Evolution strand
V4 – Forbidden edits
? – Symbol found here
A circle was drawn around a symbol.
A symbol she had copied without understanding.
A symbol she thought was decoration.
Rylan leaned closer. "What's that?"
Ariana shook her head.
"I have no idea. I just drew it because it was in the book."
Kai stared at it intensely.
"It's not decoration," he said quietly.
Calen frowned.
"You recognize it?"
Kai nodded slowly.
"Yes."
Ariana's pulse quickened.
"What is it?"
Kai touched the symbol with one finger.
A sharp, cold silence filled the room.
Zane whispered:
"That's a Blood Seal."
Ariana blinked.
"A… what?"
Kai exhaled.
"A very old, very dangerous symbol. Used in forbidden magic. It allows someone to alter a being's nature."
Ariana's stomach flipped.
"You mean…?"
Kai nodded.
"Yes. Whoever modified that Dark Vampire used a Blood Seal on their DNA."
Ariana felt her breath catch.
"So the vampires who attacked the academy… they had this too?"
Zane answered grimly.
"When I sensed their magic trails? Yes. It felt… wrong. Muted. Falsely amplified. Like something was forcing them."
Ariana pressed a trembling hand to her chest.
"So they weren't acting on their own."
"No," Kai agreed softly.
"They were controlled. Or created."
Rylan slammed his fist on the table.
"So someone is building an army."
Calen's ice hissed against the air.
"And sending them to test our wards."
Ariana whispered:
"…But who would do that?"
Silence.
Then Zane spoke.
"Whoever used the Blood Seal had access to forbidden knowledge. That symbol hasn't appeared in magic for centuries."
Kai nodded, eyes dark.
"Only someone with ancient resources could obtain it."
Ariana stared at the symbol again.
A crude drawing she made at ten.
Now the key to everything.
A Hidden Note
Ariana sifted through the pages — her hands brushing a folded corner of a parchment she didn't remember.
Zane lifted it and unfolded it carefully.
Her eyes widened.
"I… don't remember copying this."
The page was old — older than the others.
Faded ink.
Thinner parchment.
Ariana whispered:
"I thought it was blank."
Calen held it up to the lamp.
The faded ink glowed faintly.
Kai leaned over her shoulder.
"It's a formula."
Zane's voice sharpened.
"A process. Instructions."
Rylan squinted.
"For what?"
Zane swallowed.
"For altering vampire DNA."
Ariana's knees went weak.
"You mean… this is how they did it?"
Zane nodded slowly.
Kai's face hardened.
"We need to find who wrote this originally."
Ariana frowned.
"Where do we start?"
Zane pointed at a faint scribble at the bottom of the page — almost invisible.
A symbol.
Not the Blood Seal…
But something else.
Three lines.
A half-moon.
A vertical slash.
Ariana gasped.
"I know that symbol!"
Kai turned sharply.
"Where have you seen it?"
Ariana whispered:
"…On the south edge of the academy grounds."
Calen raised a brow.
"You sure?"
"Yes," Ariana said firmly.
"It's carved into one of the old stone markers."
Rylan crossed his arms.
"Why would a symbol for forbidden vampire modification be on school property?"
Zane's voice turned icy.
"Because someone is hiding something outside the main buildings."
Kai stepped toward Ariana.
"We're going there. Tonight."
Her eyes widened.
"But—curfew—"
Kai shook his head.
"This assignment is bigger than curfew."
Zane agreed.
"We follow the symbol. It's our first real lead."
Calen grinned.
"Time for another crime."
Rylan cracked his knuckles.
"A fun one this time."
Ariana's wolf stirred.
This time not in fear —
but in warning.
"Be careful."
Ariana swallowed.
"We go tonight."
Kai nodded.
"And we stay together."
A/n: Forbidden vampire modification on school property?