By late afternoon, after another long day of classes, Kara was walking back to her dorm with Natalie.
As she glanced toward one of the windows, she froze.
Alice was there, staring straight at her.
Kara's heart skipped a beat.
She dropped off her things in the dorm and immediately went to where she'd seen her.
When she arrived, Alice was nowhere in sight, until a soft voice came from behind her, making her jump.
"Trying to give me a heart attack?" Kara said, her pulse racing.
"I want you to meet me by the campus's side gate at 6:30," Alice said coldly, her tone direct and controlled.
"I'm going to show you something."
Before Kara could respond, Alice vanished, right before her eyes.
That night, the wind blew sharp and cold as Alice stood by the campus's side gate.
Kara followed a few steps behind, her heartbeat quick but not from fear, rather from the quiet, deliberate way Alice moved, like each step meant something.
"Where are we going? I thought you didn't want to see me anymore,"
Kara asked, trying to match her pace.
"You wanted answers, didn't you?" Alice said without turning around.
"Then you'll have them. But after this… I expect you to leave me alone."
Kara swallowed hard.
"I won't promise that."
They crossed the street and followed a narrow path leading into the woods behind campus.
The trees arched overhead, swallowing the moonlight.
The air smelled of damp earth and old leaves.
When they reached a small clearing, Alice stopped.
She turned slowly to face Kara and there was something in her eyes. Not just determination… but pain.
"What you think you saw… you don't understand it. It's not something beautiful. It's not safe."
"Then show me," Kara said quietly, her voice trembling but steady.
"If that's what it takes to make me stay away, I want to see."
Alice closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath.
When she opened them again, there was a new light in them, a deep, burning red.
"Don't come any closer," she warned.
Kara stood still, watching.
Alice took a step back, and then she changed.
The calm darkness of her eyes flared into scarlet light, predatory and alive.
Her posture shifted, straighter, sharper, inhumanly graceful.
Her nails lengthened into claws, and when she parted her lips, Kara saw a flash of fangs that shouldn't exist.
The cold of the night deepened around them.
But instead of retreating, Kara stepped forward.
"So it's true…" she whispered. "You're…"
"A vampire," Alice finished, her voice cutting through the silence like glass.
"That's what I am. And that's why you can't be near me."
"Can't… or shouldn't?" Kara asked, the distance between them closing until she could feel Alice's cold breath against her skin.
Alice hesitated.
The predator in her gaze flickered, replaced, for a fleeting second, by something fragile. Human.
"You don't know how much you're testing me right now," she said softly.
"Maybe that's what I want," Kara murmured.
They were only inches apart now.
The air between them seemed to vibrate, warmth rising against the chill of the forest night.
Alice raised a hand, perhaps to push Kara away, but Kara caught her fingers instead, guiding them to her face.
Alice's cold touch lingered against her skin longer than it should have.
Their eyes locked.
Alice's fangs glinted in the moonlight, but Kara didn't flinch.
She was mesmerized, drawn closer, almost leaning in toward the vampire's lips.
That was when Alice pulled back, sharply, breaking the moment in an instant.
"Now that you know," she said, her voice tight,
"I will take you back to the campus. And please… don't come looking for me again."
Before Kara could even react, Alice moved, swift as a shadow — and in the blink of an eye, they were standing once more at the side gate where they'd met.
Kara stood there, breathless, her heart hammering, her lips tingling from the kiss that almost happened.
She knew she should forget.
She knew she should walk away.
But the urge to chase after Alice had never been stronger.