Light trickled into my eyes like molasses, slow and unwelcome. The ceiling above me was unfamiliar. The sterile scent of antiseptic made it clear—I was in the infirmary.
Damn it. I had passed out.
I had almost made it to two years without a panic attack that bad. Almost.
I sat up slowly, rubbing my eyes as my chest tightened with the memory of what happened.
"You're finally awake," a soft voice said from across the room.
I turned, squinting slightly. A girl with dark skin and long braids rose from a chair at the far end of the infirmary. She walked toward me with quiet confidence, pulling a stool closer and sitting beside me.
There was something about her. Something… familiar.
"I—uh… who are you?" I asked, my voice raspy.
She smiled faintly. "that mark on your neck…how long have you had it?"
That threw me.
"What?, what mark?".
"You haven't seen it yet?". She asked, her eyes squinted. "I suggest you check it in the mirror then". She pointed to a small door in the corner marked Restroom. "There. Go see for yourself."
I hesitated, confused, but got up and walked over. "Is the nurse in?"
"She stepped out for a bit. You're fine."
I nodded and pushed the door open. Left it ajar. The mirror reflected my confused face, pale and still shaken.
Then I turned my head—and saw it.
A faint circular mark just below the right side of my neck, like it had been branded there. Inside the circle were strange, intricate lines—runes, maybe? Symbols I didn't recognize.
My blood ran cold.
"What the hell…?" I whispered, my fingers grazing the warm skin around it.
And for the first time since the shadow disappeared, I realized—it was the same place that creature touched.
Something had marked me.
And it hadn't been human.
"What the hell is that?" I said stomping out of the restroom as I focused on the girl.
She calmly replied without shaking, "Honestly, I have no idea, or should I say I'm not just sure, it's all jumbled up". Then she pushed down her uniform at her right shoulder angle to expose the same mark.
My brows furrowed, "you too?".
She adjusted her uniform, "Can you sit first? I really need to ask you some questions about this".
I sat on the bed while she sat on a chair facing me.
"Have you seen, or experienced anything weird? Scary? Just strange in general?".
"Yes," I replied almost immediately, "just today, the reason I'm even here right now."
She peered closer, "what exactly did you see? How did it get to you?".
"Umm well, I was just arranging my stuff since I'm a transfer student, then there was a knock, but get this, when I opened the door…there was no one, the knock came again and didn't open it, then this shadow started to flow through the door and formed this… cloaked person?...and I mean it really formed, literally touched me…" I put a finger on the mark, identifying where I was touched. "...and then I passed out…that's what happened..I swear I'm not crazy".
She sighed and was silent for a brief moment, "I believe you, I had a similar experience, mine was more like this vivid dream and if my thought is right…we're meant to be five, so we still need to find three other people".
"And who are they? Why are we looking for them?".
"In my encounter, I was in the library…" her gaze fixed directly on me, "there was this…secret passage, long story short, I read a book, more like a journal or should I call it a chronicle…talking about…" her voice reduced to a whisper, "vampires…one called Vladomar…" her voice returned to normal, "and something about soul-binding…I would have ignored everything, but these marks prove something, we just need to find any other three people with these marks…ours look the same so theirs should too".
I sighed, "But how are we going to find them, they could be anyone anywhere, probably not even in this school".
"Can I ask…why exactly did you come to Velmora? Why not another school?" She asked curiously.
I narrowed my eyes, " actually it's because of how I've always admired Velmora University, I've just always…wanted to be here".
"Exactly!…no good reason in particular! Me too, I've just always admired it…because of what…prestige? The uniform?... I believe it's more of a calling, something's about to happen, I mean, because…why us? Why now?".
"Well…I am not ready for anything…I just wanna study hard and Become a psychologist and honestly I need to get a rest, it's literally my first day here,but first…" I peered a little closer in, "I'm gonna need your contact info".
She pulled back and gave me a nonchalant expression, "Are you with your phone?".
I touched my body, and then realized I had passed out in my dorm room, so of course, "No I'm not" I gave a disappointed sigh.
"I thought so…" she said, bringing out her phone, "call it".
I panicked, did she really want to get my number? "Uhh…I…" I called it out while my body shook. She was just too gorgeous and her glasses which sat at the bridge of her nose seemed to highlight her beauty even more.
"I've sent you a text, do not respond!..."
My joy faded, "why?...why not?"
She looked for a moment with an expressionless face, "I hate chats, I hardly do that…and besides, it's only for important purposes…like if you find someone else with the mark, our individual encounters might hold different hints, so yeah just for that…. nothing else!".
"Sure…sure, I totally understand" my joy dropped to the lowest. Although I knew myself, I had a crush on this girl…I would still send a message.
The bell rang for the next class, the school setting was more like a high school setting, but students never had more than three classes a day, so it was organized like the typical highschool lecture settings, they felt that was the most orderly way of arranging classes. The only days in the week when some students wouldn't have classes were, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Not like classes weren't held on those days, but just like today being a Monday, everyone has a class, so all the dorms were empty, but the same wouldn't be said for Thursdays to Sundays.
She stood up to leave, probably for her next class but I held her hand to hold her back. "What about your name? Mine's Cassian by the way".
She pulled her hand out of mine nonchalantly, "it's Elara" she said and walked out. She came back, "also no one can see the mark except for you and I, so don't mention your encounter to anyone…you'll look like a fool" she said flatly and left completely this time around.
Elara.
Such a pretty name. I couldn't stop staring at her as she walked out and an older woman wearing a shirt free white dress and holding what looked like a file, came in. She must be the nurse.
"you're awake? How are you feeling dear? I'm Miss Donna, one of the school nurse" She said as she went to her table and brought out her stethoscope and came towards me. "You passed out and your heart beat was too fast when you were brought in, after calming you down, I went to check for your file and it turns out you're new and you have anxiety disorder, may I know what triggered it?. Is this place too overwhelming for you?". She asked as she examined my heartbeat and jotted down something on her notepad.
"No, no it's completely fine, I don't really know…but umm…" I wanted to see if what Elara said about others not seeing the mark was true, I pointed to the mark on my neck, "Do you see any mark on my neck?"
She peered closely, "No not at all, there's nothing there, do you see anything?".
So it was true after all.
"Nothing Miss Donna. My vision is probably still blurry and seeing things".
"Okay well if you insist…" She said as she examined my eyes next, then jotted something down again, "Well you're completely fine now, you can leave if you want, but you can also stay…if you also want to".
"I'll leave, I still have a lot to do at the dorm".
"Do come back if you feel anything dear".
I gave a short smile, "sure ma'am, I will".
I walked out of the infirmary.
Well everything I had just heard, was weird as fuck!