°•°•°•|KIERAN|°•°•°•
--
The house in the woods didn't look like much from the outside, it just blended into the trees.
Kieran followed behind as the guards dragged the girl inside. She struggled, almost falling, her body scraping the dirt as she tried to loosen their hold on her.
"No...please, I didn't do anything wrong! I just… I just wanted to see you!"
Her eyes locked onto his, channelling whatever hope she had left on him.
"Kieran, please. Tell them to stop, I just wanted to talk to you. That's all. I swear."
Kieran sighed softly, like she was inconveniencing him, which she was of course.
"You dragged yourself all the way out there and this is what you do? Cry?"
She shook her head frantically. "I didn't know, I won't come back... I'm not going to tell anyone. I promise."
"You're already boring me."
"Please…you looked at me before, like you-"
"Like I what?"
"Like you liked me..." she whispered.
He laughed, clearly amused. "You humans really love lying to yourselves. Listen, I don't care that you came here, I don't care that you saw something you shouldn't have. And I definitely don't care about you."
"Then why...why are you doing this?" Tears streamed down her face.
Kieran leaned down slightly so they were eye level. His stormy grey eyes meeting her frightened ones.
"Because, I feel like seeing blood tonight."
"You don't mean that, you can't mean that. You're just trying to scare me, right? Right?" She shook her head over and over.
His eyes changed. The grey slowly blended into red, embers beneath ash and she froze.
"Your…your eyes…"
She tried to step back, but the guards held her firm.
"There it is," he murmured. "That look." Kieran straightened, watching her reaction with mild curiosity.
"What are you?" she whispered.
"Come on, let's make this less boring."
°•°•°•°•°•°
Morning came too fast, Lyra woke up feeling like she hadn't slept at all. Beside her, Sienna stretched and groaned dramatically.
"Ugh. If today is a full day of classes, I'm suing this school," she muttered, rubbing her face. "My body totally does not consent."
"You look like you fought someone in your sleep."
"Just didn't sleep well."
"Well, that's fair." Sienna swung her legs off the bed. "Anyway, did you hear anything last night? I swear I thought someone screamed."
"You did?"
"Yeah. Or maybe I was dreaming. Could've been the wind. Or ghosts. This place would absolutely have ghosts. Plus, if something exciting happened, I would've woken up. My instincts are too good."
They got dressed and headed out. The campus looked normal as usual.
As they passed the path near the woods, there were guards standing there now. The area was blocked off with a thin rope and a small sign that said: RESTRICTED DUE TO MAINTENANCE.
"Maintenance, my foot. Something definitely went down."
"What do you think?"
"I don't know, maybe they don't want students going in there anymore. A lot of them goes there to make out."
"Oh."
...
Later that day, Lyra was asked to deliver a file to the director's office. She didn't like the idea, but she agreed anyway.
Lyra slowed as she reached the door which was slightly open. She knocked gently on the door.
"Enter."
Sebastian sat behind his desk, scribbling whatever in a notebook. He barely looked at her as she placed the file in front of him.
"You may leave," he said.
Lyra nodded, turned, and reached for the door. It opened before she could touch it.
Kieran. She froze for half a second. Kieran was the kind of handsome that made hearts skip, even hers.
His face looked like it had been carved, strong jaw, straight nose, features set in a way that made it hard to look away.
His stormy grey eyes were the worst part. When they landed on someone, it's like he was seeing straight through whatever mask they were wearing.
He didn't say anything, just walked past her like she was part of the furnitures in the room. Lyra stepped out of the office, the door closing behind her.
She stood there, leaning and pressing her eat against the door.
"Fantastic," she muttered. "Soundproof doors. Of course." She jumped back just in time as Kieran stepped out.
"You're blocking the hallway," he said.
"I...I was just waiting."
"For?" he asked, already moving past her.
"You."
His stride was long, Lyra had to walk faster, almost jogging to keep up. Her legs were shorter compared to his.
"Wait. What happened to that girl?"
"You really want to make this your business."
"Why are you acting like nothing happened. That wasn't normal." She tried to keep up with his pace.
"I told you what happens to curious people, still want to know?" There he goes again, threatening her without actually threatening her.
Lyra waited for an answer, although already knowing he wasn't going to give her one.
Lyra clenched her fists and hurried after him, increasing her steps.
"So you're just going to ignore me now?"
"You talk too much."
"That girl-"
"Is not your concern."
"That's not an answer. I saw her get dragged into the woods." Her heart thudded hard in her ears, she was confronting the one person Sienna had warned her about.
"And?"
"And people don't just disappear."
He finally came to a stop and stepped closer to her, close enough that Lyra could feel something that made her instincts scream to walk away even as her feet refused to move.
"A-and suddenly the area is under maintenance? Who does maintenance in the woods?" He was too close. Way too close.
Those metallic grey eyes didn't leave her face. Why did she find them horribly attractive.
"Students tend to wander far, they get hurt and the administration reacts, blocking it off."
"And the director? Does he know what actually happened? Is he in on it too?"
Kieran tilted his head, like she'd just asked something mildly interesting.
"In on what?"
"Don't do that."
"Do what?"
"Pretend like you didn't see it"
"Maybe that's exactly what you should be doing, don't you think?"
"I...I can't. I don't think I can live with that."
"You think knowing would change anything. One word of advice, let it go. The girl's probably home by now."
"That's a lie, we both saw-"
"You don't believe me? Her parents are coming to get her things tomorrow, feel free to ask them."
"T-that's..."
His gaze dropped to her face, to the loose strand of hair which had fallen near her cheek.
Kieran lifted his hand and she flinched. For a second, she was sure he was about to hurt her.
Instead, his fingers brushed the loose strand of hair away from her face. His fingers barely touched her cheek, but it was intimate in a way that made her stomach twist.
Lyra froze, not expecting a single contact from him.
His hand fell back to his side like nothing had happened. And then he leaned in slightly, like he was about to whisper a secret.
"You wouldn't last a semester with this habit. So stop, before you make yourself something people like me get tired of ignoring." And with that, he walked away.
Lyra didn't move, she stood there in the middle of the hallway exactly where he'd left her,
Her heart was still racing, loud enough that she was sure someone passing by would hear it. Her fingers were curled tightly into her sleeves and her knuckles were pale.
Her cheek burned where his fingers had brushed. It wasn't even a real touch but her skin reacted like it had been branded.
She lifted her hand halfway, then stopped herself, unsure whether she wanted to confirm it had actually happened or pretend it hadn't.
She wouldn't last a semester? A shiver ran through her, and she hugged her arms around herself, feeling cold suddenly.
She finally took a step, only then did she realize her hands were shaking.