The name, Sera. V, didn't leave Damon's mind.
It lingered in his mind the same way it sat on the first page of the book, quiet, clear, and impossible to ignore. Damon told himself it meant nothing but yet he couldn't ignore it.
He had gotten the list of all the students on campus, gone through too many lists for it to mean nothing. He had spent days looking at the picture of everyone called Sera on campus and still—he ended up coming back to hers.
He couldn't find anyone else with the surname that started with V.
The book rested on his desk, He picked it up again, ran his thumb over the edge, opened it.
Sera. Vale.
The handwriting was neat.
Damon exhaled slowly. If she had been the one behind that tree… she had run like she knew what would happen if she didn't. Fear like that didn't come from nowhere.
Later that day, he tracked her down to class.
She sat near the front, focused, as if the rest of the world didn't exist. As if she hadn't run through the dark with people chasing her. As if she hadn't left something behind.
Damon leaned against the doorway, watching or perhaps waiting for a twitch, a glance, a sign that could prove him right.
But maybe he was wrong because she didn't look up, nor did she move even after glancing at him once.
It irritated him more than it should.
He approached her.
"Seraphina Vale." he called out.
She turned, their eyes met, and for a brief second, something flickered through her calm. Almost invisible, but he was too far to notice.
He stepped closer, holding out the book.
"I think this is yours."
Her gaze dropped to it for a moment, then met his again.
"It's not," she said, too smooth and too fast.
Damon studied her carefully.
"You sure?"
"Yes." She answered without hesitation and no panic, Like she had prepared for this. Or maybe she hadn't. Maybe she was just that good.
Damon tilted his head, searching her face for something, fear, guilt, or maybe recognition—but she gave him nothing.
Nothing he could hold on to.
He let out a quiet breath and closed the book.
"Guess I got it wrong."
She nodded, like he didn't matter.
And that bothered him more than it should. He walked away. He decided to let it go.
Besides, it was just a girl and a book. Maybe the person didn't see anything, he thought to himself.
But yet—something didn't sit right.
*******************************************
Seraphina moved through the quiet hallways of the dorm, her heart pounded so violently it was a wonder she could even breathe. The encounter with Damon still burned in her mind– the way he had handed her the book, the way his eyes had studied her, as if he could see straight through her.
"It's not mine. It's not mine"… she repeated in her head, but the words did nothing to calm the tremor in her hands.
By the time she reached her room, fear had taken full hold. The door clicked shut behind her, and she leaned against it, sliding down to the floor. Her mind raced.
"Emily…" Her voice was almost a whisper, trembling.
Emily looked up from her bed, her brows knitted with concern "Sera? What's wrong?"
"I… I need your laptop," Seraphina said, her tone almost frantic. She didn't explain why, and the hesitation in her voice wasn't convincing even to herself.
Emily frowned but reached for it anyway, placing it gently on the desk in front of Seraphina. "Are you okay?" she asked softly.
Seraphina swallowed, glancing around the room as if expecting someone to appear out of the shadows. "Yeah… yeah, I just… need it."
"Okay…, I will go grab some snacks" Emily stood, and wore her grey pants and white jacket.
" The password is Emily23468" Emily added and left the room.
Seraphina powered the laptop on, hands trembling as the screen lit up. The hum of the laptop seemed deafening in the otherwise quiet room. Her eyes darted to the door again, then back to the screen.
"No one can know. No one must ever know" She thought to herself, biting her lips, unsure whether the fear in her chest was from what had just happened with Damon—or from what she was about to do.
She retrieved a flash drive from her bag, plugged it to the laptop and connected her Bluetooth to that of the laptop.
Minutes passed. Seraphina sat still, fingers hovering over the keyboard.