Chapter 2

The gates of Ashthorne Imperial Academy rose like ancient guardians, carved in black iron with crests I didn’t recognize, but they pulsed with a kind of unspoken power. My fingers clenched tighter around the strap of my bag as I stepped past them, the crunch of gravel beneath my shoes echoing far too loudly in the hushed morning air.

A new beginning. That’s what I was supposed to tell myself.

But the thing about beginnings? They’re often just disguised endings.

The admission office smelled faintly of varnish and old parchment. Polished wood desks lined the walls, each corner too pristine, too clinical, as though the entire building had been staged for a photograph. The receptionist smiled politely as I handed her the necessary documents.

“Nyra Sharma?” she confirmed, her pen scratching across paper with sharp precision.

I nodded. My voice stayed hidden in my throat — safer there.

Within moments, I was clutching a thick file containing my schedule, maps, and academy guidelines. Before I could slip away unnoticed, the door opened and a boy stepped in.

Adrash Adhikari.

The receptionist introduced him as if the name should mean something to me, and maybe it did. He looked like someone whose face people whispered about behind closed doors — clean-cut, dark hair falling neatly over his forehead, his blazer worn a little too perfectly. His smile came instantly, wide and practiced, but his eyes betrayed it. There was no warmth there, just calculation.

“I’ve been asked to show you around,” he said smoothly, almost rehearsed.

I studied him for a beat too long. People like him were always dangerous — the ones who pretended kindness with masks stretched too tightly across their real faces.

Still, I offered the faintest nod. “Lead the way.”

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The corridors stretched endlessly, lined with portraits of stern-faced founders whose gazes seemed to follow me. My footsteps felt heavier with each turn, as though the academy itself was testing me, pressing down on my chest to see if I would crack.

Adrash’s voice carried on beside me, describing buildings, rules, and schedules with practiced ease. I didn’t listen. Instead, I traced my gaze over the marble floors and towering windows that caught slivers of sunlight. Everything here gleamed — too polished, too perfect, hiding its cracks beneath layers of gold.

“And this,” Adrash announced after what felt like hours, “is the cafeteria.”

The heavy oak doors swung open.

The moment we stepped inside, sound exploded around us — laughter, clattering trays, shouted names. Students lounged on long tables, voices weaving into a chaotic symphony that made my skin prickle.

Then it happened.

Silence.

It fell too suddenly, too deliberately, as if someone had flicked an invisible switch. My heartbeat echoed in the pause, loud in my ears. Dozens of heads snapped in unison, not toward me, not toward Adrash… but toward something deeper inside the cafeteria.

I froze.

Their eyes widened, hushed murmurs breaking through the quiet like cracks in glass. I couldn’t see what they were staring at — the angle hid it from me — but the weight of their attention pressed heavy against my skin. I wanted to move, to turn, to know what commanded such stillness, but I couldn’t. Something in my chest warned me not to.

Instead, I stood there, an outsider with too many secrets stitched into my veins, trying to steady my breath.

Adrash didn’t flinch. He only cleared his throat lightly, as though this wasn’t strange at all. “Come on, Sharma. You’ll get used to it.”

His words were casual, but the tightness in his jaw betrayed him. He knew something. Something he wasn’t saying.

I clutched my schedule tighter.

Get used to it? The silence? The stares? The chill crawling down my spine like unseen fingers?

I wasn’t sure I wanted to.

Because I had learned long ago — silence is never empty. It’s always watching.

And Ashthorne Imperial Academy… was already watching me.

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𝙷𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚞 𝚐𝚞𝚢𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎, 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚟𝚘𝚝𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚝.

𝘿𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩.

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