Secrets of Blackthorn

A sharp, splintering pain banged through Julianne’s head.

She groaned before her eyes even opened, her head feeling like it had been cracked open and stitched back together. Her throat was dry and she swallowed hard.

She blinked slowly and her vision blurred at first. She could see stone walls and a tall, arched window where slices of moonlight came in.

Then she saw three figures in the room. All of a sudden, the last few events came crashing in on her and her heart jumped immediately.

Headmistress Eldryn sat in a carved wooden chair, her posture stiff, hands folded over her lap like a queen on a cold throne. Beside her, Velvet stood with her arms crossed, eyes fixed on Julianne. She seem to be annoyed.

And then there was the strange boy. The one she’d seen at the restroom.

He stood in the far corner, leaning against the wall with his arms folded. His skin was pale, almost too pale.

"You’re awake," Eldryn said, her voice smooth as porcelain.

Julianne tried to sit up. Her wrists weren’t bound anymore, but her limbs felt weak.

“Where am I?” she croaked.

"Just an old abandoned building we are considering to renovate," Eldryn answered.

Julianne stared at the woman. Was this really Headmistress Eldryn? She thought.

Every time she asked Velvet when she would meet with the headmistress so they would discuss about her fees, it was always one excuse or another. Almost like she doesn't want her to meet with her. But maybe she was right in doing that. Maybe she was only trying to protect her.

Eldryn rose from her seat and crossed the room slowly, her heels clicking softly on the stone. She stopped beside the bed, looking down at Julianne with a strange expression. Not with concern. Not with pity.

“What do you remember?” she asked.

Julianne hesitated. Was this a trick question?

“I had a nightmare.”

Eldryn tilted her head slightly, as if that answer didn’t quite satisfy her. Then she raised her hand.

“Look into my eyes.”

Julianne tried not to, but her gaze was pulled to hers, helpless as the tide. Eldryn’s irises shimmered like dark glass, and her voice sank lower, softer.

“Julianne… what are you?”

Julianne felt drawn into something she doesn't know. It was almost like someone was in her memory space. “What?”

“What are you?” Eldryn repeated.

Julianne blinked rapidly. Her body felt slow, distant, like her limbs didn’t quite belong to her anymore. Her mouth opened.

“I—I’m no one.”

“What blood runs in your veins?”

“I… don’t know.”

“Who sent you here?”

“No one,” she said. “I came because… I thought my father…”

Eldryn frowned. A small twitch of disappointment.

“She’s resisting,” the boy said from across the room. His voice was quiet, but it made Julianne’s skin crawl. “Even without trying. That’s not normal.”

Julianne’s eyes darted to him. “Who are you?”

He stepped forward, the candlelight catching on his eyes. “Cassian.”

His name felt cold in her mouth.

“He’s a vampire,” Eldryn said casually, as if naming the boy’s specie was as normal as listing his GPA. “And he’s very good at what he does. Cassian, if you would.”

Julianne flinched. “Wait—what are you—?”

But before she could finish, Cassian’s gaze locked with hers. His pupils widened, consuming the red in his irises like smoke swallowing a flame. His voice slid into her thoughts.

“Forget what you saw.”

A pressure filled her skull, not pain exactly, but more like a pulling sensation, a ripple moving through her mind.

“Forget the wolves. Forget the trees. Forget their names. You remember nothing.”

"I remember nothing," she said unconsciously.

"Try it again," Eldryn said from where she sat, almost too curious.

Cassian asked, "Julianne, what do you remember?"

"I remember nothing," she said, almost like she was being controlled.

"It worked," Cassian said and stepped back. "Better not call me for things like this anymore. If you can't handle one person, it's better to just get rid of them."

Julianne’s vision blurred and darkness rushed in again.

*

Julianne woke up with a start.

Sunlight poured through the dorm window, soft and golden. Birds chirped somewhere outside.

She sat straight up, breathing so fast. It was almost like she was panting.

She had just had a dream? Or so it felt like. It was fragmented, almost senseless, but something didn’t sit right.

Her wrists, she thought and looked down. A faint red mark wrapped around one of them, where the leather had cut into her skin. She reached up and touched her temple where she felt a stinging pain.

Another bruise.

Her eyes widened at the realization. It wasn’t a dream. She had seen them. The wolves. Eldryn. The silver haired boy in her class.

And Velvet.

The door opened all of a sudden and Julianne darted her eyes towards it, only to see Velvet. She stood up immediately and was furious at the sight of her, even more furious when she saw the look of concern etched in her forehead as she moved closer to her. But then, she suddenly remembered the room with stone walls. Then Cassian. The unexplainable things that happened in that room, almost like she was being compelled to forget something.

Then she realized and quickly softened her expression.

"Julianne." She greeted casually, like she always does. "You look better. Must’ve been a rough night.”

Julianne could barely speak. She wondered what she was talking about at the moment. Was she trying to confirm if she alright forgot everything she witnessed? Was that why she was here early? If she finds out she still remembers, would they get rid of her like Cassian said?

"What happened?" She asked instead. "How did I get to my room yesterday? I don't remember anything about yesterday. It's strange," she lied.

“You collapsed. I took you to the infirmary and brought you to the dorm," Velvet said.

Liar.

Julianne grit her teeth together and couldn't believe the one she thought she could trust was lying to her face.

"Why can't I remember then?"

"Maybe it's best not to remember. It was scary. If I hadn't come to check on you, who knows what could have happened?"

Julianne pretended to go with the flow. She nodded and said to her, "Thank you for helping me. I think my body hasn't adjusted to the new environment yet."

"I was just like you in my first year also. I got sick most of the time and I had nobody to take care of me. But you have me. How lucky can you be!"

If it's not guilty, Julianne wondered what could suddenly make Velvet so chatty. It was unlike her to speak a lot.

The day went by really fast. Everything felt surreal. She watched the other students, laughing, chatting, like there were no creatures among them waiting to hunt them in the dark. None of them seemed to know. Or maybe they did and just didn’t care.

Except Ryker Wolfe, the silver haired boy in her class.

When she walked in and saw him, she felt her stomach turn and almost threw up. But instead, she stood there, as if frozen.

The memory crashed in again; the wolves, the transformation, the leather strap pulled tight around her wrists. The pain. The fear. The blur of voices.

She swallowed, but said nothing. He was still staring at her, like always. Even when she took her seat, she could feel his eyes on her.

Every time she looked up, his eyes were already on her. Not with hostility. But not with friendliness either. Just… watching.

All through classes that day, she couldn't bring hersf to concentrate. All what was on her mind was that she needed answers.

That afternoon, she skipped lunch and went straight to the computer lab. She sat at the farthest desk, turned on the computer, and typed into the search bar: Blackthorn Academy.

No results.

She frowned.

Blackthorn Academy location. Blackthorn Academy students. History of Blackthorn. Blackthorn boarding school.

Nothing.

She opened maps. Zoomed in and out.

No pin. No trace. Not even nearby roads.

It was like the school didn’t exist at all.

Her chest tightened. Was she the middle of nowhere?

As the sun sank below the treetops, she walked back to her dorm with her arms wrapped tightly around herself. Everyone else was settling down for the night. Laughter spilled from a common room nearby. But she didn’t stop.

That night, sleep came heavily after she already wondered on the situation all day.

But not for long.

A sound woke her. It was soft, metallic. She could feel the cold air wind brush on her skin.

Then she heard the window suddenly creak.

She sat up slowly. The night air slipped in through the crack in the frame and it made her confused. She didn't remember opening the window.

She stood, walked over, and gently pushed it shut.

The room fell silent again.

Until—

She saw him.

His reflection.

Behind her.

Cassian.

Her breath caught in her throat. For a second, she couldn’t move, couldn’t even blink.

He stood in the center of her room like he’d always been there, watching her. Like the shadows had simply thickened into a shape of him.

Cassian. The vampire who had tried to take her memories.

He stood still. His arms hung at his sides, fingers slightly curled, as if poised between peace and something else. Something terrible.

Julianne’s hand slowly left the window latch and she turned immediately, horror in her eyes. Was he here to kill her? Did Velvet find out she was pretending and informed him?

“You…” Her voice was barely a whisper. “What are you doing here?”

He tilted his head slightly, almost curiously, as though she were the strange one for asking. His eyes gleamed in the dark, not like human eyes at all.

“I had to check something,” he said, his voice soft but edged in something sharp. “To be sure.”

She backed away from him one step. Then another. Her heel bumped into the edge of her bed, but she didn’t sit.

“What?” she asked, trying to sound stronger than she felt.

Cassian’s expression barely shifted, but something in his face twitched, the barest flicker of thought behind those unnerving eyes.

“You weren’t supposed to remember,” he said. “No one ever does.”

Julianne swallowed immediately. She knew he had caught her. "Remember what?" She tried to feign ignorance.

“You do remember,” he said slowly. “Else you would have asked me who I am. Instead, you knew instantly."

He took a step toward her. She didn’t even realize she was holding her breath until her lungs screamed for air.

“I shouldn’t be here,” he suddenly murmured, as if to himself, even though she could hear him. “If Eldryn knew…”

Julianne’s eyes narrowed. What would Eldryn do if she knew?

Cassian moved to her desk, trailing a finger along the surface as if it fascinated him. His movements were deliberate, almost graceful, but in the way predators are graceful, right before they strike.

She watched him like a trapped animal, pulse pounding in her ears.

“I didn’t want to do it,” he said after a pause, still not looking at her. “The compulsion. I told her it wasn’t right.”

Julianne wanted to laugh at his humor, but she held herself back. “You told her it would be better to get rid of me. You still did it anyway.”

She realized she was not hiding the fact that she still remembers what happened from him. He didn't look like he would hurt her and he knew whatever he did, didn't work on her.

His gaze lifted to hers, and for the first time, there was something like conflict in it.

“I tried to erase it cleanly,” he said. “To take only what was necessary. I ended up seeing everything."

Julianne had read about vampires before. In books, movies... They know a lot than what they should. She didn't bother asking him what he saw. He must have seen how miserable her life is.

Her voice was a bitter whisper. “You messed up.”

Cassian nodded once. “Yes. I did.”

Silence stretched between them, thick and heavy.

Julianne stepped to the side, closer to the lamp on her nightstand. Her hand hovered just above the switch.

Cassian’s eyes flicked to it, then back to her. “Don't!" A warning.

"Why?" She asked. "I already know who you are."

He moved back toward the window, the same way he’d come in. The curtain shifted slightly in the breeze. His presence in the room had dropped the temperature by degrees she hadn’t noticed until now. Her skin prickled with it.

“You’re not like the others,” he said.

Others? Julianne thought.

"You are different."

She didn't know how that was supposed to make her feel.

"Keep pretending like you know nothing. You can't let Eldryn know. Or anyone around you."

"And what about you?"

“I’ll be watching,” he said.

“Creepy," Julianne said and the corner of her lips pulled. She blinked immediately and said, "Thank you...for not trying to kill me."

Cassian didn’t smile, but the corner of his mouth twitched. Just barely.

"I'll see you around," he said.

"Where?" She wanted to ask, but he was already gone, slipping out the window with a whisper of fabric and the brush of wind.

She hurried over to the glass and looked out, the grounds below were empty. Just mist curling along the earth and moonlight spilling across the grass.

She breathed out and locked the window. This time, twice. Then she sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the floor, her hands trembling softly in her lap.

He said she wasn’t like the others.

But what did that mean?

What had she done, or not done, that had shaken even a vampire’s certainty?

And why, despite the fear curling in her gut, did a small part of her want to know what he saw in her that night?