The Barrier

Chapter Two:

I sped in my red car, “Vernier ,” toward the university, gripping the steering wheel nervously while checking the time every few seconds. I was late for the next lecture, and I couldn’t stand the idea of entering the hall minutes after the professor, with his cold looks welcoming me as if I had committed a crime on campus.

The road to my university passes through a long corridor that cuts through the forest. Usually, it’s crowded with cars, and students’ voices fill the place near the nearby intersection, but today was different. The road was strangely empty not a single car, not a bike, no one at all… The trees on both sides seemed taller than usual, their branches swaying slowly with the wind, producing a faint sound like a long whisper.

Suddenly, the car shook slightly and then stopped.

“No, no, no…” I muttered as I tried to start it again. I turned the key once more, then a third time, but the engine didn’t respond. A heavy silence fell, as if the forest itself was holding its breath.

I quickly grabbed my phone to call for help, but the screen showed something I didn’t like: no signal.

“This is strange…”

I didn’t have time to wait. I grabbed my bag and got out of the car, closed the door behind me, and looked around. The air was a bit colder, and the smell of damp trees was clear. I started walking along the road, searching for anyone, any car, anyone at all to help me.

But nothing.

The road was empty and unusually quiet. I could even hear the sound of my own footsteps, as if the place amplified every movement I made. I felt a stab of anxiety and fear.

Then I noticed something ahead.

In the middle of the road, there appeared to be a transparent barrier stretching across it. It wasn’t completely clear, but the light bent around it in a strange way. I moved toward it slowly, narrowing my eyes to make sure of what I was seeing.

“Why is there a barrier like this in the middle of the road?”

I got closer, until my reflection appeared on it, like a giant invisible mirror. I raised my hand cautiously to touch it, and the moment my fingertips came close, everything changed.

A powerful wind suddenly burst out, striking me violently and throwing my hair backward as if a storm had exploded out of nowhere. I felt my body lifted off the ground a few steps by a hidden force I couldn’t see. I screamed, but my voice faded into the roar of the wind.

I looked at my reflection, but it was no longer me.

The girl appearing in the barrier looked very much like me the same features, the same facial structure, even the shape of the lips. But her hair was pitch black, her eyes a dark, terrifying red, and her skin extremely pale. She was staring at me with a strange, calm smile.

I began to rise higher, and the wind grew stronger around me. I felt as if the air itself was holding me.

The girl moved her lips, and I heard her clearly despite the loud wind: “I have waited for you for a long time… and now it is time to switch.”

My eyes widened.

Suddenly, the transparent barrier shattered into small fragments, like a mirror breaking in the air, and a bright light appeared so strong that I closed my eyes. Then I felt a hand grab my hand and pull me forcefully.

I fell… onto the ground, and then I lost consciousness.

I could no longer hear anything. Everything turned into darkness.

I don’t know how much time passed.

I woke up with a severe headache and dizziness that made the ground seem unstable. I sat up slowly, placing my hand on my head.

“What happened…?”

I looked up at the sky; it was leaning toward an orange color. Sunset had already arrived. I froze in place.

“But just now it was… it was eleven in the morning…”

Had I been unconscious all this time?

I stood up with difficulty and looked around. The same road, the same forest, but there was no sign of the barrier. No shards, no light, no red-eyed girl. And worst of all… no sign of my car.

“My car?!”

I ran to the spot where I remembered parking it, but it was empty. I searched my bag for my phone, and found no trace of it.

I stood in the middle of the road, helpless, feeling lost inside a scene I didn’t understand.

I started walking, trying to understand what was happening to me…

I walked for long minutes, until a huge building appeared at the end of the road. I ran toward it with a bit of hope. The closer I got, the more I realized it wasn’t an ordinary building. Its design resembled the Victorian era tall windows, stone columns, and intricate decorations.

In front of the building was a massive iron gate, and at the top of it a sign read: “Warster Kailey Academy.”

I stopped.

“That’s not the name of my university…”

The place was strange, and the name even stranger.

I heard voices coming from the left side, so I moved forward cautiously. Behind the wall, I saw other massive buildings and a wide courtyard filled with people. I froze as I watched them.

Everything looked… unnatural.

Some people had completely green skin, even their faces. Others had extremely white skin, as if no blood ran through their veins. And there were those who had small horns on their heads.

My breathing quickened.

Suddenly, I felt a hand touch my shoulder from behind.

I turned around quickly, to find a girl with green skin, long wet black hair, and cold blue eyes.

She said calmly, “Girl, are you okay? I saw you standing there shaking.”

I screamed without realizing it: “Monsters! You are monsters!”

Her eyes widened. “Monsters? Where?”

I ran at full speed back toward the road I had come from. My heart was pounding violently; I just wanted to go back home.

I didn’t notice the car coming toward me.

It suddenly stopped in front of me. The sound of the brakes was loud, and strong headlights hit the ground. I fell to the ground in fright.

A tall man stepped out of the car broad-shouldered, with neatly styled red hair. He was handsome and attractive, wearing sunglasses. He leaned toward me as he removed them.

His eyes were strangely yellow, and his skin was extremely pale.

He said coldly, “Damn it, are you trying to get my attention like an idiot?”

I didn’t focus on his words as much as I focused on his long fangs that appeared when he spoke.

He grabbed me by the neck and pulled his face close to mine. “Are you trying to get a kiss or what?”

Then he leaned closer, as if smelling my face.

“I don’t know why… your scent is amazing. Your blood smells fresh.”

The blood froze in my veins.

I pushed him with all my strength, making him fall backward, then I got up and ran without stopping. I didn’t know whether it was a disguise or reality, but his fangs were not fake. He looked like the vampires shown in movies.

Night fell quickly, and darkness covered the road. I stopped, panting, not knowing where to go.

I had no choice but to return to that place.

When I returned, the place was quiet. It seemed everyone had gone into their residences, and the lights illuminated the corridors.

Suddenly, a voice shouted behind me: “You! What are you doing here? Why didn’t you go to your room?”

I turned around, my body shaking. He was wearing a guard’s uniform, and his appearance resembled that of a vampire.

I said in a broken voice: “I… I don’t know where to go.”

He looked at me carefully. “You are a vampire. Tell me your name so I can find your room.”

“A vampire?”

I looked at my hands. They were unnaturally pale. I touched my teeth with the tip of my tongue… my fangs were longer.

I said hesitantly: “My name is… Iris.”

He took out his phone and began searching. “Iris… Iris… here you are. Iris Parkjo. Section C for vampires. Room 450. Go to your room immediately.”

I said, “No, wait... you’re wrong… my name isn’t Iris Parkjo, it’s Iris Lawrs.”

But he… suddenly disappeared from in front of my eyes before I could finish speaking.

He didn’t run or even walk he vanished instantly, leaving smoke in his place.

I rubbed my eyes, unable to believe what I had seen. Was it real, or just an illusion from exhaustion?

I looked up at the black sky and sighed. There was no solution but to go.

I entered the building, admiring the stunning design despite my fear. The place was amazing and incredibly beautiful: stone staircases, old paintings, warm yellow lights.

I reached the fourth floor and stopped in front of room 450. I slowly opened the door.

To be met by a half-naked boy standing directly in front of me.