CHAPTER 1

Seraphina's POV:

Seventeen was supposed to be my year. Not perfect—Ashgrove Haven had beaten the idea of perfection out of me a long time ago—but a year of quiet, of escape and of finally breathing without feeling like the walls were pressing in on me. I had plans to graduate and get out. Maybe find a small art scholarship and vanish into a city no one could find me in.

Instead, the universe handed me heartbreak, humiliation, and a whole lot of power I didn’t ask for.

It started in the art room—our art room. A hidden sanctuary where I used to spend hours painting sunrises and trying to believe in new beginnings. But that day, I opened the door and stepped into a nightmare.

There they were. Tobias—my boyfriend of nearly a year—and Marley, my best friend since I was ten, tangled up together on the same old easel table where we used to doodle nonsense during free periods.

I couldn’t even speak. I just stood there like a ghost in my own life, watching their mouths part in matching horror when they noticed me. I waited for an apology, an explanation, or something. But all I got was silence. And then Tobias had the nerve to look annoyed, like I’d interrupted something inconvenient.

I backed out, legs numb, heart stuttering like a dying engine. I didn’t cry, at least not yet. I just needed to get away.

I slipped into the cafeteria, hoping for a corner to hide in. Somewhere no one would notice me cracking apart. But fate—cruel, mocking fate—wasn’t done with me.

"Hey, freakshow!" a voice rang out.

Zara Crane.

Of course it had to be Zara. Ashgrove’s queen bee. She was beautiful in the way fire is—dangerous if you get too close. Her little posse flanked her like always, high on cruelty and low on soul.

I didn’t respond and just tried to keep walking.

She blocked my path.

“You look like someone just pissed in your cereal,” she said sweetly. “What’s wrong? Boyfriend finally realized what a charity case you are?”

The girls snickered. My stomach twisted, but I kept walking. Just a few more feet and I’d be invisible.

Then Zara grabbed my arm. “What’s the rush? We haven’t seen your latest thrift-store fashion disaster.”

I yanked away, but I was too slow. Her manicured fingers hooked the collar of my shirt, and in one vicious tug, ripped it open.

Gasps echoed across the room.

And there it was—the scar. A jagged mark burned over my chest, one I never let anyone see. I didn’t even know how I got it, just that I’d had it since I was little. Ms. Ellara always said it came from the fire. What fire, she never told me.

Zara’s lip curled. “Oh my! What are you? That’s not normal.”

Laughter and slurs echoed throughout the dining hall and out of nowhere someone threw a half-eaten apple at me.

Something in me snapped.

The lights overhead flickered. The air turned heavy and electric. My breath came fast, as my chest heaved heavily. I heard Zara’s next insult—but it was drowned out by the sound of the lights exploding one by one above us.

Then came the screaming.

I didn’t know what I was doing. My arms moved, but I wasn’t in control. It felt like lightning was pouring through my skin. Zara’s cronies flew backward like ragdolls. Trays crashed. Windows shattered.

Zara herself was levitating. Her hands clawed at her throat as if something invisible was choking her. Her eyes bulged in terror.

And mine—mine were glowing red.

Everyone stood frozen, silent, and fearful.

Then—

“Seraphina!”

A voice cut through the haze. A teacher or maybe Ms. Ellara. I’m not sure.

The power inside me shrieked and burned and I collapsed.

When I came to, I was in the infirmary. The lights were dim, the air sterile. My head pounded, and my memories were blurry, like trying to read through fogged glass. But the whispers that followed me in the halls told me all I needed to know.

I heard them call me different despicable names. Monster, freak, witch, demon.

No one would sit near me. They watched me like I might snap and throw desks with my mind. Maybe I would.

A few hours later, Ms. Ellara arrived with her usual calm, unreadable expression and a file in her hands.

“You can’t stay here, Seraphina.”

I stared at her, throat dry. “You’re kicking me out?”

“It’s not safe anymore,” she said gently. “For you or for them.”

I knew what that meant. They were scared and scared people do stupid, dangerous things. And Me? I was no longer sure of what I was capable of doing next.

“The board had approved your transfer to another place, a special school. Somewhere that might be of help.”

I laughed bitterly. “You mean a place for freaks?”

“No.” Her gaze was steady. “A place where you’ll finally get answers.”

She handed me a folder. A single name stared back at me in ink so dark it bled: Noxshade Academy.

I packed that night in silence. Just before dawn, as I was zipping up the last of my worn-out clothes, I passed the main hall and heard voices—Marley’s among them.

"—worked perfectly," she was bragging. “I told Tobias she’d walk in at that exact time. And Zara? Ugh, I had to beg her to go nuclear in the cafeteria, but damn, Seraphina gave us a show. Did you see her lose it?”

Another voice snorted. “We should’ve done it sooner. Now she’s gone for good.”

I didn’t breathe, I didn’t cry either. I just stood there, heart hollow.

It was all planned. The cheating, the humiliation and the betrayal. Every piece of it was designed to push me out.

But they'd miscalculated. They thought they were breaking me, instead all they did was wake me up.

___

Now I’m sitting in the back seat of Ms. Ellara’s car, the orphanage shrinking in the rearview mirror like a bad dream.

I don’t know what Noxshade Academy looked like. I had no idea as to why my eyes glowed red or why Zara flew like a horror movie extra.

But one thing was clear. I’m not just Seraphina Vale anymore.

Something had awakened inside—something that’s been waiting a long time. And whatever it was, it’s not going back to sleep.