Emilia turned to face him, brushing her hair away from her face. Seeing that he was clean and no longer covered in blood, she finally calmed down. The rain slowed to a drizzle.
"What was that creature that attacked you?" she asked, her first question.
"They're called Shadow Shifters," Damien replied. "They're usually found wherever death is near or has already occurred. If you ever encounter one, it means someone has died... or is about to."
"Then why did they take Michael's voice? Is he dead?" Her eyes widened as the possibility dawned on her.
"No. Michael isn't dead. Shadow Shifters mimic the voice or appearance of someone you trust so they can lure you into their trap." He paused. "That's why I told you not to open the window if I returned before an hour had passed."
Emilia nodded as his words slowly sank in. She finally understood that she couldn't trust anyone.
"How can I tell if I run into one?" she asked.
"You can't. But if you're observant enough, you might notice a flaw. Maybe in the way they speak or how they look. It could be something so insignificant that you'd overlook it."
The rain stopped completely. Moonlight broke through the clouds, casting a pale glow into the dark room.
"How do I leave this school?" she asked.
"At the end of the school year," Damien answered flatly. "Next question."
"I can't stay here any longer. I'm going to get killed!" Emilia exclaimed, her vision blurring as tears welled in her eyes.
"You can't leave the academy until the school year ends... unless you want to get yourself killed."
Seeing she was about to cry again, he sighed.
"But... there is another way."
Her eyes lit up immediately. The tears vanished as though they had never existed.
She looked at him expectantly.
Her sudden change in expression amused him.
Scowling, he muttered, "You really know how to use what you have."
Emilia bit her lip, her cheeks flushing.
"Well... what's the other way out of the academy?"
"You'll have to pass through the realms to reach your own," he began. "Leaving the academy isn't the problem. Reaching your realm is."
Emilia frowned.
He was doing it again.
Speaking in riddles and giving her only half the information.
Silence settled between them, broken only by the steady ticking of the clock.
Tick...
Tick...
Tick...
"Help me understand," Emilia said, knitting her brows together. "How is getting back to my realm the problem?"
"That's a long lesson involving history and geography," Damien yawned as he stood and walked toward Camilla's bed. "I'm not explaining all that. If you've been paying attention in class, you'd already know. Go to the library and do your homework."
He lay down on the bed, placing one arm beneath his head.
"It'll be dawn soon. Get some sleep... or don't. I'm a very different vampire when I don't get enough sleep."
Closing his eyes, he fell silent.
Emilia watched him.
How could a vampire get tired? She had always thought vampires didn't need sleep.
Her thoughts drifted back to what he had said.
"How is leaving the academy not the problem...?"
She muttered to herself.
The soft ticking of the clock filled the room as she searched for an answer.
Her eyes drifted toward the strange book resting on her table.
Picking it up, she stared at the cover.
The minute hand on the skull had moved from its previous position.
"Do you have the answers?" she whispered before opening the book.
---
Bats screeched overhead, flying beneath the academy's towering ceiling as thick fog swallowed the moon.
Emilia lay sprawled across her bed with the book beneath her head like a pillow. Her broken glasses still rested crookedly on her face.
The morning bell rang, signaling the start of another school day.
Groaning, Emilia pushed her hair away from her face and slowly sat up.
Squinting, she looked around the room, wondering if everything that had happened the previous night had been nothing more than a nightmare.
She rubbed her swollen eyes.
They still ached from all the crying.
Removing her broken glasses, she sighed.
"I really need to stop reading before bed."
She dropped them onto her table.
She had absolutely no desire to leave her bed.
Every muscle in her body ached.
Movement itself felt like torture.
Looking down at the book beside her, she frowned.
Being able to read it hadn't helped at all.
She had spent the entire night trying to decipher its secrets, only to reach a dead end.
She wished she had listened to Damien and gone to sleep.
Turning toward the bed where he had slept...
It was empty.
The sheets were neatly straightened.
It almost looked as though no one had slept there at all.
"At least he's neat," she laughed quietly to herself.
Pushing herself out of bed, she noticed a small note resting on her table.
Nothing happened last night... Camilla is not real.
"Huh?"
Emilia frowned.
She was certain Damien had left the note.
But what did he mean by Camilla is not real?
"Aren't you going to get dressed? You don't want to be late for school again."
Camilla walked out of the bathroom, wrapped in a bathrobe.
"Ahhh!"
Emilia stumbled backward onto her bed, instinctively grabbing the dagger from her table.
"H-how...?"
"How?" Camilla tilted her head. "What are you talking about, silly? You need to get dressed before the next bell rings."
She giggled as she walked toward her dresser.
Emilia clutched the dagger tightly.
Then she glanced back at Damien's note.
What was he trying to tell her?
She hated him for leaving behind such frustratingly incomplete information.
"Emilia, seriously. Hurry and get dressed, or you'll miss breakfast again," Camilla said in her usual bright, cheerful voice.
Lowering the dagger, Emilia stared at it.
"How did I even get this?"
She was right back where she started.
Completely confused.
Taking a deep breath, she decided that if Damien had left her clues, she'd have to figure them out herself.
But first...
She needed to stay calm.
Since Camilla acted as though nothing had happened, Emilia would do the same.
She remembered Damien's note.
Nothing happened last night.
"Sorry," Emilia laughed nervously. "I just had a weird nightmare."
"It's that strange book you're reading," Camilla replied. "You really should get rid of it."
Emilia grabbed a bathrobe from her closet.
"You know how much of a bookworm I am," she joked as she slipped it on. "I'll put it away as soon as I finish reading it."
She hurried into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind her.
Letting out a long sigh, she leaned against it.
Camilla is not real.
Damien's words echoed inside her head.
Groaning, she buried her face in her hands.
"Could you have left just a little more information?"
Walking over to the sink, she prepared to shower before the second bell rang.
Her gaze met her reflection in the mirror.
If not for her swollen eyes and the mysterious book lying on her bed, she would have convinced herself that everything had been a horrible dream.
But it wasn't.
Everything had happened.
Camilla was dead.
Whoever was sharing this room with her was doing an excellent job pretending to be her.
"Emilia! Are you done? Hurry or we'll be late!" Camilla called through the door.
"Alright! I'll be out soon!"
Taking one final deep breath, Emilia's expression hardened.
She was going to leave this school alive...
Whether the academy wanted her to or not.