In the late afternoon, after another day of classes, Kara was walking back toward her dorm alongside Natalie. The sun was already setting, casting long shadows across the campus, but Kara's mind was far away. As she casually glanced at one of the windows of the History building, she saw her.
Alice.
The vampire was staring at her through the glass. It wasn't a casual look; it was a summons. There was an urgency in her posture that made Kara's stomach knot. Without thinking twice, she dropped her things off at the dorm, muttered some vague excuse to Natalie, and ran toward the building.
When she arrived, the hallway was empty. The silence was absolute, broken only by Kara's ragged breathing. Suddenly, a shift of icy air prickled the back of her neck. Alice appeared behind her — not walking, but as if materializing from the shadows.
"Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Kara said, spinning around, her pulse racing.
Alice didn't smile. Her face was pale and tense, like a porcelain mask on the verge of cracking.
"I want you to meet me at the campus side gate at 6:30," Alice said, her tone direct and cold. "I'm going to show you something."
Before Kara could ask a single question, the figure in the red coat dissolved into the dimness of the corridor, leaving behind only the scent of rain and old flowers.
That night, the cold wind swept through the campus, stirring dry leaves along the ground as Alice stopped in front of the side gate. Kara followed her, her heart beating in a rhythm she knew Alice could hear. It wasn't fear. It was electric anticipation — a gravitational pull dragging her toward the abyss.
"Where are we going? I thought you didn't want to see me anymore," Kara asked, struggling to keep pace with Alice's steady, silent stride.
Alice stopped, but didn't turn around. The tension in her shoulders was unmistakable.
"You want answers?" Her voice came out rough, vibrating in the night air. "Then you'll get them. But after this… I hope you leave me alone. For your own good."
Kara swallowed hard, feeling the challenge embedded in those words.
"I'm not promising anything."
They crossed the street and followed a narrow trail that led into a dense grove behind the campus. The trees closed in above them, blocking most of the moonlight and forming a tunnel of darkness. The air there was heavier, saturated with the smell of damp earth, moss, and something metallic Kara couldn't quite identify.
When they reached a secluded clearing, where moonlight pierced through in silvery beams, Alice stopped.
She turned slowly. The temperature around her seemed to drop. There was something in her eyes — not just determination, but a nearly painful weight, centuries of solitude about to be laid bare.
"What you think you saw… you don't understand," Alice began, her voice trembling. "You romanticize the mystery, Kara. But the reality isn't beautiful. It isn't safe. It's hunger. It's death."
"Then show me," Kara said, stepping forward. Her voice was low, but unwavering. "If that's what will push me away, I want to see it. I need to see it."
Alice closed her eyes for a moment, breathing deeply as if the air itself were toxic. When she opened them again, the dark brown was gone.
In its place burned an incandescent red — a liquid, luminous crimson that seemed alive, swirling in her irises like galaxies of blood.
"Don't come any closer," Alice warned. Her voice was now a low, guttural growl that made the ground beneath Kara's feet seem to tremble.
Kara stood frozen, hypnotized. Alice took a step back, trying to flee her own nature — but the transformation took over.
Her posture changed. Her spine arched with lethal elegance, muscles tightening like violin strings pulled to the breaking point. Dark veins, like spiderwebs, pulsed beneath the pale skin under her eyes. Her nails lengthened, becoming sharp claws capable of tearing through steel.
Then she parted her lips. A wet, sharp sound revealed her fangs, long, white, and deadly —descending from her gums.
The creature standing before Kara was a perfect predator. A biological machine designed to hunt, seduce, and kill. The night air grew colder, freezing Kara's breath in her lungs. Every human instinct screamed run.
Every cell in Kara's body warned her of mortal danger.
But instead of retreating, an inexplicable heat rose in her core. The fear was there, yes — but it was intertwined with an overwhelming fascination. She stood before a monster, and that monster was the most beautiful and terrifying thing she had ever seen.
Kara took a step forward. The sound of her boot crushing a dry leaf echoed like a gunshot in the silence.
"So it's true…" Kara murmured, her eyes locked on Alice's fangs. "You are—"
"A vampire," Alice finished, her whisper sharp, exposing both her shame and her power. "That's what I am. A corpse animated by thirst. That's why you can't stay near me. I am the end of your life, Kara."
"I can't… or I shouldn't?" Kara asked.
The distance between them shrank. Kara could see Alice's chest, not moving with breath and feel the icy aura radiating from her. It was like standing beside a glacier, but a glacier that burned.
Alice hesitated. The predatory gaze fixed on Kara's jugular, where blood pulsed frantically, now mingled with something vulnerable. Human. Desperate.
"You have no idea how much you're testing me right now," Alice said. "I can hear your heart, Kara. It's beating so fast… like a trapped bird. The scent of your blood… it's deafening."
"Maybe I want to test you," Kara replied, her voice rough, barely disturbing the silence. "Maybe I'm not afraid of what you can do."
They stood only inches apart. Sexual tension exploded into the air, dense and palpable. This wasn't just attraction — it was flirting with death. The danger made every second more vivid.
Alice raised her hand, sharp claws hovering near Kara's face, as if to push her away, or mark her. But Kara, in an act of reckless courage, lifted her own hand and intercepted Alice's cold fingers.
She threaded her warm fingers through the vampire's icy ones.
The thermal shock was electric.
Alice shuddered. Kara's touch was pure life, pulsing, warm. With her free hand, Alice gently touched Kara's face. Her thumb, tipped with a sharp nail, traced the line of Kara's jaw, drifting dangerously down toward her neck.
"You're insane," Alice whispered, transfixed.
"I'm insane about you," Kara breathed back.
Kara tilted her head slightly, exposing her throat in a gesture of submission and absolute trust. Alice released a low sound from her throat, red eyes locked on the soft, pulsing skin. The vampire leaned in. Her cold lips brushed Kara's warm neck, sending lightning-like shivers racing down Kara's spine.
Kara gasped, her legs weakening. She wanted it. She wanted the distance gone. She wanted the bite, the claim, the eternity promised in that touch.
Alice opened her mouth, fangs grazing skin, ready to pierce—
But then Alice's conscience slammed back into her like a bucket of ice water. The love she felt for this girl fought the beast within. If she bit her now, she wouldn't stop. She would drain her. She would kill her.
With titanic effort, Alice pulled away abruptly, shattering the magnetic moment. She staggered back several steps, turning away, her body trembling from denied thirst and desire.
"Now that you know, I'm taking you back to campus," Alice said. Her voice was hard, but Kara could hear the pain in it. "And please… don't come looking for me again."
Without waiting for a response, Alice grabbed Kara by the waist. The world dissolved into speed and wind. One second they were in the forest; the next, Alice was gently setting Kara down in front of the side gate, as if she were made of glass.
Before Kara could say a word, the figure in the red coat vanished into the night, leaving behind only emptiness.
Kara stood alone before the gate. Her heart still hammered against her ribs, her entire body tingling where Alice had touched her. Her lips burned from the kiss that never happened, and her neck pulsed, aching for the bite that almost claimed her.
She knew she should be afraid. She should run and never look back.
But the urge to chase after Alice, to throw herself into that darkness and be consumed by it, had never been stronger.
That night, Kara understood: she wasn't just in love.
She was addicted.