Seven days earlier.
The sound of the stamp hitting the paper echoed sharply through the quiet office of the dean's administration. Alice watched the secretary with an impassive expression, her hands folded on the counter.
"Medical leave for one week," the secretary read, adjusting her glasses. "Mononucleosis? That's quite serious for someone who looked so healthy just last week."
Alice didn't blink.
"It's a treacherous illness. The symptoms appear suddenly. I need absolute rest and isolation."
The woman sighed and signed the document.
"All right, dear. Get well soon. The campus gets very quiet without… well, without the students."
Alice took the paper. It wasn't just a medical leave; it was a pass to hide from her own hunger—and from the shame of almost attacking Kara.
One day later.
Night fell over Prinston, and Alice stood outside the iron gates, hidden in the shadows of an ancient oak tree.
Her eyes were fixed on one specific window of the women's dormitory. She could hear Kara's heart beating inside, a slow, sorrowful rhythm.
Alice wanted to go in. Wanted to say she was sorry. But the scent of Kara's blood was still vivid in her memory.
As she watched, a shiver ran down Alice's spine — not from the cold, but from instinct. Someone was watching her. She spun around, scanning the darkness behind her. She caught only a slender female silhouette vanishing into the fog, moving far too fast to be human.
Alice frowned, her stomach twisting with foreboding.
Hours later, at her house — an old, isolated residence on the outskirts of town — Alice sat in a worn velvet armchair. In her hands was a hospital blood bag, warmed in the microwave to simulate body temperature.
She drank not with pleasure, but with the resignation of someone swallowing bitter medicine. The blood soothed the burn in her throat, but not the weight on her soul.
"Dinner alone? How depressing."
Alice froze. The voice came from the staircase. She set the empty bag on the table and stood slowly.
"Rose."
Her sister descended the steps with predatory grace. Rose looked the same as she had decades ago: blonde, vibrant, with that smile that hid sharp teeth. Alice — three years older in human age and centuries more exhausted in immortal years — felt the burden of responsibility settle heavily on her shoulders.
"Hello, big sister," Rose said, stopping in front of her. "Did you miss me?"
"What are you doing here?" Alice asked, her voice hard.
"I came to see what keeps you tied to this middle-of-nowhere place." Rose strolled through the room, dragging a finger across the dust on a piece of furniture. "And I found out it has a first and last name. Kara Sullivan."
Alice stepped forward, blocking Rose's path.
"Stay away from her."
Rose laughed.
"So protective. Always the big sister, always the responsible one. But tell me, Alice… did you tell your human that you almost drained her neck in the forest? Or did you leave that part out?"
"I controlled myself. Something you never learned to do."
"Control is boring." Rose stopped, face to face with Alice. The tension between them crackled like electricity. "I'm staying, Alice. I'm enrolling. I'm going to live the college life. And I'm going to meet the friends of my dear sister."
"If you touch a single hair on Kara's head—"
"Promises, promises." Rose smiled and walked out the front door, leaving Alice alone with the fear that the past was about to repeat itself.
The next morning – University Office.
The same secretary who had helped Alice days earlier now looked enchanted at the blonde girl standing in front of her.
"Rose Vane…" the woman said with a smile. "Your transfer came from where, exactly?"
Rose leaned over the counter, her blue eyes glowing with a subtle hint of hypnosis.
"From Europe. But the paperwork is so bureaucratic… I'm sure we can take care of it quickly, right? I'd love to start classes today."
Especially History.
The secretary blinked, her gaze going unfocused for a second.
"Of course… of course. Everything is in order. Welcome to Prinston, dear."
The present – Classroom.
Natalie was doodling in her notebook, bored, when the classroom door opened.
The history professor stopped mid-sentence.
"Class, attention. We have another new student joining us this semester."
Rose walked in. She wore a cream-colored sweater that looked expensive and a plaid skirt — the perfect image of a model student, yet with a magnetism that made every head in the room turn.
"Hi, everyone!" Rose said with a bright, friendly smile. "Sorry I'm late. I'm Rose."
She walked down the aisle. As she passed Natalie's desk, Rose paused briefly and winked.
"I love your boots. Are they vintage?"
Natalie, caught off guard, smiled back.
"Oh — thanks! Yeah, they are."
Rose sat in the empty seat beside Natalie.
"You'll have to tell me where you bought them. I desperately need to update my wardrobe around here."
Within ten minutes, Rose had half the class wrapped around her finger. She was charming, funny, and captivating. Natalie, who had been missing Kara's presence lately (since Kara had been so distant), found the new girl fascinating.
Later, in the main hallway.
Kara walked with the same mix of anxiety and frustration she'd been carrying since the encounter in the forest. When she turned the corner, the air seemed to catch in her lungs.
Alice.
There she was, standing near the water fountain, wearing her usual red coat, as if nothing had happened.
Kara approached without thinking, ignoring reason.
"So you decided to come back."
Alice lifted her gaze. There was relief there—but also caution.
"I was… on medical leave," she said neutrally, the rehearsed lie slipping out.
"Medical leave…" Kara crossed her arms, skeptical. "Is that the official excuse for 'I almost bit you and ran away'?"
One corner of Alice's mouth almost curved into a sad smile.
"It's the safest one."
"Safe for who? Me, or you?"
Alice glanced down the hallway, avoiding the question.
"I don't want to discuss this here. Later… we'll talk."
Kara felt her frustration rise, but before she could insist, she heard Natalie's voice calling her name, bright and excited.
"Kara!"
Kara turned and her stomach dropped. Natalie was approaching with a beautiful blonde girl, smiling warmly. The same girl from the forest. The vampire who had almost killed her.
"Kara!" Natalie said, reaching them and hooking her arm through the blonde's. "I want you to meet the new student from my History class. This is Rose. She's amazing!"
Rose stood there, flawless, with a sweet smile and a friendly expression, as if the night in the forest had never happened.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you in a more… civilized setting, Kara," Rose said. The way she pronounced Kara's name sent a chill down the human's spine.
Kara kept her tone steady, though her hands trembled.
"You enrolled here?"
"Yes," Rose replied calmly. "I had to move closer to family and… well, your university seemed promising."
"She's super nice!" Natalie added, oblivious to the danger. "We already planned to study together for the History exam."
Rose's gaze slid slowly from Kara to Alice, who now stood rigid as a statue, eyes burning into her sister.
"Well, sis… what a lovely coincidence, don't you think?" Rose teased.
Alice stepped forward, her voice low, almost a disguised growl.
"Rose, don't play with this."
"Me?" Rose smiled innocently, resting a hand on Alice's shoulder with fake affection. "I'm just trying to adapt. It's natural to make friends and catch up with my big sister, isn't it?"
Natalie looked from one to the other, confused.
"Wait, you're sisters? Seriously? You're so different!"
"That's what people say," Rose laughed lightly. "Alice has always been the serious one. I'm the… spontaneous one."
When Natalie stepped away to grab a book from her locker, Rose leaned slightly toward Kara, invading her personal space.
"I told you we'd see each other again. And now… I have all the time in the world. And I love making new friends."
Kara met her gaze, forcing herself to stay calm.
"If you try to hurt Natalie—"
"Easy, dear," Rose whispered, her smile unbroken. "I just want to get to know her better. Maybe even show her that there are other sides to the story… sides Alice never told you."
Alice stepped in, physically placing herself between Rose and Kara.
"Rose, enough. Go to your class."
"As you wish, boss," Rose said smoothly, stepping back. "See you at lunch, girls!"
She walked away, the hallway seeming colder in her wake.
Kara looked at Alice, who still appeared tense, fists clenched inside the pockets of her coat.
"She's up to something," Kara said.
"She always is," Alice replied tiredly. "Rose never shows up without a reason… and when she gets close, it's because she wants something that will cost someone dearly."
A chill ran down Kara's spine. Rose's game had begun and Natalie was a piece on the board.
In the days that followed, the scene repeated itself with alarming frequency: Rose and Natalie sitting together in the cafeteria, laughing like lifelong friends.
Rose told stories in that calm, engaging tone that made people lean in to listen. Natalie listened closely, eyes wide, fascinated by her charismatic new friend. Kara watched from afar, her untouched plate growing cold.
"What are you telling her?" Kara asked, seizing a moment when Natalie went to get napkins.
Rose smiled, stirring her juice with a straw.
"Just stories. Things about your dear Alice's past. About how she used to be… rigid."
"Stories, or lies?"
"Depends on who's telling them," Rose said, tilting her head. "You've noticed Alice never tells you everything, haven't you? Maybe because the truth isn't as… pretty as her face."
Before Kara could answer, Natalie returned, and Rose instantly changed the subject, complimenting Natalie's hair.
Despite the external tension, the relationship between Kara and Alice began to shift during the moments they managed to steal alone. Rose's threat paradoxically pushed them closer together. They met between classes, hiding in the library or the greenhouse, where the initial tension softened into long, revealing conversations.
One rainy afternoon, sitting on the greenhouse floor, Kara finally found the courage to ask what had been gnawing at her.
"So…" she began, playing with a dry leaf. "Do you feed on humans every day? Like… horror movies?"
Alice, relaxed, bit her lower lip with an almost embarrassed smile.
"No… I have a supply. Hospital blood bags. I don't attack humans. Unless they really deserve it."
"I see…" Kara let out a nervous, relieved laugh, cheeks warm. "And here I was thinking you wanted to… I don't know… bite me that day in the forest."
"Well…" Alice met her gaze, intense. "If I wanted to bite you, don't you think I already would have?"
"Yeah… that makes sense," Kara said, holding her eyes.
"After all, we're friends now. And vampires don't bite friends, right?"
"Yes, of course," Alice smiled — but there was a silent promise there that they were more than friends.
Though Alice still kept some mystery, Kara felt there was something deeper—quiet care, a constant presence that made her feel safer than she wanted to admit. Alice was her shield against the world, and against Rose.
One afternoon, as they left the library, the cold already announcing the arrival of winter break, snow began to fall lightly.
Alice stopped suddenly and looked at Kara, adjusting the human's scarf.
"Winter break is coming… are you going back to your hometown?" she asked.
"Not exactly. My parents are going to Florida and… well, I said I'd stay to study. I'll probably be alone in the dorm or at home."
Alice fell silent for a few seconds, weighing her thoughts. Rose's face crossed her mind — her sister loose on campus, close to Natalie, close to Kara. Alice knew she couldn't watch everything all the time there.
"If you want…" Alice began hesitantly. "You could spend a few days at my place."
Kara blinked, surprised.
"At your house? The old mansion outside the city?"
"Yes." Alice looked down at the ground, as if it were a huge step. "It's… safer than here. Rose will be there too, but in my house, I set the rules. I can protect you better there. And… I think it would be good."
Kara smiled softly, her heart racing. The idea of stepping into Alice's private world was irresistible.
"Then I think I'll accept."
For a moment, Alice smiled back, relieved. In that instant, Kara knew that despite all the dangers and Rose's looming shadow, she was about to discover a side of Alice no one else knew.
Winter promised to be far more than just cold.
It promised to be revealing.