Chapter Two — They've Found You

The scream came again.

This time, it was closer.

Every student in the classroom froze.

The professor dropped the book in his hands.

“What was that?” someone whispered.

Adrian stood so quickly that his chair scraped across the floor.

His eyes had changed again.

Red.

Brighter than before.

“Stay here,” he told me.

I stared at him. “You just said they found me. Who are they?”

He didn't answer.

Instead, he looked toward the classroom door.

Something scratched against the other side.

Slowly.

Three times.

Scratch.

Scratch.

Scratch.

The room went silent.

Adrian stepped between me and the door.

“Whatever happens,” he whispered, “don't open it.”

The professor moved toward the door.

Adrian's voice suddenly became sharp.

“Don't.”

Everyone looked at him.

The professor stopped.

Then the lights went out.

A cold breeze swept through the classroom.

Someone screamed.

I couldn't see anything.

Then I felt a hand grab mine.

I almost cried out, but Adrian whispered,

“It's me.”

His grip was steady.

“Trust me.”

The door suddenly burst open.

A dark figure stood in the doorway.

I couldn't see its face.

But I could see its eyes.

They were glowing red.

Adrian pushed me behind him.

The stranger laughed softly.

“So the prophecy was true.”

Adrian's expression hardened.

“You're too late.”

“No,” the stranger replied.

His gaze moved toward me.

“We're exactly on time.”

A strange symbol suddenly burned beneath the skin of my wrist.

I gasped.

Adrian looked down.

The same symbol from his notebook was glowing on my skin.

The stranger smiled.

“The marked one has awakened.”

Adrian's eyes flashed dangerously.

“Get away from her.”

The stranger laughed.

“You still don't understand, Adrian.”

He stepped backward into the darkness.

“The mark isn't what makes her dangerous.”

Then he disappeared.

The lights came back on.

Everyone was staring at me.

But Adrian wasn't looking at them.

He was staring at my wrist.

“What?” I whispered.

His face had gone pale.

“That wasn't supposed to happen yet.”

“What wasn't?”

He looked into my eyes.

“The mark just revealed you to every vampire within a hundred miles.”

My heart sank.

“And what happens now?”

Adrian glanced toward the window.

Outside, several dark figures were standing beyond the gates.

Watching.

Waiting.

He turned back to me.

“Now,” he whispered, “we run.”

To be continued...