Prologue
The first body was discovered behind Blackthorn Hall at 2:13 in the morning.
By sunrise, Ravenhurst University had already buried the truth.
Rain poured relentlessly over the gothic campus, turning marble walkways slick with water and blood while students whispered behind locked dormitory doors. Police lights flashed crimson and blue against cathedral windows older than most countries, illuminating the iron gates that separated Ravenhurst from the rest of the world. Officially, the student had fallen from one of the upper towers.
Unofficially?
His fingernails had been ripped off.His jaw broken.And carved into his chest with surgical precision were three words no one could explain.
DON’T TOUCH HER.
Anastasia Delphine Mourningvale stared at the crime scene photos glowing against her laptop screen from the darkness of her dorm room, silver rings tapping softly against the keyboard as encrypted files downloaded one by one. The blue light beneath her custom-built PC reflected off black lipstick and sharp eyeliner while rain thundered against the windows behind her. Most girls at Ravenhurst spent Friday nights drunk at parties or tangled in strangers’ beds.
Anastasia spent hers hacking university databases.
The police report had been sealed less than an hour ago.Which meant someone powerful wanted it hidden.
That alone made her curious.
A cold cup of black coffee sat untouched beside stacks of criminal law journals and highlighted case files spread across her bed. Her dark ambient playlist hummed quietly through the room while lines of code scrolled endlessly across the monitor. Another firewall collapsed beneath her fingertips.
Restricted faculty archives.
Interesting.
Her expression remained calm as she opened the encrypted folder—until a photograph appeared on-screen.
A list of student names.
Most were crossed out.
Some were missing.
One had tonight’s victim beside it.
And at the very top of the file, typed in stark white letters against a black background, was a name everyone at Ravenhurst feared.
NOCTIS LUX DEVEREAUX.
Anastasia’s stomach tightened.
Not because she knew him personally.
No one truly knew Noctis.
But everyone knew of him.
The silent basketball star with a perfect GPA.The old-money heir professors treated like royalty.The beautiful, terrifying boy who walked through campus as if the world disgusted him.
Rumors followed him everywhere:violent fights,family corruption,campus disappearances,girls who became obsessed with him before transferring schools weeks later.
Most people feared him.
Anastasia had never cared enough to.
Until now.
A sharp knock suddenly echoed through her dorm room.
Three slow taps.
Her head snapped toward the door.
Nobody visited her this late.
The knock came again.
Calm.Measured.
Intentional.
Every instinct in her body sharpened at once.
Then her phone buzzed violently across the desk.
UNKNOWN NUMBER.
A text message appeared on-screen.
Stop digging.
Another message followed immediately.
He already knows your name.
The lights in her dorm flickered once.
Twice.
Then completely died.
Darkness swallowed the room whole.
And somewhere beyond her window, hidden beneath the storm and shadows of Ravenhurst University…
Someone was watching her.
