Vampire Assassin: Love and Lies

The school was buzzing with rumors. Everyone had been talking about the new kid who'd just arrived. Supposedly, he looked older than all of us by at least six years, which was wild considering even Damian, at twenty, already stood out as the "old guy." But this one? He sounded like someone straight out of a crime movie.

Emma was the first to bring it up during break. "Damian, have you heard about the new guy? He has a tattoo of a bloody dagger wrapped around a snake." Her eyes were wide with excitement, like she was narrating the plot of some epic novel.

Damian, who'd been leaning against a tree with his usual "I-don't-care-about-anything" attitude, finally looked up. "A tattoo?" His voice was casual, but there was a flicker of curiosity in his tone.

Emma nodded quickly. "Yeah, and he's in Mr. Saville's office. He's been there for two hours now."

Damian's brows furrowed. "What else do you know about him?"

She described him as best as she could—tall, broad shoulders, sharp features, and this piercing, almost predatory look in his eyes. Damian's expression darkened with every word she said.

It couldn't be. Could it?

By the time break rolled around, Damian was unusually focused. He ditched his usual spot under the tree and headed toward the training grounds. Emma followed, obviously surprised. "Wait, you're actually interested in something? This is just a new kid, Damian. Why do you care?"

He didn't answer. He just leaned against the fence, his freshly cut hair catching the sunlight. Damian looked sharp that day—too sharp. Even the girls passing by couldn't help but glance at him, giggling and whispering. He barely noticed. His attention was fixed on the entrance to the training grounds.

"There he is!" Emma's voice jolted Damian out of his thoughts.

He turned his head, and the world seemed to stop.

There, walking casually into the training grounds, was Gabriel. The Gabriel. The same Gabriel who had once been Damian's ally. The same Gabriel who had betrayed him. The same Gabriel who had driven a knife into his stomach, leaving him to die.

Damian's blood ran cold. Then hot.

His mind raced, but his body stayed still, locked in place as if moving would shatter the fragile reality of the moment. Gabriel's eyes scanned the training grounds, sharp and calculating, until they landed on Damian.

It was like a punch to the gut.

Gabriel's gaze didn't just stop on Damian—it bore into him, piercing through his skin, his thoughts, his very soul. It was the kind of look that stripped away pretenses, exposing everything.

Damian didn't flinch. He couldn't. Instead, he met Gabriel's stare head-on, his own eyes blazing with something raw and furious. Revenge. Anger. Hatred. It all boiled to the surface, filling the space between them like a ticking time bomb.

The tension was suffocating. Emma stopped mid-sentence, confused by the sudden shift in Damian's mood. Zoe, standing nearby, frowned. "Do you two know each other or something?"

"No," Damian lied, his voice tight.

Oliver adjusted his glasses, his sharp eyes darting between the two. "Then why does it feel like you're both about to fight to the death?"

Zoe crossed her arms. "Whatever it is, it's intense. Like, seriously, the air feels heavier."

Gabriel didn't say a word. He just smirked faintly, like he knew exactly what Damian was thinking, before breaking eye contact and strolling away.

As Gabriel disappeared into the crowd, Damian's gaze shifted upward. His heart sank when he saw the figure in the vice principal's office window. Mr. Saville. He was watching.

A game was about to unfold. Damian knew it and he wasn't backing down.

🤗🤗🤗🤗.