Cold sweat slicked my palms as I paced the narrow confines of my dorm room, my boots clicking rhythmically against the cold stone floor.
Every shadow in the room seemed to stretch toward me, whispering silent accusations of the terrible crime I had committed just hours ago.
Professor Vance was gone.
His soul, once a warm and gentle light that had shown me an ounce of respect in this godforsaken academy, had been utterly obliterated.
My hands shook so violently that I could barely clasp them together to stop the trembling.
Anger, hot and volatile, burned deep in my chest, serving as a desperate shield against the crushing guilt that threatened to swallow me whole.
"Why did I open that damn book?" I muttered to myself, slamming my fist into the wooden post of my bed.
Splinters bit deeply into my knuckles, but the physical sting was nothing compared to the sickening dread twisting my stomach into tight knots.
I had only wanted to survive.
Instead, I had invited a monster into my world, a tyrannical specter who now wore the face of the only teacher who didn't treat me like garbage.
I sank onto the edge of my bed, burying my face in my trembling hands.
Every breath felt like swallowing glass, the weight of my actions crushing the air from my lungs.
How had things spiraled so out of control?
Only hours ago, I was just a desperate student trying to pass my exams.
Now, I was a criminal harboring an ancient, possessing tyrant.
Silence in the room was deafening, broken only by the rapid, shallow sound of my own breathing.
I stared at the floorboards, half-expecting them to open up and swallow me down to the hell I deserved.
Vance had believed in me when no one else did.
He had seen past my angry outbursts and my isolation, recognizing the raw potential beneath my defenses.
To know that his kindness had led directly to his destruction was a knife twisting in my chest.
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block out the image of Vance's eyes turning gold as Alistair claimed his body.
But the image remained, burned into the back of my eyelids.
A sudden chill cut through the warmth of my small room.
Temperature plummeted instantly, frost creeping along the edges of the windowpane.
My breath plumed in pale white clouds before my face.
A heavy, oppressive weight settled over my shoulders, making it difficult to draw a full breath.
I knew that feeling instantly.
It was the arrival of a predator, a dominant force that demanded absolute submission.
---
Heavy footsteps echoed down the silent corridor outside my room, drawing closer with agonizing slowness.
My breath caught in my throat as the sound stopped directly outside my wooden door.
Clicking open, the brass lock turned with a harsh, metallic screech that vibrated through my teeth.
Standing in the doorway was the tall, broad figure of Professor Vance, illuminated by the dim hallway light.
But it wasn't him anymore.
Gold light flickered deep within those familiar eyes, burning with a predatory intensity that made my stomach drop.
Alistair smiled, a slow, mocking curve of the lips that never belonged on my teacher's face.
"You look like you've seen a ghost, my sweet necromancer," Alistair murmured, his voice carrying the deep, resonant purr of a conqueror.
Slowly, he stepped into the room, closing the door behind him with a soft, deliberate click.
He looked around my tiny, cluttered room with an air of mild disgust, his nose upturning slightly at the cheap wooden furniture.
"A bit dreary for my taste, but I suppose it will have to do," Alistair said, his voice carrying an echo of ancient royalty.
Contrast was jarring, a horrifying blend of the familiar and the alien.
It was Vance’s deep baritone, but the cadence was entirely wrong.
Vance spoke with gentle warmth; Alistair spoke with the cold, absolute authority of a man who had ruled empires.
"Get out," I spat, my voice shaking despite my best efforts to sound fierce and unbothered.
"Now, is that any way to greet your husband?" Alistair asked, taking a slow step toward me.
Step by step, he advanced on me, ignoring my demand entirely as if I were nothing but an amusing child.
Sudden panic flared in my chest as I backed away, my heels catching on the edge of my small rug.
Wood scraped against stone as Alistair cornered me, his hands slamming onto the wall on either side of my head.
I tried to slide to the side, to escape his suffocating proximity, but he anticipated my move.
His hand shot out, grabbing my shoulder and slamming me back against the stone wall.
Dust puffed from the old mortar, settling in my hair as I gasped from the impact.
He leaned in closer, his chest pressing against mine, trapping me completely.
Physical contact made my blood run cold.
He was so close I could feel the heat radiating from Vance’s stolen body.
But there was no heartbeat.
Just a hollow, echoing emptiness where a soul should have been.
"Let me go!" I snarled, pressing my hands against his chest to push him away.
It was like trying to move a mountain.
"We have a bond to solidify, Isaac," Alistair whispered, leaning down until his lips almost brushed against my ear.
Breathing in his scent, I shuddered involuntarily.
My nose caught the familiar cedarwood of Professor Vance, but beneath it lay the terrifying, metallic tang of raw, ancient magic.
"This vessel is weak," Alistair complained, his fingers tightening against the stone wall until the mortar crumbled.
"Crushing that weak soul was easy, but my anchor to this physical world is slipping."
"I need your energy to stabilize myself."
"Kiss me, Isaac."
Desperation clawed at my throat as I looked into his golden eyes, seeing nothing of the kind teacher who used to guide me.
"Never," I hissed, my jaw clenching as my temper flared to life.
Gathering every ounce of strength in my body, I threw a wild, desperate punch straight at his jaw.
Crack.
Pain exploded through my hand as my knuckles collided with his chin.
It felt like striking solid granite, the shockwave of the impact vibrating all the way up to my shoulder.
Alistair didn't even flinch.
His head barely moved an inch, and the mocking smile on his face didn't fade for a single second.
Tears of frustration and physical pain gathered in my eyes as I clutched my throbbing, damaged hand against my chest.
"Is that all?" Alistair asked softly, his voice dripping with absolute amusement.
"Get away from me!" I screamed, my voice breaking with pure heartbreak and fury.
"You took him from me! You took the only person in this school who cared!"
Soft laughter rumbled in his chest, a low vibration that made my skin crawl.
"He was nothing but a pawn, my love," Alistair whispered, grabbing my injured hand with terrifying strength.
Searing, white-hot heat flared on my wrist as Alistair pressed his thumb firmly against my sensitive skin.
Screaming, I tried to pull away, but his grip was an iron vise that refused to yield.
Glowing golden lines began to etch themselves into my flesh, twisting and turning into an intricate, ancient royal crest.
"What are you doing to me?" I gasped, my vision blurring from the intense, burning pain.
"Engraving our wedding mark," Alistair murmured, his eyes flashing with dark satisfaction.
"You belong to me now, Isaac."
"Your soul is bound to mine, and no force in this world can tear us apart."
Searing pain finally receded, leaving behind a faint, glowing brand that slowly sank beneath my skin.
I stared down at my wrist, my chest heaving as I tried to process the nightmare.
A golden mark, shaped like an elaborate, thorny crown, burned faintly beneath my skin before fading into a dull, silvery scar.
It felt like a collar around my neck, a heavy chain tying me to this dead king forever.
"Why are you doing this?" I whispered, my voice thick with unshed tears.
"What do you want from me?"
Alistair smiled warmly, a terrifying expression of pure, possessive affection.
"I want everything, Isaac," he murmured, his fingers tracing the curve of my jaw.
"Your magic, your loyalty, your body."
"I built an empire once, and I will build another with you by my side."
"But first, I must survive."
"Now, about my nourishment."
"Tomorrow is your evaluation, isn't it?"
"I hear the headmaster and the other senior staff will be watching."
"If you won't feed me willingly, I will simply take my nourishment from your favorite professor during tomorrow's evaluation."
"It's sooner or later, Isaac."
"Have sex now, or have sex later."
"You can't run."