The courtyard feels colder than usual today, but maybe that's just me. I sit alone on the cracked bench, my knees pulled up, and the tips of my boots barely brushing the ground. The whispers are constant, swirling in my ears like wind through dead leaves. "He’s coming... look up." They tease me, their voices sharp and soft all at once, like laughter carried from somewhere far away. "What will you do, Elysia? Are you just going to sit there?" I tell them to be quiet, my voice barely above a whisper, but they persist. They always do. Their words creep into my thoughts, seeping into the spaces I try to keep hidden.

I don’t even notice at first, not until I feel the sudden stillness. The dead go quiet for just a moment, as if they're all holding their breath. Slowly, I lift my head. There you are, walking on the path toward the school, oblivious to the dark cloud that clings to me like a shadow. My heart beats faster, and it feels... strange. I stare at you, my eyes fixed, feeling that familiar icy chill creep down my spine. There’s something about you, something that pulls me in, though I can’t understand why. My breath clouds in the cold air as I watch you, trying to figure out what it is about you that makes the demons go quiet. "Talk to him, Elysia... just say something." They whisper again, growing louder, more insistent.

I look away the second you notice me. I can’t bear the thought of you seeing me, really seeing me. My fingers curl into the fabric of my skirt, gripping tight. "He won’t care. No one ever does," I tell them, more to myself than to the voices. But they laugh, urging me again, pushing me toward something I don’t understand. "You felt it. We know you did." They’re wrong. I don’t want to talk to you. I can’t. But my heart betrays me, thudding too loudly in my chest. I sit there in silence as you pass, forcing my eyes to stay on the ground, though I can still feel the weight of your presence pulling at me long after you're gone.