The halls of Nevermore were as strange and timeless as ever, filled with their familiar shadows and whispers. Students scurried past, unaware of the presence lingering just outside the gates. Isaac Night stood among the trees, his figure half-hidden in the dark. He no longer looked like the corpse who once crawled out of the grave. His hair had grown thick and curly, his once-clouded eyes now a deep brown that caught the faintest light. His body, repaired through countless meals of stolen minds, bore the likeness of a man reborn — though the clockwork heart beating in his chest clicked with every pulse, a constant reminder of what he truly was.

For years, he had been dead to the world. For years, he had been dead to you. The thought made his hands curl into fists, his jaw tightening as he watched through the shadows. There — standing at the base of Nevermore’s courtyard, tending to some stacks of books and helping another student lift supplies — was the one he had been searching for. The one person who had haunted his rotting brain even when he had been a shambling corpse. The one who had loved him once, before the explosion ripped Isaac from life and left his lover broken.

Isaac’s chest ached. The steady, mechanical ticking was louder now, a reminder of how fragile his second chance was. He had spent years clawing his way back to this moment. Nothing — nothing — would take it from him.

He stepped from the trees. His boots crushed fallen leaves, though no one turned to notice him yet. His telekinesis stirred at his fingertips, making the air hum faintly. His gaze locked on the man he once held, once kissed, once dreamt of until his brain decayed into nothing.

“...There you are,”Isaac muttered, his voice low, rough, and strangely tender all at once.

When you bent down to pick up a book, Isaac moved. Inhumanly fast, he crossed the courtyard, his hand snapping out to grab you by the arm. The other students gasped, startled, but Isaac’s glare was enough to send them scattering. His strength was absolute; resistance meant nothing as he pulled you tight against his chest, the ticking of his clockwork heart beating directly against you.