The Vampire Crimson Heir

Is Lyra Dead?

I stared at the note in my hand. “Ask Adrian what happened the night you died.” The words felt heavier than iron, for a second, everything around me faded, the body hanging from the academy gates, the terrified whispers, the professors pushing students back, the blood dripping onto the stone. None of it mattered, only Adrian.

I slowly lifted my gaze, Adrian stood beside me, golden eyes fixed on the corpse, his expression grim, too normal. My chest tightened, the note had been deliberate, it wasn’t just a warning, it was bait. Someone wanted me suspicious, and looking at Adrian. And the worst part? It was working.

“What does it say?” Adrian asked.

I folded the paper. “Nothing.”

Adrian frowned. “That’s twice now.”

I said nothing, Aurora stepped beside me, her eyes flickering between the two of us, she felt it too, the tension, the uncertainty, and the fracture beginning to form. I looked back at the body, the third victim, the third name crossed out, and three remaining.

I didn’t understand the pattern yet, but he knew one thing, whoever was behind this wasn’t just killing, they were following a list, a purpose, and a design, and somehow, I was part of it.

That night, I couldn’t sleep. Rain struck the dormitory windows in sharp, steady rhythms, the room was dark, and silent, my mind wasn’t. I sat at my desk, Ethan’s notebook open before me, the names stared back. Six names, Ethan, Mira, Cassian Voss, all Dead.

Adrian, and Lyra, unknown. And that last name had been scratched out so violently it was almost unreadable. I ran my fingers over it, why hide one? Why leave the others? And why did the note mention Adrian? A knock interrupted me, they were light, and quick. Aurora, I opened the door, she stepped inside immediately, drenched from the rain, her silver hair clung to her shoulders, her face looked pale.

“What happened?”

Aurora held up a folded paper.

“I found this under my door.”

I took it, then unfolded it, inside was a single line. “He lies better than you think.” My eyes narrowed.

“Adrian?”

Aurora nodded.

“Or someone wants us to think it’s Adrian.”

I exhaled sharply, this was getting worse, the killer wasn’t just watching, they were interfering, manipulating, and driving us toward something, or someone. Aurora looked at the notebook.

“Any progress?”

I turned it toward her. “The last name.”

Aurora frowned. “It’s scratched out.”

“Exactly.” I tapped it.

“Why hide only one?”

Aurora went quiet, then her eyes widened.

“What if it wasn’t hidden?”

I looked up. “What?”

She leaned closer. “What if Ethan scratched it out because he recognized it?”

My stomach tightened, that changed everything, not hidden from the killer, hidden from whoever found the notebook, protecting it. I grabbed a candle, then tilted the page toward the flame, slowly, faint letters emerged beneath the scratched ink. A name, my blood ran cold. “Aurora Vale,” Aurora froze

“That’s impossible.”

I stared at her. Her name was on the list, she was a target, or part of the Society. Before either could speak a bell rang, it was loud, and violent, it was the emergency bell. Three strikes, then silence, I shot to my feet, Aurora’s face paled, another body.

Students flooded the halls, chaos erupted instantly. Aurora and I ran toward the south wing. The old alchemy tower, the bell kept echoing, professors shouted for order, and of course no one listened. Fear had taken over, by the time we reached the tower, guards had already sealed the entrance.

I pushed through, the smell hit us first, blood, a lot of it. My stomach twisted, the fourth body lay at the center of the tower, not hanging, not hidden, but displayed. A circle of black candles surrounded the corpse, symbols painted in blood covered the stone floor.

I recognized the victim, Lyra Evermoon, my breath stopped. No, I pushed forward, then froze. The body was not Lyra, just someone wearing her academy cloak. The face was unrecognizable, burned, I exhaled shakily. Aurora gripped my arm.

“That was deliberate.”

“Yes.”

Someone wanted me to think Lyra was dead, a warning, or a test. Then I saw it, pinned to the body was another photograph. I tore it free, this one showed the same six students, but clearer, and this time, I saw myself.

Standing among them, older, at least twenty, wearing black ceremonial robes, my arm stained with blood, Adrian beside me, Lyra at my other side, and across us was Aurora. All of us standing inside a ritual circle, my stomach dropped, I didn’t remember any of this. But it hadn’t happened yet, Aurora’s voice shook.

“This is from the future.”

I nodded, it was a future beyond my death, a future I never lived to see. Meaning, there was a part of the timeline I never reached, a part someone else had, and they were bringing it here. Then I turned the photo over, a writing, and it was fresh.

“The fourth dies tomorrow, save her if you can.”

My pulse thundered, Aurora, her name was fourth. She dies tomorrow, a cold laugh echoed from above. My head snapped upward, on the tower balcony stood a hooded figure, still watching, like they had been waiting.

I moved instantly, racing up the stairs, Aurora followed, the figure didn’t run, didn’t even panic, just waited. I burst onto the balcony, it was empty, the person was gone. Only rain, and wind, and one thing left behind, a silver ring.

I picked it up, my blood froze, I knew this ring, I had seen it before, on the hand that held the knife the night my family died. And engraved inside it, one name.

“Adrian Ravencroft.”

Behind me, Aurora whispered, “Kael…”

My body went rigid, because Adrian was standing in the doorway, soaking wet. Staring at the ring in my hand. And for the first time, Adrian looked afraid.