Chapter 7 Confession.

CARIS POV

My knees buckled slightly the moment I closed the door and I had to press my palm against the wall just to steady myself.

Why was everything in my life going so wrong?

I came here for a fresh start but I didn't think that within twenty-four hours of arriving, I would find myself in a world that I never thought existed and marks on my neck tying me to a very crazy vampire.

My fingers instinctively travelled back to my collarbone, brushing against the stinging puncture wounds. My eyes stung with tears that threatened to fall but I held them back even though everything I felt was all too much now.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," I muttered, pushing myself off the wall.

I needed to go to my room. I needed to get changed at least and get his scent off me. Maybe then I would be able to think properly but bad news… I didn't know where I was going.

The hallway looked exactly like the five other hallways I had passed yesterday and in running last night,t I had lost my map.

Not like it was any use to begin with.

I passed another pillar that I was sure I had passed before and groaned loudly into my palms, kicking the wall.

Pain shot up my toes but I held it in. I didn't know what to do anymore when I spotted a group of students up ahead. They stood near a staircase, laughing and talking in low voices.

They could help me, right?

I swallowed my pride, gripping the edge of my shirt collar tightly to hide the mark on my neck, and marched up to them.

"Hey," I called out and they stopped talking, turning to look at me with identical expressions of amusement and curiosity.

A guy with dark, unnaturally sleek hair tilted his head. "Lost, freshman?"

"Where are the girls' dorms?" I snapped, ignoring his tone.

The guy pointed a lazy finger down the right corridor. "Take the stairs all the way down, cross the courtyard, and it's the second building on your left. Want me to come with you, sweetheart?” He winked and a few of his friends snickered, patting his back like he had done something huge and groundbreaking.

I didn't give them the satisfaction of a response. I just turned on my heel and walked away.

Finally, I stood in front of my room door. I didn't hesitate as I grabbed the knob and twisted it, pulling the door open.

"I'm telling you, Calla, something is wrong! She wouldn't just vanish into thin air!"

"Oh, please. You're being dramatic, June. The girl clearly realised she didn't belong here and chickened out. She's probably halfway back to whatever boring town she crawled out of."

I paused in the doorway, staring at the scene in front of me.

June was pacing back and forth with her hair in a mess and her glasses sitting crooked on her nose. She was holding a sketchpad tightly to her chest while Calla was sitting cross-legged on her own bed, casually painting her fingernails, looking entirely unbothered.

"I'm right here," I announced, stepping fully into the room and letting the door click shut behind me.

June gasped, dropping her sketchpad to the floor with a loud thud. "Caris!"

She wrapped her hands around me in a hug before pulling away slightly and scanning me from head to toe, her eyes wide with worry.

"Where were you? We've been looking everywhere! Your bed wasn't slept in, no one had seen you and I was literally about to go notify the headmistress!" She rambled on before she caught her breath and relaxed.

"Are you okay? Did someone hurt you? What happened?"

"I'm fine, June. Calm down," I said, forcing my voice to remain calm as I stepped past her. I needed to act normally so they wouldn't suspect a thing. "I just... I got lost."

Calla let out a loud scoff from her bed. She blew gently on her wet nails, not even looking up at me. "Got lost? For an entire night? Right. And I'm the Queen of England."

"It's a big school," I muttered, walking over to my bed and sitting down wishing she would just get off the topic.

"A big school? " Sure, but nobody gets lost for twelve hours straight without a reason," Calla said. She capped her nail polish, set it on her nightstand, and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. Her sharp eyes locked onto me and narrowed to slits. "You look like garbage, Caris. Your clothes are wrinkled, your hair is a mess, and you're shaking."

"I told you, I'm just tired," I lied, keeping my chin down.

"Don't play dumb with me," Calla pressed, stepping closer to my bed. "June might buy your innocent act, but I don't. You disappeared right before the blood moon hunt. If you were just wandering around the hallways, you would have been caught by the prefects within twenty minutes. Where were you?"

"Leave her alone, Calla!" June chimed in, stepping between us. "She said she got lost. Let her breathe."

"She's lying to you, June!" Calla snapped, pointing a painted finger at me. "Look at her. She's hiding something. What's under your hand, Caris? Why are you holding your collar like that?"

I hadn't even realised I was still clutching my shirt, pulling it up to my chin. My heart was racing in my chest and I was exhausted.

"Fine," I said in resignation. "You want to see?"

I let go of my collar and grabbed the edge of my shirt, pulling it down past my left shoulder, completely exposing the side of my neck.

June’s jaw dropped, her eyes widening so much I thought they might pop right out of her face. Calla, whom I expected to mock me, just stood in shock.

“Oh my..." June whispered, covering her mouth with both hands.

"Is that..." Calla stepped forward as she stared at the two dark puncture wounds "A mark. Someone marked you?!”

"A blood bond," I corrected bitterly, pulling my shirt back up to hide it. "They said it's a blood bond."

"They?" Calla whispered, looking serious. "Caris, who was out there with you?"

I swallowed hard, looking between the two of them. "Nero."

"Nero?" Calla repeated, her voice cracking slightly. "Nero Valemont? The vampire prince?"

"Yeah. You guys didn't tell me how much of a crazy person he is." I muttered, crossing my arms tightly over my chest. "He bit me in the woods last night."

I turned to look at June to see if she had any answers about how to fix this, but the moment the words left my mouth, June’s face turned completely pale. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, her knees gave out, and she fainted flat onto the floor.