Locked in the Dark

CASSIDY

What just happened?

My mind spun in a frantic loop, unable to process the sheer brutality of the last hour. The cold hardwood of the gym floor faded from my immediate senses, replaced by the sterile, bleach-scented air of the school clinic. I stared blankly at the plain white ceiling above the cot. The school nurse had already come and gone. She had cleaned the blood from my face, wrapped a tight bandage around my bruised thigh, and shoved a tiny cup of heavy painkillers into my trembling hands. I swallowed them without a word.

But even with the chemical numbness spreading through my veins, I could not erase the memory of the gym. I had never been targeted with such ruthless, unprovoked aggression. As a human and a Dun-Tier in a world ruled by werewolves, I was used to being belittled. I was used to the scornful looks, the whispers in the hallways, and the petty shoves from other low-ranking students who needed someone even lower to step on just to feel better about their own pathetic lives. In Lunaris, hierarchy was the only religion. Everybody wanted a punching bag.

But Kaidan Thorndrake was not just looking for a punching bag. He was looking for a slaughter.

Hours later, the deep ache in my bones still throbbed in time with my heartbeat. The heavy painkillers dulled the sharp edges of my physical agony, but they did nothing to quiet the chaos in my head. I squeezed my eyes shut. The image of Kaidan’s face burned into the back of my eyelids. The pure, unadulterated hatred in his dark eyes as he hurled those heavy balls at my fragile body. The venom dripping from his fangs as he promised to make my life a living hell. It was vicious. It was ugly. This was a monster I had never even crossed paths with before today, yet he looked at me like I was the source of every wrong in his universe.

It made me wonder why exactly he hated me that much.

I forced myself to open my eyes and swallow the lump forming in my throat. I could not think about the humiliation. I could not think about the sound of the entire student body laughing as my blood stained the polished floor. Thinking about it only brought a fresh wave of stinging tears to my eyes, and I refused to cry in this sterile room.

The sound of metal rings scraping across a rod broke the heavy silence. The privacy curtains slid open.

Keira stepped into the small space, her face pale and etched with deep concern. She pulled up a metal stool and took a seat beside my cot. She gazed down at me with wide, hesitant eyes, treating me like I was made of spun glass and a single breath might shatter me into a million pieces.

"I am so sorry. I checked up on you earlier but you were sleeping. Do you feel better now?"

I shifted my weight on the thin mattress, wincing as a dull ache shot up my leg. "Yeah, the painkiller performed magic."

Keira let out a long breath, her shoulders dropping in visible relief. "I am so happy to hear that. I am sorry you had to go through that. It is no secret that Kaidan Thorndrake hates humans like they are the biggest curse in his life."

I perked up, ignoring the stiffness in my neck. "And why is that?"

Keira shrugged, her gaze darting toward the closed clinic door before she leaned in closer. She dropped her voice to a hushed, conspiratorial whisper. "Nobody knows the exact reason, but he despises humans. Contrary to popular belief, you are not the first human to attend Lunaris. I know of two different humans that attended this school in past terms. They both ended up dropping out after being severely tortured by Kaidan Thorndrake. It is a popular opinion around campus that Kaidan himself organizes their scholarships just to lure them here. He builds them up, only to bully them relentlessly and turn them into hollow shadows of their former selves. I do not know what his damage is, but he takes sick pleasure in terrorizing humans."

My stomach churned in deep, primal disgust. A cold sweat broke out along the back of my neck. "That is sick. But why? Could a human have wronged him in the past?"

Keira shook her head slowly, a grim expression settling over her features. "Nobody knows. But I doubt there is some tragic, sad story behind his irrational hatred for humans. You know how power is in this world. Powerful people just want to prey on weaker creatures to remind themselves of their own dominance."

I turned my head away, staring at the blank cinderblock wall. I did not buy the whole power trip theory. Kaidan’s words in the gym, the raw demonic rage in his eyes, proved he was being driven by something much deeper and darker than simple high school hierarchy.

But none of that mattered. I did not care about his dark past or his sick, twisted games. I knew one thing with absolute certainty. I was not going to leave Lunaris for anything.

This school was the only good thing left in my miserable life right now. I was going to hold onto my spot here with bleeding fingers for as long as I could.

Keira reached out and gave my unbruised hand a gentle squeeze. "Just make yourself as invisible as possible. We are in our penultimate year already. Before we know it, we will be graduating and getting out of this hellhole. Let us just hope he finds a new distraction to keep his attention off you."

I opened my mouth to reply, but the heavy click of the main clinic door opening stopped the words in my throat. A loud burst of whispering and clicking heels flooded the room. A group of girls strutted into the bed space opposite ours, pulling the curtain shut with a sharp, dramatic yank.

I exchanged a quick, tense glance with Keira. We both held our breath, listening to the muffled voices from the other side of the thin fabric.

"For a moment, I thought Kaidan was singling a girl out for something fun. A human girl at that! I felt so bad, but it turned out that he only wanted to put the trash in her place. Oh, that was such a satisfying sight. Her pathetic screams, the blood on the floor. It made me way too happy. I just spent a hundred grand getting my boobs lifted and my ass done because I intend on seducing the hell out of him at the upcoming Lantern Ball. It would be a massive waste of my money if he was already interested in some random girl."

I recognized the shallow, grating voice immediately. It belonged to Sloane, a vicious Crown-born wolf who loved nothing more than hearing herself speak.

A sharp, mocking laugh cut through the air. "Do not delude yourself, Sloane. A fake ass is not going to get Kaidan to fuck you."

My blood ran cold. The second voice belonged to Sienna Rossi. She was the official Queen Bee of Lunaris, a high-ranking wolf with a notoriously cruel streak. She also happened to be, by some twisted stroke of luck, my assigned roommate.

Sloane scoffed loudly, the sound filled with defensive venom. "And you? How exactly did you get the almighty Ryland to date you and actually stop his whoring behavior?"

I did not need to see Sienna’s face to know she was smiling in that typical, arrogant way of hers.

"Well, I got him addicted and obsessed with this pussy. You know, he said he has never had a better sexual partner in his entire life."

Sloane let out a bitter, degrading chuckle that echoed through the quiet clinic. "So it is just sex? He is an Alpha and you are a Gamma. You have no future together. He might be addicted to fucking you right now, but he will find his fated mate soon and you will be discarded like yesterday's trash."

Sienna’s tone shifted into a sweet, sarcastic purr that made the hairs on my arms stand up. "Oh, sweet little Sloane. You reek of so much bitterness. And yeah, Ryker will find his mate soon. He is eighteen years old, after all. But if there is one thing I am sure of, it is that he would reject her on the spot if I told him to."

Sloane chuckled again, pushing her luck. "Do not delude yourself, Rossi. You are not that important. Just because you became a Gilt-Elite because you are Ryker’s favorite warm hole does not mean you own him."

A resounding, bone-rattling slap echoed through the room. The sharp crack of skin hitting skin made me jump in my bed.

"Get out. I am done playing nice to a bitter, jealous friend." Sienna barked the command, her voice laced with Alpha-adjacent authority.

Sloane gasped, her voice trembling with shock and rising anger. "Wow. Sienna, you slapped me."

"And I will do it again if you do not get the hell out of my sight right this second."

A dead silence stretched over the clinic for three long seconds. Then, heavy footsteps marched aggressively toward the main door. The door yanked open and banged shut with enough force to rattle the windows. Keira and I remained frozen on the cot, dead silent and perfectly still. We waited until Sienna and her remaining followers finished whatever they came for and finally strutted out of the clinic.

Only when the room was empty did we dare to breathe again. Crossing Sienna Rossi was a nightmare I could not afford to invite into my life.

The next few days had me fighting for my very survival. Kaidan openly destroying me in the gym had flashed a massive green light to the rest of the student body. I became fair game for everyone. The subtle bullying vanished, replaced by overt, relentless torment. I was no longer just stumbling over outstretched legs in the cafeteria. I was opening my locker to find rotting, dead animals shoved inside. I was watching humiliating gifs and memes of my bloody face from the gym spread like wildfire across the school forums.

There was only so much Keira could do to shield me. There was only so much my own willpower could endure. I plastered a blank mask on my face, pretending that the cruelty was not slowly chipping away at my sanity. I pretended I was immune to their venom, even as I spent every night crying silently under the scalding spray of the shower. The overwhelming weight of my reality threatened to crush me.

I grew up poor, abused by the wealthy, entitled families my mother worked for. I lost my mom, my only family, at the fragile age of seventeen. And now, I was watching the only school that could secure my future turn into a literal living hell.

It was too much to carry.

Thankfully, I had not seen Kaidan since that bloody day in the gym. Aside from Physical Education, there was zero chance of our paths crossing. The four tiers in Lunaris operated in segregated worlds. We had different classes, different cafeterias, different uniforms, different parks, and different rest areas. Unless the Alpha intentionally sought me out to ruin my day, I would remain out of his sight.

I stepped onto the heavy steps of the school bus and kept my eyes glued to the rubber floor. The excursion to the Citadel was strictly for Dun-Tier students. Keira was not going due to a sudden family emergency, leaving me without my only anchor. I had debated skipping the trip entirely, but I refused to be a coward hiding in my dorm room.

I ignored the hostile stares and harsh whispers directed at me as I made my way down the narrow aisle. Every occupied seat had a bag or a jacket thrown onto the empty spot beside it, silently claiming the territory and rejecting my presence.

I finally spotted one empty chair near the back. I turned, exhausted down to my bones, and lowered myself to sit.

My butt hit the hard metal floor of the bus.

A searing, blinding pain shot up my spine. A sharp scream tore from my throat before I could stop it. The entire bus erupted into a chorus of loud, deriding laughter.

I scrambled to pick myself up from the dirty floor. A massive, broad-shouldered male classmate stood beside the row. He had yanked the chair backward at the exact moment I sat down.

He looked down at me and sneered, his eyes filled with malicious glee. "That was one hell of a sound your butt made hitting the deck. I wonder if it would make better sounds if you were bouncing on my cock. I should be benevolent and allow you to ride me, do you not think? Would that not be a dream come true for a pathetic little human like you?"

The bus laughed harder, the sound bouncing off the metal walls and drilling into my skull. My vision flashed crimson. The raw, unfiltered humiliation boiled my blood. My fingernails dug so hard into my palms that the skin nearly broke. I pushed myself up to my feet, squaring my shoulders against his massive frame.

"I would rather fuck a pig." I spat the words directly into his face.

His mocking grin vanished. His jaw locked. "What did you just say?"

"I said I would rather fuck a pig. And that is to tell you that you are worse than a pig. Uglier. Fatter. And dirtier."

His lips curled back over his teeth. A low, feral snarl ripped from his chest. "You degenerate."

His eyes flashed the glowing, unnatural colors of his inner wolf. He raised his heavy hand, his thick claws popping out from his knuckles with a sickening slicing sound. Fear spiked in my chest, cold and sharp, but I forced it down and held my ground.

Just before his claws could slice across my face, a sharp voice cut through the heavy tension in the bus.

"Settle in, guys. The drive is about to start now. Everyone in their seats."

Miss Margot, our Social Studies teacher, stood at the front of the aisle with a clipboard.

The male wolf froze. He glared at me, his sharp fangs grinding against each other with an audible scrape. He retracted his claws, shoved past my shoulder, and threw himself into a seat across the aisle. I exhaled a shaky breath, pulled my seat back into its proper position, and sat down near the window.

The engine roared to life. As my classmates began singing the school anthem at the top of their lungs, taking group selfies, and pointing out historic sites along the road, a deep wave of regret washed over me. Coming here was a mistake. The isolating loneliness magnified with every mile we drove away from campus.

I pulled my earphones from my pocket and shoved them into my ears. I cranked the volume to the maximum, letting the upbeat rhythm of a BTS video flood my senses. V’s deep, soothing voice washed over me, drowning out the cruel laughter and the suffocating pack mentality of the wolves surrounding me. I stared out the window, watching the trees blur past until the knot in my chest finally loosened.

I did not unplug my earphones until the heavy air brakes hissed and the bus rolled to a stop outside the Citadel.

The Citadel was a massive, imposing architectural marvel built from dark, jagged stone. It had been unoccupied for decades but was meticulously maintained as a historic site for the packs. The school guards and tour guides led our group through the massive iron gates, showing us the grand halls, the ancient armories, and the intricate tapestries lining the walls.

The room I found the most fascinating was tucked deep within the lower levels. The tour guide called it the Mute-Sanctum. It was a heavy, windowless chamber designed with ancient acoustic dampening. No matter how much noise you made inside, the people standing right outside the door would never hear a single decibel.

It was an intriguing piece of architecture. It was also deeply, viscerally terrifying.

Once the tour ended, the students scattered around the grand courtyard and the throne room. Everyone was taking nice pictures of themselves, grouping up for selfies and adjusting their poses. I stood near a massive stone pillar, painfully aware that I had no one to take a picture with. Trying to take a decent selfie on my outdated iPhone 8 in the dim lighting was a lost cause.

A familiar-looking girl from my history class walked over to me. She offered a warm, bright smile. "Do you want me to take your pictures for you?"

A tiny spark of hope bloomed in my chest. Maybe I was not a complete outcast. Maybe someone actually cared enough to treat me like a normal teenager.

"Yeah, sure." I handed her my phone, but she waved it away.

She held up her own device, a brand new iPhone with three camera lenses. "I will use mine and send them to you. The lighting will be way better."

She stepped back and started snapping shots of me leaning against the ancient pillars. After a few minutes, she jogged over and tilted the screen toward me.

"Wow, they are really nice. Thank you."

She smiled, her eyes crinkling at the corners. "Yeah, no problem! Do you want to take some with the throne? It looks super cool on camera."

She sounded so eager and friendly that I should have noticed something was fundamentally wrong. But I was so relieved to have a talking partner, so desperate for a shred of normalcy, that I shoved my doubts down.

"Sure, thank you."

We walked away from the crowded areas and headed deeper into the deserted corridors toward the throne room. After she snapped a few more pictures, she pointed toward a heavy, reinforced wooden door down a shadowy hallway.

"Stand right there in front of the door. The shadows look amazing right there."

I obliged. I walked over, pressed my back against the thick wood, and offered a soft smile for the camera.

She lowered her phone. The warm, friendly smile melted off her face, replaced by a cold, dead stare. She lunged forward, slamming her hands into my chest with brutal force.

The heavy door gave way behind me. I lost my footing, tumbling backward into the pitch-black space. My knees slammed hard onto the stone floor, scraping the skin raw. Before I could even push myself up, the heavy wooden door slammed shut, sealing me in absolute darkness.

I scrambled to my feet, my heart hammering a frantic rhythm against my ribs. I threw my weight against the heavy wood, banging on it with both fists. I turned my head, squinting into the oppressive, suffocating darkness, and a cold wave of dread washed over me.

I recognized the texture of the door. I recognized the heavy, deadened air in the room.

It was the Mute-Sanctum.

A muffled, masculine voice drifted through the thick wood. It was the guy from the bus.

"Well, have fun turning into bones in there. I will make sure no one ever finds your rotting corpse."

A loud, sadistic laugh vibrated through the door. The sound was muffled, but the malicious intent was crystal clear. My blood pumped faster, a primal, claustrophobic fear seizing my entire being. I pounded on the door with everything I had, screaming until my throat burned, but the thick walls swallowed the sound instantly.

"Here is your ten dollars for getting the human trash into the room."

The girl's muffled voice filtered through the wood, sickeningly sweet. "Thank you so much!"

I pressed my ear to the heavy door and listened as their footsteps faded down the stone corridor, leaving me behind. I squeezed my eyes shut, a bitter sob tearing from my throat. I should have known better than to trust her blind kindness. Just a couple of days ago, I ended up bleeding on the gym floor because I trusted my place in this school. Now, I was trapped again.

I pounded on the door all evening. I hit the thick wood until the skin on my knuckles tore open and bled. I screamed until my vocal cords gave out and dissolved into raspy gasps. I slid down the rough surface of the door, collapsing onto the freezing stone floor when my muscles finally gave out.

Through the faint vibrations in the floorboards, I felt the heavy rumble of a large engine starting up. I pressed my hands to the stone, feeling the faint tremor of the bus driving away.

They left without me.

And then, I was completely alone in the quiet, dark room.