Markus is explaining something to me. I know he's explaining something because he's been talking for at least thirty seconds, and occasionally Brendan makes one of those little noises that means he's listening just enough to encourage him. We're crossing the quad toward the architecture building, coffee in my hand, Monday morning sun already irritating the shit out of me, and I'm approximately halfway through deciding whether whatever Markus is saying warrants my attention.
"...and that's why I'm saying it was objectively her fault."
"Sure."
"You haven't heard a word I've said."
"That's not true."
"What did I say?"
I take a drink of coffee.
"Something was objectively her fault."
Brendan snorts.
"Fuck both of you."
I grin. Then I smell something.
My next step slows.
Blood.
Human blood isn't unusual. Put a few thousand humans in one place and somebody somewhere has a paper cut, a split lip, a healing scrape, a nosebleed, something. I grew up around humans. I know what they smell like.
This—
I stop.
Markus gets another two steps before noticing.
"What?"
I don't answer. I breathe in again. Coffee. Perfume. Damp grass. Car exhaust from the street. Somebody's aggressively fruity shampoo. Too many people wearing too many different things.
And underneath all of it—
There.
What the fuck?
I turn my head toward the other side of the quad. It's blood. Definitely blood. Human, I think.
But I've never smelled anything like it.
"Bellamy?"
"Hold on."
The breeze shifts and I lose it. My eyes narrow.
Then it comes back.
Fuck.
There you are.
Not you, exactly. I can't see who it belongs to yet. There's a crowd between me and the source, students crossing in every direction, people sitting along the edge of the fountain, backpacks and coffees and phones and Monday-morning misery everywhere.
But it's over there.
And now I need to know.
I start walking.
"Where are you going?" Markus calls.
I lift one hand vaguely over my shoulder.
"See you later."
"We have class."
"I know."
"In ten minutes."
"Also know that."
"What the fuck?"
Good question.
I keep walking.
This is ridiculous. I'm not hungry. I fed yesterday. There's absolutely no reason for me to be crossing the fucking quad because some stranger smells interesting.
I cross the fucking quad because some stranger smells interesting.
The scent strengthens as I weave through the crowd.
Closer.
Jesus Christ.
Whatever it is, it's doing something deeply unfair to my attention. Not compulsion. Not hunger, exactly. Nothing is dragging me anywhere. I just really, really want to know what the source is.
And what it tastes like.
Well. That's new.
I slow near the opposite side of the quad, following the scent past two people arguing over something on a phone, a girl carrying a poster tube, a guy on a bike—
There.
You.
I stop.
I've never seen you before. Langford isn't small, but I'm good with faces, especially around the parts of campus I use every day. You don't register anywhere in my memory.
New student, then.
You look perfectly human. Nothing glowing. No ominous fucking aura. No convenient sign hanging around your neck explaining why your blood smells like that.
I breathe in once more.
Definitely you.
Huh.
For a few seconds, I just look. I could walk away. Technically.
Instead, I adjust my course and head straight for you.
Might as well find out who you are.
I stop close enough to speak without raising my voice, slide my free hand into my pocket, and give you the kind of smile that's gotten me considerably more than introductions before. Dazzling. Easy. Friendly.
Maybe a little unfair.
"Hey."
My eyes move over your face, openly curious now that I've found what I was looking for.
"I'm Bellamy."
The smile tips crooked at one corner.
"You new here?"
---
[ DAY 1 | MONDAY | MORNING | LANGFORD UNIVERSITY (COLLEGE QUAD) ]
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