We Were Never Meant to Stay

After the evening study session, I was just about to return to the dorm when my first boyfriend, the school's valedictorian and undisputed top student, suddenly tore across the courtyard toward me.

Before I could react, he grabbed my wrist and, in full view of a crowd of stunned students, dragged me into a frantic run toward the front gates.

I exclaimed, "Julian, have you lost your mind? Graduation's six months away. Are you really trying to run off with me now?"

I struggled the whole way, twisting and pulling against him, but his grip never loosened.

"Autumn, don't ask any questions. Just come with me. Hurry!" he said, his voice trembling with panic.

We fled the school, jumped into a taxi in the middle of the night, and rushed to another city, where we checked into a rundown budget motel.

Arms folded and brow furrowed, I glared at him. "So you hauled me out of school like a lunatic just to hole up in a cheap motel?"

His cheeks turned bright red. He flailed his hands in frantic denial, then thrust a phone into my hands.

I barely had time to unlock the phone and start dialing my parents before a breaking news alert flashed across the screen.

My eyes locked on the screen, and I went rigid with shock.

The headline reported, 'Mass Death at Blackwood High: All 5,000 students and faculty found dead last night after experiencing catastrophic bleeding. Only two students who skipped the study session survived.'

I looked up at Julian in horror.

He was staring at the screen too, his face white as paper, cold sweat running down his forehead.

"You knew, didn't you?" I asked. "What the hell is going on?"

The Night We Ran

After the evening study hall, I slipped out of the academic building. The night air was cool against my skin as I made my way toward the dorms.

Then, out of nowhere, my first boyfriend, Julian Cross, came sprinting across the courtyard. Before I could react, he grabbed my hand and took off, dragging me with him in front of a crowd of stunned students.

His grip was ironclad, and his face twisted into an expression I'd never seen before: wild, unhinged, and teetering on the edge of desperation.

Around us, students erupted in shouts of disbelief.

"Holy crap, is he serious?"

At our school, any inappropriate contact between boys and girls was strictly forbidden.

If one got caught, the best case was that their parents were called. Worst case, they were expelled immediately, yet Julian acted as if none of it mattered.

He even knocked aside the homeroom teacher who tried to block his path.

Screams exploded around us, echoing through the halls.

Julian never looked back. He just hauled me forward, relentless and fast.

My wrist ached in his grasp, and I blurted out, "Where are you taking me?"

Still dragging me along, his face deathly pale, he said, "There's no time to explain. We have to get out of the school first."

"Get out of the school?" I gaped at him. "Julian, have you lost your mind? Graduation's six months away. Are you really trying to run off with me now?"

Since the start of senior year, we'd been placed in different classes and barely talked.

The only promise we'd made was that after graduation, we'd go on a trip together.

Julian was the top student in the entire school, the kind of person practically guaranteed a place at Westbridge University. And if I performed well enough, I had a real shot at getting into a top-tier college too.

There was absolutely no reason for either of us to ruin our futures and run.

No matter how I twisted or pulled, he refused to release my arm.

"Autumn, please," he insisted. "Just trust me this once. If we don't leave now, it'll be too late."

Something in his eyes made my blood freeze. It was the raw terror of someone who had glimpsed death itself.

Finally, we arrived at a blind corner beside the track wall, where broken desks and chairs were stacked to create makeshift steps.

"Climb over. Now!" he ordered, "If we wait any longer, we're both going to die here!"

He looked like he was running from something unspeakable. Panic was written all over his face as he kept urging me forward, throwing frantic glances over his shoulder.

Before I could make sense of any of it, he half-pushed and half-lifted me onto the top of the wall.

Then, he climbed up after me with quick, practiced ease.

We dropped down on the other side.

A cab was already waiting by the road outside the school. He grabbed my hand and pulled me straight into the back seat.

"Go. Now!" He yanked a thick roll of cash from his pocket and tossed it to the driver.

The guy flinched, startled. "Where to?"

"Just get us out of the city. Fast!" Julian shouted.

The moment the car lurched forward, I instinctively turned to look out the rear window. What I saw made my stomach drop. In an instant, all the lights on campus went out.