Black Solstice-Chapter 11: Vampire Girl Won’t Leave Me Alone [4]

July 31st, 2045.

This was the date I had entered the Demon Realm. Which meant the current date was the 1st of August. In other words, a new month.

My parents had enrolled me in the mysterious Solstice Academy and now I was preparing to withdraw.

It couldn’t be helped.

From the beginning, this was the decision I should have made.

Schooling with demons.

What kind of absurdity was that? Humans and demons once lived side by side, or so the stories went presumably. Though it was probably more accurate to say humans were ruled and oppressed by the powerful, arrogant demons.

The two could never coexist. It was simply impossible.

Countless thoughts drifted through my mind as I walked with two suitcases filled with my belongings.

I was going to leave this place.

I wasn’t running away.

In the first place, this wasn’t a place for humans.

Even if I forced myself to adapt to the logic and malice of this world, the truth would not change.

A lone human in a den of demons... how long could I truly survive?

The morning air was cold. It slipped beneath my collar and brushed against my spine, as though reminding me of the danger I was turning my back on.

Every step was heavy.

The academy gates came into view.

Grand, towering, and ominous, they looked less like an entrance and more like the jaws of some ancient beast waiting for its next meal.

I paused.

Behind me lay the classrooms filled with creatures who looked at humans the same way they looked at insects.

Before me lay the uncanny path leading to liberation.

A quiet sigh escaped my lips.

Perhaps this was fate.

Perhaps I should have never come here in the first place.

Just as I tightened my grip on my suitcase handles and prepared to step forward, a voice drifted from behind me.

"Cassius...?"

You’ve got to be kidding me. Of all moments, why did she have to find me now?

I forced myself to turn around, my expression twisting despite my best efforts.

Standing there was a young woman with shoulder-length blood-red hair and vivid green eyes, dressed neatly in the Solstice Academy uniform. The female attire consisted of a fitted black blazer trimmed with silver, a crisp white shirt beneath it, and a deep crimson tie matching the hue of her hair. A pleated skirt of the same black fabric fell just above her knees, swaying faintly with the morning breeze.

She looked like she had stepped straight out of a painting, completely out of place in front of someone running away with two suitcases.

Her gaze moved from me to the luggage at my sides, and her expression tightened slightly.

Seraphis asked:

"What... are you doing?"

I tried to force a smile, but it faltered before it even reached my lips. In the end, all I could do was avert my gaze and let out a dry, hollow chuckle.

"What am I doing, you ask? What a funny question. Isn’t it obvious? I’m leaving this place."

She blinked, widening her eyes. "You’re... leaving?"

"That’s right. I’m leaving."

"But why? Is it because of what happened with Dagon?"

"So you’ve heard about it?"

"It’s difficult not to hear about it when that’s all anyone seems to be talking about."

"Ah. I see..."

I exhaled a slow breath. The wind tugged at my hair, ruffling the edges of my uniform as well.

Seraphis opened and closed her mouth. Perhaps she wanted to say something but was deciding whether to say it or not. In the end, one side seemed to have won because she said:

"But... where will you go? You can’t just leave the Academy like this, can you?"

I shrugged.

"That’s the beauty of it. I don’t owe anyone an explanation. I’m going back... back to where I belong. Back to the human world."

"Huh? Why would you go to the human world? Aren’t you an incubus?"

"So? What of it? Is living with humans that bad? After all, didn’t you say you lived with humans so what’s the big deal?"

"To be honest, I don’t like humans."

I glanced at her, stunned.

"What?"

She explained.

"Like I told you previously, I spent majority of my life in the human domain. I even received my middle school and high school education from there too, so I have a few experiences when dealing with humans and honestly... it’s unpleasant. Humans are utterly deceptive creatures. Most of their day‑to‑day interactions feel transactional in nature," she continued, her brows tightening as though recalling something distasteful. "They smile at you, speak kindly to you, pretend to care... but only because they want something from you. The moment you stop being useful, the moment you stop giving them what they want, their true faces show."

Her gaze drifted past me for a moment, as if she were looking at something far beyond the academy gates.

"They gossip behind your back. They twist the truth to suit their own convenience. They judge you for the smallest things, and they hate anything that doesn’t fit inside their tiny little boxes. Even when I tried to blend in, I always heard whispers. Always felt eyes watching me. They pretended to be my friends, but when something went wrong, they were the first to turn on me."

She let out a soft, brittle laugh.

"I’ve seen humans betray each other for the pettiest reasons. Lies, jealousy, fear, greed... all wrapped up in polite manners and friendly smiles. If you stay in that world long enough, you start to suffocate. In the end, they always destroy what they don’t understand. At the very least, demons are a bit more direct and true to their nature. We do not need to hide behind masks. Demons might be cruel, arrogant, selfish... but they don’t pretend otherwise. We don’t cloak their intentions under courtesy or fake warmth. What we want, we show. What we hate, ww reveal. Our brutality is honest while humans are brutal in disguise."

I watched her carefully.

Her voice wasn’t trembling, but something beneath was. A buried hurt. A wound she refused to acknowledge as anything more than an observation.

She continued.

"So yes... I lived with humans. I studied with them. I learned their customs, their habits, their behaviors. And the more time I spent among them, the more I realized how exhausting it was to constantly guess what they really want. Every conversation felt like a negotiation. Every compliment hid a string. Every friendship was fragile and conditional."

Finally, she looked directly at me again, with eyes clear but dimmed with something closer to disillusionment.

"So if you’re planning to return to the human world because you think it’s safer, or easier, or kinder, then you’re mistaken. That place isn’t paradise, Cassius. It’s just another battlefield with different rules and conditions. If anything, it’s particularly far more vicious."

The breeze shifted, brushing strands of her red hair across her face. She didn’t move to fix them.

"And you... you’re not a human. You’re an incubus, a demon. To them, you’ll always be an outsider. Is that really how you want to live the rest of your life? So please... don’t go to that place."

A soft silence unfolded between us. Her words were sincere, so much so that they pressed against my chest.

But sincerity wasn’t the same as truth.

And sincerity built on a false premise held no weight.

Her conviction reached me, but only for a fleeting moment.

Then my mind tore it apart.

I held her gaze and asked, "Hey, Seraphis. Can I ask you a question?"

"Yes?" she replied instantly.

"Everything you just said, did you mean it?"

She blinked, confused by the sudden shift. Her head tilted slightly.

"Um... yes. I meant every word. But why do you ask?"

Her honesty gave me cold, unwavering clarity. It settled into me like a final puzzle piece locking into place.

"I see. Then it really is impossible."

"What do you...?"

She didn’t get the chance to finish. I cut cleanly through her words.

"If I told you I’m one of the humans you dislike so much, would you still stop me?"

"Huh!?"

Seraphis froze and grew rigid. You would’ve thought I had just told her Santa Claus doesn’t exist.

If I weren’t so exhausted and utterly sick of this entire story, I might have laughed at the sheer shock etched across her face.

But I was done.

"I am human."

"..."

"I am human."

"..."

"I am human, goddamn it!"

Her flinch was almost violent at the sudden rise in my voice. I gritted my teeth, letting my words drip with every ounce of frustration I had been holding back.

"I shouldn’t go there? Where should I go then? Should I stay here? Of course not! I’m not like you demons, devils, monsters or w-w-whatever name you decide to call yourselves. I can’t shoot fireballs from my fingertips, I can’t control objects with my mind, and I don’t possess supernatural strength. I’m nothing like any of you! I’m a completely normal person who somehow ended up in this place by some unknown, cruel twist of fate!!"

"Everything in my life has been going well. I’ve been doing well too. Like you said, humans are a pain to deal with. I also have my own share of struggles and experiences. In fact, it was only because of my damn parents’ persistence on sending me to college that I even ended up in this forsaken place. If not for that, you and I would never have met, and we would have continued our lives separately! Our meeting was a complete coincidence. It never should have happened. I should have never entered this place. And yet, I am here and my life’s constantly at risk because of... what? And now you tell me I shouldn’t leave? Who the heck do you think you are? Are you also after my life? For that matter, now that you know my true identity, aren’t you looking at me differently?"

"..."

"I see. Guess I was right. That look in your eyes already confirms you now see me as your enemy, right? Fine. Do not worry. I will disappear from your sight and never appear again."

"No... no, that is not it. That is not what I... Cassius, wait."

I turned away and continued down the straight path, quickening my pace until I crossed through the towering academy gates.

Her voice chased after me, sharp with panic. Her footsteps pounded the ground in desperate rhythm.

But eventually, even those sounds began to fade.

Her shouting softened into faint echoes behind me.

Her footsteps grew distant.

Then everything sank into silence, swallowed by the cold morning air.