Archibald Vanderbilt went after Jacob. The big boy was well above average strength, striking blue, with an affinity for portal magics. But hardly anyone noticed.

After that, Jacob followed Camilla, Archie, and Blake out of the Elmore Building. As they passed the long line of students waiting for their turn whispers followed them, and eyes lingered on Jacob. Maybe Camilla had a point about not wanting rumours and gossip. Hadn't even been five minutes and he could already tell he would hate it.

"I'd better go check on Grace," Camilla said.

"Did she go back to her dorm?" Archie asked.

Camilla shook her head. "No. Gracie loves to eat when she's stressed. She'll be at the cafeteria."

Jacob's stomach rumbled. He hadn't eaten breakfast and it had been a pretty crazy morning. "I'll come with. I could get something to eat."

"Then I will also come," Archie said.

Jacob shot him a look but didn't say anything. The bigger boy looked like he'd tasted something bitter.

"Make that four," Blake said.

They crossed the commons, back over to the three old buildings where Jacob had been dropped off the day before. The cafeteria was in the basement of the Richter Building, one of the buildings adjacent to the Vanderbilt. Overhead, a dark blue ring rippled across the sky, down to the horizon. What looked like a half dozen chickadees flitted across the path and up into a solitary tree in response. Jacob blinked. That hadn't been a normal sky effect. He wondered if they were having issues with the illusion, or if it was normal procedure.

He glanced at the others, but none of them seemed to have noticed. They were all silent, wrapped up in the recent revelations of their strengths, weighing options, weaknesses, interests.

Blake would be shoehorned into a Production mage by his limited strength, Archie had strength in all three but was strongest in Decomposition, and even Camilla would be tempted to use Production even though her other types were fairly strong, just because of the disparity. Grace had said that being balanced was better, made you more versatile, and from what Jacob had seen of magical combat, that was a huge advantage. The others had talked about how the early stages of the tournament were interesting because you didn't know what people would cast, but if you looked at Grace's Strength Chart, for example, you'd know she wouldn't be casting any Consumption magic. Maybe if Jacob learned a sprinkling of each type of magic it would give him an advantage over students that had had more time to learn. He supposed he'd gotten what he'd wanted in being reasonably capable in Consumption magics, but with equal strengths in the others, his options were limitless. It was good he was reasonably strong in Decomp, because he definitely wanted to learn how to make a portal so he could go back to the magical world. Was that an easy spell?

"Camilla," Jacob said.

"Mm?"

"How hard is the portal spell?"

"Quite difficult."

"Will we learn it this term?"

"No way. Maybe at the end of next term. But a fair chunk of students won't be able to cast it strictly because they're too weak in Decomp."

"Like me." Blake said.

Jacob looked away uncomfortably.

The four of them jogged down a set of steps to an underground entrance to the Richter Building. Inside it was dim and musty, just about exactly what Jacob had expected from a dusty old academic building built a hundred years ago. Grease drifted through the air to Jacob's nose. His stomach rumbled again.

A blood curdling scream came from below them, echoing up a nearby stairwell.

It immediately put Jacob on edge, his heartbeat pounding a full body alarm. Danger, close. The terrible, primal sound curdled down to silence, leaving the four of them standing frozen like a herd of deer in headlights.

Moving is better than standing still.

"It sounded like it came from down there." Jacob broke free of his trance and rushed over to the stairwell. The others followed.

He raced down the steps and out into an even mustier hallway lined with old doors. He looked right, then left. Down the hall, a girl stood near someone lying on the floor.

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Jacob rushed forward. The girl was Ms Smith, the first student to be tested. She cringed against one wall, shivering, her hands tucked up under her chin, her eyes huge and wild behind her bulky spectacles. A group of people rounded the corner and pounded down towards her from the other direction, but Jacob hardly noticed.

The person lying on the floor was a young woman, maybe a little older than Jacob. She was splayed limply, her brown hair falling over her face, her arms flung over her head. Jacob pulled up, stunned. There wasn't any blood, but he knew she was dead. Just the way her body lay reminded him of-

Jimmy

Jacob covered his eyes with his hand and tried to banish the image.

"Holy shit." Blake gasped.

The others pulled up around him. The other group had reached them. There were a couple adults Jacob didn't recognize. A woman about his mom's age and a muscular man who looked about thirty. They looked down at the body, horrified. Behind them, students clustered, peering around and gasping. A few screamed and ran away.

"Hold them back! I'll check her!" The man said. He shoved the woman into action.

She turned and held her arms up, barring the students from getting any closer. "Um, stay calm. Stay calm! Everything is under control."

The man knelt down by the young girl's body.

"Hello? Can you hear me? Are you alright?"

What are you doing? She's dead. Jacob thought.

The hall had quieted. More people had come down behind Jacob and the other group, practically filling the hallway. The man hesitated, then brushed the girl's hair out of her face. Her dark eyes stared at nothing. He felt along her neck, then her wrist.

He swallowed. "She's dead."

The hallway erupted into renewed terror. Something dug into Jacob's forearm. He winced and looked around. Camilla had grabbed a hold of his forearm and clung to it like her life depended on it, her nails digging into his skin. She looked terrified.

"Stay calm!" The woman cried.

No one listened.

"Everyone shut up! On punishment of expulsion!" The man roared. His face was red, his eyes wide.

The hallway quieted. A couple people sniffled. Jacob had expected people to run, but it seemed they were all rooted to the spot with a morbid fascination.

"Is there a wound?" The woman asked.

The man peered around the body awkwardly. "Not that I can see. Good God, what happened to her?"

"It was a vampire."

The deadpan voice came from Jacob's left. He turned. The South Asian boy who'd been tested earlier, Ishaan, had pushed his way to the front of the crowd. He stared down at the body.

"What?" The man frowned.

Ishaan pointed. "Look how pale she is. She's been drained of her blood. Check her neck."

The man gently lifted the girl's head off the floor. On the side of her neck were two tiny, circular puncture wounds, both crimson red, perfectly spaced to be from fangs.

Stunned silence. Camilla dug her nails into Jacob's arm so hard blood trickled out. Someone let out a low moan. A girl across from them fainted. Jacob couldn't believe what he was seeing. Vampires were actually real? What was next, dragons? He felt lightheaded, and his heart was pounding in his chest.

The man looked up at Ishaan, his eyes blazing with anger and terror. "How do you know this?" He barked.

Ishaan stared at the body, face dull. "A vampire killed my parents when I was a child. Their corpses looked exactly like that. They-"

"Alright, man. Alright." The man said. He turned his hot gaze on Ms Smith, who still cringed next to the wall and had covered her ears with her hands.

"You there! Girl! You were here first. What did you see?"

"Uh. I. Uh..."

"Spit it out!"

Smith cringed. "Nothing! One moment I was walking along reading my book and the next I... I saw her lying there." She broke down crying.

The man grunted, then looked around. "Did anyone know her? Know her name?"

"Uh, I did." A dark-skinned boy with a scruffy beard raised his hand. He was staring emptily at the girl. "Her name's Emma Jackson. She's—was—in my class. Second term."

The man glanced back. "Jasmine, go get Doctor Velasquez. Inform the President."

The woman, Jasmine, disappeared.

"You." The man pointed at Ishaan. "Stay here. You too." He pointed at the Smith girl. "The rest of you, get back to class. Now."

----------------------------------------

Terror took the campus in waves. News of the vampire attack spread like the plague, a disease of knowledge transmitted through contact with the infected. For the first hour, you could tell the difference between people who knew and people who didn't just by looking at them. A campus-wide announcement from President Russell confined students to their dormitories. Jacob and Blake took turns pacing their suddenly cramped room, peering out the blinds which they'd drawn. Occasionally a faculty member would sprint with augmented speed across campus, but other than that it was deserted. A groupchat spawned between Jacob, Blake, Camilla, Grace, and Archie and exploded with scared messages. The others were in disbelief, half believing it to be some elaborate prank or extreme haze done in poor taste. Tisdale was the safest place on the planet for young mages. There couldn't be a vampire on campus. There was only one way in. They'd all gone through the security. Everything was checked and scanned and only people on the lists were let in.

If the experience of being in a little magical world for school had seemed weird before, it was surreal now. Jacob flip-flopped between horror that a student had actually died, and disbelief that it was all over. They'd all be sent home and he'd spend the summer with his parents.

Just when it seemed like they'd been left alone to wither away in their little cells, another announcement came over speakers lining the dormitory halls. New rules were in place: Students had to move in groups of two or more at all times. There was a 10 pm curfew each night that was lifted at 5 am. Students would submit to the authority of the campus security if requested.

But, apart from that, classes would continue as usual.

Jacob threw a nearly-panicked fit when it became apparent that they were not being sent home; that the faculty expected them to continue as if everything were normal. Blake calmed him down and reminded them that it wasn't really a choice.

The time dilation had started that morning. They were stuck here until the four months were up.