The frigid night air clung to her wet hair as Elena stealthily broke into the administration offices. It was easy this time because Elena had already been acquainted with the archive that held student files. She had broken in here once before.

'What would it take for you to let this go?' Daria's voice from back then echoed in Elena's mind, and she immediately scowled.

During her last visit, Elena was caught before she could examine her file. This time, she was in a hurry to return it before anyone noticed it was missing.

However, holding the file she had fought so fiercely to attain before, Elena felt a sense of emptiness.

'Was it all for nothing?'

Elena knew the information she desperately desired wasn't in there. The deal Daria offered was to give her some sense of closure, to give her an excuse to give up on the unattainable.

'Even if their names were written in that file you're holding, you will never be able to reach them. You're worlds apart, Elena.' The intrusive memories were only making her more bitter.

'She knew!'

If the information Erik shared was to be trusted, it meant Daria had to have known from the start. And she knowingly allowed Elena to ruin her every chance to find her answers.

A strong desire to tear her limb from limb began to bubble within Elena, forcing her to pause and draw in a steadying breath.

'There's no point in lamenting over this. A new opportunity opened up when I met Maya.'

The information within this file may have been useless, but the deal Elena made was real. If it were to be discovered she had touched it, her attic room could be taken from her, and with it, many benefits she depended on, as her current affliction didn't allow her to assimilate into society.

The office was dark, and she stayed low to avoid being seen from the windows. She quickly scanned the contents of her file, then opened the metal drawer where it belonged. It was alphabetized by last name, making it easy to find her file's original place.

And her file was returned. Just as she was about to leave, she decided not to make it a wasteful trip and locate Erik's file. He had mentioned being a former student, so his file should be there.

Since she didn't know his last name, she had to sift through all the files, hoping Erik wasn't an alias. The archive wasn't digital, so she couldn't use a search function. Despite this, she decided it was worth the effort. After looking through all the cabinets, she found two files for Eriks, but neither was for him.

"Dammit," she whispered.

But she hadn't checked everywhere yet.

The archives she was currently in had files on all current students enrolled in Amellan Academy, and Erik was a hunter. It meant he hadn't been a student here for a while, given that he had to have already completed his hunter training and become an agent prior to the Fall of Castra in September.

Hidden behind a door labelled 'Restricted access - authorised personnel only,' there lay a deeper archive, a repository of the academy's past. This secluded vault safeguarded records of earlier generations.

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Before making her move, she ensured the adjacent room was devoid of any presence. With her trusty improvised lock pick, Elena skilfully bypassed the lock, venturing inside.

This room had no windows and was full of dust, indicating infrequent visitors. It was organized similarly to the previous room, only with more cabinets and files sorted by year. The oldest record dated back to the 1930s.

This could prove more challenging than she anticipated. Files in here weren't divided by year of enrolment but rather by the year enrolment was 'terminated'. Whether it meant they graduated, were expelled, or died.

Again, going by what she knew, Elena made a guess that he was sent to Castra within the first year of enrolment and only had to assume his age. The first drawer Elena opened had many files marked as 'deceased' or 'missing'. After going through a few more drawers, she found one with files listed only by ID numbers, stamped 'relocated.'

'Why did I think it would be easy?'

She noticed a drawer marked with the current year. She hesitated and then decided to open it. No surprise there; all the files from students who died or went missing this year were here.

'Your file should be in here, as well.'

That twisted part of her wanted to add her file to this drawer for kicks, but she resisted the urge and closed it. It was time to leave; she had been here too long already.

Before exiting, she noticed a cabinet that didn't have a year label but was simply marked with 'sealed files.'

A grin appeared on her face.

'I bet he's there.'

Expectedly, it was locked. Elena groaned in annoyance and picked yet another lock.

As it yielded to her imperious skills, she found there weren't many files inside. Two were distinctly older, only labelled as 'Zdunowski', sparking her interest, but another one soon distracted her.

'Bingo!'

Among four other files, one was of Erik Ashton.

Elena felt a thrill as she opened the file. The documents inside were surprisingly scarce compared to the average student dossier.

The first thing that greeted her was the profile summary with a photograph and an image of an unknown crest next to the fire element symbol.

The young man in the photograph wore his hair shorter than Erik's. He carried a bit of angst in that steel gaze of his, and his eyes weren't as listless as they were now, but it was undeniably a younger version of Erik.

Though his features hadn't drastically changed, the Erik of the present had evidently matured. The sharper contours of his current face suggested accumulated experience.

Finding nothing in the photograph to pick on him for, Elena flipped the page. His birth certificate revealed he would turn 21 late this spring, which made her eyebrows rise slightly.

'Not even four full years of seniority…'

From the way he carried himself and the adeptness of his skill, Elena had assumed he was a bit older. The realization that he would have been merely a fourth-year student at the academy, had he stayed, was unexpectedly surprising.

The next information prompted her to raise her eyebrows even higher. It was notes from his guardian, Amanda Lefebvre.

'The evil queen herself.'

Skimming through the notes, Elena found them intriguing. He was described as arrogant, disrespectful, and dangerous. Amanda's dislike toward him wasn't even subtle.

Among the documents, she found a record of Erik's detention for 'arsonistic tendencies' and an incident involving a burned building.

"Ha!"

Although there wasn't much in this file, it was quite potent, and Elena was entertained.

'Finally, some dirt on him.'

Elena was even familiar with the building in question, which stood abandoned now.

The file concluded with a red stamp 'DECEASED' and a death certificate stating he was killed by vampires, with no remains found. It also seemed he was held responsible for the deaths of three other students.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps approaching quickly. She needed to leave immediately.

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