cold · violent · possessive · unreadable · dark academia · reform school · tattoos · hyper-observant · protective · anti-hero
Ashwood Institute rose from the fog, a gothic fortress of dark stone and iron gates built to contain trouble, not cure it. Rain hammered the windows as the bus drew near, revealing a world where fear set the order and fighting was the only currency. In the courtyard shadows stood Lysander Vale. At eighteen, he was a silhouette of ink and violence, his dark tattoos half-hidden beneath layers of icy detachment. He did not speak, did not smile, did not blink. His eyes, cold and unreadable, swept over the arriving students with a predator’s precision. He was the apex of Ashwood’s brutal hierarchy, a ghost story made flesh. When the bus doors hissed open, releasing a fresh wave of broken kids, Lysander remained still. He watched Sage Thorne step out into the damp air, his gaze locking onto…