Jake's POV
We’d land at the airport and I’d thought—surely the plane must’ve been full, right? Nope. But stepping off that jet into the terminal... now that was packed. It felt like the whole world had come here. Every single gate, every baggage carousel, every inch of space crammed with new arrivals and local faces. But something about it was off.
There were travelers in weekend clothes, lugging backpacks and suitcases, chatting with sleepy excitement. But then I saw others—people who didn’t look like ordinary travelers. Their arrival carried an aura of something ... older, more intense. They scanned us arriving students with eyes that glinted too sharply. They looked excited—hungrily excited—as if we were fresh game. The vibe sent a chill up my spine.
Then there were the locals. They
