Ethan didn't sleep.
He lay on his bed staring at the ceiling, the faint glow of city lights cutting through the darkness of his room. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw it again—the resort, the frozen bodies, the creature collapsing into the snow.
And the mark.
His gaze shifted to his arm.
The white X stood out against his skin, clean and unnatural, like it had always been there. It didn't hurt. It didn't burn.
But it felt… present.
Like it was watching him.
"…What did you do to me?" he muttered.
Silence answered.
For a moment, he thought it was over.
That whatever happened in the mountains had ended there.
Then his phone rang.
The sound cut through the room sharply.
Ethan frowned. No one called him at this hour.
The screen lit up.
Unknown number.
He hesitated for a second, then picked it up.
"…Hello?"
Static.
Then—
Breathing.
Slow.
Uneven.
"…help…"
Ethan sat up instantly. "Who is this?"
"…cold…"
The voice was weak, strained, like it was coming from far away—or from somewhere it shouldn't.
"Where are you?" Ethan asked, his tone sharpening.
A pause.
Then coordinates.
Spoken softly.
Broken between breaths.
And then the line went dead.
Ethan stared at the phone.
His grip tightened.
"This isn't funny."
Silence.
Then—
"Go."
The voice.
Aval.
Ethan's jaw clenched. "I'm not doing this again."
No response.
For a second, nothing happened.
Then the mark burned.
Ethan sucked in a breath as the white X on his arm flared with sudden heat. Not enough to damage—but enough to warn.
Enough to remind.
"You accepted."
The words echoed in his head.
Not spoken.
Etched.
Ethan closed his eyes, exhaling slowly.
"…Damn it."
The location wasn't far.
At least, not in the normal sense.
But something felt off the moment he stepped outside.
The air was colder than it should have been.
The streets were quieter.
Too quiet.
Even the city lights felt dimmer, like something was draining the life out of them.
Ethan followed the coordinates anyway.
Step by step.
The deeper he went, the less familiar the city became.
Buildings stretched strangely.
Shadows lingered too long.
And the silence—
It wasn't empty.
It was waiting.
He found the place.
An alley.
Narrow.
Dark.
Dead end.
Ethan stopped at the entrance, his instincts screaming.
"Yeah… this is bad."
But he stepped in anyway.
The temperature dropped instantly.
His breath became visible.
Frost crept along the walls.
"…What the hell?"
Then he saw him.
A man.
Curled against the wall.
Barely moving.
Skin pale.
Lips blue.
"…hey," Ethan said, stepping closer. "Can you hear me?"
No response.
The man's chest barely moved.
Alive—but not for long.
Ethan crouched down, reaching out.
The moment his hand touched the man—
Everything changed.
The alley disappeared.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Then—
Voices.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
Whispering.
Crying.
Calling.
Ethan staggered back, his breath catching.
"What is this—"
"Help us."
The voices overlapped.
Desperate.
Broken.
Endless.
"Too late."
Ethan froze.
That voice—
Wasn't human.
The darkness shifted.
And something emerged.
Tall.
Thin.
Wrapped in something that moved like smoke.
Its face—
Was wrong.
Not distorted.
Not broken.
Just—
Incomplete.
"You answered," it said.
Its voice sounded like multiple voices speaking at once, layered and uneven.
Ethan forced himself to stand straight. "What are you?"
A pause.
Then—
"Collector."
The word settled heavily in the air.
Ethan glanced at the man behind him.
"…What did you do to him?"
The creature tilted its head.
"He called."
Ethan's stomach dropped.
"Dead men call."
Silence.
"They always call."
Ethan's pulse quickened. "He's not dead."
The creature didn't respond.
Instead—
It stepped closer.
"You are not supposed to be here."
Ethan's hand tightened into a fist.
"Neither are you."
For a moment—
Nothing moved.
Then the creature smiled.
Not with its mouth.
With everything.
"You carry a mark."
Ethan's eyes narrowed.
"Interesting."
The air grew heavier.
"You belong to something else."
A pause.
"Leave."
Ethan didn't move.
Behind him, the man twitched weakly.
"…help…"
That was enough.
Ethan stepped forward.
"I'm not leaving him."
Silence.
Then—
The world shifted.
The ground cracked beneath his feet.
The darkness surged.
The voices screamed.
"Then you stay."
The creature moved.
Faster than anything Ethan had seen before.
Ethan reacted on instinct.
He stepped back, dodging just enough for the creature to miss him by inches.
Too close.
His heart slammed against his chest.
Think.
The branch.
The stake.
Same pattern.
Ethan looked around quickly.
Nothing.
No weapon.
No tools.
Then—
His arm burned.
The mark.
Ethan froze.
An idea.
Stupid.
Dangerous.
He did it anyway.
He stepped forward.
And grabbed the creature.
The moment his marked arm touched it—
The world exploded.
The creature shrieked.
A sound that tore through the darkness itself.
Light burst from the mark.
White.
Blinding.
The creature convulsed, its form breaking apart, unraveling like it couldn't hold itself together anymore.
"Impossible—"
Ethan pushed harder.
"Get off him."
The mark burned brighter.
Then—
Everything snapped back.
The alley returned.
The cold faded.
The voices stopped.
Silence.
Ethan stumbled back, breathing heavily.
The creature—
Gone.
The man collapsed forward.
Still.
But breathing.
Alive.
Ethan stared at his arm.
The X had dimmed.
But it was still there.
"…What are you making me into?" he whispered.
No answer.
But deep inside—
He felt it.
A shift.
Not physical.
Something deeper.
Like a door had just opened.
And something on the other side—
Had noticed him.