It was the next day. The lecture halls had emptied, and the afternoon sun painted long shadows across the campus as Amire and Kylin stepped outside. Though it was time to head back, their minds were set on something else entirely.
"It's time to execute our plan… Are you ready, Kylin?" Amire's eyes gleamed with restless excitement, as though he had been waiting all day for this moment.
"I'm still not sure about this whole thing," Kylin admitted, his tone weighed down with unease.
Amire clapped him lightly on the shoulder, offering a grin that was equal parts reassurance and mischief. "Don't worry, it's gonna be fine. We need to catch the man in the act!"
Kylin let out a heavy sigh, already feeling himself being pulled into another one of his friend's reckless adventures.
"Remember what we talked about: I'll wait with a camera outside your house. If you see that man again, just signal me." Amire ran through the plan once more, voice brisk and confident.
"Is this necessary?" Kylin asked, scepticism still lingering in his eyes.
"Absolutely." Amire gave a short nod before darting off down the street, his figure shrinking into the distance until he disappeared from view.
Left alone, Kylin began the walk back to his home, his senses sharp as he scanned his surroundings for anything unusual. After a while, that feeling — that persistent weight of someone's gaze — returned. It was as if an unseen weight was pressing against him, and it kept getting colder and closer.
"I know you are here!" Kylin called out, his voice firm, cutting through the quiet street. "You're watching me!"
Silence answered him. The air was still, almost heavy.
"Come out and talk to me!" he tried again, louder this time, the words echoing faintly against the walls around him.
But no reply came. Instead, the sensation of that piercing gaze slowly ebbed away. The weight that had been pressing against his chest lifted, leaving behind only unease.
Kylin's pulse quickened. Confused, unsettled, he rushed home. He flung open the door and stepped into the living room—nothing. Not a single sign of disturbance. The place was exactly as he had left it.
But when he entered his room, his stomach dropped.
On his desk lay a single sheet of paper, placed neatly as if waiting for him. An address was written in careful script — and at the bottom, only two words: "Come alone."
His hands shook as he fumbled for his phone and pressed a call.
Amire picked up immediately. "Yeah?"
"There's… a piece of paper in my room," Kylin said, his voice tight. "An address."
"What?"
Minutes later, Amire was in Kylin's room, the two of them staring down at the cryptic note. Neither spoke for a long moment, each turning over possibilities in their head, before finally sitting to decide what came next.
"Alright. Change of plans — we're going," Amire declared, eyes gleaming with reckless determination.
"Are you serious?" Kylin's breath hitched. "That's dangerous."
Amire's grin only widened. His voice sharpened with excitement. "High risk, high reward, my friend."
Kylin folded his arms, unconvinced. "Whatever you say, we are not going there."
"Don't worry," Amire said with a playful shrug, "besides, your power can protect you, so I'll be the one vulnerable to danger."
"That's exactly why we shouldn't do this."
But Amire leaned in, lowering his tone, his words laced with sincerity. "Kylin, if we're successful… you might finally uncover the answers you've been searching for all these years." His eyes softened, yet a spark of hope flickered within them. "I'm willing to take that risk. Are you?"
Kylin faltered. The weight of unspoken questions churned inside him — truths he had yearned for but never found. Now, for the first time, the possibility of answers stood within reach. And yet… hesitation gnawed at him.
"But…" he murmured after a moment, "it says come alone."
"Well… then I'll hide," Amire countered quickly, his tone light but firm. "They won't even know I'm there. Trust me, we're so close to the truth. We can't back out now."
Kylin hesitated, his silence stretching long enough to make Amire's confidence stand out all the more. Finally, he gave a reluctant nod. "…Sure."
Because no matter the risk, they had made a promise — to solve this mystery together. And no mystery would ever solve itself.
When they reached the address, they found themselves standing before the ruined estate that once belonged to an aristocratic family. Its grandeur had long since crumbled into ruin. The roof was gone, leaving the skeletal beams exposed to the grey sky above. Stairs climbed upward only to end in midair, fractured and useless. The air was damp and heavy, carrying the smell of moss, rotting wood, and a sharp undercurrent of dust that clung to the back of the throat.
Only one part of the estate had endured the years: the hall room. Its walls were carved of obsidian, dark and gleaming faintly in the muted light, as if untouched by time itself.
Before Kylin could step inside, Amire was already on the move. Quick as ever, he scrambled up a tall tree near the courtyard, climbing high until he found a perch with a full view of the estate. From there, he disappeared into the leaves, leaving Kylin alone to approach the hall.
Kylin walked slowly through the ruined corridors, his footsteps crunching against stone and splintered wood, each sound magnified by the silence around him. He stopped at the obsidian hall and peered inside.
"Is somebody here?" His voice rang out, carried through the emptiness.
Silence.
He waited. Long minutes passed, each one pressing heavier against his nerves. The hall remained barren. Not a sound, not a shadow stirred.
Then, suddenly, his phone vibrated in his hand. The jolt nearly made him drop it. He pressed it quickly to his ear.
"Kylin…" Amire's voice was hushed, almost swallowed by the static. "There's nobody here."
"Are you sure we're at the right place?" Kylin whispered back, cupping his hand over the phone, his eyes darting around the dark corners.
"Maybe they went home," Amire said, but the attempt at lightness didn't reach his tone.
Kylin's pulse spiked. His gut twisted. "No… I think we're caught. The message said come alone."
"Now's not the time to panic," Amire replied quickly. "Let's wait a little longer."
Kylin exhaled, the breath shaky in his throat. "…You're right."
They waited longer than they should have. The silence stretched on, heavy and unforgiving, until even the shadows felt empty. At last, with disappointment weighing on them, they gave up.
"We'll try again another day," Amire said, climbing down from the tree with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
"We'll need better luck for that." Kylin's shoulders slumped as he turned from the estate, the ruined halls fading behind him as he walked away.
But as the two boys departed, they never noticed the presence lingering above them.
From the fractured heights of the estate, a pair of cold, golden eyes gleamed through the gloom.
The girl stood by the remnants of a broken pillar, a dark smile played across her lips. "What a tragedy." She whispered. "He tried to conspire against you, Lord Primus."
Primus stood beside her; his presence seemed to bend the air around him, his expression as unreadable as stone. His gaze followed Kylin's fading figure, distant and cold.
His gaze was distant, cold. "I thought he would change his mind."
The girl's smirk deepened. "Allow me, Lord Primus. I know exactly what to do to change his mind."
Primus's eyes narrowed, shadows pooling deeper around him. "Very well. Do what you must."
Her smile sharpened into something predatory before she slipped back into the gloom, vanishing as though she had never been there.
Primus remained behind, alone in the ruins. His voice was barely a breath, yet heavy with certainty:
"Alpha… you can't outrun fate."