As the sunlight touched Jazel's skin, she still couldn't believe that only a minute had passed when she stepped out of the coffee shop. Or perhaps… no time had passed at all? She imagined counting seconds in her head the moment she opened the door and stepped outside.
"1… 2… 3… 4…"
She walked down the stairs slowly.
"21… 22… 23… 24…"
She paused, took a moment to look around. It was still bright and sunny.
"31… 32…"
She opened her bag and pulled out her phone.
"42…"
The time read 3:01 PM.
She turned her gaze back to the coffee shop, specifically the window she had sat beside earlier. Her eyes narrowed. The glass was shattered—covered now with a piece of cardboard.
"What is this? Some kind of time manipulation?" she muttered to herself.
Driven by curiosity and unease, she returned to the coffee shop, determined to go back upstairs. The stair railing was now covered in dust, as if untouched for years. Abandoned. Still, she ascended, heart pounding.
When she reached the top, the quote that once read "You Mocha Me Happy" was gone.
Jazel grabbed the doorknob and slowly turned it.
Creak…
The door opened with a chilling sound.
Inside, her eyes were greeted by something grotesque—wooden dools, hundreds of them, with real hair, hanging upside down from the ceiling. Their feet were tied. Their faces—too human. As if sculpted from real people's expressions.
Jazel walked further inside, her steps cautious.
Suddenly, her phone rang.
It startled her so much she fell backward. Irritated, she pulled it out of her pocket.
"Hello? Hello, miss?" a voice called.
Jazel's expression twisted into disappointment the moment she recognized the voice.
Vallante.
She ended the call immediately.
Just as she was about to get up, the phone rang again. Annoyed, she stood up quickly—and hit her head on one of the wooden dolls. She looked up, rubbing her head.
One of the dolls looked familiar.
Her breath caught.
The face—it was the same woman who had greeted her in the shop earlier. The barista.
So real. So accurate.
"I understand now," Jazel whispered, eyes narrowing. "These dolls… they were people."
Whoever did this… will pay.
Her expression darkened as she smiled bitterly. With growing anger, she searched the coffee shop for more information. But finding none, she decided to leave.
She glanced at her timer—28 minutes since she entered. Her phone said 3:36 PM.
She stepped outside. The sky had turned overcast, just like she had seen through the cracked window earlier.
She checked the date and time.
Still 3:36 PM. Still Thursday.
"No change?" she thought aloud.
Confused, she turned off Do Not Disturb on her phone. It instantly flooded with missed calls—all from Vallante.
> "I'm at your house. What's taking you so long? Where are you?"
"He really went to my house?" she groaned.
She sent a quick reply:
> "I'm on my way. Give me 30 minutes."
Vallante replied instantly with a thumbs up emoji.
As Jazel walked home, her mind spiraled.
How am I going to deal with this? Should I tell Vallante?
Would he even care?
She wasn't sure. If he were the only one capable of solving this, she felt hopeless. If only I understood Zeal more—if I knew more than just the basics—I wouldn't even need to consider asking for his help.
But her fear wasn't just about her lack of knowledge.
It was something deeper.
I've never heard of anyone who could manipulate time using Zeal.
Maybe… maybe this wasn't Zeal at all.
If it was—and it had already fallen into the wrong hands—then that kind of power was terrifying.
Terrifying enough to warp reality.
She shivered.
Jazel looked down at the dragonfly tattoo on her finger.
"My finger hasn't hurt since then," she whispered to herself. "Maybe what Vallante said was true… maybe the dragonfly is a symbol of change."
---
Flashback: The Morning After Incident In Fleur house
The morning after the accident, Jazel's room was wrapped in golden light. After Brudo and Vallante left, pain shot through her finger—and then her entire body.
The source: the dragonfly tattoo.
It glowed as the pain surged.
"I can't take this anymore," Jazel whispered, trembling. "What's happening to me?!"
She stared at the glowing mark on her finger.
"What even are you?"
Her phone rang.
"Hello, miss!" came a cheerful voice.
Jazel, confused, replied, "Who is this?"
"I was just there earlier. Don't you remember me?"
"You're the one who startled me… and pointed a gun at me," she said coldly.
"No, no—that was Brudo. I'm the one who gave you the card. I'm Vallante," the man replied gently.
"I know," she said bluntly.
"Ouch," Vallante replied with playful disappointment. "Anyway, do you know what that tattoo on your finger means?"
"Just get to the point," Jazel snapped.
"You're a pretender," Vallante said calmly. "That's why you have that tattoo. It'll keep hurting—until you change."
"What do you mean?"
Vallante continued in a quiet voice.
> "A dragonfly in the house at night is a symbol of transformation, new beginnings, and change. And if that dragonfly is with you, and you forget to change… the pain will never stop."
---
Back to the Present
Have I really changed? Jazel wondered, staring at her finger.
"I didn't even notice any change," she whispered to herself.
She finally arrived at her house.
Just as Villasanta said—he was there, sitting calmly, sipping tea at the dining table, chatting with her stepmother, Fleur.
Vallante looked up as she entered.
"Hello, Jazel," he greeted cheerfully.
But in Jazel's eyes—he was no longer the same.
He looked monstrous. His aura… twisted. Vile. Something about him radiated danger.
Her tattoo glowed again.
It's warning me, she realized.
Suddenly, she caught a scent.
Blood.
What am I smelling? Blood? Jazel thought, staring at Vallante. Is it coming from him? what he's hiding?
And more strangely…
Since when have my senses become this sharp?
Vallante seemed to notice something off.
"Is something wrong, Jazel?" he asked.
"No. I just… didn't expect you to be drinking tea with Fleur," she snapped.
"Ouch," Vallante said, unfazed. "I just brought her some tea. I saw her eyeing it when we accidentally bumped into each other at the grocery store a while back—before she knew me. So, I bought it and brought it over."
"That's true," Fleur spoke up softly. "I was the one who invited him in for tea."
Jazel looked away, embarrassed. "Sorry for being rude, Vallante," she said, bowing slightly.
"It's alright," Vallante replied with a casual smile.
I need to act normal, Jazel told herself.
"You know, Jazel," Vallante said suddenly, "can I speak to you outside? Just the two of us?"
Jazel blinked.
"Right," she replied. "That's the reason you came here, isn't it?"
And deep down… she knew she needed to talk to him.
But not because she trusted him—
Because whatever was happening…
Was only going to get worse.