The patter of the rain is so loud. My husband is running too fast for me to catch up. The police are gaining on us. I am trying not to lose my cover by using my powers. The footsteps of the officer are closer now. He is very close now.
I scream at my husband to help me as my wet hair gets yanked from behind. The impact causes me to stumble and fall down. Bracing my two hands on the ground, I look up. I can't see my husband through all the rain water entering my eyes, but I hear him approaching. He grunts as he smashes something with a loud thud. The grip on my hair is loosened.
Getting up on my knees, I struggle to my feet - bruised, but unfeeling.
Turning around, I see my husband holding a long drain pipe. On the ground is the officer, lying in a pool of his own blood. I can see very well in the dark because I don't have normal eyes. I see his soul rising out of his body slowly. Oh no. He's dead.
I hear the footsteps of more police officers approaching.
My husband drops to his knees to see if the man has a pulse. I restrain myself from telling him that the man is already dead because if I do so, I will expose myself.
"He's dead, Arya. He's dead!" My husband shrieks.
He begins to panic. The footsteps of the approaching police officers are even louder now.
"There's no time! We have to go". I say, trying to pull him up.
He shoves me away.
"I've just killed an officer. He's dead". He laments.
I look up. The soul of the officer is still drifting upward. I can resurrect his body. But, my cover will be blown. That's not going to be good. If my cover is blown, my chances of returning to my own world are as good as gone. Yet, I have to save my husband.
Closing my eyes, I summon my power, knowing that I have to be as quick as possible.
The officer would now be an undead. If I use enough power, I would be able to permanently restore his whole body.
"Necra semto". I chant softly.
I wave my hands slowly over his body and watch his soul return into it. For a moment, I forget that my husband is right there, watching. every. single. thing.
The soul sinks in and the officer begins to wake up.
"Run!" I yell and start sprinting away.
My dazed husband staggers to his feet and starts sprinting after me.
I look back at the officer. He's rubbing his head where my darling husband had butted him with the pipe. It must hurt terribly.
Then, I see the look on my husband's face. My eyes must be glowing after all the power I just used. I quickly close them.
We run into the getaway tunnel.
The tunnel is a river of shadows, the rain above hammering against the city like war drums. Water drips from the cracked ceiling, echoing through the hollow space, the sound sharp enough to cut through my nerves. My flashlight slips from my hand when he slams me into the wall, clattering into the shallow stream at our feet. The bulb hisses, dies, and plunges us into absolute darkness.
I don't need the light. My eyes carve through the black like knives. His, however, cannot. And yet, it doesn't slow him. His grip on my wrists is iron, born of desperation rather than strength.
"What the hell was that?" His voice ricochets through the stone, rough, almost unhinged. He's panting, drenched, his breath warm against my cheek. "I saw you! I saw what you did back there!"
I keep silent, my pulse drumming in my throat.
"Don't play dumb with me, Arya!" His voice cracks, louder than the storm above. "That officer—he was dead. I felt it. I knew it. And then—then you… you—" His grip tightens. "You raised him. I saw it with my own eyes. Don't you dare tell me I didn't."
The memory burns behind my eyelids: the soul slipping back into the officer's broken body, the faint glow that must have lit my face. My cover shattered in a heartbeat.
I press my lips together. If I speak, it's over.
He shakes me once, harshly, like a man shaking truth out of a ghost. "Who are you?"
There's no rage in his voice now. Just something worse. A hollow hurt, a wounded plea.
Who am I? The question cleaves me in two.
His eyes are wide in the dark, gleaming faintly as he tries to read mine. "Tell me, Arya. Please." His voice softens, trembling. "I don't even know who I'm running with anymore."
I stay still. Silent. The words claw at my throat but never break free.
My silence cuts deeper than any lie could. I can feel him breaking in front of me - his breath uneven, his chest heaving against mine, his fingers loosening only to grip again, like he's afraid I'll slip away.
He leans closer, searching my face for the woman he thought he knew. But that woman died the moment my eyes glowed in the dark.
And yet… when his gaze flicks down, just briefly, to my mouth, the air shifts. I feel it. He feels it. That terrible, undeniable pull.
I shouldn't. I can't. But the thought hammers in my mind: if I kiss him, maybe he won't ask again. Maybe desire will drown his questions. Maybe his faith will blind him where truth cannot.
His breath grazes my lips. The storm outside rages louder, as though the world itself holds its breath with us.
I tilt my face toward his, and for one fragile heartbeat, he doesn't resist. His eyes close halfway, his lips trembling inches from mine.
But then - he jerks away. His hand tears from mine, slamming into the wall beside my head instead. Stone dust trickles down, mixing with the water between us.
"Damn it, Arya!" His voice is raw, breaking apart. "Don't do that to me. Don't - don't make me forget what I saw!"
My chest tightens. I want to scream, to confess, to swear I never wanted him to look at me like this - with fear instead of love. But before I can breathe a word, the tunnel betrays us.
A light flares at the far end - white, sharp, cutting through the dark like a blade.
His body stiffens. Mine too.
The sound of boots splashing in water. Voices, muffled but urgent. The officers.
"Go," I hiss.
He hesitates, torn between me and the light. But then, panic seizes him. He bolts, the slap of his wet boots fading into the labyrinth.
"Wait-" My voice dies in the tunnel. He doesn't look back.
I sprint after him, my soaked clothes clinging to my skin, my heart clawing its way out of my chest. But when I burst from the shadows to the tunnel's mouth, he is gone.
Gone.
Only the storm greets me.
I lunge forward, hand reaching for the ledge to climb out-
Something slams into the side of my head.
White explodes behind my eyes. My knees buckle. The world tilts sideways as the sound of rain and boots collapse into silence.
Then - nothing.