The next day came but it was not bright. The sky was gray and quiet like it was holding back some secret. The wind blow gently through the broken wooden windows and Coker wake up with the same heavy feeling in his chest. He sat on the bed, looking at the mark on his hand. It was darker now. Like it was growing. He try to rub it, maybe thinking it can disappear like dirt, but it didn't. His heart beat fast, like it know something was wrong.
He walk outside slowly, careful so his foot no make noise. The street was quiet too. Too quiet. All the people close their windows. Doors locked. Even the birds didn't fly today. It feel like everybody was hiding from something. But what was it?
Then he hear it. A small sound, like something stepping on roof tiles. He look up quick, and he see someone standing on the top of his house. It was a girl. No—maybe a woman. Her hair was silver, and the wind play with it like it was part of sky. Her eyes was sharp, shining like she know everything already. Coker heart almost jump out. He never see someone like that before. She wear a black cloak with red inside, and the cloak move even when the wind stop. Like it was alive.
Coker didn't know what to do. He just stare up like a statue. The girl look down at him, and she didn't smile. She just say with quiet voice, "You… it's you." Her voice sound far away, but she wasn't far. Then she jump down—so soft, so easy, like she was falling slow. She land in front of him without making dust rise.
"W-who… are you?" Coker ask, his voice small. His throat dry, his knees weak. She look at his hand. The mark was glowing now. A soft red light. The girl move closer. Coker step back.
"You carry the curse," she say, and her voice was calm like talking about weather. "Do you even know what is inside you?"
"I… I don't know anything," Coker reply. He feel ashamed saying it, but it was true. "I just… woke up one day, and then strange things started happen."
The girl touch his hand, and the moment she do, the mark stop glowing. Coker feel a strange warmth. Not from her hand—but from inside his body. Like something was listening. Watching. Waiting.
"Then it's true," the girl whisper. "The curse chose someone again. After all this time…"
Coker blink. "What do you mean again? What is this curse?"
She look at him for a moment, long and serious, like she was thinking about something deep. Then she turn around. "You're not ready. If I say too much now, you'll break. Or worse—the curse will eat you."
Coker feel a cold wind on his neck. "Eat me?"
But she didn't answer. She begin to walk away, her steps not touching the ground fully. Coker want to run after her. Ask more. Beg her to stay. But he was stuck there, like his legs forgot how to move.
She pause at the end of the road. Then she say, not turning around, "You will see me again, Coker. Soon. Just stay alive."
And then she vanish. Not running. Not flying. Just vanish like smoke.
Coker finally breathe. He drop to his knees. So many question but no answer. But in his heart, something was starting to change. That girl… that silver-haired girl… why did her voice make his heart feel strange? And why did the curse stop glowing when she touch him?
The wind blow again. But this time, it feel like something was coming with it. Something not hUman