The streets were almost empty when Kai left the school grounds.The lampposts buzzed faintly, throwing long pools of light across the wet pavement. His footsteps echoed too loudly in the quiet — too sharp, too alone.
He shoved his hands into his pockets, head low, his hood pulled up against the drizzle that had started to fall. The walk home was usually a blur — twenty minutes of silence, a handful of half-lit intersections, the smell of rain and gasoline.
Tonight, though, it felt different.He could feel it — that pull in his chest.That quiet, electric hum that always meant something was near.
Kai quickened his pace.
The air shifted — colder, heavier. His reflection in the shop windows seemed to trail a step behind. The hum in his chest grew stronger.
He reached the corner of the street where the road bent sharply between two old apartment blocks. For a second, the world went quiet — even the rain seemed to pause.
Then he heard it.
"Kai."
A voice — soft, feminine, and impossible.
He froze. Every muscle in his body locked.That voice hadn't belonged to anyone alive for years.
Slowly, he turned.
At the far end of the alley stood a figure — blurred by rain, faintly glowing under the flickering streetlight. She looked exactly as he remembered: hair falling past her shoulders, white dress torn at the hem, eyes hollow but familiar.
The bracelet in his pocket felt like it was burning.
His throat closed. "No," he whispered.
The figure tilted her head."You promised, didn't you?"
Kai stumbled back a step, shaking his head. "You're not real."
"Then why do I remember dying in your arms?" the voice asked — calm, distant, and utterly broken.
The rain came down harder, running into his eyes. He couldn't tell if it was water or tears.
"You're gone," he said, voice cracking. "You were gone."
The figure took a single step forward — and the light flickered violently, plunging the street into darkness for half a second.
When the lamps flared back to life, she was gone.
Only the empty street remained.
Kai stood there, trembling, his breath fogging in the cold air. The world around him felt warped — unreal — like time itself had bent just long enough for her to slip through.
His heart hammered against his ribs.She was gone again, yes — but that didn't matter.
What mattered was that she'd said his name.
And that meant someone — or something — still remembered him.
He turned and started walking, faster this time.He needed to get home. He needed to think.But deep down, he already knew the truth:
Whatever this was, it wasn't done with him.
And soon, Velithra would be caught in it too.