The tree at the edge of the park leaned like a crooked skeleton, its branches clawing at the dusk sky. Beneath it, Andrew stood with a letter in his hand. The paper was thick, old-fashioned, the kind people didn't use anymore. A seal of black wax pressed on its flap, unbroken until his trembling thumb had cracked it open.
The message inside was short. No greetings, no sender's name. Just a line of text written in crimson ink:
"You have been chosen. Black Seal Academy awaits."
Andrew had read it three times, hoping the words would change, hoping it was a prank. They hadn't.
He let the letter hang at his side, eyes wandering toward the empty path that cut through the park. The streets beyond were quiet, only the distant hum of cars filling the silence. To anyone else, it was an ordinary evening. But not to him. Not anymore.
---
If someone told me they saw a demon, I wouldn't call them a liar.
The thought came unbidden, and Andrew found himself whispering it aloud. His voice was dry, low, as though saying it too loud would make something crawl out of the shadows to listen.
But who would've thought we'd be the ones dragged into this?
His lips curved into a humorless smile.
Most people scoffed at demon stories. To them, demons were nothing more than children's tales or tools of religion. But Andrew had never laughed at the idea. Some instincts were too sharp to ignore, some fears too old to be fake.
And now, a letter. Black Seal Academy. The name itself felt cursed, like a stain that could never be washed away.
---
The wind picked up, whistling through the branches above. Andrew shifted, pulling the collar of his jacket up. His stomach growled. Hunger again. It was always there — not the normal kind that food could satisfy, but a deeper emptiness. An ache that whispered, more, more, more.
People called him strange sometimes, but they didn't understand. They couldn't see what lived behind his calm eyes. He wasn't sure he wanted them to.
He clenched the letter in his fist, crumpling its edges. Why me? he thought. I'm no demon. No sorcerer. Just Andrew. Ordinary, forgettable Andrew.
Yet someone — something — had chosen him.
---
He sat under the tree, resting his back against the rough bark. His gaze wandered up to the darkening sky. A memory surfaced: sitting in his mother's kitchen, staring at a plate of food, still feeling hungry even after he'd eaten every bite. His mother had laughed back then, teasing him about being a bottomless pit.
But it wasn't funny anymore.
The hunger hadn't gone away. If anything, it had grown.
The crane waits in the water. The thought slithered into his mind, strange and sharp. He didn't know where it came from, but it felt… true. Waiting. Watching. Biding its time until something wandered close enough to be swallowed whole.
And Black Seal Academy?
That was the river.
---
Andrew let out a breath, long and tired. His eyes narrowed at the letter. "Chosen," it had said. Chosen for what? For glory? For death? For something worse?
The air seemed heavier now, the silence thicker. The tree creaked above him like it knew secrets it wouldn't share.
He didn't want to go. Every instinct told him to burn the letter, to forget it ever came. But another part of him — the part that stirred when the hunger gnawed — whispered differently.
Go. See. Take.
Andrew pushed himself to his feet, dusting off his jeans. His mind was made up, though he didn't want to admit it. The letter had already bound him. There was no running now.
He shoved the crumpled paper into his pocket, looked up at the last smear of sunlight vanishing behind the city skyline, and muttered under his breath:
"Black Seal Academy… whatever you are, I'll find out soon."
And with that, Andrew stepped out from under the tree.
The night welcomed him.
The beginning of the end of the ordinary.