The blood on my hands wouldn't wash off.
I scrubbed until my skin turned raw, but Kenji's blood stayed there. Dark. Sticky. Real.
He was alive five minutes ago. Complaining about his girlfriend. Now he's just... gone.
"Renji Kuroda?"
I looked up from the hospital sink. A man in a black suit stood in the doorway. Tall. Gray hair. Eyes like steel.
"Who's asking?" My voice cracked. Pathetic.
"Daichi Yamamoto. Warden Corps." He flashed a badge with a symbol I'd never seen. "We need to talk."
The bathroom felt smaller suddenly. Like the walls were closing in.
"I already told the cops everything. The gas leak—"
"Wasn't a gas leak." Daichi stepped inside. Locked the door behind him. "What killed your roommate doesn't show up on security cameras. Doesn't leave fingerprints. And it definitely doesn't explode."
My legs went weak. The sink edge dug into my palms as I gripped it.
He knows. Somehow, he knows what I really saw.
"You're mad crazy."
"Am I?" Daichi pulled out his phone. Showed me a photo.
The dorm room. Kenji's body. But in this picture, something else was there. Something dark. Writhing. With too many teeth.
"Wraiths feed on despair," Daichi said. "Your roommate was depressed. Failed three classes. Girlfriend dumped him last week. Perfect target."
I stared at the photo. At the thing that shouldn't exist.
I'm not insane. It was real. That shadow with claws and burning eyes was real.
"What do you want?"
"You survived a Wraith attack. Untrained. That's... unusual." Daichi pocketed his phone. "Most people die. Or go insane. You're standing here having a conversation."
"Lucky me."
"Maybe. Or maybe you have a gift." He moved closer. His presence felt heavy. Like gravity had increased. "Tell me, Renji. When it attacked, what did you do?"
I closed my eyes. Remembered.
The shadow lunging at me. Kenji's scream cutting off mid-breath. My hand shooting out instinctively. Light. Warm, golden light streaming from my palm. The thing shrieking and dissolving like smoke.
Then the explosion. The fire. The lies I told the paramedics.
"I... I don't know. I got lucky."
"Show me your hand."
"What?"
"The hand you used. Show me."
Slowly, I raised my right hand. Daichi grabbed my wrist. His fingers were cold. Strong.
"Residual spiritual energy." His eyes widened slightly. "Raw, untrained, but potent. You didn't get lucky, kid. You killed it."
Spiritual energy. That's what the light was.
"This is insane."
"The world's full of insane things. Wraiths. Demons. Things that go bump in the night." Daichi released my wrist. "We're the people who bump back."
"We?"
"The Warden Corps. We keep the monsters in the shadows where they belong." He straightened his tie. "You've got talent. Raw talent. We can train you. Teach you to control it."
I thought about Kenji. About the sound he made when that thing tore into him. The smell of burned flesh.
*I couldn't save him. But maybe I can save someone else.*
"And if I say no?"
"Then you go back to your normal life. Pretend this never happened. Wait for the next Wraith to find you." Daichi's smile was cold. "Because they will find you. Your energy signature is like a beacon now. They'll come."
My hands started shaking. "How long do I have?"
"To decide? Right now." He pulled out a business card. Black with silver text. "To live? Maybe a week without training."
I took the card. It felt warm against my fingers.
WARDEN CORPS - YAMAMOTO, D. - CAPTAIN
"What happened to my parents?" The question slipped out before I could stop it.
Daichi went very still. "What do you mean?"
"The gas leak. Three years ago. They died the same way Kenji did, didn't they?"
For a long moment, he said nothing. Then he nodded.
"Probably. We investigate every suspicious death, but sometimes we're too late." His voice softened. "I'm sorry."
They died screaming. Just like Kenji.
Rage built in my chest. Hot and sharp. The light in my palm flickered to life without me trying.
"Easy." Daichi raised his hands. "Emotion triggers the power. Anger makes it unstable."
I forced myself to breathe. The light faded.
"Can you teach me to kill these things?"
"Yes."
"All of them?"
"That's the job."
I crushed the business card in my fist. Felt the edges cut my palm. Drew blood.
For Mom. For Dad. For Kenji.
"When do we start?"
Twenty minutes later, I was in the back of Daichi's car. Black sedan. Tinted windows. It smelled like cigarettes and coffee.
"Where are we going?"
"The Sanctum. Our headquarters." Daichi turned onto a highway ramp. "You'll meet your team there."
"I get a team?"
"Everyone gets a team. Wraiths are pack hunters. You hunt alone, you die alone."
The city blurred past outside. Everything looked normal. People walking. Cars driving. Nobody knew monsters were real.
How many people die every day? How many 'accidents' are really Wraith attacks?
"How long have you been doing this?" I asked.
"Fifteen years."
"Lost anyone?"
Daichi's hands tightened on the steering wheel. "Everyone loses someone."
Great. Reassuring.
We drove in silence for a while. I watched normal people living normal lives. A businessman checking his phone. A mother pushing a stroller. A teenager listening to music.
They have no idea what's coming for them in the dark.
"The Sanctum's hidden," Daichi said as we took an exit. "Layered between dimensions. Normal people can't see it."
"Dimensions?"
"Reality has layers. Like an onion. Most people only see the surface. Wraiths live in the deeper layers. We operate between them."
My life was normal six hours ago. Now I'm talking about dimensions like it's the weather.
We pulled into a parking garage beneath an office building. Looked ordinary. Gray concrete. Fluorescent lights. But when Daichi pressed his hand to a wall panel, the air shimmered.
A doorway appeared. Tall. Metal. Covered in symbols that hurt to look at.
"Don't stare at the wards too long," Daichi warned. "They're not meant for human eyes."
We walked through. The air felt thick. Electric. Like walking through water.
Then I saw it.
The Sanctum.
Massive stone halls stretching in impossible directions. Torches that burned without fuel. People in black uniforms moving with purpose. And above it all, a ceiling that showed stars I'd never seen before.
This is real. All of it. I'm really here.
"Welcome to the war," Daichi said.
A woman approached us. Young. Maybe twenty. Short black hair. Bright smile that didn't match her eyes. She carried a curved sword on her back.
"Fresh meat?" she asked.
"Aya Shirogane, meet Renji Kuroda. Renji, Aya. She'll be your partner."
Aya looked me up and down. "Scrawny. But you survived a Wraith attack, so that's something." She extended her hand. "Try not to die on me, rookie."
I shook it. Her grip was firm. Calloused. Fighter's hands.
"I'll do my best."
"Your best better be good enough." Her smile turned real for a second. "Lost three partners already. Getting tired of breaking in newbies."
Three partners. Dead. Because of this job.
"Don't scare him on his first day," a new voice said.
A man walked over. Mid-twenties. Blonde hair. Easy smile. He moved like water. Graceful. Confident.
"Kael Ashford," he said, offering his hand. "Welcome to the Corps."
I shook it. His hand was warm. Strong. Safe, somehow.
"Thanks."
"Don't thank me yet. Training starts tomorrow at five AM." Kael's smile widened. "Hope you're a morning person."
Five AM.
"Any questions before we show you to your quarters?" Daichi asked.
A hundred questions crowded my mind. About Wraiths. About powers. About my dead parents.
But only one mattered right now.
"When do I get to fight back?"
Aya laughed. Sharp and bright. "I like him already."
Kael nodded approvingly. "Soon enough. First, you learn to survive."
Survive. Fight. Kill these things.
I looked around the Sanctum. At the people who'd chosen to stand against the dark. Who risked everything to protect strangers.
This is my life now. No going back.
"One more thing," I said. "The Wraith that killed my roommate. Are there more like it?"
"Hundreds," Daichi said. "Maybe thousands."
"Good."
They all stared at me.
Let them stare. Let them think I'm crazy. I've got fifteen years of anger to work through.
"Then I'll have plenty to practice on."
Aya grinned. "Definitely like him."
Kael clapped me on the shoulder. "You'll fit in just fine here, Renji."
Maybe. Or maybe I'll die like Aya's other partners. But at least I'll die fighting.
The Sanctum's halls stretched out before me. Dark. Unknown. Full of dangers I couldn't imagine.
I'm coming, you bastards. For Mom. For Dad. For everyone you've killed.