The morning already felt like a fading memory.
As the commotion in Eckhart quieted, something ominous lingered above—a figure cloaked in a black hooded robe, a plain mask covering his face, void of features except for two glowing red eyes staring out from the darkness.
He watched Anna as she walked away from the scene, his voice a low rumble that carried like a curse through the air.
"I've found her. I've finally found the vessel."
Volker-A1 | Wenzel Co-operation | 7:32 AM
"So this is the problem-solving file I've been waiting on from the coders," said Mr. Wenzel Cormac, the esteemed founder of Wenzel Cooperation. A tall, dark-skinned man with a polished, gleaming chrome dome that caught the sunlight from the wide glass window behind him, his presence was as commanding as the empire he built.
Across from him, standing stiffly with her hands behind her back, was Anna Leofric—one of his most trusted employees. Today, however, trust had been strained thin. Wenzel Cooperation was notorious in Volker-A1 for its ruthless intolerance toward tardiness and laziness, and Anna had walked straight into the lion's den, late for work.
"Look," Mr. Wenzel began, "I would've gotten you fired, but I'm only going to let you off with a warning. The file came out well, so I'll be giving you a new assignment"
Anna breathed a sigh of relief, "Th-thank you so much, sir," she muttered, "I promise, I won't let you down"
"Good," said a satisfied Mr. Wenzel, "I trust you very well, Miss Anna, which is why I'm forgiving you. The employees also confessed to being fond of you, don't let me down"
Anna nodded, determined to complete whatever assignment would be given to her, "Yes, sir," she said.
"Alright, you can leave for now," Mr. Wenzel declared, "I'll see you this evening"
Anna all but rushed out of his office, the tension lifting from her shoulders. Outside, her coworkers peered over their cubicles, their eyes wide with anticipation.
"I'm off the hook," she said breathlessly.
The office erupted in cheers.
"Way to go, Anna!"
"Congratulations, Anna!"
Overwhelmed, she hurried to her seat, ignoring the wave of congratulations. Relief was sweet, but she knew the real work still lay ahead. Anna wasn't the talkative type, though her actions made her a role model to all in the office.
Volker-A1 | Wenzel Co-operation | 11:27 PM
The day stretched long into the night. Midnight crept closer, and Anna's carefully constructed facade of cheer was gone. Her eyes were swollen from exhaustion. Her bright, focused energy had faded into despair.
The assignment Wenzel had given her was brutal. "One of our partnership companies needs a new website for the advertisement of stocks. Half the work is done, and the stocks are prepared—now I need you to put the stocks on sale and make sure it's in order." His words echoed in her mind as she fought error after error, each one spawning more problems than it solved.
"Gosh, what am I going to do?" she groaned, pressing her forehead to the desk.
As the frustration lingered, her phone began to vibrate, "What now?!" she said, irritation clouding her voice.
She raised her head, picking up her mobile phone from the desk, then she read the caller's details, lo and behold, it was June, her beloved sister calling her.
"You've got to be kidding me!"
She cancelled the call, placing it back on her desk. Whatever her sister wanted to talk about today needed to wait; the voicemail was available.
Lying her head down on the table again, she hoped to get some peace of mind, but fate didn't let her do so.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
"Fuck!"
Angrily, taking her phone, she checked the details to be sure it was her sister, "She's going to hear a lot from me today," she said, but as she stared at the caller, it was something else.
Most strange numbers were given the title of 'Unknown', but this was something different. In the place of the title were glitched-out texts and white noise mixed with her ringing tone. Suddenly, the screen on her phone began to change colour from the normal white to a crimson red as blurry motions began to appear on the screen.
What is this? She thought.
As she sat there, confused and disoriented by the blurry objects on the screen, something shifted.
From her side view, she caught glimpses of her surroundings—the office, the polished tiles, the city beyond the window. And then she noticed it.
The sky.
Anna rose, staring out of the glass panes. The heavens were no longer blue but stained a deep, unnatural crimson.
What on earth is that?
The city was silent. No cars, no horns, no voices. Just seconds ago, the streets had been alive. Now… emptiness.
Everybody's gone....
As questions hung in her mind, left unanswered, the sound of something ceramic shattered. Anna shook, turning her head in the direction of the sound. Her eyes landed on a dark corner of the office where she noticed something small standing there.
"Who's there?!" she demanded.
No answer. Just a shape, moving. A long object wagged slowly side to side like a cat's tail.
Then it emerged, two purple eyes opening from the dark corner.
Anna gasped, crouching down, before retreating under her desk, before she was ultimately seen by that strange thing. Trying her best not to make a single sound, she covered her mouth.
Heavy footsteps echoed. Alongside them came the low, chilling purr of a cat.
Those eyes… I've seen them before. Could it be… that cat?
Cold sweat trickled down her neck. Then another sound joined the purring—bare feet slapping against the tile.
What was that? Anna wondered, still hiding, holding her breath.
Creak!
Suddenly, the wooden desk she hid under began to crack, the sound of wood snapping. Then the desk was taken off, and the entire cubicle snapped off with the computer on which she was doing her work.
Anna stared up at the figure that was responsible for snapping the cubicle off. Her eyes widened as she made eye contact with a hooded man in a mask, the same man who watched over from the sky.
"I found you," he intoned, his voice low and grave.
Anna scrambled back, gasping. "Wh-who are you?!"
"It's just as I expected," the masked man replied. "You can access the demon realm. Your bond with Feuermahl has marked you as a vessel."
Vessel?
What was the man talking about? What did he mean by 'Vessel '?
Who was this Feuermahl this man was talking about? Whoever this man was, he looked far too sketchy, and Anna always had a remedy for sketchy people.
Rising to her feet, Anna frantically spun, making a run for it—dashing through the hallways.
"Running away from your fate?" the masked man said calmly, "You're quite smart for your sudden response, the last innocents I killed were too questioning"
Making her way to the elevator door, Anna clicked on the button, but nothing happened.
Dammit it!
The door leading to the stairs, as she tried to force, but the doorknob broke under the force. She was trapped in this place with a psychotic man hunting her down.
She darted through rows of cubicles, pressing herself low, but he moved with unnatural speed, his body melting into the shadows, as if the laws of physics had no hold on him.
Who on earth was that? Anna tried holding her breath, though it seemed impossible as sweat dripped from her body. The once cold atmosphere of the office was now replaced with a burning heat.
Suddenly, the cubicles were raised by an unseen force, revealing her location. The masked man was the cause of it, as he possessed some strange, unforeseen power that could defy gravity.
"Futile," he declared, stepping closer. "You cannot escape."
This time, he wasn't giving Anna the luxury of trying to escape. Stretching his hand forward, a force like gravity emerged, crushing her down. Her limbs spread wide, her body pinned to the floor like a sacrifice. She screamed as the pressure wrenched at her joints.
"Agh!"
She began to struggle, trying her best to break from the force, but it was already too late. The masked man loomed over her now, his red eyes gazing directly into her soul.
"H- hey, who are you? What do you want from me?!" She demanded.
"Questions only breed more mysteries," the man answered. "You are an asset—a vessel necessary for the rising of our new emperor. When he takes your body as his, the demon era will begin anew."
Her blood froze. Demons. The conspiracy theories she had laughed at, brushed off as nonsense… they were real. And she was at the centre of it.
Now she had knowledge that demons did in fact exist, and whoever this masked man was, he didn't seem to be human, from the way his eyes glowed with blood-red thickness in the darkness and his deep and eerie voice.
The masked man ripped her top aside, pressing his hand against her stomach, just inches from her pelvis.
"Stop! Get away from me!"
Her words fell on deaf ears as the masked man placed his hand on her stomach, just inches from her cervix, as he muttered the word:
"Release"
Heat surged into her body. Fire burned her flesh. She screamed, tears streaming as her skin seared beneath his hand. Her consciousness slipped, her thoughts fracturing—memories of her mother, her dreams, her sister flashing like dying stars.
In that heated moment, Anna felt guilt for the first time for the things that she wasn't responsible for: The death of her mother, and her and her sister parting ways. Could it be that she was the cause? If only she had tried harder? Maybe try giving her mother a happy moment before she passed away.
All these thoughts weren't going to make any difference now. But suddenly, the fire stopped. The masked assailant's hand froze. His mask lifted toward the ceiling.
"He's here," he muttered, unease in his voice.
Footsteps echoed slowly, ominously. A voice followed—smooth, calm, and hauntingly familiar.
"It seems you've found your vessel. I'm afraid, though, you wouldn't be able to accomplish your goal."
"I do not know what your business is in this realm, but you should show yourself. Let me know who I want to kill!" the masked man barked, panic trembling at the edge of his tone.
The voice replied, echoing something quite terrifying for the masked man.
"Sure, why not. But I believe that I'm not the one dying tonight"
As the moment pressed on with a tense atmosphere, the masked man could feel the hairs on the back of his neck rising, a strange feeling behind him which caused him to turn. In that moment, he could feel a terrible gaze monitoring him from behind.
A hand clamped his neck. With earth-shaking force, he was slammed to the floor, his mask shattering into fragments.
Anna's eyes widened. Her supposed saviour stood revealed—hair white as snow, eyes blazing crimson like the bleeding sky.
Erik Feuer.
Without hesitation, he pressed his palm to the man's head, flames erupting, searing through mask and flesh. The figure convulsed, then fell still, scorched into silence.
Anna trembled, unable to move, her vision fading. She felt his arms wrap around her.
"It seems you can access the demon realm," Erik said, his voice steady, grave. "I deeply apologise, but now you're a part of this. When you awaken, we'll talk of this. I'm at Hallmart tonight, if you need me"
Her strength faltered. Darkness closed in. But before her eyes shut, she caught one last glimpse of him, hair and eyes shifting back to their human state.
I know that voice... that look as well..
Her eyes fluttered closed. She had lost consciousness, but that message given to her stayed in her memory.