It had been close to a month since Caster had joined their cohort.
On the surface, things were going well.
Nephis's plan was finally taking shape. People had begun to gather around her—not just as temporary allies, but as something closer to a community. More hands joined their hunts. More weapons stood at their side. Resources were pooled, rationed, distributed with growing efficiency. Slowly, steadily, the balance was shifting in their favor.
The cohort was becoming real.
Sunny, however, remained on the outside.
That was mostly his own doing.
His Flaw made social interaction exhausting at best and dangerous at worst. Every conversation was a minefield, every idle exchange another chance to expose himself. So he did what he always did best—he withdrew. He stayed quiet. Observant. Invisible.
Which, ironically, made him the most informed person among them.
Sunny knew everything that mattered.
He watched people when they thought no one was looking. He memorized routines, habits, inconsistencies. He paid attention to the spaces between words, the pauses before answers. He tracked patterns.
And patterns always broke somewhere.
That was how he noticed Caster.
Once a week.
Always at the same time.
Caster would disappear.
No announcement. No witnesses. Just gone—slipping away with some vague excuse about "business" that never quite lined up. He always came back eventually, unharmed, unbothered… and faintly irritated, like someone forced to attend an unpleasant obligation.
Sunny didn't like it.
Traitors didn't announce themselves. They leaked.
Caster was leaking.
---
Sunny decided to talk to Nephis.
He entered her planning room, already forming the words in his head—but as usual, Caster was there. Standing beside her, pointing at the map spread across the table, calmly discussing routes, resource distribution, and hunting schedules.
Efficient. Useful.
Too useful.
Sunny needed Nephis alone.
He tried to catch her attention. A subtle gesture. A look. A wink.
Nothing.
Again.
Nothing.
He tried harder.
That was when Effie turned from the map and stared straight at him.
"Doofus," she said bluntly, "why are you winking so much? Is your eye okay? Or is this some weird way of flirting? Because if it is, I'm flattered—but you couldn't handle me."
Sunny scowled.
Whatever point he was trying to make died on the spot.
Fine.
If Nephis wouldn't listen, he'd find the truth himself.
---
That night, Sunny melted into the shadows and waited.
Eventually, Caster left.
Sunny sent his shadow after him.
Caster moved carefully, weaving through the outskirts with practiced ease, doubling back, changing routes, stopping abruptly as if expecting pursuit.
Unfortunately for him, Sunny wasn't so easily tricked
The shadow followed silently, faithfully.
Caster eventually approached a guard stationed near the edge of the castle. After a brief exchange, he handed the man a folded letter.
"Deliver this to her," Caster said. "It should explain some things."
The guard smirked.
"You know it's not cheap."
Caster rolled his eyes and placed a soul shard in the man's palm.
"Now do what I asked."
The guard nodded and disappeared toward the castle.
Caster turned and walked in the opposite direction.
Deeper into the dark city.
Sunny followed.
The farther they went, the quieter the city became. The air grew stale, heavy, thick with something metallic. Sunny's boots brushed against dark stains on the stone—pools of dried blood that had soaked so deeply into the ground they looked permanent.
Like scars.
Sunny stopped in a ruined building, safe enough to hide his body, and sent his shadow onward.
That was when he saw him.
Caster was speaking to a man.
Older than Sunny by a few years. Tall. Broad-shouldered. Encased in obsidian armor that seemed less worn and more… fed. His long hair, silver threaded with black, hung loose around his shoulders. His skin was pale—unnaturally so—and his crimson eyes almost glowed as if staring into his very soul from miles away.
The conversation was brief.
Too brief.
Sunny didn't hear a single word before Caster suddenly turned and fled—moving faster than Sunny's shadow could follow.
Sunny hesitated.
Then he made a mistake.
He followed the man instead.
---
The stranger walked deeper into the Dark City, past broken structures and collapsed streets, until Sunny felt the familiar pressure at the edge of his senses.
The limit.
Then—
The man stopped.
And turned.
His gaze locked directly onto the shadow.
"Oh hello there," he said lightly "How about we have a little chat? just me you and of course your master little Shadow"
His tone was cheerful.
That was worse.
Sunny tried to pull his shadow back—
Blood erupted from the puddles beneath his feet.
It moved like a living thing, surging upward, coiling around Sunny's neck and slamming him into the wall of his room with bone-crushing force.
The man smiled.
It was far too wide.
"Oh, I wouldn't try returning to your master, little Shadow," he said calmly "Since he'll die before you make it back to him."
---
Sunny clawed at the blood choking him and summoned a Memory.
He slashed.
Sparks flew.
The blade barely scratched it.
The blood was harder than steel.
The man stepped closer.
Looked down at his shadow.
Pity flickered across his face.
"You have some interesting abilities," he said "And unique blood. Honestly, if it weren't so unique, I would have never noticed you."
Sunny tried to smash the wall behind him but—
More blood lashed out, pinning his wrists.
He couldn't move.
Couldn't breathe.
For the first time in a long while, Sunny felt true, undeniable terror.
He was going to die.
And for what?
Jealousy?
The fear that Nephis trusted Caster more than him?
Why had he tried so hard to prove himself useful?
Suddenly
The pressure loosened slightly.
Enough to breathe.
Shallow. Desperate.
Sunny heard the man's voice again, this time from his shadow's perspective.
"How about you and me have a little chat?"
"I'll let you go. I promise I won't hurt you… well, who knows, maybe I might a little—but it's the only chance you have at living."
Sunny knew it was true.
This thing had him.
Completely.
His shadow nodded.
The blood released him.
Sunny collapsed, coughing violently, blood spilling from his mouth as he dragged air into his lungs.
The collar remained—liquid blood, floating beneath his armor.
A leash.
"I'll be waiting for you right here," the man said pleasantly "And I wouldn't recommend running away. I can make that collar choke you… or cut your head clean off."
---
Sunny knew he was truly screwed.
Still, desperation bred ideas.
He recalled his shadow, forcing it back into himself. A few agonizing seconds passed before it finally returned, settling against him like a familiar weight. Without hesitation, he sent it out again—this time with a single purpose.
Find Nephis. Bring her back.
It was a gamble. A reckless one.
Once the shadow traveled more than a kilometer away, Sunny would lose all connection to it. No sight. No hearing. No way to guide it back. If it failed, he would be alone—completely and utterly alone—with this monster.
Then he walked.
Through ruined streets.
Through silence.
Until he reached a destroyed building.
There, upon a throne of rubble, the man sat waiting—smiling as if Sunny had been a close friend.
"It's nice to see you in person," he said.
"Lemme guess… Sunless?"
He tilted his head slightly.
"You can call me Alucard."