Sera's POV
The scream cuts through the night like a knife through paper.
I freeze on the sidewalk, my heart jumping into my throat. It's past midnight in Brooklyn, and I should've taken the subway home from my night shift at the law office. But subway tokens cost money I don't have, so I walk. Always walk. That's what poor people do.
Another scream. Closer this time.
"Please! I didn't do anything!"
It's a boy's voice. Young. Terrified.
Every smart part of my brain screams at me to run the other way. This neighborhood eats people like me for breakfast. I'm nobody—just twenty-five-year-old Sera Valentine, a paralegal who makes coffee and files papers for lawyers who barely know my name. I've been beaten down so many times in life that I should know better.
But I'm already running toward the sound.
The alley is dark. So dark I almost miss them at first. Then I see the shadows moving—five big guys surrounding something small on the ground. No, not something. Someone.
A boy. Maybe seventeen. Skinny. Wearing a backpack that says "Honor Student" on it.
"Thought you could walk through our territory?" one of the men growls. He's huge, covered in tattoos, with a spider web inked across his neck. "Nobody disrespects the Vipers."
"I was just going home from study group!" the boy sobs. Blood runs down his face from a cut above his eye. "Please, I'm sorry!"
The spider-web man kicks him in the ribs. The crack echoes off the alley walls like a gunshot.
I should leave. I should run. I should save myself.
Instead, I pull out my phone with shaking hands and dial 911.
"Please," I whisper to the operator. "There's a boy being attacked. Corner of Fifth and Madison. Please hurry!"
"Ma'am, stay on the line. Units are on the way."
But I can't stay on the line. Because spider-web man just pulled out a metal bat.
"NO!" The word tears out of my throat before I can stop it.
All five men turn to stare at me. I'm standing at the alley entrance like an idiot, phone in hand, probably about to die.
Spider-web man grins. "Well, well. We got a hero."
"The police are coming," I say, but my voice shakes so badly it's barely a whisper. "I called them. They're coming right now."
The men laugh. One of them—skinny with a gold tooth—walks toward me. "Police don't come to this neighborhood, little girl. Not for us. Not for him." He points at the boy. "And definitely not for you."
He's right. Deep down, I know he's right. I've lived in this city my whole life. I know how it works. The police don't rush to save poor kids in bad neighborhoods. We're not important enough.
"Run," the boy on the ground whispers to me. His face is so swollen I can barely see his eyes. "Please... run."
I should. God, I should.
But my legs won't move. Because suddenly I see every moment of my own life playing in front of me like a horrible movie. Every bully in school who made me cry. Every boss who screamed at me for mistakes I didn't make. Every person who hurt me and walked away free because people like us don't matter.
"I won't leave him," I hear myself say.
Spider-web man shrugs. "Your funeral."
The bat comes down on the boy's head with a sound I'll hear in nightmares forever. The boy's body jerks once, twice, then goes still.
I scream. I scream so loud my throat tears. I scream until the men look annoyed.
"Shut her up," spider-web man says.
Gold-tooth starts walking toward me, but suddenly there are voices on the street. A group of college kids, drunk and laughing. The gang members scatter like roaches when the light turns on, disappearing into the darkness.
I run to the boy. His name tag says "Tommy Chen - Volunteer Tutor."
"Tommy," I sob, pressing my hands against his bleeding head. "Tommy, stay with me. Help is coming. Please."
His eyes open just a little. They're dark brown and full of so much pain it breaks something inside me.
"Why..." he whispers. Blood bubbles at his lips. "Why didn't you... save me..."
Then the light goes out of his eyes. Just like that. One second he's alive, the next he's... not.
I'm still pressing my hands against his head when the ambulance finally arrives. Twenty minutes late. Twenty minutes too late.
The paramedics pull me away gently. A police officer asks me questions I can't hear over the ringing in my ears. They take Tommy's body away in a black bag.
I walk home in a daze. My hands are covered in Tommy's blood. Some mother's son. Some family's whole world. Dead in an alley because monsters walk free in this city.
I throw up twice before I reach my tiny apartment. I stand in the shower until the water runs cold, scrubbing Tommy's blood from under my fingernails. But I can still see his eyes. Why didn't you save me?
I didn't save him. I couldn't. I'm powerless. Just like I've always been.
I fall asleep crying, still hearing Tommy's last words.
And then I see him.
It's not a normal dream. Everything is too sharp, too real. I'm standing in a place that looks like the stars themselves—galaxies swirling around me, nebulas blooming like flowers.
And in front of me stands the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.
He's tall—or she is? I can't tell. Their face shifts between masculine and feminine, like looking at them through water. Their skin glows like moonlight, and their eyes... their eyes contain entire universes.
"Hello, Sera," they say, and their voice sounds like music and thunder at the same time.
"Who are you?" I whisper.
"I have many names. But you can call me Azrael." They smile, and it's beautiful and terrifying. "I've been watching you for a very long time."
"This is just a dream."
"Is it?" Azrael tilts their head. "You saw something tonight. Something that broke you. The helplessness. The injustice. The way evil wins while good people die in alleys."
Tommy's eyes flash in my mind. Why didn't you save me?
"I want to offer you a gift," Azrael continues. "Power. Real power. The ability to excel at everything you try. Enhanced strength, speed, intelligence. And something special—the ability to see sin itself. To know who truly deserves punishment."
My heart pounds. "Why would you give me that?"
"Because I believe in balance. And this world is very, very unbalanced." Azrael steps closer. "You could save people like Tommy. You could stop monsters like the ones who killed him. You could become justice itself."
"What's the cost?" I ask. Because nothing is free. I learned that lesson young.
"Half of your remaining lifespan," Azrael says simply. "You would have lived to eighty-two. Give me forty-one years, and I'll give you the power to change everything."
Forty-one years. That's a long time. But Tommy Chen doesn't have any years left at all.
"Can I think about—"
"No," Azrael interrupts gently. "This offer expires when you wake up. Choose now, Sera Valentine. Stay powerless and watch evil win forever. Or take my deal and become something more."
I think of Tommy's eyes. I think of every bully who hurt me. Every criminal who walks free. Every time I was too weak to fight back.
"I accept," I whisper.
Azrael's smile widens. "Excellent choice."
They reach out and touch my forehead with one glowing finger.
Pain explodes through my body like lightning. Every nerve ending catches fire. I scream, but Azrael holds me in place with impossible strength. My bones feel like they're breaking and reforming. My blood boils in my veins. My eyes burn so badly I'm sure they're melting out of my skull.
"Remember, dear Sera," Azrael whispers in my ear as I writhe in agony. "Every deal has fine print. And the devil's always in the details."
The pain reaches a peak that makes me black out.
I wake up gasping in my bed, soaked in sweat. Morning light streams through my window. My alarm clock says 7 AM.
It was just a dream. Just a horrible, vivid dream.
I stumble to the bathroom and splash water on my face. When I look up at the mirror, I freeze.
My eyes are different. Still brown, but now there are flecks of silver in them that weren't there before. And when I blink, they flash completely silver for just a second before returning to normal.
"Oh my God," I breathe.
Then I hear it. A voice in my head that isn't mine.
Welcome to your new life, Sera. Now let's see what you're really capable of.
My reflection smiles at me.
But I'm not smiling.
Something else is smiling from behind my eyes.
Something that isn't entirely human anymore.