"Logan Dix, please come onto the stage."
The name echoed across the auditorium, and for half a second, Logan wondered if his heart had actually stopped.
Thousands of eyes turned toward him at once, curiosity mixing with amusement. He stood up slowly with stiff legs and damp palms, feeling like he was walking into an execution rather than a summoning.
Logan did not have many friends. In fact, he barely had any at all.
Except one…
A chubby boy near the middle rows shot to his feet, pumping his fists wildly.
"Go! Logan, go!" Johnny yelled at the top of his lungs. "Bag that busty Nightmare succubus!"
The entire row burst into laughter.
Logan froze for half a step, his ears burning as his face turned crimson. He did not dare look back.
Johnny Sins had been his friend for years, and this was exactly the kind of thing he would say at the worst possible moment. Logan forced himself to keep walking, jaw clenched, eyes fixed on the stage as if nothing had happened.
'I will kill him later.'
He climbed the steps and stopped beside the ocean-blue crystalline orb.
Up close, it looked even more unreal; its surface was smooth like frozen water with faint light pulsing deep inside it. Standing in front of it, Logan suddenly felt very small.
The examiner's voice cut through the silence.
"Place your hand on the orb and close your eyes. You have one minute to see if any Nightmares answer your call."
Logan swallowed and nodded.
This was it.
He pressed his palm against the cold surface and shut his eyes as the world vanished!
There was no sound, no weight, and no sensation of standing or falling. Logan's consciousness drifted forward, pulled gently yet firmly, until he felt himself settle into a space that defied logic.
Pure white stretched endlessly in every direction.
There was no sky, no ground, and absolutely no horizon. Just an infinite expanse of pale emptiness, glowing softly like fog lit from within.
Logan stood alone, his footsteps making no sound when he took a cautious step forward.
'So this is the Bridge.'
He had read about it countless times, studied it in class, and memorized every official explanation. The Bridge was the meeting point, the place where human consciousness intersected with the Vast Expanse.
When a person entered here, the Nightmares interested in forming a contract would gather and observe them.
Or at least, that was how it was supposed to work.
Time flowed differently here. It was ten times slower than the real world. One minute outside meant ten inside. Plenty of time and plenty of opportunities to form a contract - that's what the instructors at the academy had told him.
But when Logan looked around, there was nothing.
The white expanse remained empty, silent, indifferent to his presence. No distant figures were watching him from afar.
A sharp chill ran down his spine.
'No… no, this is normal. They said it sometimes takes time.'
Logan consoled himself as he waited. He did everything possible to deny the harsh truth.
Seconds passed. Then more. Logan turned slowly in place, scanning the emptiness again and again, his breathing growing shallower with each rotation. His heart began to pound, loud enough that he was sure something should hear it.
But there was still nothing.
The realization hit him like a punch to the gut.
'Did no Nightmare think I was worth their time?'
The thought spiraled instantly, feeding into darker ones he had kept buried for years.
'If I fail here, it's over.'
Logan clenched his fists, nails digging into his palms as memories flooded in. His mother coming home late, shoulders slumped, hands raw from work. The exhaustion she tried and failed to hide. The way she smiled anyway and told him everything would be fine.
She lied.
'If I do not become a Walker, nothing will change.'
'No money. No protection. No future.'
'I was supposed to lift her out of poverty.'
His breathing turned ragged.
'No. I have to succeed. I have to.'
Logan broke into a sprint, running across the endless white space despite having no destination. His eyes darted everywhere, desperate, searching for any sign he might have missed. A flicker. A shadow. Anything.
Minutes crawled by.
One turned into two. Two into five.
Each passing second crushed him further. His legs burned though he felt no ground beneath his feet. His chest felt tight, as if the emptiness itself was pressing in on him.
He had ten minutes here.
Half of it was already gone.
"Please…" he whispered into the void, voice trembling despite himself. "Anyone…"
Nothing answered.
His strength finally gave out. Logan stumbled and collapsed onto the white surface, gasping for air that felt thinner by the second. His vision blurred, and his mind screamed in protest.
'This can't be how it ends.'
His time was almost up.
And then he saw it.
A shadow passed far above him.
Logan's head snapped up so fast it hurt.
There against the endless white, a shape moved. At first it was distant, barely more than a speck, but it was growing larger with every heartbeat. Wings beat slowly, powerfully, each motion deliberate and controlled.
It was a bird.
No. Bigger than that.
As it descended, details sharpened. Its wingspan was massive, easily twice that of an eagle; its feathers were layered thick and dark, shimmering faintly like polished obsidian touched by silver light. Its talons were long and curved, capable of crushing bone, and its beak gleamed sharp enough to tear through steel.
Golden eyes locked onto Logan as every instinct in his body screamed at once.
It was a Nightmare!
The creature circled once above him, the wind from its wings rippling the white expanse, then slowly descended, landing a short distance away. It towered over Logan, casting a shadow that finally broke the monotony of the void.
Logan could not move.
Could not breathe.
The bird tilted its head slightly, studying him, its gaze piercing straight through his thoughts.
And for the first time since entering the Bridge, Logan felt hope.