I washed my hands until the skin turned red.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The water pooled in the sink, clear and innocent, carrying nothing with it. No blood. No shadows. No trace of what I'd done.
Still, the sensation clung to me.
Not guilt.
Awareness.
I shut off the tap and looked up.
The man in the mirror looked the same as always. Unremarkable. Forgettable. The kind of face people glanced at and immediately forgot. Messy black hair, tired eyes, shoulders slightly slumped from years of disappointment.
But something was wrong.
No—different.
My eyes didn't flinch.
They didn't dart away or soften or search for reassurance. They stared back steadily, cold and focused, as if they belonged to someone who had already crossed a line and found it easy to stand there.
"So this is me now," I murmured.
The mirror didn't answer.
I flexed my fingers slowly.
Nothing happened.
No smoke. No shadow. No supernatural glow.
Yet I could feel it.
The power wasn't loud anymore. It didn't claw or whisper or beg. It sat deep in my chest, dense and heavy, like a coiled animal that had tasted blood and learned patience.
Obedient.
That realization unsettled me more than the killing had.
I stepped out of the bathroom and turned off the lights in the apartment. The room fell into darkness, broken only by the faint glow leaking through the curtains from the street outside.
The moment the shadows settled, my body reacted.
My breathing smoothed out. My muscles relaxed. The air around me felt… thinner. Lighter. As if the darkness itself was making space.
I took a cautious step forward.
The world folded.
No wind. No sound. No sensation of movement.
One moment I was near the bathroom door—
the next, I was standing by the window.
I froze.
My heart pounded, not from fear, but from shock at how natural it felt.
"…Night Step," I whispered.
It hadn't felt like teleportation. It was closer to slipping between frames of reality, like the space between one shadow and the next was never meant to be solid in the first place.
I tested it again.
I focused on the darkest corner of the room.
Step.
The world blurred, then snapped back into focus.
I was there.
Perfect placement. Perfect silence.
A shaky breath escaped my lips.
This wasn't brute force. This wasn't raw power.
This was utility.
Control.
I laughed quietly, the sound rough and unfamiliar. "So that's how you want me to survive."
The laughter faded quickly.
Tonight wasn't a test run.
Tonight was the same night they had killed me before.
Same place. Same time. Same lie wrapped in a soft voice and worried eyes.
I turned the lights back on and sat on the edge of my bed, pulling out my phone.
Her name sat at the top of my messages, decorated with a heart she'd added herself months ago.
Mina ❤️
The sight of it twisted something sharp in my chest.
In my previous life, I'd believed that heart meant safety.
I opened the chat.
Mina ❤️: Don't forget tonight. I'm nervous… but excited.
My fingers hovered over the screen.
In my memory, I'd responded immediately back then. Reassured her. Joked a little. Told her everything would be fine.
I swallowed.
Then I typed.
Of course. I trust you.
The words felt strange. Heavy. Like poison wrapped in silk.
I sent the message and locked the phone before I could hesitate.
Trust.
That word had gotten me killed.
I stood and began changing clothes, moving deliberately. Dark hoodie. Simple jeans. Sneakers with worn soles. Nothing expensive. Nothing memorable.
I considered gloves.
Then shook my head.
Too obvious.
If someone was watching—and I was certain they were—I didn't want to look like a man preparing for violence. I wanted to look like the same predictable, harmless idiot they'd already written off.
I checked the time.
Still a few hours.
Enough to think.
That was dangerous.
I paced the apartment, replaying the future I remembered and comparing it to what I'd already confirmed. The café. The men. The conversation. Everything lined up too perfectly to be coincidence.
Which meant the variables were limited.
They expected me to show up.
They expected me to die quietly.
What they didn't expect was resistance.
But charging in blindly would just get me killed again—power or not. Night Step was useful, but it wasn't invincibility. I didn't know how strong awakened enemies really were. I didn't know what the man in the black coat could do.
And more importantly—
I didn't know what would happen if I killed them.
Would the ability demand more? Would it change me faster than I could control? Would I even recognize myself after?
My gaze drifted to my hands.
They looked normal.
But I'd already ended a life with them.
"Focus," I muttered.
Tonight wasn't about revenge.
Not yet.
It was about information.
Positioning.
Survival.
I needed to see the place again. The alley. The angles. The blind spots.
I grabbed my jacket and stepped out.
The city was slipping into evening, the sky bleeding orange and purple between the buildings. Streetlights flickered on one by one, casting long shadows that stretched and overlapped across the pavement.
I felt it immediately.
Every shadow felt closer now. More defined. Like they were aware of me in return.
I walked without rushing, blending into the flow of pedestrians. Couples. Office workers. Delivery drivers. Ordinary lives moving forward, unaware that mine had already ended once.
The alley was just as I remembered it.
Narrow. Damp. Smelling faintly of garbage and rain. A dead-end that no one paid attention to unless they had a reason to be there.
I stood across the street and watched.
Nothing happened.
Good.
I closed my eyes briefly and reached inward.
The power responded instantly.
Not eager.
Ready.
I opened my eyes and stepped.
The world folded, and I was standing inside the alley, pressed against the cold brick wall. Hidden. Silent. Invisible to anyone passing by.
A slow smile tugged at my lips.
This time, I wouldn't be cornered.
This time, I would decide where the shadows fell.
I stepped back out and walked away before anyone noticed me lingering.
As I headed home, my phone buzzed.
Mina ❤️: I'm really glad you're coming. See you tonight.
I didn't reply.
The sun finally disappeared behind the buildings, and the city lights took over completely.
Somewhere above the streets, unseen and unbothered, fate waited to repeat itself.
But this time—
I was ready to interrupt it.