Mornings in Eidolon City always begin the same way.
With noise.,,,
The rumble of trains.Honking roads.
The steady breathing of machines
inside cafés.
Together, they don't wake the city,
they make it run.Ethan stepped outside early.The sky wasn't clear,It wasn't raining either.Only the feeling that it might.
He liked that feeling.That brief moment before something happened.Or before nothing happened at all.
As he left the apartment,he paused and looked back.
Without knowing why.
What am I expecting? he asked himself.
There was no answer.
At the bus stop,he stood in his usual place.Near the post on the right.Beside the trash bin.Small habits like these
gave him a sense of safety.The illusion that life was still under control.
The bus was late,That wasn't unusual.
People stood close.Some on their phones.Some staring into nothing,Ethan did the same.That was when he felt it.
Something is different.
"Was it the wind?
The sound?"
No.
He looked around,Everything was normal.
It's just my mind,
he told himself.The office greeted him with work.
Campaigns,Clients,Words.
Words had once been his shelter.
Now, they felt like things that slipped away.
He sat at his desk and began to write.
"People don't buy products,
they buy stories."
He typed,Edited,Typed again.
The words were right, He wasn't.
"Ethan?"
a voice called.
Clara.
She stood holding a file,her expression calm as always.
"Are you joining the client meeting?"
she asked.
"Yeah… sure,"he replied.
She walked away.For a brief moment,
his heart beat faster.
"If only this were easy," he thought.,
The meeting room was filled with light.
Yet everyone inside seemed a little dim.
People,Conversation,Laughter.
Ethan spoke the way he knew how.Professional.Safe,Hearing his own voice,he surprised himself.
"This is who I am to others."
The meeting ended,People dispersed.
Clara looked at him and smiled.
"Good job," she said.
He responded,But inside,nothing changed.
At lunch,he stayed in.He sat alone in the office café.The chair across from him was empty.And that caught his attention.
"If someone were sitting there…"
Before the thought could finish,
he pushed it away.
"Stupid,"...
he muttered with a small smile.
Evening came...
The city changed colors again.Lights came on.Roads grew wet,As Ethan walked,he kept feeling as if someone was watching him.He stopped.Turned.
No one,Then again,And again.
"What's wrong with me today?"
At home,
the apartment felt too quiet.When the door closed,the sound echoed louder than usual.He turned on the lights.Took off his shoes.
Suddenly, he stopped.
Something....!!!
A smell?
A sound?
He looked around.
Nothing,He sat down,Turned on the TV.
Then turned it off.The silence felt heavier.He walked to the window.Below him the city People Lives.
"I've been alone all this time,"
he thought.
"Why does it feel different now?"
He placed a hand on his chest.His heartbeat was normal.Yet unease lingered.The night stretched on.
Sleep didn't come.When he closed his eyes,he saw nothing.But inside that nothing was something.
He turned,Then turned again.This isn't a habit,he realized.
"This is new."
Morning arrived again...
He woke before the alarm.This time,
with a strange calm.
"Nothing will happen today,"
he told himself.
But Eidolon City never makes promises.Ethan didn't know,
that every moment he was alone,
his world was quietly shifting.
That change had no face,No name,No voice.
Yet,,
it was watching him....