Chapter 5 — Fractures
(First Person — Aria)
Chicago looked normal.
That was the problem.
Cars rushed past in morning traffic, horns blaring beneath gray clouds. Students crossed streets with coffee cups and headphones, completely unaware that last night someone had tried to kill me.
I kept replaying it anyway.
The stranger.
The shadows.
The way he said yes when I asked if he meant to kill me.
No hesitation.
No emotion.
Just truth.
I pulled my jacket tighter as cold wind swept between the buildings near Northbridge University.
"Get it together," I whispered.
Maybe shock made memories feel exaggerated. Maybe stress mixed dreams with reality.
That had to be it.
Right?
My phone suddenly shut off in my hand.
Black screen.
Dead.
"…Okay."
I pressed the power button.
Nothing.
Around me, streetlights flickered despite the daylight.
A passing car alarm triggered randomly, then another.
People looked around in confusion.
My chest tightened.
Not again.
I started walking faster toward campus.
Northbridge University
The biology lecture hall buzzed with conversation as students filled seats. Normal noise. Normal life.
I clung to that normalcy like oxygen.
Lucien dropped into the chair beside me. "You vanished last night. Everything okay?"
His casual tone almost broke me.
"Yeah," I said quickly. "Just tired."
He studied me carefully. "You look like you saw a ghost."
If only.
The professor began speaking, slides illuminating the darkened room.
Halfway through the lecture, the projector glitched.
Static flashed across the screen.
Then symbols appeared.
Not English.
Not any language I knew.
But somehow…
I understood them.
A sharp pain pierced my head.
Images slammed into my mind—
Two moons.
A burning crown.
A voice whispering:
Return.
I gasped, gripping the desk.
The projector exploded with a loud pop, plunging the room into darkness.
Students shouted.
Someone laughed nervously. "Guess technology hates Mondays."
Lights came back on seconds later.
Everything normal again.
Except my hands were glowing faintly silver.
I shoved them under the desk before anyone noticed.
My breathing wouldn't slow.
Because across the lecture hall, near the back exit—
He stood there.
The same man.
Watching.
Not hidden this time.
Waiting.
Our eyes met.
Cold recognition passed through his expression.
Not surprise.
Assessment.
Like he was deciding something.
Then he turned and walked out.
And without thinking—
I stood up and followed him.
The hallway outside was empty.
Too empty.
Fluorescent lights hummed overhead.
He stood at the far end, back turned.
"You shouldn't follow strangers," he said without looking at me.
My anger finally overcame fear.
"You tried to kill me!"
He turned slowly.
His gaze was sharper in daylight.
Less shadow.
More terrifying.
"I failed," he said calmly.
I stared at him. "That's not comforting!"
Silence stretched between us.
Students walked past the hallway entrance without noticing us, as if something pushed their attention away.
My stomach dropped.
"What are you?" I whispered.
His answer came quietly.
"The one deciding whether you live long enough to understand that question."
Fear prickled along my skin.
"Why me?"
He stepped closer.
The air grew heavy again.
"Because reality bends around you," he said. "And things that bend reality eventually break it."
Before I could respond—
Every light in the hallway shattered at once.
Darkness swallowed us.
And somewhere behind me…
something breathed.
Not human.
Not close.
But coming.
Keal's eyes shifted past me instantly.
For the first time—
I saw genuine alarm in them.
"…It found you already."