Marcus
I didn't hear her arrive.
But I knew.
The air shifted subtly like
the world had taken a quiet breath and forgotten to let it go.
My fingers tightened around
the cold railing in front of me.
Graveyard. Fresh soil.
Two names I still wasn't ready
to read again.
I didn't turn or trust what
I'd feel if I did.
"Hey. You're avoiding me" Her
voice softer than I remembered. Not weaker just careful.
Like she wasn't sure what
version of me she was speaking to.
Marcus.
Or-
Rocco.
My jaw tightened. "I'm
thinking," I said flatly.
A pause then-
"You always said that when you
didn't want to talk."
That hit because I remembered
it. Not clearly or fully but enough.
A flicker-
Sunlight, grass, her sitting
on a wall swinging her legs-
I shut my eyes briefly.
"Don't do that," I muttered.
"Do what?"
"Act like nothing happened."
My voice sharper than I
intended but I didn't take it back. Not after everything.
Slow footsteps behind me. She
didn't come too close.
"I'm not," she said. "I'm
trying to not make it worse."
A short, humorless laugh
escaped me.
"Bit late for that." Silence
stretched between us, heavy and unfinished.
Finally, I turned.
Callie stood a few feet away,
hands loosely at her sides.
Same face, eyes but not the
same girl.
Not the eight-year-old who
used to argue with me over nothing and everything.
She looked older and not just
physically. Something had forced her to grow up too fast.
I studied her trying to match
what I remember with what I was seeing.
"You knew," I said.
Not a question. Her shoulders
tensed slightly.
"Yes."
"And you just watched me?" I
asked. "All this time?"
"I watched you live," she said
quietly.
"That's not an answer."
"it's the only one I have."
I took a step closer. Not
aggressive but not gentle either.
"You're younger than me," I
said. "You always were."
Her expression flickered from
confusion to understanding.
"You're remembering," she said
softly.
"Pieces," I replied. "Enough
to know something doesn't add up."
I lifted my wrist slightly.
The bracelet- no.
The realm- caught the fading
light.
"You trained less than I did,"
I continued. "You complained more. You skipped half of it when you could."
A faint, almost offended look
crossed her face.
"I did not skip- "
"You hid behind the wall and
threw rocks at me," I cut in.
That memory came back clearer.
Her laugh and my annoyance.
Our father's voice telling her
to stop interfering.
For a second-
Something warm flickered
between us. Then it was gone, replaced by the weight of now.
"So explain this to me," I
said. "How do you know more than I do?"
Her gaze dropped briefly to
the bracelet then back to me.
"Because I didn't forget."
The words landed hard. Simple
but heavy.
"I went there," she continued.
"After you ran. After the fire and everything."
"My stomach twisted.
"You saw it?"
Her jaw tightened. "Not all of
it," she said. "But enough."
Enough.
That word again.
Always just enough.
"Then why didn't you come find
me?" I demanded. "Why wait until now?"
Her eyes flashed. "I tried."
That stopped me. "What?"
"I tried," she repeated, more
firmly this time. "But you weren't just missing, Rocco. You were hidden."
My grip tightened slightly
around my wrist.
"Hidden by who?"
She hesitated.
There it was again.
That careful pause. Choosing
what not to say.
"You wouldn't understand yet,"
she said.
Frustration flared instantly.
"That's getting really old."
"I know," she said quietly.
"But it's true."
I exhaled sharply dragging a
hand through my hair.
"Then explain something I can
understand."
She nodded slowly.
Then point slightly to my
wrist.
"That's not just a weapon,"
she said. "it's a realm."
"I figured that much," I
muttered. "it doesn't exactly act normal."
Her lips almost twitched.
Almost.
"It holds power," she
continued. "Space. Energy. Things that don't belong in this world."
My mind flashed to the chains
and something vast and endless opening for a second.
"And it chose you," she added.
"No," I said quietly. "It
didn't."
She frowned. "Father gave it
to me."
"And it accepted you," she
corrected.
That didn't make me feel
better at all.
"Why me?" I asked.
Her expression shifted. Softer
now and just sad.
"Because you were always meant
to carry it."
A cold weight settled in my
chest.
"Meant by who?"
She held my gaze. "By the
people who came before us."
That didn't answer enough.
Not even close.
Before I could push the
bracelet burned.
I hissed slightly, gripping my
wrist.
"What is that?" I snapped.
Her head turned instantly.
Scanning the surroundings.
"it's reacting," she said
under her breath.
"To what?"
She didn't answer right away
and that alone was enough to raise my pulse.
"To them." My stomach dropped.
"Who is 'them?"
Her voice lowered. "" Not the
one you're thinking of."
That didn't help.
I followed her gaze
instinctively towards the edge of the cemetery.
Shadow stretched longer there.
Darker.
I thought I saw movement then
nothing.
My chest tightened.
"They've been watching," she
said quietly.
"Since when?"
Her answer came without
hesitation.
"Since you woke up."
I felt the chill again.
Deeper this time because now
it had a shape. Intent.
This wasn't random. None of it
was.
I looked back at her.
At my sister.
The girl I used to protect.
The one I still felt responsible for. Even now after everything.
"You should've told me," I said, quieter this time.
Her eyes softened. "I know."
That hurt more than denial
would've. I swallowed hard.
"Everything I got back," I
continued, "it's not enough. It's pieces. Fragments. And now I don't even know
which life I'm supposed to be living."
Her gaze didn't waver. "You're
both."
I frowned. "That's not how it
works."
"It is for you."
The bracelet pulsed again
before I could argue.
The air shifted.
Callie stepped forward
instinctively, placing herself slightly in front of me.
I blinked.
"You're still doing that?" I
said.
"What?"
"Acting like you're the one
protecting me."
She didn't look back.
"You remembered enough to know
I can't stop."
That hit deeper because she
was right. She never stopped even when she was smaller, weaker and annoying.
She still tried.
The shadows near the trees
shifted again.
This time I didn't doubt it.
Something was watching and
waiting.
My pulse slowed.
Not from calm but from focus.
Something inside me shifted.
Old instinct and new
awareness.
I stepped forward beside her
this time.
Her eyes flicked to me
briefly, surprised.
Then she nodded.
"Okay," I said quietly.
My gaze locked onto the
darkness ahead.
"Next question."
She didn't look away. "Ask."
My jaw tightened.
"Whatever's watching us…"
The bracelet pulsed again
almost like it was answering.
"… is it the thing that took
them?"
A pause.
"No,"
That meant one thing.
Something bigger we haven't
seen yet was out there.
The wind shifted, the shadow
moved.
I understood one thing
clearly.
This wasn't just about the past anymore.
It was coming.
Whatever "it" was…
It was already on its way.