Episode 4: Marked by Shadows
268 Words
She didn’t sleep that night.
Anita lay in bed, staring at the ceiling as the storm outside whispered against the windows. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw his face — the stranger in black. That voice. The way he’d looked at her, like he knew her better than she knew herself.
“You belong to me.”
The words echoed in her mind, over and over, each time hitting harder.
Who was he?
And why did that one word — *Luna* — feel like it had been carved into her bones?
She pulled the covers tighter around herself, trying to calm the storm inside her chest. But it was useless. Her body felt like it was vibrating with energy, like something inside her was fighting to break free.
Then it happened again.
Her hands glowed.
Silver veins shimmered faintly beneath her skin — not bright, but just enough to see in the dark. She gasped, holding her hands up to her face. The glow faded quickly… but not fast enough to pretend it wasn’t real.
She wasn’t losing her mind.
Something was changing.
The next morning, she returned to the bookstore. She needed answers. Needed to know who that man was — and why he made her feel like her entire life was a lie.
But when she asked the shopkeeper about him, the old woman only frowned.
“There was no man here yesterday, dear. You came in alone. Just you and the rain.”
Anita’s blood ran cold.
Was he real?
Or was she slipping into something deeper… something darker… something not entirely human?
- Writer
