Episode 3:The First Awakening (PART 2)
695 Words
The air around Aria changed.
It didn’t just feel heavy anymore—it felt alive.
Like something inside it had woken up because of her.
The shadow in the courtyard stopped completely.
Its head tilted slightly, as if listening.
As if recognizing something in her.
Aria pressed her back against the wall, her breathing sharp and uneven.
“I didn’t do anything…” she whispered. “I didn’t do anything…”
But even as she said it, she knew she was lying.
Because the moment she screamed earlier—
Something inside her had answered.
The shadow moved again.
One step.
Then another.
The ground beneath it darkened as it passed, like light itself was being swallowed.
Students were still screaming in the background, running in all directions. But it felt distant now—like Aria was underwater.
Her focus was locked on the thing in front of her.
The shadow lifted one of its long arms.
And the air cracked.
Not physically.
Reality itself cracked.
Aria gasped.
A sharp pain shot through her head.
She dropped to one knee instantly.
“What is happening to me…” she choked out.
And then—
A voice cut through everything.
Cold. Calm. Familiar.
“You’re drawing it in.”
Aria’s head snapped up.
Kael.
He was standing at the edge of the courtyard.
Like he had always been there.
Like he never disappeared.
Aria’s heart jumped.
“You—” she started, but her voice broke. “You disappeared!”
“I had to confirm it,” he said simply, eyes locked on the shadow.
“Confirm what?! There’s a MONSTER out there!”
Kael didn’t look away from it.
“That it found you faster than expected.”
Aria stared at him.
“What are you talking about?!”
Kael finally turned his head slightly toward her.
And for the first time, his expression wasn’t calm.
It was serious.
“This is not an attack,” he said quietly. “It’s a hunt.”
Aria’s stomach dropped.
A hunt.
The shadow suddenly screeched.
The sound wasn’t just loud—it vibrated through the air, through her bones.
Aria covered her ears, wincing.
Kael moved instantly.
Fast.
In a blink, he was closer to her.
“Don’t let it touch you,” he said sharply.
“WHY IS IT AFTER ME?!” she shouted, panic rising in her chest.
Kael hesitated for half a second.
Then he said it.
“Because you’re awake.”
The words didn’t make sense.
Not fully.
But something in her chest reacted to them anyway.
Like something inside her agreed.
The shadow lunged.
Everything slowed.
Aria saw it clearly now—its shape, its emptiness, its hunger.
And she knew—
It wasn’t just trying to kill her.
It was trying to take something from her.
Kael grabbed her wrist suddenly.
“Move.”
Before she could respond, he pulled her forward.
They ran.
The courtyard blurred around them.
Shouts. Chaos. Running students.
But the shadow moved faster.
It cut through the air like it didn’t need space to exist.
It appeared in front of them.
Aria froze.
Kael stepped slightly in front of her.
Just enough.
The shadow stopped again.
And then—
It reacted.
Not to Kael.
To her.
Aria’s breath hitched.
“It’s… looking at me,” she whispered.
Kael’s jaw tightened.
“Don’t look at it back.”
But it was too late.
The moment Aria met its “eyes”—
Something inside her snapped open again.
Not pain this time.
Power.
A surge exploded through her body.
Her vision flashed white.
The world went silent.
And for one terrifying second—
Aria wasn’t in the school anymore.
She was in darkness.
Complete darkness.
Floating.
And something was speaking inside it.
Not words.
Feelings.
Memories.
Power.
Too much of it.
Her breath caught.
“No…” she whispered. “No, no—what is this—”
A pulse.
Then another.
And suddenly—
A voice.
Not Kael’s.
Not human.
“Finally…”
Aria’s eyes widened.
“What…?”
The darkness around her trembled.
Like it was responding to her fear.
And far away—
Something shattered.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD