Chapter 3: Blood Ties
305 Words
The cold night air bit at Kade’s skin as he slipped through the streets, the city’s usual hum feeling distant—like a dream he was no longer fully part of.
His wrist throbbed with the faint pulse of the black mark, a silent reminder that something inside him had shifted, something that neither time nor pain could erase.
He paused beneath a flickering streetlamp, the shadows pooling thick and heavy around him.
> (You’re wondering why I’m out here alone at night, right?)
(It’s not because I’m some mysterious badass, trust me. More like... trouble finds me. Or maybe I find it. Hard to tell anymore.)
A sudden noise—soft footsteps—echoed behind him. Kade’s breath hitched, muscles tensing. He turned swiftly.
A figure emerged from the darkness. Tall, with eyes that shimmered like polished onyx, and a smirk that didn’t reach those eyes.
“Sable,” Kade whispered.
She stepped closer, her presence both a comfort and a challenge. “You’re not hiding it well,” she said, nodding to his wrist. “The Drag is marking you.”
Kade swallowed hard. “It’s... changing me.”
Sable’s gaze sharpened. “It changes everyone. But not all survive what comes next.”
The weight of her words pressed down on him, heavier than the night itself.
“Why me?” he asked, voice barely audible.
She shrugged, a trace of a sad smile flickering. “Because you found it. Because you were ready. Or maybe because it chose you.”
Kade looked away, the city lights blurring into streaks of color. Memories he’d long buried surfaced—his fractured family, the lies, the loneliness.
“You think I’m crazy?” he asked suddenly, voice raw.
Sable’s smile softened. “I think you’re the only one who still has a chance.”
- Writer
