Chapter two:Echoes of the forgotten (part two)
845 Words
The figure stepped forward.
It wasn't entirely human.
Its body was made of writhing black mist, constantly shifting as if it couldn't decide what form to take. Its crimson eyes burned in the darkness, and a chilling smile spread across a face that looked more like a c***k in the night than flesh.
Its voice echoed through the lobby.
"We have finally found the Light Bearer."
Emily instinctively stepped behind Paul.
"What... what is that?" she whispered.
Paul didn't take his eyes off the creature.
"A Shade."
The creature tilted its head.
"So the Guardian remembers us."
Paul's jaw tightened.
"I remember destroying your kind."
The Shade laughed, the sound making the marble floor tremble.
"You destroyed our bodies."
Its eyes drifted toward Emily.
"But never our master."
Around them, the employees of Blackwood Securities stood frozen.
Some stared blankly into space.
Others continued working as if nothing unusual had happened.
Emily frowned.
"They can't see it..."
"They're under a veil," Paul answered quietly.
"The Order protects innocent minds from the supernatural. To them, this is just a brief power outage."
Emily's heart pounded.
"So... I'm the only one who can see it?"
Paul glanced at her.
"Because your power has begun to awaken."
She shook her head.
"I don't understand any of this."
"You don't have time to."
The Shade raised a hand.
Black smoke spread across the polished floor like living ink, racing toward Emily.
"Come with us, Light Bearer," it hissed.
"Our king has waited centuries."
Paul reached beneath his jacket.
Instead of the silver dagger Emily had seen before, he drew a sleek black pistol engraved with glowing silver runes.
Emily stared.
"Is that a gun?"
"It's more than that."
He fired.
The shot echoed through the lobby with a sound unlike any firearm Emily had ever heard.
Instead of a bullet, a streak of brilliant silver energy burst from the barrel.
It struck the Shade squarely in the chest.
The creature screamed.
Black smoke exploded outward before slowly knitting itself back together.
"It healed..." Emily gasped.
"It always heals," Paul said grimly.
"That's why these battles never end."
Upstairs, hidden behind reinforced glass, Victor Kane watched the confrontation through a magical surveillance screen.
Several senior operatives stood beside him.
One of them spoke anxiously.
"Should we send reinforcements?"
Victor remained silent.
His eyes stayed fixed on Emily.
Another operative frowned.
"Sir?"
Victor finally answered.
"No."
Damien looked at him in disbelief.
"We're just going to watch?"
"I need to know."
"Know what?"
Victor folded his hands behind his back.
"If she's truly the Light Bearer..."
His gaze hardened.
"She'll survive."
Back in the lobby, the Shade lunged again.
Paul intercepted it, his movements swift and calculated.
He struck with the runed pistol, using it like a club before firing another blast of silver light at point-blank range.
The creature staggered.
"Emily!"
She looked up.
"When I say move..."
"Move where?"
"The elevator."
She blinked.
"The elevator?"
"Trust me."
Trust.
Such a strange word coming from a man she'd known for less than twenty-four hours.
Yet something inside her already did.
She nodded.
Paul attacked again.
The Shade retaliated with claws formed from solid darkness.
One s***h tore through Paul's sleeve, leaving a deep cut across his forearm.
Blood dripped onto the marble floor.
Emily's eyes widened.
"Paul!"
"I'm fine."
"You are definitely not fine!"
The Shade smiled.
"It bleeds."
Paul ignored the pain.
His attention never left Emily.
"Now!"
She sprinted toward the elevators.
The doors opened just in time.
She stepped inside—
—and froze.
The elevator wasn't empty.
An elderly woman dressed in white stood silently in the corner.
Emily was certain she hadn't been there a moment ago.
The woman smiled gently.
"You've grown."
Emily stared.
"Do I know you?"
The woman's eyes shimmered with sadness.
"Not yet."
Before Emily could respond, the elevator doors closed.
The lift began descending.
Except...
It wasn't going down.
According to the display, it had passed the basement.
Then Basement Two.
Then Basement Three.
Then numbers Emily had never seen before.
B7.
B12.
B20.
Finally—
The display went completely blank.
The elevator stopped.
The doors slid open.
Emily stepped into a corridor unlike anything she had imagined.
The walls were carved from black stone covered in glowing silver symbols.
Ancient suits of armor lined the passage.
Blue flames burned silently in iron braziers.
It felt less like the basement of a corporate building and more like a forgotten castle hidden beneath the earth.
She turned to the elderly woman.
But she had vanished.
Emily's heartbeat quickened.
"I know she was there..."
A pair of enormous doors slowly opened.
Victor Kane stood waiting.
Behind him were dozens of operatives dressed in black uniforms.
Some watched Emily with curiosity.
Others with suspicion.
Victor stepped forward.
"Emily Carter."
His voice was calm.
"Welcome..."
He paused, his expression unreadable.
"...to the world your family died protecting."
Emily's face drained of color.
"My... family?"
She had come to deliver a folder.
Instead, she had walked into a secret that would change her life forever.
- Writer
