The Shadows That Watch
619 Words
That night, the moon hung low over the city, painted silver and cold.
Elara lay awake, staring at the ceiling as the same question replayed in her mind:
What am I becoming?
Her veins still shimmered faintly in the dark, glowing gold beneath her skin. She could hear the hum of electricity in the walls, feel the rhythm of every heartbeat within a hundred feet of her. It was too much — too alive.
She had wanted to disappear all her life.
Now, it felt like the universe itself refused to let her hide.
A faint knock echoed at her window.
Her heart leapt — and then froze when she saw him.
Adrian.
He was standing outside her window on the second floor, gripping the metal railing of the fire escape, wind tousling his dark hair.
“Are you trying to give me a heart attack?” she whispered, sliding the window open.
He smirked faintly. “You’re the one glowing like a star in the dark. Kind of hard not to notice.”
She flushed, tugging down her sleeve. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“I know,” he said, voice softer now. “But I couldn’t sleep. Not after what happened today.”
Elara looked away. “You think I’m some kind of freak now, don’t you?”
He stepped closer, his tone firm but quiet. “No. I think you’re something extraordinary.”
She froze. The words were so sincere it scared her.
He looked down, his expression troubled. “After you… did whatever that was — I saw people watching. Two men in black suits near the gate. They weren’t from school.”
Elara frowned. “Watching?”
He nodded. “One of them had a mark on his wrist — shaped like a sun, half covered in shadow. Does that mean anything to you?”
A chill ran through her.
The mark. She’d seen it before — in her dreams, and in the flashes of light that came before her powers awakened.
Her voice trembled. “They’re called the Keepers. My mother used to tell me stories about them. They hunt people like me — the ones who don’t belong in either world.”
“Either world?” he repeated.
Elara hesitated. “The world of humans… and the world of gods.”
Silence stretched between them.
Adrian stared at her like she had just rewritten everything he believed.
“Elara… are you saying you’re not—”
“I don’t know what I am,” she whispered. “But I know they’ll come for me soon.”
He reached for her hand. “Then they’ll have to go through me first.”
Her breath caught. “Adrian, you don’t understand. You could get hurt.”
He gave her a small, defiant smile. “Maybe. But for once, I want to do something that matters.”
The world outside was silent except for the wind and the hum of something unseen — something ancient awakening.
As the first light of dawn touched her face, Elara felt the warmth of his hand and the pull of fate tightening around them both.
> “You were never meant to be invisible,” the voice inside her whispered again.
“But love may be the price of being seen.”
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD