Chapter 4
1782 Words
Kai had left her alone only five minutes ago, but his words wouldn’t leave her head.
“Mark doesn’t read minds.
When he looks at you, he focuses too hard. He observes everything.
He sees what people hide.”
She replayed those lines over and over until her throat tightened.
If Mark could see what people hid…
If he could sense emotions people tried to bury…
Then what if he already knew?
What if he had seen the one thing she didn’t dare admit even to herself?
The attraction.
That pull toward him she’d tried so hard to ignore.
That feeling in her chest when he looked at her like she was a puzzle he wanted to solve.
She hated herself for it.
He was their enemy—dangerous, unpredictable, untouchable.
And yet… she wasn’t scared of him.
She was scared of herself.
If Mark sensed her feelings, would he use them?
Would he twist them?
Would she become a weakness he could exploit?
Her heartbeat picked up. She stood up quickly, needing air.
But before she could take a step—
a sudden, sharp pain stabbed through her mind.
She gasped, grabbing her head with both hands.
Her vision blurred.
The world around her tilted.
Then—memories.
Not her memories.
But memories that felt like they belonged to her.
A life in a different world.
A man whose face she couldn’t see yet—
but she knew him in her bones.
A man she loved so deeply it hurt to breathe.
His voice.
Their home.
Children laughing.
A warmth she had never felt in this life.
It rushed through her mind like a flooded river.
She reached for the man’s face—just about to see it—
But the pain snapped again like a breaking wire.
Everything vanished.
She fell to her knees, gasping.
“What is happening to me?” she whispered, shaking.
She had never cried from confusion before, but tears fell fast and uncontrollable. Her hands trembled, and she pressed them to her eyes. She didn’t even know what she was crying for. The past? The fear? The confusion? Everything at once?
“Why me?” she whispered. “Why did this star thing… choose me?”
She didn’t feel special.
She didn’t feel powerful.
She didn’t feel ready.
She just wanted a normal life again.
A job that didn’t drain her.
A place to live that didn’t feel temporary.
A chance to breathe without fearing magic or destiny or Mark’s eyes reading her soul.
But she knew the truth:
If she wanted answers, there was only one person who had them.
And she couldn’t ask Kai.
Not this time.
Not when she didn’t even understand her own heart.
So she packed a small bag, slipped her jacket on, and left quietly.
If she told Kai, he’d follow her.
And Mark would sense him instantly.
She needed to go alone.
Mark vanished into the fog as if the forest swallowed him whole.
One second he was right in front of her, almost close enough to touch.
The next… nothing.
“Mark!” she yelled, voice cracking.
Silence.
She tried again — louder this time.
“MARK! Come back! You can’t just say that and leave!”
The trees didn’t answer.
The fog thinned.
The cold air lost its sharpness.
He wasn’t coming back.
She stood there until her lantern dimmed and her throat burned. Her hands shook from the cold and from fear she didn’t want to admit. Whatever Mark meant, whatever “plan” he hinted at, whatever he was keeping from her — it had something to do with Kai.
And something to do with her.
When she finally forced herself to walk home, the sky was already dark. She changed clothes, lay on her bed, and stared at the ceiling.
Sleep never came.
Every time she blinked, she saw the way Mark looked at her.
Every time her thoughts drifted, she heard Kai’s voice replaying:
“He sees what people hide.”
But what if Mark had seen too much?
What if she was a weakness?
What if something terrible would happen because of her?
She didn’t sleep a single second.
⸻
Morning came uneasy and heavy. She dragged herself out of bed, washed her face three times, and still looked tired.
When she finally went to find Kai, he was already waiting for her outside her building.
He looked normal — calm, warm, the Kai she knew.
“Are you okay?” he asked first thing.
She forced a nod. “I’m fine.”
He didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t push it.
“We need to go somewhere,” he said quietly. “There’s something I have to show you.”
Her stomach tightened. “What is it?”
“You’ll see.”
He was always gentle, always thoughtful — but today there was something heavier in his voice. She followed him anyway.
⸻
They left at dusk, walking through town and into the small forest behind the academy. At first it looked like nothing special — the same trail, same trees, same quiet.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
Kai didn’t answer. He just kept walking deeper into the woods.
Farther than she had ever been with him.
“Kai…?” she tried again.
Still nothing.
Just silence and steps that felt too steady, too focused.
After almost twenty minutes, her legs started to burn.
“Kai, I’m exhausted. Can we stop?”
“Just a little longer,” he said.
The tone wasn’t soft. Not gentle.
It almost sounded like a command.
She stopped walking.
“Kai, just tell me already.”
He halted.
Slowly, he turned toward her.
Her heart dropped.
His eyes weren’t their usual warm brown.
They were red.
A deep, unnatural red that almost glowed in the fading light.
She took a step back. “Kai…?”
He tilted his head slightly, expression blank.
“You’re too impatient,” he said. “Come here.”
The voice wasn’t him.
The tone wasn’t him.
It didn’t sound human.
She shook her head instantly. “No. You’re scaring me.”
“Come here,” he repeated, sharper this time.
Her instincts screamed.
Whatever stood in front of her wasn’t the Kai she trusted — not the one who protected her yesterday, not the one who cared for her.
This was something else wearing his face.
She turned and ran.
Branches slapped her arms. Leaves cracked under her feet. Her breathing hitched fast as she pushed herself deeper into the forest.
She reached for her magic — she felt the energy rise —
but nothing happened.
“What…?” she gasped, stumbling.
Her magic always worked when she needed it. Why now?
Why now when she needed it most?
Her fingers brushed her neck —
and she froze.
A necklace.
A thin metal chain she had NOT put on.
She grabbed it, yanked hard —
it didn’t budge.
Her breath trembled.
Her mind replayed last night — the moment she was half-asleep and felt something cold touch her neck. She’d thought it was a dream.
It wasn’t.
“Kai…” she whispered, voice breaking. “You… you did this?”
Her chest twisted.
Was he the enemy all along?
Had she been wrong the entire time?
But she didn’t have time to think.
She heard him behind her — fast, too fast.
Leaves scattering.
A sharp exhale.
She whispered one name.
The only name she had left.
“Mark… help me…”
Barely a sound.
Barely a breath.
Nothing happened.
Kai reached her — his hand clamped around her arm.
His grip was harsh, unrecognizable.
He dragged her backward through the trees without care for the branches hitting her, without care for how frightened she was. She stumbled twice but he didn’t slow down.
“Let go of me!” she yelled.
He didn’t.
He reached a small, caged-looking structure hidden in the woods and shoved her inside. His hands trembled — not from emotion, but something else. Something controlling him.
He reached for the lock.
And then—
A blast of wind hit him so hard his body flew backward and slammed into a tree.
She gasped.
A figure stepped out from the shadows.
Mark.
His expression wasn’t cold this time — it was furious.
Dangerously calm.
Focused in a way that made the air feel heavier.
Kai pushed himself up, his eyes even redder now.
“Leave me, brother,” Kai hissed.
Brother.
Her blood ran cold.
They were brothers?
Mark didn’t flinch.
He didn’t respond to the word like it meant anything.
He only said one thing:
“You should’ve stayed asleep.”
Kai lunged at him, magic bursting out of him like wildfire.
Mark moved fast — faster than she’d ever seen. A single blow from Mark’s hand sent Kai flying again, cracking branches as he hit the ground.
But Kai got up.
Again.
And again.
His movements weren’t normal — his body jerked like something else was pulling the strings. His magic lashed out wildly, hitting trees, rocks, anything in range.
Mark blocked each strike with controlled precision, every motion sharp and far too effortless.
“Kai! Stop!” she screamed.
He didn’t hear her.
Or he wasn’t able to.
Or the thing inside him didn’t let him.
They collided again — magic against magic, force against force.
Mark gritted his teeth for the first time she’d ever seen.
“Kai, enough!”
Kai’s voice was distorted when he spoke again.
“She belongs to me!”
Her knees weakened.
Mark frowned deeply — not angry now, but disappointed.
“You’re not speaking,” he said coldly. “That thing is.”
Kai’s body tensed unnaturally, and a dark twist of magic spiraled from his hand.
Mark didn’t wait.
He sent a blast so powerful the trees behind Kai bent from the impact.
Kai hit the ground hard, magic flickering around him like broken glass.
Then—
Mark turned to her.
His voice was low.
“Run.”
She couldn’t move.
Her legs refused.
Her chest felt crushed.
Because as she stared at the two brothers — one broken, one furious —
the pain in her head returned.
That same sharp, stabbing pain.
Her vision blurred.
Her heart pounded until she thought it would burst.
“Why…?” she whispered weakly.
Her breath trembled.
“Why is this happening to me…?”
She dropped to her knees.
Mark’s expression shifted — for the first time, it wasn’t cold.
It was something else.
Something almost protective.
But she didn’t see what he did next—
Because darkness swallowed her before she could.
- Writer
