The girl's words were like a slow poison, seeping into Adrian's mind, corroding the fragile walls he had built around his sense of reality.
"You were never meant to survive."
Adrian's breath hitched in his throat as her voice echoed in the quiet, almost as though the very air around them vibrated with its menace. He gripped the notebook tighter, the leather biting into his palm, grounding him in a moment that felt increasingly unreal. His mind raced for answers, but none came. There was only the unsettling sensation that his life was spiraling out of control—like the rain-slicked streets that reflected a distorted version of reality.
His voice trembled as he spoke. "What are you talking about? Who are you?"
The girl remained silent, her eyes staring past him, into something far beyond the alley, as though she were listening to a conversation only she could hear. It was maddening, this silence, this stillness in the wake of her cryptic statement.
Adrian's mind screamed at him to run, but his feet were rooted in place. The fear that had gripped him was no longer external—it was something deep, gnawing at the edges of his consciousness, whispering that everything he believed was a lie.
"Please," he said, softer now, more a plea than a question. "You need to tell me what's going on."
Her gaze snapped back to him, and for the first time, there was a flicker of something in her expression—regret, maybe. Pain. She shook her head ever so slightly, as though she pitied him.
"The shadows... they've been watching you for a long time, Adrian. You weren't supposed to wake them," she murmured, her voice a whisper of dread.
Adrian's heart pounded harder in his chest. Shadows? Watching him? The nonsensical words triggered a flood of memories—fragments of his sleepless nights, the sense of being observed, the flickers of movement at the edge of his vision. He had dismissed them as stress, exhaustion, paranoia. But now…
"No," he said, shaking his head. "That's impossible. This—this is some kind of nightmare."
The girl's expression softened slightly, though her voice remained cold. "Nightmare? No. This is reality breaking, and you're standing at the fault line. The cracks are widening, Adrian."
"What does that even mean?" he demanded, his voice rising in desperation. "What are these shadows? Why am I a part of this?"
Her lips parted, but before she could answer, a sharp noise broke the silence—a metallic clang from deeper within the alley. Adrian flinched, his eyes darting toward the source of the sound. The shadows seemed to shift, grow thicker, almost as if they had a life of their own.
The girl tensed, her face losing its calm composure for the first time. "They're here."
Adrian's heart dropped. "Who's here?"
"The ones who watch. The ones who feed," she whispered urgently, her eyes scanning the darkness. "You need to leave. Now."
Before Adrian could respond, a shape moved at the alley's edge. A figure emerged from the gloom, tall and lean, draped in a coat that fluttered like a shroud. His face was obscured, but his presence alone sent a wave of cold terror down Adrian's spine.
The girl grabbed his arm, her grip surprisingly strong. "Run," she hissed, pulling him backward.
Adrian's legs finally obeyed. He stumbled, then broke into a sprint, his heart pounding in his chest as he followed her through the narrow alleyway. Behind them, the figure gave chase, its footsteps unnervingly silent, like a shadow stretching across the ground.
Panic surged through Adrian's veins. His lungs burned as he pushed himself harder, the world narrowing to the sound of his ragged breathing and the rhythmic pounding of his feet against the wet pavement. The city, once familiar, now felt like a twisted labyrinth of darkened streets and dead ends. There was no safety here, no refuge.
They burst out of the alley and onto a wider street. The girl didn't slow down, leading him down another set of winding turns. Adrian dared a glance over his shoulder, but the shadowed figure had disappeared—at least for now.
"Where are we going?" he gasped, struggling to keep up with her pace.
"Somewhere they can't follow," she replied, her voice strained but steady.
Adrian's mind was a whirl of questions, but fear kept them locked behind his teeth. Every step felt like a descent into the unknown, each corner they turned bringing them closer to something he didn't yet understand, something far worse than he could have imagined.
Finally, they reached a small, unmarked door nestled between two decrepit buildings. The girl pushed it open with surprising ease, and they slipped inside. The door shut with a heavy thud, sealing them in the dark.
Adrian leaned against the wall, gasping for breath, his body trembling with exhaustion and fear. The girl stood opposite him, her face barely visible in the faint light filtering through a cracked window.
"What... what was that?" he managed to ask between breaths.
She shook her head, eyes darting around the small room as though expecting the walls themselves to betray them. "You've seen them now. They won't stop until they get what they want."
"And what do they want?" Adrian demanded, his voice rising with panic.
The girl's eyes met his, and in that moment, he saw the weight of her knowledge—an understanding that stretched far beyond the confines of this world. "They want to finish what they started, Adrian. They want you."
The words hit him like a punch to the gut, leaving him reeling in the dark, trapped between the known and the unknowable.
Outside, the night pressed in, and in its depths, the shadows stirred.