The wind rushed past my ears as I was falling. For a split second, I was weightless, suspended in the dark night sky. The world seemed to slow down around me, and I could feel every heartbeat pounding in my chest like a drum. My mind was racing, trying to piece together what had just happened. Sebastian—gone. Pulled into the shadows. And now I was hurtling toward a ledge that I wasn't sure I could reach.
Below me, the city lights stretched out in a blur of colour. The streets were strangely quiet, empty, like the city itself had fallen into some sort of dark slumber. No honking cars, no people walking around. Just silence, broken only by the sound of my desperate breath and the rush of the wind.
I hit the ledge hard, my body slamming into the cold concrete. Pain shot through my side, but I managed to grab onto the edge before I slipped off into the abyss below. My fingers dug into the rough stone as I struggled to pull myself up. My muscles screamed in protest, but I didn't have time to think about the pain. The shadows were still behind me, creeping closer every second.
With a final push, I dragged myself onto the roof and collapsed, gasping for air. My chest heaved, my lungs burning from the effort. But I didn't have time to rest. I forced myself to sit up, scanning the rooftop for any sign of Sebastian. Nothing. Only the shadows swirling in the distance, like a storm waiting to strike.
"Sebastian!" I called out, my voice hoarse. There was no answer. Just the wind, cold and unforgiving, whipping through the night.
Panic started to claw at the edges of my mind. My thoughts were a jumbled mess. One minute he was there, and the next... gone. How had the shadows taken him so easily? And why hadn't they taken me?
I stood up on shaky legs, my heart pounding in my chest. My clothes were torn, my jeans scraped from the rough landing, and my hoodie clung to me, damp from sweat and fear. I looked around, trying to get my bearings. The rooftop was wide, stretching out to the edges of the building. In the distance, I could see the faint outline of other buildings, their rooftops bathed in the dim glow of the city lights.
But there was something else—a presence. I could feel it. The air was thick with it, like a weight pressing down on my shoulders. My eyes darted around, searching for the source, but the shadows were everywhere, shifting and swirling like living things.
A chill ran down my spine. I wasn't alone.
Suddenly, a soft sound broke the silence—a whisper, barely audible, carried by the wind. My heart skipped a beat. I turned slowly, my eyes scanning the darkness, trying to find the source of the sound.
And then I saw them.
Figures—two of them—standing on the far side of the rooftop, cloaked in shadows. Their faces were hidden beneath dark hoods, but I could feel their eyes on me. Watching. Waiting.
I froze, my breath catching in my throat. Every instinct in my body screamed for me to run, but my legs refused to move. The air around them seemed to ripple with dark energy, like the very fabric of reality was bending under their presence.
The figure on the left took a step forward, and I caught a glimpse of his eyes—deep, hollow, and glowing with an unnatural light. A shiver crawled down my spine. I tried to swallow the lump forming in my throat.
"What... what do you want?" My voice came out weaker than I intended.
The figure didn't answer. Instead, he raised a hand, and I felt the temperature drop even further. My breath fogged up in front of me, and I could feel the weight of the shadows pressing in on me from all sides.
I took a step back, my hands clenched into fists. "Where's Sebastian? What did you do to him?"
The figure's hand dropped to his side, and a slow, eerie smile spread across his face, though I couldn't see his mouth. His eyes—those cold, glowing eyes—burned into mine, and I felt a cold dread settle in the pit of my stomach.
"Sebastian has... gone where he belongs," the figure said, his voice a low, rumbling whisper that sent chills through my entire body.
"What does that mean?" I demanded, my voice cracking with fear and frustration. "What did you do to him?"
The figure took another step forward, the shadows swirling around his feet. "He is part of the darkness now," he said, his voice dripping with malice. "And soon, you will be too."
My heart pounded in my chest, my mind racing as I tried to figure out what to do. Fight? Run? Neither seemed like a good option. I didn't have Sebastian's skill with a sword, and there was nowhere left to run.
The second figure, who had been silent this whole time, finally spoke, their voice softer but no less chilling. "You cannot escape your fate, Eli Cain. The shadows have already chosen you."
My pulse quickened at the sound of my name. How did they know me? What did they want? My head swirled with questions, but the answers felt just out of reach, like a puzzle I couldn't quite solve.
I took another step back, my eyes darting around, looking for any way out. The ledge was behind me, the street far below. If I jumped again, I wasn't sure I'd survive. But staying here, with these shadow figures closing in... that didn't feel like much of an option either.
As I stood there, paralyzed by fear, the first figure raised his hand again, and this time, the shadows seemed to come alive, reaching out toward me like dark, twisted fingers.
And then, I felt it. The rooftop beneath my feet trembled. At first, it was subtle, just a faint vibration. But then it grew stronger, more violent, shaking the very ground I stood on. I stumbled backward, barely keeping my balance as the entire rooftop seemed to crack and shift beneath me.
"What the hell—" I started, but before I could finish, the ground gave way. The concrete beneath me shattered, and I felt the sickening sensation of free-fall as the rooftop crumbled beneath my feet.
I reached out, grasping for something—anything—to hold on to. But there was nothing. Just darkness swallowing me whole.
My last thought, as I plunged into the abyss, was that maybe this time, I wouldn't be able to climb back out.