The moment my eyes met the shadowy figure, the whispers stopped.
What have I gotten myself into?
The world itself seemed to still be as if holding its breath. Waiting to see what happens next. My pulse hammered in my ears, an erratic rhythm that only emphasized the silence stretching between us.
It just stood behind Serena, an outline of shifting darkness as if the night itself had decided to take form.
No face. No features.
Just the unmistakable weight of something watching.
The presence of the shadowy figure scared me. Actually, everything scared me!
A growl rumbled in my throat. My claws itched to tear into flesh, but there was none to sink into—just a hollow void where something living should be. I didn't wait to find out what it wanted.
Instinct took over.
I lunged.
But the moment I moved, so did it.
I've got to stop attacking things that don't exist.
It didn't move with the weight of a body or the force of muscle—no, this thing folded.
Its form bent, unraveling like smoke caught in an unseen wind, and I went straight through where it had been standing.
Pain exploded in my side as something slammed into me from nowhere. My ribs screamed in protest as I hit the ground hard, the wind knocked from my lungs. I gasped, struggling to suck in the air, my vision flickering at the edges.
You'd think I would have learned not to do that by now.
Serena hadn't moved.
She watched.
I gritted my teeth.
She knew what this thing was.
I forced myself up onto my hands and knees. The air was thicker now, pressing against me as if the weight of the ruin itself had grown heavier. I struggled to breathe, feeling a burning sensation in my throat with each ragged breath. The figure shifted once more, reshaping itself just a few feet away, its ominous presence spreading like a dark stain across reality. And then—
It spoke.
Not with a voice, not in a way that sounds carried. It infiltrated my thoughts, threading through the gaps like needle and thread, stitching something cold into the fabric of my mind.
You are still unfinished.
A sharp pain lanced through my skull, and I clutched my head, nails digging into my scalp. The words weren't spoken in a way I could fight. They settled into me, leaving an echo that didn't belong.
I snarled, "What the hell are you?"
Finally, Serena took a step forward. A slow step forward, her empty eyes flickering with something unreadable. "Not dead yet," she murmured. "How strange."
My head snapped toward her. Fury burned in my veins. "You knew this thing was here."
Serena tilted her head, her gaze never leaving mine. "I wondered if you'd survive."
Something inside me snapped.
I didn't think. I charged.
My claws were at her throat in an instant. This time, she didn't glitch away. My hand wrapped around her neck, my breath heaving. But her expression remained the same—calm, distant, completely unfazed.
And then I felt it.
A chill spread through my fingers, seeping into my skin. It wasn't like ice. It was emptiness. An absence of warmth, an absence of life. My grip weakened, my body betraying me, my strength draining like water slipping through my hands.
Serena leaned in, her voice barely a whisper. "You don't want to do that."
The pressure in my chest intensified as if something was squeezing my lungs. My vision blurred for a split second, and when it cleared, she was gone again, my fingers grasping at nothing but the cold air where she'd been.
I stumbled back, sucking in a sharp breath. My claws twitched, but I couldn't shake the numbness crawling through my veins. It was like something inside me had just been rewritten—
And then, before I could react, the shadow moved again.
It was behind me.
How is this even a fair fight?
A burning sensation erupted at the base of my spine, sharp and sudden, like a hot brand pressed against bare flesh. I choked on a cry, falling forward onto my knees as pain lanced through every nerve. My body rejected whatever was happening, every muscle seizing, my veins turning to fire.
I gasped, clawing at the ground, but the pain didn't stop. It spread. Twisting. Sinking into my very bones.
And then, just as suddenly as it started, it was over.
The silence returned, heavier this time, suffocating. My breath was ragged, my body trembling as I lifted my shaking hand and saw it.
A mark.
Branded into my skin just above my hip, its lines twisted and shifting as if they were alive. Symbols I didn't recognize, pulsing faintly with a deep crimson glow. My stomach twisted. Whatever this was, it wasn't natural.
Serena stood a few feet away now, watching. But for the first time since I'd seen her, there was something else in her expression. Something closer to recognition. Or maybe—
Fear.
"What did it do to me?" My voice was hoarse and raw.
Serena didn't answer immediately. She stepped forward, slower this time, her gaze locked onto the mark. When she finally spoke, her voice had lost its usual distance. It was quiet. Measured.
"It claimed you."
A cold weight settled in my chest. "Claimed me for what?"
Serena looked up, meeting my eyes with that same unreadable gaze. "To finish what was started."
My blood ran cold. "Why can't you just speak something I can understand?"
The whispers didn't return. The air remained thick with something unseen, something watching. But the shadowy figure—the thing that had done this—was gone. For now.
My body still ached, my limbs foreign and sluggish. I gritted my teeth, shoving myself up onto unsteady feet.
Serena's gaze didn't move.
"You should be dead," she murmured.
I clenched my fists. "Yeah? Guess I'm bad at following orders."
A flicker of something—almost a smirk—ghosted across her lips before it vanished just as quickly. "That remains to be seen."
I exhaled sharply, casting a glance around the ruined landscape, the ancient carvings, and the vines that slithered like they were alive. This place felt unreal, like a distorted reality. Or if it was, it wasn't right.
I turned back to Serena. "Where are we?"
This time, she answered immediately.
"The place between."
A chill ran down my spine. "Between what?"
Her glowing eyes met mine. "Between what you were and what you will become."
The weight of her words settled into my bones, heavy and unshakable.
I swallowed hard. I didn't know what had just happened. I didn't know what the mark meant. But one thing was clear.
I wasn't the same.
"Follow me," Serena's voice came as a whisper.