The next few days passed in a blur of routine—work, the long bus rides, the occasional strange feeling that something was just off. The world moved as it always did, yet I couldn't shake the creeping unease that had settled in my chest.
It was subtle at first. The prickle of being watched when I walked home. A fleeting shadow at the edge of my vision, gone when I turned my head. The way the air felt heavier at night, thick with something unspoken.
I did my best to ignore it.
Then, one evening, everything changed.
I had stayed late at work again, covering for Mia after her frantic pleas. By the time I stepped outside, the city lights had taken over the sky, neon signs flickering against the pavement. The streets were quieter now, only the occasional distant honk or the low hum of passing cars breaking the silence.
I hugged my coat tighter around me and started walking after getting down the bus.
I wasn't far to my apartment, just a ten-minute walk, but tonight, the air felt different.
Wrong.
The silence pressed down on me. My steps quickened on their own, my body reacting before my mind could process why.
Then I saw it.
The alley up ahead—the same shortcut I always took—was different tonight.
The shadows stretched too far, spilling out onto the pavement like ink spreading from a shattered glass. The air around it shimmered, bending unnaturally, like heat rising from asphalt. But it wasn't warmth I felt. It was cold. A deep, bone-chilling cold that sent a shiver up my spine.
Then came the whispers.
Low, distorted, slithering around the edges of my hearing like voices from a radio stuck between stations. I couldn't make out the words, but they burrowed into my skull, tugging at something in the back of my mind.
I took a step back.
The darkness pulsed. Shifted.
It wasn't just a trick of the light.
It was alive.
My breath hitched. Every instinct screamed at me to run, but my legs refused to move. I stood frozen, my pulse hammering against my ribs.
Then—
A flicker of movement.
Something lashed out from the alley.
A tendril of pure black, fast as lightning.
I barely had time to react.
Cold wrapped around my wrist.
A shockwave of nausea rolled through me as the thing coiled tighter, seeping into my skin like liquid ice. My vision blurred, ears ringing as the shadows pulsed stronger, pulling me toward them.
I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound came out.
Then—
A rush of wind.
A force slammed into me, yanking me backward.
The grip on my wrist vanished instantly, the darkness unraveling with a sharp hiss. I stumbled, breathless, but strong arms caught me before I could fall.
"You okay?"
That voice.
It was familiar.
I blinked, my vision sharpening—and found myself staring into piercing blue eyes.
Axel.
He was holding me close, his hands firm but careful, like he was making sure I wouldn't collapse. His silver hair was slightly disheveled, strands falling over his forehead. He smelled faintly of rain, like he had been outside for a while.
But his eyes weren't on me.
They were locked on the alley.
He was tense, every muscle in his body coiled like a predator ready to strike. Like he knew exactly what that thing was.
The shadows twisted again, surging toward us.
Axel let go of me and stepped forward.
I barely saw what happened next—his hand lifted, and for the briefest moment, a faint glow flickered at his fingertips. Barely visible, like the dying embers of a fire.
But whatever it was, it worked.
The darkness recoiled violently, hissing like steam meeting ice. The air crackled, and in an instant, the alley was empty.
Silent.
The heavy pressure that had been suffocating me lifted.
It was over.
I stood there, heart still hammering, my breath coming in uneven gasps. My hands trembled as I clutched Axel's sleeve, trying to ground myself.
"What the hell was that?" I finally breathed out.
Axel turned to me then, his expression unreadable. His face was calm, composed—but his eyes told a different story.
"You saw it this time," he murmured.
Something in my stomach twisted.
"This time?" I echoed. "That thing—what was it?"
He hesitated, just for a moment. Like he was weighing his words.
Then, finally, he exhaled.
"Something that shouldn't exist in this world."
A cold shiver ran through me.
Axel studied my face carefully, then placed a hand on my shoulder. His touch was warm, steady.
"You're safe now," he said.
Safe.
I wasn't sure I even knew what that meant anymore.
But as I looked up at him, something inside me whispered that he wasn't just saying it to comfort me.
He meant it.
And for the first time, I felt like I could believe him.
---
After that night, nothing felt the same.
The city still moved as usual—cars honking, people rushing, life going on like nothing had changed. But for me, everything had.
Because now, I knew.
I wasn't imagining things.
The dreams, the unease, the sense of something looming just out of sight.
It was real.
And Axel—he knew more than he was letting on.
I didn't see him again for days.
At first, I thought maybe I had imagined it all. Maybe exhaustion had twisted my mind, forcing it to create some impossible scenario to explain the paranoia I had been feeling.
But then I woke up one morning with faint bruises around my wrist—right where the shadow had grabbed me.
The marks faded by the afternoon.
But the memory didn't.
Neither did the feeling that something was still watching me.
To be continued.