Elliot's brain had exactly one second to process the nightmare unfolding before him.
Then the shadows lunged.
"GET DOWN!" Evelyn shouted.
Before Elliot could react, she grabbed his wrist and yanked him behind the counter. A split second later, something slammed into the spot where he had been standing, shattering the wooden floor like glass.
Elliot's heart nearly burst out of his chest.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" he screamed.
"No time!" Evelyn hissed, pulling out a small silver dagger from seemingly nowhere. "We have to move!"
Elliot risked a peek over the counter—immediately regretting it.
The figures were no longer standing at the entrance. They were inside.
Tall. Cloaked in pure darkness. Their glowing red eyes burned like embers in a pitch-black void. They had no visible faces, no mouths—just those eyes. Watching. Staring.
And they were moving toward him.
Elliot did what any sane person would do.
He ran.
CRASH!
A bookshelf exploded behind him as one of the creatures swung an inky-black limb in his direction. The shockwave sent books flying, pages fluttering through the air like torn feathers.
Elliot stumbled, barely dodging the next strike.
"They're FAST!" he yelled.
"No kidding!" Evelyn snapped, dashing ahead like a blur. "Keep running!"
She twisted mid-step, flicking her dagger forward. A thin arc of silver light sliced through the air, aimed straight at one of the figures—
But the thing shifted.
Its body melted into the shadows, dodging the attack like mist dispersing in the wind. Then, faster than Elliot could blink, it reformed just inches away from him.
Cold dread shot through his veins.
"Oh, screw this," he muttered.
With zero dignity, Elliot threw himself sideways, narrowly avoiding the creature's grasp. He crashed into another bookshelf, knocking over a stack of mystery novels.
"That dagger isn't working!" he shouted.
Evelyn cursed under her breath. "It should! Unless—"
She cut herself off, eyes widening.
"They're not fully here."
Elliot barely had time to register those words before the world went dark.
For a split second, there was nothing.
No sound. No light. Just endless, suffocating void.
Then—
A voice.
"You were warned."
The darkness rippled. A wave of something cold and ancient coiled around Elliot's spine. His breath hitched.
Then, as suddenly as it came, the darkness vanished.
Elliot gasped, light flooding his vision once more.
He was back in the bookstore—except now, everything was still. Evelyn was frozen mid-motion. The creatures were paused, as if someone had hit the stop button on reality itself. Even the falling books hung in the air, unmoving.
The only thing that wasn't frozen—
Was him.
And the pendant, now burning white-hot against his chest.
Elliot's fingers trembled as he reached up to grab it. The moment he touched the pendant, the voice returned.
"Your choice. Your path. Choose wisely."
The pendant flashed.
And then—
Time resumed.
Elliot barely had time to breathe before the creatures moved again—but this time, he saw it.
The way their bodies flickered like distorted shadows. The faint delay in their movements.
They weren't fully in this world.
Which meant—
He could push them out.
Without thinking, Elliot raised the pendant.
The moment he did, light erupted from its surface—blinding, searing, real.
The creatures screeched.
Their bodies convulsed, limbs thrashing wildly as the light tore through them. For the first time since they appeared, they looked… afraid.
Then—one by one—they dissolved.
Like ink washing away in the rain.
Silence.
Elliot stood there, panting, the pendant still glowing faintly in his grip. His legs felt like jelly. His heart was a drum in his ears.
Evelyn, still holding her dagger, exhaled slowly.
"…Well," she muttered, eyeing him warily. "That just happened."
Elliot let out a breathless laugh. "Yeah. No kidding."
A long pause.
Then Evelyn sheathed her dagger, crossed her arms, and looked him dead in the eye.
"Alright, Elliot Gray," she said. "You're coming with me."
Elliot blinked. "…Huh?"
"You're officially part of this now," she said flatly. "And trust me—you don't want to face this alone."
Elliot glanced at the pendant, then at the shattered bookstore, then at where the shadow creatures used to be.
He sighed.
"…Yeah, okay. Fair point."
And just like that—
His normal life was over.
Elliot had so many questions.
Unfortunately, none of them got answered.
The moment they stepped out of the ruined bookstore, Evelyn grabbed his wrist and dragged him into the alleyway behind the building. Before he could protest, she pressed her hand against a brick wall.
A low hum filled the air.
Then, right before Elliot's eyes, the bricks shimmered—and a door appeared where there had been none.
Elliot's brain short-circuited.
"What the—"
"Move," Evelyn ordered, shoving him through.
The moment he crossed the threshold, the world shifted.
---
Elliot stumbled forward, nearly falling face-first onto a cobblestone street.
Wait. Cobblestone?
He looked up—
And realized they were no longer in his city.
The sky above was darker than it should've been, tinged with hues of deep purple and silver. Strange, glowing symbols hovered in the air, shifting like constellations. The buildings were tall and twisted, their architecture an impossible mix of ancient and futuristic. And the people—
Some looked human.
Some… didn't.
A woman with horns passed by, casually sipping from a steaming cup. A man with three glowing eyes haggled with a vendor selling bottles of liquid starlight. A group of armored figures stood near a towering statue, their capes lined with threads of pure moonlight.
Elliot's mouth opened. Closed. Opened again.
"What. The. Hell."
Evelyn, completely unfazed, adjusted her coat. "Welcome to the Crossroads."
Elliot turned to her, still struggling to process. "The what?"
"The space between worlds," Evelyn said simply. "A sanctuary for those who don't belong in just one place."
Elliot swallowed. "And… we're here why?"
Evelyn shot him a look. "Because you lit up like a damn beacon back there. If they found you, others will too. You need protection."
Elliot frowned. "Others?"
Before Evelyn could answer, a new voice cut in.
"Ah, Sinclair. You brought a stray."
Elliot turned—
And came face-to-face with a man leaning casually against a lamppost.
He was tall, dressed in dark clothing that somehow seemed to blend into the shadows around him. His sharp amber eyes practically glowed under the dim light. A smirk played on his lips as he looked Elliot up and down.
"Does he even know what he's carrying?" the man mused.
Elliot tensed. "I can hear you, you know."
The man grinned. "Good. Then listen closely, kid."
He leaned in slightly, his voice dropping to a near whisper.
"You're in deep trouble."