The day the sky cracked open, Kiran was the only one who saw it.

Standing on the rooftop of his crumbling apartment building, he stared at the jagged black line tearing through the heavens. The city below him churned with its usual chaos—honking cars, shouting vendors, the distant hum of drones—but no one else looked up. No one else noticed that the world was breaking.

Kiran’s breath caught as the crack widened. A faint, violet glow seeped out, spilling into the twilight like ink into water. His hand flew to his chest, where the strange mark had appeared three nights ago. It burned now, as though the light in the sky was calling it.

He pulled his hoodie tighter, hiding the swirling symbol etched into his skin. He hadn’t told anyone about it—not his best friend Zara, not his older brother Jay, not even the internet. Something about it felt… dangerous.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

The mark pulsed again, and a voice, low and distant, echoed in his mind.

“The Abyss is waking. You have been chosen.”

Kiran staggered back, gripping the edge of the rooftop to steady himself. “What does that even mean?” he muttered.

As if in answer, the light flared, and something began to emerge from the crack. It was massive—shadows and claws and eyes that shimmered like shattered glass. The air around Kiran grew cold, and the city’s noise fell away, replaced by a deep, bone-rattling hum.

Then the creature’s gaze locked onto him.

The mark on his chest flared with searing heat, and in that moment, Kiran knew one thing for certain: whatever this thing was, it wasn’t here by accident.

It was here for him.

And the world would never be the same again.