Red spots still covered his body. The new clothes scratched against his skin, and a constant feeling of weakness—both mental and physical—lingered over him. As he wandered out of the church, he felt even more like the lingering shadow he always saw himself as.

Descending the ladder into the tunnels, the smell hit him immediately. The first time, everything had happened so fast that he hadn’t even noticed the stench. Now it was impossible to ignore. At least it was warmer down there.

“Why can’t I concentrate?” Nick thought, his mind sluggish and chaotic, as if infected by something gnawing at him from the inside. His thoughts tangled into an impenetrable fog, making it impossible to gather the information he needed.

His eyes jumped from bone to bone, lingering on the skulls staring back at him with an eerie air of judgment. It was as though they saw every mistake he ever made. Talking to him in the voice of disappointment.

The sudden clatter of a kicked stone snapped him out of his trance. He nearly missed a turn. How long had he been wandering in this haze—his eyes open but not seeing, his ears hearing but registering nothing? Even the pungent smell of the tunnels had faded into the background of his overwhelmed senses.

Being so zoned out was rare for Nick. His mentor had taught him to stay fully present, to take in every sensory input and analyze it. It was a technique Nick had mastered, though he hated it. Reality was often too overwhelming: too loud, too bright, too smelly. Walking through the city became an exhausting exercise in absorbing and cataloging every shadow, every movement. But mastering this skill had made him the best at analyzing the flow and patterns of shadows—a talent with few competitors, but not one Nick particularly enjoyed.

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Finally, he reached Alice’s room.

She was still asleep, lying in bed without a care in the world.

Nick sat down on a nearby stool and waited, his head lowered, his thoughts swirling. He tried to decode his dream, puzzling over why his subconscious had chosen his mentor to deliver such a cryptic message. The answers remained elusive.

He must have drifted off, because when Alice woke up, she found him slumped in his chair. She smiled. She had always known he’d come back.

Nick stirred as soon as she moved. He’d always been a light sleeper, waking at the slightest sound—a trait that had often earned him laughter from his partner. He recalled the times he had sat up, muttering nonsense, when someone walked into his room at night and startled his body awake before his mind could catch up.

“Morning,” Nick said, even though it was already well past midday.

“Morning,” Alice replied with a smirk.

“Watching me sleep?” she teased, her tone playful.

“I didn’t plan to,” Nick grumbled, “but I didn’t expect anyone to sleep this long.”

“No need to get snappy. Without windows, it’s hard to tell what time it is. I usually stay awake as long as I can, then sleep until I’m not tired anymore,” Alice said defensively.

“Do you actually do anything important while you’re awake?” Nick asked.

“I write,” Alice replied, her tone sharp with irritation.

“Alright. Then you probably know why I’m here,” Nick said, changing the subject.

“Of course. You finally realized you can’t do anything without me, and now you want me to join you on your grand little journey,” Alice said, leaning against him with a smirk.

“Could you not?” Nick groaned, pushing her back. “And I wouldn’t phrase it like that, but yes—I need your powers.”

“The shadows always come to the light,” Alice said with a grin.

“Seems so,” Nick muttered.

“So, what now? What’s the plan?” he asked, though he already had a perfect one in mind.

“We’re going to test how good you really are,” Alice said. “We’ll go see Jimmy.”

“Jimmy?” Nick asked.