The days passed like a slow-moving fog, each one blending into the next. The hum of routine enveloped Victor, offering him a fragile sense of normalcy. Mornings came and went, filled with monotonous lessons and Nate’s ceaseless attempts to entertain the class. Lunchtimes were spent with Nate and Rhea, their conversations lighthearted but veiled with the unspoken knowledge of Victor’s recent struggles. Evenings, however, were the hardest. The shadow of his father’s words loomed over him, and the memory of the alley refused to fade.
Victor kept his head down at school, focusing on his studies and keeping himself busy. Nate and Rhea didn’t push him for answers, though Rhea’s occasional glances suggested she hadn’t forgotten the night outside his house. Still, the rhythm of the school days brought a kind of solace—until the unease began to creep back in.
By the end of the week, Victor couldn’t shake the growing sense of unfinished business. The alley called to him, a dark corner of his mind that demanded answers. The thought of returning gnawed at him, but the fear of what he might find was just as persistent.
----------------------------------------
The sun was setting when Victor finally found himself standing at the edge of the alley again. The school day had ended hours earlier, and he had walked past the familiar brick walls more than once, each time telling himself he would leave it alone. But curiosity was a stubborn thing.
The alley looked ordinary under the fading light, the kind of narrow space no one paid attention to. Trash bins lined the walls, and the faint smell of damp and decay lingered in the air. But Victor knew better. He could still feel the tension in his chest, the way the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, as if the alley was holding its breath.
Victor stepped forward, his movements careful and deliberate. Each footfall echoed faintly, bouncing off the walls and making the space feel smaller. He scanned the ground, looking for anything out of place—anything that could explain what he had seen. The shadows were long now, stretching out like claws and filling the alley with an oppressive darkness.
He moved further in, his heart pounding against his ribs. The distant sounds of the city faded behind him, leaving only the eerie silence of the alley. Then, just as he reached the spot where he had stopped days before, he froze.
The faintest trace of something unnatural lingered in the air. It wasn’t a sound, exactly, but more of a vibration—a low, thrumming sensation that seemed to resonate in his bones. Victor’s breath hitched, and he looked around, his eyes straining to pierce the dim light.
“Hello?” he called out, his voice barely above a whisper. It sounded ridiculous the moment he said it, but the silence that followed was worse.
Then he saw it.
A faint shimmer in the air, like the ripple of heat above asphalt, twisted and moved near the far wall. It was barely visible, a distortion that danced in and out of focus, but it was enough to send a chill down Victor’s spine. He stepped closer, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.
“What are you?” he muttered under his breath.
The shimmer paused, as if it had heard him. And then, slowly, it began to take shape. The outline of a figure—tall, impossibly thin, with elongated limbs—emerged from the distortion. Its form was hazy, like smoke caught in the wind, but its presence was unmistakable. Two faint points of light, like distant stars, glimmered where its eyes should have been.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
Victor stumbled back, his pulse racing. Every instinct screamed at him to run, to get out of the alley and never look back. But something rooted him in place, a strange mix of fear and fascination that kept him from turning away.
The figure didn’t move, though the air around it seemed to hum with energy. Victor’s mind raced, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. This wasn’t an Etherion user—at least, not like any he’d ever heard of. It was something else, something far beyond his understanding.
He took another step back, his foot catching on a loose piece of trash. The sound echoed sharply, and the figure tilted its head slightly, as if acknowledging him for the first time. The lights of its eyes brightened, and the hum grew louder, more insistent.
Victor’s breath came in quick, shallow gasps. He didn’t know what he was dealing with, but he knew one thing for sure.
He wasn’t supposed to be here.
Victor's heart thundered in his chest as the figure began to move. Its form, though barely tangible, seemed to glide rather than step forward, closing the distance with an otherworldly grace. The faint lights in its eyes pulsed, and the air grew heavier with each passing moment. The humming vibration in Victor’s bones turned into a sharp, oppressive ache, making it harder to breathe.
He stumbled backward, his palms clammy and his legs trembling. Every nerve in his body screamed for him to run, but his feet refused to obey. The figure loomed closer, its elongated limbs stretching unnaturally as it raised one claw-like tendril. The appendage shimmered like liquid shadow, shifting and twisting as if alive.
“What do you want?” Victor croaked, his voice barely audible over the pounding of his heartbeat.
The creature didn’t answer. It didn’t need to. The tendril shot forward with unnatural speed, piercing into Victor’s chest. It wasn’t a physical strike; there was no sharp pain or tearing flesh. Instead, a searing cold spread through his body, radiating out from the point of contact. His knees buckled, and he gasped as an overwhelming sense of emptiness began to gnaw at him.
It was taking something—draining him.
Victor’s vision blurred as the world around him dimmed. He felt his Etherion being siphoned away, though he had never considered himself to have much to begin with. The sensation was unlike anything he had experienced, a raw and invasive violation that left him hollow and weak.
He collapsed to his knees, his arms limp at his sides. The tendril seemed to burrow deeper, its pulsating energy sending waves of nausea and despair through him. His thoughts fragmented, the world narrowing to a single point of darkness.
Then, through the haze, he caught a flicker of movement. A spark of light—warm, vibrant, and alive—cut through the suffocating cold.
“Get away from him!” a voice roared, deep and commanding, crackling with authority.
The figure recoiled slightly, the tendril withdrawing from Victor’s chest as a torrent of fire exploded into the alley. The flames were wild and brilliant, licking at the walls and illuminating the darkness with their fierce glow. Victor’s head lolled to the side, his vision barely able to focus on the source.
A man stood at the entrance to the alley, his frame broad and imposing. His presence radiated strength, and the fire swirling around his fists made it clear he wasn’t ordinary. The flames danced as if alive, casting his features in sharp relief—a chiseled jaw, piercing eyes, and a gaze filled with unrelenting determination.
The shadowy figure hissed, its form flickering and distorting as the firestorm pushed it back. The air crackled with energy as the man stepped forward, his voice ringing out again.
“I said, get away!”
With a swift motion, the man unleashed a concentrated burst of fire, the heat searing even from a distance. The figure writhed and twisted, its shape collapsing inward before it dissolved into the shadows, vanishing as if it had never been there.
The firelight dimmed, leaving the alley bathed in a warm glow. The man turned toward Victor, his expression shifting from fierce to concerned. He moved quickly, kneeling beside him and checking for signs of consciousness.
“Kid,” the man said, his voice steady but tinged with urgency. “Stay with me.”
Victor’s lips parted, but no words came out. His vision tunneled further, the edges fading to black. The man’s face blurred, his features indistinct as the world slipped away. The last thing Victor felt was the warmth of the man’s hand on his shoulder, grounding him in the midst of the darkness.
Then, everything went silent.