The apartment complex was cleverly hidden out of sight behind the main street. It was a set of old buildings with a quarter of its life worn down by the changing seasons and fickle weather. The walls were plastered with moss and grime. Rubbish piled up in the yard. Flies buzzed around the leftovers from a split bag. The gloom was a blemish to the image of Osmanthus Street – like a shameful childhood secret a rising star wanted to hide from the lenses of the public.

The iron gates were half-eaten by rust, scraping the gravel as Rin pushed past them. Barely any lights were on, or perhaps the windows were too cloudy to let any light through. She made her way up the nearest stairs, turning on the flashlight on her phone to illuminate the way. Deep cracks ran down the walls, and weeds grew along the stairwell. This place was long overdue for maintenance.

It wasn’t too difficult looking for the unit people had spoken of earlier. It was barricaded by police tape and a large cardboard sign that read, Danger! Keep out!

Rin wondered if it referred to the Seed hiding inside or the possibility of encountering spirits of the deceased haunting the walls.

The door opened easily. Outlines of furniture greeted her. Lifting the tape at the door, she made her way in. The lights refused to turn on when she pressed the switch.

Under the flashlight, the living room was relatively untouched. A double couch with a set of matching cushions and leg rest. A round carpet in the middle of the floor, and a small television fixed to the wall. On the shelves sat several knickknacks: a miniature model of a clock tower, some mini car models, a ceramic teddy holding an empty basket, a snow globe, and a framed photograph of a happy couple on vacation.

It grew darker as she made her way inside. Rin felt her skin prickling, and she doubted it was solely because of the apparent drop in temperature. She couldn’t help feeling watched. Grudges and malice remained, lurking like lost souls in the hallways. Deep claw marks traveled the entire length of the walls. Slightly below it was a trail of bloody palm stains and splatters of blood that ended in the kitchen.

The unsettling feeling grew stronger as she approached the bedroom.

It was a scene from a horror movie.

Blotches of blood filled her vision like carelessly thrown paint over the walls and furniture.

Torn sheets and a ripped mattress, glass shards from a mirror, overturned chairs, and a broken nightstand. A sole photograph lay among the pillow feathers.

It would be wise not to touch anything in a recent Territory bare-handed, especially in one where the enmity was still fresh. Summoning a small knife into her hand, she prodded at the photograph until she could see it properly.

A smiling couple waving at the camera, their faces blurred by bloodstains. Flipping it over, she saw a message written in frenzied strokes: If I cannot have him, no one else can.

A flash of someone else’s memories.

“You promise, right? We’ll always be together.”

A teenage couple going out on a date.

A young lady calling someone over the phone – only to be greeted by voicemail.

An arguing couple.

“How could you? How could you marry her? How could you break the promise you made to me?”

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“No, no, no, I shall make you mine.”

The thoughts grew darker.

An exchange of a Sygn over a familiar piece of paper.

His sleeping face, so peaceful, smeared with blood. The smell of his blood so delicious – no, stop –

Her frightened face and her soundless scream –

“You!”

A blind red rage.

“If I cannot have you, no one else can.”

Rin could feel the mercilessness of invisible fingers reaching for the back of her neck, closer, closer, seizing her –

Out of impulse, she raised her hand, plunging the blade into the photograph. The words vanished into thin air, and the photograph began to disintegrate.

Her heart pounded against her ribs. The memories and emotions shook her.

Rin always considered herself well-versed in Hunting, with five years of experience under her belt, but the Territory was making her question herself.

A Seed that granted the wishes of the masses. A Territory that stored Pulses that were not its Master’s.

The thing she saw in the Pulse was definitely a Seed – most definitely the owner of the Pulse. Out of jealousy and anger at his betrayal, she became a Seed to seek revenge. Did it mean that the Heart Shop gave her the Seed in exchange for her heart?

Was that even possible? Why would the Heart Shop do such a thing?

The moment she left the unit, the weight lifted off her shoulders. It made her realize how tense she had been in there.

The sky was darker than before, a flat gray blue that seemed artificial. She could see Osmanthus Street with its glittering neon signs and floating lanterns from the corridor. The blaring music and amplified announcements now sounded obnoxious to her ears.

The clock struck three. The lights blew out one by one, and the streets descended into darkness. The music died down and within seconds, the town fell asleep.

Rin was the only person left wide awake in this strange place. Her mind wheeled, trying to connect everything she had seen, felt, and heard while in search of another clue.

She wanted to scream her frustrations out. Gripping the banister, she inhaled.

In, out, in, out –

Something moved down below. She leaned over the railing to get a better look.

Nothing. Nobody.

She blinked. Was it her imagination, or were the shadows growing in length?

A chill crept up her spine. Her shoulders tensed. Were the shadows…moving within themselves?

A pattering of footsteps caught her attention.

A figure was running as fast as he could across the courtyard, looking behind his shoulder as he did. Whoever it was, he was whimpering and sobbing in terror.

Behind him came another figure. Familiar.

Rin broke into a run, sprinting down the stairs across the courtyard.

There was no one in sight. For a moment, she thought she lost them.

A scream ripped the darkness apart. Shrill and unrelenting, echoing against the walls. No one seemed to hear him except Rin.

She knew she was heading the right way because the Seed’s presence intensified.

A balding middle-aged man was slumped against the wall, legs jerking and fingers scraping uselessly against the ground. He was trying to speak, but instead of words, all that came out were gagging sounds. The whites of his eyes were alarmingly disproportionate to the black of his pupils.

Crouched in front of him was Hayle Signon, his jaw moving as though he was chewing. Tendrils connected whatever was inside his mouth to the red mud-like substance in his hand to the glowing shape of a heart visible on the man’s chest.

“Hayle!”

He turned around, still eating – unconcerned by the state of the man in front of him.

The man saw her and tried to reach out a shuddering hand. The red heart faded to black, melting into a puddle of viscous gel that Hayle let slip between his fingers. The man let out a rattling gasp, eyes rolling backward, and went still.

“What are you doing?” It was a rhetorical question. Rin already knew the answer.

Hayle wiped his mouth and stood up. “Collecting debt.”

She knew who he was doing it for.

For a moment, she wondered if this was how the Heart Shop was going to collect hers.

Standing in front of her was Hayle, yet not Hayle. The younger Signon twin was lively, kind, and too innocent for his own good. This person in front of her was cold, distant, and ruthless.

An unsettling feeling hovered in her gut. She wasn’t a big fan of the Signon twins, but she did not like the idea of his awareness being trapped somewhere in the crevices of the Seed as it committed the unthinkable with his body.

He turned around to leave.

“Hayle!”

Rayve pounded towards them, skidded to a stop next to his brother, and caught his arm. Between ragged breaths and heaving shoulders, he said, “Hayle, I’ve been looking for you.”

Hayle glanced at his twin, no hint of recognition and warm welcome in his eyes. Brushing Rayve’s hand away, he said, “I have no business with you.”

He left Rayve rooted to the spot and within a few seconds, he vanished into the shadows.