Rayve led her, predictably, to Osmanthus Street.

He only said, “You’ll understand,” and refused to say another word after that. Rin allowed herself to follow. The puzzle pieces were somehow falling into place one after another without her having to do anything. It crossed her mind that it might be a trap, but she decided it was the most convenient course of action.

She planned to go after it anyway.

The day version of Osmanthus Street was dead and soulless. The lanterns that were part of the night revelry hung limp and faded overhead. The street itself was a picture of desolation, its shutters drawn and not a single soul in sight. A slight current stirred up dust from the ground. A lone empty paper bag skittered midway across the street and stopped.

The arch at the entrance to the street looked like an invitation to a ghost town. The barren tree next to it was almost sorry, spreading its empty arms in vain, longing for warmer weather where the greens would bud again.

She turned to Rayve. “I suppose you’ll have to explain yourself now.”

Except that he was no longer there.

Rin stared at the spot he had been standing for a couple of moments, trying to register something apart from a desire to utter an impolite word.

For one moment, she thought Rayve had ditched her – or pranked her.

The next moment, her rationale returned. What did she expect? She was heading into an area controlled by a Seed.

From the moment she stepped onto the street, she had already been inside the Seed’s Territory.

Rin had taken part in too many assignments to count, slain countless Seeds throughout the five years she had been a Hunter. A Seed that could control almost half the town was not a trifling that sprouted out from the darkness of a single Master.

Because Seeds originated from humans, they had minds and wills of their own. Heading into a Territory of such scale alone was not exactly a brilliant idea.

Rin wasn’t reckless; she just believed that opportunities were fleeting. They disappeared as fast as they presented themselves.

She wondered if Kazu and Edwin had seen the text message she sent them earlier. She also wondered if they would get angry.

Standing in the street, she felt exposed and strangely alone Her next logical course of action would be either to look for Rayve or the Heart Shop, neither of which seemed like something the Seed would let her accomplish easily.

The street layout was similar to what she remembered from her visit that night. The jerky shop, the grocery store, the video game store...

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A whimper stopped her in her tracks. It came from the alley nearby.

Behind a pile of trash bags and discarded boxes stained with used oil and old juice, a dark red liquid spread over the ground, beneath the bags, seeping into crevices between the tiles.

Another whimper.

A sharp vision lanced through her – too fast and too brief to make out anything.

Her forehead broke out in cold sweat. She inadvertently took a step forward.

“It’s no use,” came a voice, startling her.

A girl emerged from behind a pillar two shops away. She had shoulder-length black hair with familiar, empty eyes surrounded by heavy eyebags. A filthy white frock torn at the edges hanging over her skinny shoulders. She wore a pair of flip-flops that were rather too big for her feet.

Rin’s breath caught in her throat. “It’s you.”

“It’s beyond saving. No need to ponder something that will soon disappear.”

Her tone was light and matter-of-fact, like she was talking about the weather. It was unexpected, coming from a ten-year-old’s mouth.

A heavy silence lingered between them.

“Are you a Hunter?” The girl asked.

Rin was not a trusting person. A girl emerging in the middle of a Territory was miles away from being trustable. She gathered her composure and opted to reply with another question.

“Why were you asking for help?”

The girl looked down at her feet, scuffing her flip-flops against the ground. “Bad things happen.”

“What kind of bad things?”

“I… Something is stealing my heart.”

“What is?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. Words poured out of her in a torrent. “It’s…something. Everyone is becoming weird – my daddy, my big sister, and the uncle next door. They had their hearts stolen. I’m also becoming weird. I can feel it.” She lifted her head. “I don’t want to become like them.”

It still bothered Rin how devoid of life the girl’s eyes were. They were supposed to be alit with innocence and sparkle, looking forward to discovering the world. Instead, they were stagnant pools, dull and lifeless, as though her facial muscles had never learned how to tug at her eyebrows, her eyes, and her lips to form expressions.

A dissociation between words and expressed emotions was usually a sign of Seed influence.

But this girl carried no scent of Seed on her.

Rin decided it would be wiser to tread carefully. “And what happens if you lose it?”

The girl slowly withdrew several pieces of paper from the pocket of her frock and handed them to Rin.

Newspaper cuttings and handwritten notes.

“Please destroy that thing, big sister,” she whispered, her gaze piercing into Rin.

“What are these–”

Then, somewhere, the clock struck seven.

And like a flipped switch, the entire town flared to life.

All the lights came on. The music started up. The shops were open for business as though they always had been. The street was packed with laughing and chattering visitors and hollering shop owners.

Lights floated in front of Rin’s eyes, making her dizzy. Her mind struggled to process the sudden change.

“Come, big sister!” the little girl said, smiling and dancing around Rin, a completely different person. She held out her hands as though she was in an amusement park. “Let’s play!”

A Territory was almost always bizarre, like an unusual dream with skipped sequences, random places, and unknown people who felt familiar. A Seed was not bound by rules; their existence was an abomination.

Within the space of their creation, they were the master, the rule-maker, the king.

Before Rin could answer, a lanky man she recognized as the owner of the gigantic toy shop at the junction approached them. He had high cheekbones and was all smiles, right up to his crow’s feet.

“Hello, would you like to come by my place to play? I have a gift for you.”

To Rin’s surprise, the girl’s cheeriness faded. She shot him a terrified look, backed away from the man, and fled into the crowd without glancing back.