Chapter 11 — The Eyes Beyond the Gate
The night felt heavier than usual.
Leo sat on the edge of the abandoned rooftop, staring at the fading cracks in the sky. They were shrinking slowly, as if something on the other side was watching… waiting… and choosing not to come through yet.
Max paced behind him.
"Bro, that monster we fought in the forest… it didn't come for us randomly. It came for you."
"I know," Leo said quietly.
Lyra hugged her arms. "And that symbol on the creature's chest… it was the same as the one that appeared on your photo. This can't be a coincidence."
Leo didn't reply. His mind was still replaying the moment the creature tried to drag him into the dark vines, the way reality twisted around him, and how his consciousness almost slipped into another world. A world he wasn't supposed to see yet.
The gate.
The whisper.
The eyes.
He couldn't forget any of it.
---
A strange sensation
Suddenly, the air around the rooftop shifted.
A cold pulse ran through Leo's spine—like someone had whispered his name right behind him.
He turned instantly.
No one was there.
But he felt it.
A presence.
Max noticed his reaction. "Again?"
Leo nodded slowly. "Something is trying to talk to me… or reach me. I felt this before the gate appeared."
Lyra stepped closer. "Is it dangerous?"
"I don't know," Leo answered. "But it's not human. It's not even from our realm."
Before they could continue, the ground trembled. Not violently—but sharply, like a warning.
A black ripple sliced across the sky for one second.
Then vanished.
---
The message
Leo's phone vibrated.
He didn't remember turning it on.
He didn't remember having a signal here either.
But the screen flashed with a single message:
"DO NOT TRUST THE EYES."
Max leaned in. "Who sent that?"
"There's no number," Leo said. His chest tightened.
A second message appeared:
"THE GATE WILL AWAKEN SOON."
A third message:
"IT WILL LOOK FOR YOU."
Lyra grabbed his hand. "Leo, someone is warning you. Or… someone knows what you are."
Leo didn't understand any of it—but the fear inside him was real.
---
The rooftop shakes
Suddenly—
CRACK!
A thin line of darkness tore open right behind Leo, floating in the air like a wound.
Lyra screamed. Max pulled Leo away.
The crack widened.
A cold wind burst out, carrying whispers that sounded like thousands of voices speaking at once—but none clearly.
Leo's heart hit his ribs.
The same presence.
The same feeling.
The same eyes from the night of the forest.
Something was trying to open a gate here—in front of them.
---
A shadow emerges
From inside the crack… a hand appeared.
Not human.
Not beast.
Something in-between, made of shifting darkness, like it was sculpted from night itself.
Max pulled out a metal bar. "Bro, run!"
Lyra grabbed Leo's arm. "Move!"
But Leo couldn't move.
His feet felt locked.
Because the hand wasn't reaching for Max.
It wasn't reaching for Lyra.
It was reaching directly for him.
Then—
A blinding golden light exploded from Leo's chest.
BOOM!
The rooftop shook, almost knocking them off.
The dark hand vanished instantly.
The crack sealed itself like nothing ever happened.
Leo gasped for air.
Max's eyes widened.
Lyra covered her mouth.
"Leo…" Lyra whispered. "W-what was that light?"
Leo stared at his trembling hands.
"I… I don't know," he whispered.
But he did know.
He felt it.
Whatever was inside him—whatever that light was—had protected him.
And it was getting stronger.
---
The final sign
As the rooftop fell silent again, Leo turned his phone on.
A final message appeared.
This one was different.
No warning.
No threat.
Just a single line:
"YOU ARE NOT READY."
Leo's fingers went cold.
Because the sender had a name now.
A name he had never seen before.
But a name that somehow felt familiar…
"From: UNKNOWN."
Leo swallowed hard.
The Unknown… was watching him.
And the gate would open again soon.
---