It was night time, and the air wasn't friendly. It tasted like some sort of metal.
I had come to the old railway yard because I couldn't sleep. And apparently, one of my coping mechanisms was to wander into old abandoned sketchy places at no better time than 2 A.M.
The moon was hiding under the clouds, and the wind was so sharp, it seemed sharp enough to slice. I was surrounded by rusted freight cars which appeared to be like tombstones. The only sound I could hear was the rattle of a loose chain.
And then—
a hum.
I was scared. And eager at the same time.
The hum was low, wrong…
It was like electricity trying to remember how to speak.
I froze, trying to listen, then my phone buzzed in my pocket. I quickly pulled it out and there it was again, the spiral symbol, pulsing red.
BREACH IMMINENT
"Oh fantastic!" I muttered. "Couldn't it be a pizza delivery notification for once?"
The air thickened, the ground shivered, the sky dimmed, and colors from all around bled out like old film. Suddenly, a line of light tore open in the space between two freight cars. It was thin at first, then it kept widening until it was taller than me.
I backed away. "Nope. Nope. Big nope."
The light split. Darkness poured out of it. And then, something stepped through.
It looked like a smoke trying to remember its body. Arms too long, a face that flickered between shapes, and eyes that burned a color I didn't know existed.
I ran. Obviously. Don't know how, just felt my feet moving too fast.
But the thing didn't move like it wasn't bounded by the laws of physics. I looked back, and it was gone, only for it to appear suddenly in front of me.
"Okay," I said as I panted. "So we're skipping the chasing scene. Got it."
The creature screeched. The sound sliced straight into my skull, and I dropped to one knee, clutching my head.
Then, heat.
Not around me. Inside me.
The same spiral symbol from my phone flared across my skin. It glowed faint red through my shirt.
"What the—?"
Before I could finish, energy exploded out of me, slamming on to, and pushing the creature backward. The light died instantly, leaving me shaking and heart hammering.
The creature screeched again, but angrier this time, as it dragged itself upright. It lunged, and the world stopped.
A soft blue glow spread through the yard.
The air calmed.
The creature froze mid-motion, caught in invisible webs.
And there, she walked out of the dark like she'd been waiting for her cue.
Her silver hair drifting around her like it had its own gravity. Eyes glowing faintly, but too bright for this world. She raised one hand, and the monster disintegrated—just gone, like dust sucked into a vacuum.
I stared, my mouth wide open, and every thought erased except one extremely human observation:
She looked unfairly good doing that.
I was somewhere between awe and panic, my brain short-circuited. "Uh… hey," I managed. "Long time no apocalyptic rescue."
She didn't answer right away. She was studying me. Her expression, unreadable. Then, the glow faded from her eyes.
"You triggered a breach," she said.
"I noticed. It was loud."
Her gaze dropped to the faint light still pulsing beneath my shirt. I tried not to fidget.
"You're the link. It reacted because of you," she said.
"Great," I replied. "I've always wanted to be some sort of walking cosmic Wi-Fi hotspot."
Her lips twitched. It wasn't a smile, but it was enough to make my brain forget how verbs worked. For a second, the whole "demon-attack" thing took a backseat to the fact that she smelled like rain and static and something ancient.
Then she stepped closer. Too close, my back hit a freight car.
She touched the symbol on my chest lightly, through the fabric—and every nerve in my body fired at once. Even the air between us crackled.
"Your connection is unstable, if you lose control again, the Veil will tear wider."
"Right. So… no pressure."
She tilted her head, studying me like a puzzle she couldn't quite solve. "You hide fear behind jokes."
"Works better than screaming."
Something flickered behind her. Another distortion, but smaller this time. She turned sharply, eyes lighting up again. I caught the motion: quick, fluid, lethal. The distortion collapsed on itself with a hiss.
She exhaled slowly. "They'll keep coming."
"Awesome," I said. "Guess I'll add 'cosmic bait' to my résumé now."
She looked back at me. "You need training. And distance. Being near people will draw breaches."
"Yeah, well, being near me seems to draw them too."
For the first time, she almost looked amused. "Then you'll stay with me."
I blinked. "Wait! What?"
"You're a Conduit, and until you learn control, you're a liability."
"You mean I'm your new project."
Her gaze softened a little, just enough to still be dangerous. "Something like that."
She turned to leave, and the blue light around her dimmed, as the night returned to its ordinary darkness.
"Hey," I called after her. "Thanks for saving me. Again. Um… you never told me your um… name"
She paused, glanced back, and said "don't thank me yet. You haven't seen what comes next. I'm Eliana by the way. Eliana Voss."
The wind picked up after her, and the sky above the yard cracked, like glass under strain. For a moment, stars bled light through the seam.
Then it sealed, leaving only silence.
Eliana looked up, then at me. "The Veil's weakening faster than I thought."
I opened my mouth to say something clever, but the glow on my chest flared again. Pain shot through me. My knees buckled.
She caught me before I could hit the ground. The world tilted.
Her voice was the last thing I heard before everything went black:
"Hold on, Milano. The Veil isn't done with you yet."