Denver was in a frenzy, her mind drowned in rage. She didn't notice her surroundings anymore, she didn't notice the shadows around them twisting and writhing like living creatures as the darkness bent and obeyed to his will.
She was still choking the boy, her fingers digging into his throat, her expression feral. Then a massive black tentacle erupted from the shadows.
It slammed into Denver's side with crushing force, sending her flying across the alley. She crashed into the wall near Dion, the impact knocking the air from her lungs.
The boy finally broke free from her grip. He dropped to one knee, coughing violently, blood rolling from the corner of his lips. Slowly, he lifted his head and stared at her while smiling, a wide, ecstatic grin as if pain itself thrilled him.
"Ah... that hurts, y'know."
Agent Kael and Agent Mira were still in pursuit, sprinting through the streets. Mira's tablet glowed as it tracked the fleeing children.
Kael glanced at her. "How far are they?"
"Not far," she answered, her fingers moving across the screen.
They exchanged a look both of them tense, both of them sensing something was wrong.
"Are the kids gonna be alright?" Mira asked, unease creeping into her voice. "I have a bad feeling about-" A deafening crash cut her off.
"HURRY!" Kael shouted.
Then they ran as fast as they could.
"Turn left, we're almost there," Mira guided, her voice sharp.
They reached the entrance of the alley and halted. Something was wrong, the shadows inside were unnaturally dense, swallowing the light. It was hard to see anything beyond a few meters, a cold chill crawled up their spines.
Then they heard footsteps, instinct took over. Both agents raised their guns as the footsteps grew louder and closer then it stopped.
Noticing two blue pupils staring at them from within the darkness, both agents stepped back, guns still raised. The pupils didn't blink, they didn't even move, they just watched cold, indifferent, and fully aware that they had been seen.
A suffocating pressure settled over the alley, as if the shadows themselves were breathing. Someone was standing right in front of them but they just couldn't see it.
Then the figure stepped forward first the foot, then the legs, and then the body. A boy emerged from the darkness, wearing crocs, black pants, and a dark jacket. His posture was casual, almost lazy, behind him, two bodies lay unmoving as he dragged them like discarded corpses.
As he stepped fully into the light, his face was revealed blood smeared on his lips, and a large bruise wrapped around his neck like a handprint.
"…Damn Zen clan," Kael muttered under his breath.
The boy met their gaze and smiled.
"Ahh, you're just in time," he said cheerfully.
Both agents lowered their guns and bowed.
"Thank you for your hard work, Master Shadow of the Zen Clan."
Their expressions held no gratitude only thinly veiled disgust.
In truth agent Kael hated the Zen clan for their notorious ways of subjugating, whether it be a normal person or a gift user they stay indifferent. Those freaks think they are in the top of the food chain, always hungry for power and control.
"Leave the rest to us," Kael said stiffly. "We will handle the rest."
Lifting their heads up, the boy tossed the unconscious bodies toward them like garbage and walked past through them.
Kael noticed the bruise on his neck.
He turned around. "Master Shadow, may I ask you a question?"
Then the boy stopped and looked back at him, his eyes sharp and domineering.
"Mhh... Alright, just make it quick."
"What kind of gift did that boy posses that he was able to hurt you to this degree?"
The boy tilted his head not getting the question. "What boy?"
Then he lifted his finger and pointed it at the unconscious girl, who was being lifted by agent Mira and a wide smile spread across his face making agent Kael uncomfortable.
"Oh that girl did this to me," pointing at his bruised neck, then he continued. "That rat was able to awaken her gift while struggling to escape from me."
Kael's jaw dropped. "W-what?"
"Anyway, I have other things to do," the boy said casually. "I'll leave the rest to you."
A dark van pulled up beside him he stepped inside, waved lazily, and the door closed then the vehicle sped off.
Denver woke up to nothing no sound, no light, and no sky. She was lying on something cold and strangely soft, like wet glass. When she pushed herself up, a faint ripple spread beneath her palms.
Water.
The ground was made of water black, mirror like, and impossibly still. She jolted upright, heart hammering, breath uneven. The surface beneath her feet didn't break or splash. It held her weight like solid ground, yet every step sent faint ripples of dim, ghostly light across the endless plane.
There was no horizon, no ceiling, no walls, just an infinite expanse of darkness.
"Where the hell am I…?" she whispered.
Her voice felt swallowed the moment it left her mouth, as if the void refused to acknowledge it. Then she felt it, a presence, cold and close, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Her spine tingled, instincts screaming at her to turn around.
Then slowly, she did, someone was standing behind her.
A boy.
Black raven hair fell loosely over his forehead, slightly messy, slightly familiar. His eyes two pools of dark gray were lifeless and reflective, like still water that hid something deep and unfathomable beneath. His skin was pale, almost porcelain, as if he didn't belong in any living world.
He looked… wrong and for some reason he looked like Dion, no... he looked like her. Her chest tightened, she realized why her mind refused to accept what she was seeing.
He was her.
Not Denver as she was now, but Denver as she used to be. The boy she used to be, the reflection she that had been erased.
She stared at him, frozen, scanning every detail his face, his posture, his expression. The more she looked, the more undeniable it became. This wasn't a stranger, this wasn't an illusion either.
This was her past self or something wearing her past self's face.
Her hands trembled.
"W-who are you…?" she whispered, her voice shaking.
The boy tilted his head slightly, studying her like an insect under glass. Then his lips slowly curled upward. Not into a smile but into something twisted.
The corners of his mouth stretched unnaturally wide, as if his face wasn't meant to make that expression. From his eyes, thin streaks of dark liquid began to drip like tears, but heavier, like blood.
They fell silently into the dark water below, disappearing without a ripple. Denver took a stepped back, her foot sliding on the water's surface. Her heart pounded so loudly she thought the void might hear it.
"This isn't real. This isn't real."
But every instinct told her it was, then he spoke.
"Wake up." His voice was calm.
Too calm it echoed unnaturally, layering over itself, as if multiple voices were speaking in unison through him.
Then he lifted one arm, the water beneath his hand trembled, then the darkness beneath the surface surged.
A massive column of black water erupted upward, spiraling like a living thing. It rose higher and higher five stories, ten stories, towering over her like a collapsing sky the surface of it reflected nothing, not even her, it was pure absence.
She couldn't move, she couldn't scream. The wave crashed down as the darkness swallowed her whole, her lungs burned, her vision vanished and her body felt pulled apart by the void.
And then...
She woke up.