The hollow whispers

Lena's breath hitched.

The world around her felt distorted, like she was standing on the edge of something vast and unknown.

Riven was right in front of her—too close, too still.

And yet…

Something else was watching.

The air turned thick, pressing against her skin like an unseen force. The fluorescent lights above flickered, casting long, warped shadows across the walls. The school hallway, once familiar, now felt like a space between worlds, as if they had stepped into a crack in reality where time stuttered and silence spoke.

A chilling shiver ran down Lena's spine.

Riven's lips were curved into a smile.

But it wasn't his.

It stretched too wide, too knowing, too unnatural.

Like a mask.

Lena took a step back, pulse hammering in her ears.

"What… are you?" she whispered, her voice barely above a breath.

The shadows around them twitched.

Riven blinked.

And the moment he did—

Everything snapped back.

The eerie stillness broke, the fluorescent lights steadied, and the crushing weight pressing against Lena's chest lifted.

Riven staggered back with a sharp inhale, eyes wide in **confusion—**or maybe fear. His silver-blue irises were normal again, no longer swallowed by that endless black void.

"Lena?" His voice was rough, uncertain. "What's wrong?"

She couldn't answer.

Because how could she explain what she had just seen?

What she had just felt?

Kian let out a low chuckle.

"Well, that was interesting," he mused, breaking the silence. "Tell me, Riven—do you remember anything?"

Riven's brows knitted together. He raised a hand to his temple, rubbing it absently as if something lingered just out of reach in his mind.

Then—

He froze.

A flicker of horror passed through his gaze.

"I…" His voice was hoarse, uneven. "There was… something. I could feel it. Watching."

His hands curled into tight fists.

"But I don't know what it was."

Lena's stomach twisted.

Neither did she.

---

An Unwanted Guest

The silence stretched, heavy and suffocating.

Then—

Kian exhaled, shoving his hands into his pockets with a careless smirk.

"Well, whatever it was, you should be careful," he said, tilting his head. "Something like that? If it latched onto you once… it might not be done with you yet."

Riven's shoulders tensed, his breathing uneven.

Lena felt it before she heard it.

A shift—

A whisper—

Like something brushing against her mind.

Her vision blurred for a fraction of a second.

Then—

The world flickered.

The walls around them darkened, stretched, became impossibly deep, hollow, infinite.

And then, a voice.

Soft. Cold. Amused.

"We see you."

Lena's body locked.

Her breath hitched.

No.

The presence was still here.

It hadn't left.

And now—

It knew her name.

---

A Scar That Doesn't Fade

Riven stiffened beside her, his fingers twitching like he had heard it too.

Lena forced herself to take a step back, but the air around her felt thick, like moving through invisible water.

Kian tilted his head, studying them. His usual smirk had faded into something far more calculating.

"That's new," he murmured. "Looks like whatever followed you back isn't done playing."

Lena's hands balled into fists. "This isn't a game."

"Everything is a game," Kian countered, voice smooth. "You just don't know the rules yet."

Lena hated that he was probably right.

Riven inhaled shakily, his jaw clenched. When he spoke, his voice was low, strained.

"It's still here, isn't it?"

Kian shrugged. "Maybe." His lips curved. "Maybe it never left."

Lena swallowed hard, forcing herself to ignore the suffocating weight pressing against her chest.

If this thing—whatever it was—had latched onto Riven, then they weren't just dealing with The Watchers anymore.

They were dealing with something worse.

Something they didn't understand.

And worst of all—

It understood them.

---

The Vanishing Line

The hallways no longer felt real.

Somewhere beyond the threshold of reality, something laughed—a sound neither human nor entirely inhuman, but something in between.

Riven clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white. "I won't let it control me."

Lena wasn't sure if that was possible.

Whatever had taken hold of Riven for those few seconds—whatever had smiled through him—felt ancient. Aware.

And it wasn't done.

Kian tapped his fingers against his wrist, watching them. "If I were you," he said, voice amused, "I'd start figuring out what it wants. Otherwise…" He trailed off with a lazy grin.

Lena glared at him. "Otherwise what?"

Kian's grin sharpened. "Otherwise, you might not like what happens next."

The words settled like ice in her bones.

Riven met her gaze, his expression unreadable.

But she could see the same thought lingering in his eyes—

The same fear.

The same unspoken truth.

Something had marked them.

And whatever it was—

It wasn't letting go.

---