Kidnapped

All Ryan remembered was that gaze.

Cold. Indifferent. Absolute.

It didn't scream. It didn't threaten. It simply looked at him—as if he were dust in the wind, beneath notice, beneath consequence.

Then—nothing.

He did not even have the breadth of mind to properly understand what his evolved Skill was capable of.

A void swallowed his thoughts, and his mind went black.

When awareness returned, he found himself surrounded by darkness. Not the kind born of night, but the kind that pressed in on the soul.

"You seem alright," a soft voice murmured, brushing the silence aside like mist.

Ryan groaned, a weight in his chest dragging him back into his body.

That voice… he knew it.

"Where… am I?" His throat was dry, each word a struggle. "I feel… sick."

A gentle hand caressed his cheek.

"Take your time," the voice said. "You're safe now."

It was her.