Keep the gate closed.

Ellowen ran through the halls, his giggles echoing throughout them, his small, shoeless feet leaving footprints on the floor. He wore simple white clothes—just a shirt and pants.

"Ellowen, watch where you're going!"

One of the adults yelled as Ellowen bumped into him.

"Sorry," Ellowen said, bowing toward the man, who wore a white lab coat and carried a few bottles filled with strange liquids of various colors.

He then continued running down the hall and into a classroom where other kids were gathered. They all turned to look at him.

"Ellowen, you're late. Where have you been?"

The teacher asked as she eyed him coldly. She walked over, grabbed him by the hair, and dragged him to his seat, smiling as if what she was doing was completely normal.

As if it wasn't a problem at all.

"Sorry, Mrs. Owen. I got distracted," Ellowen said, smiling weakly at her. Mrs. Owen slapped him once on each cheek, the hits making his small cheeks swell red.

"That's punishment for getting distracted and coming in late on this very important day," she said as her fingers unnaturally elongated. She ran her nails along his cheek, then poked his left cheek hard enough to make it bleed.

Through it all, Ellowen kept smiling, as though it was completely normal—despite his knuckles turning white from gripping the desk and his body trembling.

Mrs. Owen backed away and returned to her seat at the front of the classroom.

"Mrs. Owen, are we going to learn about @**#*";#:$>; today?"

One of the children asked. Mrs. Owen smiled at her, and the girl giggled softly in response.

"That's right, child. Oh, you're so smart. But remember, we can't say those words, okay? After all, the coffin wouldn't like that very much."

Everyone started clapping. The sound filled the room as they all turned their gaze toward the girl—then, without warning, they stopped clapping.

And began walking toward her.

Then, they started beating her—punching and kicking her nonstop, only stopping when the teacher spoke again.

"All right, children, enough. Our special guest has arrived," she said calmly, as the girl wheezed on the floor, coughing up blood—yet still smiling—as she slowly stood up.

"Now, what did I say we'd be learning today?" Mrs. Owen asked as a tall figure covered in black entered the room, carrying a coffin in one hand.

The children's smiles widened as they shouted in unison:

"We are going to learn how to die—"

Time froze, as though something was holding the moment still.

A wolf with blood-red fur appeared before Ellowen, its eyes piercing through his body with sheer intensity.

Ellowen couldn't move, couldn't speak—all he could do was stare.

"I don't think you're allowed to see this part just yet, my little moon," the wolf said, standing on its hind legs, towering over Ellowen.

Then it bit off his head—abruptly ending the dream.

Ellowen shot up in the present, gasping for air before immediately vomiting beside himself.

"What kind of messed-up sh*t was that?" he muttered, his hands trembling. Images of the girl being beaten, her blood splattering across his hands, flashed through his mind.

He stared at his hands in disgust, disbelief, and horror.

"Looks like using my authority to let you peek into your memories so early wasn't a good idea," the watch said, its voice darker than usual, the usual blue glow now tainted with a small red dot.

"What the hell was that?! Huh?! Was I a bully or something? Was I in a cult!?" Ellowen shouted at the watch, his lips twitching in anger, hands still shaking.

"A cult? Bully?" the watch repeated, an eyeball emerging from it to stare directly at Ellowen.

"Maybe. Though I guess those idiots truly believed what they were doing was necessary for the sake of life and—" it paused. "Can't say any more than that, buddy."

The watch snickered, its tone mocking—but also wary, as if watching out for something.

"Why can't you tell me more?" Ellowen asked, his blue eyes glowing faintly in the dim light.

"The gate has been pushed open," the watch said, then shut down completely. Only the needle on top remained active, pointing the way.

Ellowen grabbed his hair and yanked for a few seconds before stopping and covering his face with his hands.

"This is stupid," he whispered. "It still hasn't given me any answers. All it did was give me more questions."

He slammed his left fist onto the ground where the watch sat.

Looking around, he realized he was in a forest—not the one he had first woken up in, but a different one. A bonfire had been started nearby. Then, a rustling came from the brush, and his right hand instinctively reached for his sword's hilt.

"I recommend letting go of that sword," a blue-haired girl said as she stepped into view, walking toward the fire.

"I saw you fighting that wolf earlier. You carry a sword, but don't know how to use it. You don't even know how to fight," she said, examining him with cool, sharp eyes the same shade as her hair—blue.

She placed the rabbits she had caught onto a stick and set them over the fire. Then she sat across from Ellowen, staring directly at him.

"You should ask a girl for her name if you're going to stare at her that hard," she said, her tone suddenly sultry, her lips curling into a seductive smile.

Ellowen sighed, his eyes narrowing. Then he looked back up at her.

"What's your name? And how old are you?" he asked, his eyes locked on hers. The fire crackled behind them, the meat cooking slowly, its unseasoned aroma still pleasant.

"My age? That's random. But oh well—we are learning about each other after all," she said, giggling softly as her eyes scanned his body—his build, his tail, and the subtle glow of his eyes in the dark.

But when she saw that he wasn't lowering his guard, her seductive smile faded and her tone became more neutral.

"My name is Linda Starlight. I'm twenty years old," she said, standing and retrieving the cooked rabbits from the fire. She handed one to Ellowen.

He looked suspiciously at the food, then took the one she was holding and handed her the one she'd originally offered him—just in case it had been laced.

Linda only shrugged and smiled, then returned to her spot and began eating.

"How… how old do I look?" Ellowen asked. Linda looked surprised, not expecting him to continue the conversation.

She giggled.

"Well, you're pretty handsome. From the looks of it…" she paused, humming for a moment. "I'd say around twenty-one—a year older than me."

Ellowen nodded, taking in her words. He sighed.

"I just learned something else about myself—and this time, it didn't come from this stupid watch," he thought as he began eating the meat. It was well-cooked and clean—much better than his own attempts. He liked it.

"To break the ice, how about I tell you a story?" Linda asked, tossing bones aside, her eyes fixed on Ellowen's.

"Is it your story?" he asked.

"Nope. Not mine. I don't trust you enough to tell you my story… at least, not yet," she said with a small smile.

"Then whose story is it?" he asked, continuing to eat.

"It's the story of the little war we got thrown into. About the monsters that were let into our world—and about how a few greedy people opened a gate they should have kept shut forever."

A gate that should have been kept shut forever.

The words intrigued Ellowen. He stared down at the piece of meat in his hand, thinking.

"Want to hear the story or not, slitted-eye boy?" Linda asked, tilting her head.

"I want to hear the story," Ellowen replied, lifting his eyes to meet hers. Her blue eyes were different from his—not glowing, not slitted, a deeper, darker blue.

That last part bothered him. He hadn't looked closely at his own eyes back in the village house. He'd only noted that they were blue.

The wind picked up, making the fire crackle louder. Leaves fell from the trees in the strong gusts.

The only company they had was each other—and the fire between them.