it was two months ago. My sixteenth birthday.
Big family house. Too many people. Too much noise.
Don't get me wrong—I love them. I really do. But there's only so much chaos a guy can take before he starts considering crawling into the attic and living among the raccoons.
"Oh, Kai, my little boo-boo bear! You've grown so tall now!" Auntie Rina squealed, tugging my cheeks like I was still five.
"Ow—oww—please stop," I groaned through squished lips.
"Maybe not tall enough," my older brother Ray chimed in, smirking from the couch.
"At least I've grown mental strength," I muttered. "Unlike some people who act like toddlers with facial hair."
Ray looked ready to throw a chair at me, but then—
"Oh Kaaaai~!"
Before I could blink, I was tackled to the ground by a blur of violet hair and perfume that could knock out a cow.
I landed flat on my back. A face hovered above mine. Bright eyes. Wild smile.
"Jinx?" I gasped.
"My precious cousin!" she said dramatically, pinning me with her elbows. "School tried to keep us apart, but my love knows no bounds! You haven't been cheating on me, right?"
She gave me a death glare so intense my spine tried to escape my body.
"N-no! Of course not!" I squeaked.
"Get off him, you weirdo!" Ray snapped. "He's your cousin, and he's only nice to you because no one else wants him."
Silence. And then the grin disappeared from Jinx's face. Oh no.
"Funny," she said sweetly, "coming from a twenty-year-old who's never had a girlfriend."
Ray's eyes bulged. I braced for impact.
"You did not just say that," he growled.
"Actually," she winked, "I did."
Ray went red. He was about to explode when Jinx's eyes got all watery.
"Whyyy are you always so mean to me, Rayyyy~?"
Ray's face twisted in panic. He froze mid-step.
I burst out laughing. Couldn't help it.
But karma struck back fast.
"Gotcha!"
A hand hooked around my neck and yanked me into a headlock. My legs flew into the air.
"1… 2… 3! Mina is still the undefeated WWW Champion!" my little sister shouted with glee.
"Mina!" I groaned, face planted in the carpet. "You haven't stopped watching wrestling?"
"Duh," she said like I was the idiot.
"Man," my cousin Derrick chuckled, "you're seriously popular with the girls."
"W-what? No way!" I waved it off, flustered.
"Yeah," Mina added with a grin, "he's too nerdy and awkward for that."
"Mina!" I glared.
"What? I'm just saying what you're thinking!"
Before I could fire back, someone called from outside.
"Kids! Dinner's ready!"
Everyone stampeded to the dining table outside like a pack of hungry wolves. Everyone… except Derrick.
I noticed him hanging back and went over.
"Hey," he said, voice low. "Can we talk? After dinner. Outside."
"Uh… sure?" I blinked, a little thrown off.
Dinner was wild. Food fights almost happened. Arguments over whose story was true. Uncle Ben tried to tell a joke that killed the mood for a full minute. The usual chaos. But I couldn't stop thinking about Derrick.
Later, I found him near the woods. He grabbed my wrist the moment I approached.
"Come on. We don't have much time."
"Time for what? You said we were gonna talk—"
"We are. While walking."
We headed down a path I didn't recognize. The trees were thick, moonlight filtering through the branches. Then I saw it—a broken-down stone building, old and forgotten.
"What is this place?" I asked.
"Our shot," Derrick said.
"My what?"
"Kai, only 20% of the world awakens talents. But our family? Our ancestors were powerful Talentors. It's in our blood. This place—this night—it's our chance to awaken it."
He pulled out a worn leather-bound book covered in glowing runes.
"Tonight's a blue moon. Everything has to be exact. The book describes the ritual. We do it now, or we miss the chance forever."
"Derrick… this is insane."
He looked me dead in the eyes. "You're the only one I trust. Please. Just… help me."
That guilt hit me like a punch to the gut.
"Fine," I sighed. "But if we die, I'm haunting you."
Inside, the air was cold. Heavy. Derrick set the book down in the center of the cracked floor. Lit candles. Chanted some weird Latin-sounding stuff.
We held hands. The moonlight came through a hole in the ceiling, hitting the book directly.
Then I felt it.
Like my blood was boiling and freezing at the same time.
"D-Derrick…" I said, gripping his hand tighter.
"Just hold on!" he yelled.
Too late.
A sound pierced the air—high-pitched, inhuman, like something from a nightmare. The air bent. Shadows slithered along the walls.
"RUN!"
We sprinted out of there as the structure cracked and collapsed behind us. The forest suddenly felt alive with wrongness.
"What the hell was that?!" Derrick shouted.
"Let's not wait to find out!" I yelled, pushing him forward.
We ran.
Something chased us. I felt it—its breath, its eyes, the hunger in it. Not human.
Then I tripped.
I hit the ground hard, rolled over, and—
There it was.
No face. Just a void with eyes. Black tendrils for limbs. A nightmare.
And then—blackness.
"You're awake!"
I shot up in bed. My heart pounded.
Mina was crying, hugging me like I'd been gone for years.
"You scared us, dummy!" she sobbed.
I looked around. My room. My bed. Family everywhere.
"What… happened?" I muttered.
"You passed out," someone said. "They said it was stress. Or maybe food poisoning. You've been out for a full day."
But I knew better.
Something had changed.
I felt it in my bones.
And somewhere, deep in the back of my mind, a voice whispered:
"Wakey wakey. Your life just began."