The hallway stank of bleach and cigarette smoke. The buzzing overhead lights flickered, casting nervous shadows against the peeling wallpaper.
Elias moved first, shoulders stiff with tension, Sophia trailing just a step behind.
Both of them instinctively kept their backs close to the wall, footsteps nearly silent.
Room 206 was near the end of the hall.
The door looked like every other door. Scratched, faded numbers, battered doorknob.
Yet to Elias, it might as well have been the gateway to another world.
He raised his hand to knock — but the door creaked open on its own.
---
The room was strangely neat.
A woman stood by the window, her figure silhouetted by the neon glow of the motel sign.
She was tall, mid-30s, dark mahogany skin, and a fierce expression that could slice glass.
Her hair was braided tightly back, and her black tailored suit screamed authority.
Next to her was a younger man — maybe 27 — wiry, with messy blond hair, sharp green eyes, and a lazy smirk like he was perpetually on the edge of laughing at the world.
He wore jeans, a t-shirt, and a leather jacket. His skin was tanned, rough, like someone who spent a lot of time outdoors.
---
"You're late," she said crisply.
Her voice was precise — like a blade being sharpened.
Elias shrugged.
"Fashionably."
Sophia elbowed him sharply.
The woman didn't smile. She studied him like he was a math problem she was debating whether to solve or erase.
"I'm Agent Seraphine King," she said finally.
"This is my associate, Callum Reed."
Callum gave them a lazy salute.
"Heya. Heard you're the golden goose everyone's after."
Elias frowned.
"I'm not a goose."
Callum chuckled. "You sure? You look ready to lay a golden egg with how tense you are."
Sophia snorted, unable to hide her laugh.
Even Elias smiled — barely.
--
Seraphine cut through the banter.
"You have something powerful," she said, glancing at the Watch on Elias's wrist.
"And very, very dangerous."
Elias instinctively covered the Watch with his sleeve.
"Yeah. I noticed."
Seraphine crossed her arms.
"We're here to help you — but understand this. Help comes with rules. You're not special because of the Watch. It's not a gift. It's a test."
"A test?" Elias repeated, skeptical.
Callum leaned against the wall, grinning.
"Think of it like this: every reward you get? Every new skill? It's like adding bigger and shinier weights to your shoulders.
Eventually, you either grow strong enough to carry it all... or you collapse."
Sophia's face paled.
Elias just nodded slowly.
He already knew that.
He was starting to feel it too — the exhaustion beneath the upgrades, the emotional bruises hidden behind the cool new skills.
---
"We'll train you," Seraphine said. "Teach you how to survive. How to use the Watch without it using you."
Elias narrowed his eyes.
"And in return?"
"You work with us when the time comes," she said simply.
Callum chimed in, "Which could mean fighting some very ugly things. Metaphorically and literally."
Sophia shifted uneasily.
Elias didn't answer immediately.
He thought of all the tasks.
The strange missions.
The dangers that kept escalating.
Maybe... this was the only way forward now.
Maybe running wasn't enough anymore.
---
"Fine," Elias said finally.
"But if you double-cross me —"
Seraphine's lips curved into the faintest ghost of a smile.
"We won't."
"But others will," Callum added, almost cheerfully.
"Hope you're ready."
Elias didn't reply.
He just tightened the strap of the Watch around his wrist.
Whatever was coming next —
He would face it head-on.
---