Seren Vale had always been quiet, but now he was starting to feel invisible.
It was late. The school had emptied out, its hallways echoing with the ghost of footsteps long gone. Seren sat alone in the corner of the library, surrounded by shelves that smelled of forgotten knowledge and dust. The silence here wasn't peaceful—it was heavy, pressing against his skin like a warning.
His thoughts wouldn't stop twisting.
Something had changed in him. He wasn't imagining it.
He could feel things.
Earlier that day, he'd been walking past the cafeteria when he'd sensed someone behind him—before they moved, before they even breathed louder. He'd turned, and a student bumped into him, wide-eyed, as if he had sensed something too.
It wasn't instinct. It was sharper, cleaner. Like his mind had extended beyond his body for just a second.
Seren didn't understand it. But he didn't fear it either.
That night, he didn't go home right away. He wandered into the park near the edge of town, drawn by something he couldn't name. The sky above was quiet, clouds smothering the moonlight. Shadows pooled beneath the trees like ink.
He stopped under a dying streetlamp. The dim light flickered once… then stayed steady.
That's when he noticed it.
His shadow.
It wasn't standing right.
It leaned slightly—just a degree off, just enough to make his breath catch. When he stepped forward, it followed half a second too late.
He froze. Cold spread through his chest, not from fear, but recognition. It was like seeing a stranger wear your face.
And then—a whisper.
Not from outside.
Inside.
"Focus."
The voice wasn't his. But it wasn't foreign, either. It came from somewhere deeper, as if a locked part of him had spoken for the first time.
The air around him thickened. The sounds of the city fell away. For a split second, he could hear everything—his heartbeat, the movement of leaves, the shifting breath of something not quite human.
And just like that… it vanished.
He stood there, still as stone, staring at the shadow that now moved as it should.
But he knew better. Something inside him had awakened.
And it was watching back.