For a full week, Daniel spied on Ashley, following her routine in silence.
Each night, he waited with bated breath as she disappeared behind the door.
Each night, he saw her emerge, tired but strangely… radiant.
The tension built inside him, a mix of fear, guilt, and unnameable fascination.
Finally, the curiosity became unbearable. He had to know.
"I hope I don't regret this," he muttered, his voice barely a whisper in the empty hallway.
He reached deep into himself, summoning the ability he had kept on training on a daily basis.
He was already 18 a few weeks back and so he also got to take his first heart stone.
The power to manipulate shadows—a rare gift he had barely explored—could allow him to see without being seen.
With a focused thought, he willed a piece of his shadow to move, extending it across the floor.
"Go," he commanded softly.
The shadow obeyed, stretching and sliding across the cold, dimly lit floors of Aegis.
