Kaito grabbed the girl's hand and ran. The dark shapes were still far away, but they moved in a strange, creepy way that made his heart race.
"Can you run?" he asked.
The girl nodded, though she looked weak. Her legs were shaking. Kaito led her through narrow alleys, over a fence, and into an old garage he sometimes used as a hiding spot.
Once they were inside, he locked the door.
"Who were those things?" he asked, trying to catch his breath.
"They're called the Hollowed," the girl said, sitting on a crate. "They live in places people forgot—underground, behind walls, under streets. Most people never see them."
"Then why did I see them?" Kaito asked.
She slowly took something out of her jacket—a small, metal coin with strange markings. "Because I gave you this," she said. "When you touched it, it connected you to the hidden part of the city."
Kaito stared at the coin. It didn't look special, but something about it felt wrong.
"You're saying this... thing made me see monsters?"
"They're not monsters," she said. "They're real. Just hidden. The city has two sides. The one you know, and the one you weren't meant to see. Now that you're connected, they've noticed you."
Kaito didn't know what to say. He never believed in magic or secret worlds. But tonight, everything changed.
And now, he had to decide: pretend nothing happened—or find out what really hides beneath the city.