Alexander was walking peacefully through
the streets.
The city was alive.
People were laughing.
Children were playing.
Families were eating together.
Some people were sitting outside their homes and talking.
Others were walking hand in hand.
The atmosphere was bright and peaceful.
Alexander watched them quietly.
For some reason, he enjoyed seeing people happy.
He continued walking until he reached a small water spring beside the road.
He stopped.
Something felt strange.
The laughter around him suddenly became quieter.
Alexander looked around.
Nobody seemed to notice anything.
Then...
A drop of blood fell onto the ground.
Alexander looked down.
Another drop fell.
Then another.
He touched his face.
His fingers became red.
Blood was coming from his eyes.
Alexander became confused.
"What is happening?"
He looked around again.
The city had changed.
The bright sky was turning dark red.
The buildings were becoming red.
The roads were red.
The people...
Everything was turning red.
The peaceful laughter disappeared.
People stopped moving.
They stood completely still.
Alexander slowly walked toward the water.
He looked down at his reflection.
His heart suddenly stopped.
His eyes were no longer normal.
They had turned completely red.
Their shape had changed too.
They looked almost like strange red octagons.
Alexander stepped backward.
"What..."
His reflection smiled.
But Alexander wasn't smiling.
He stared at himself.
The reflection suddenly opened its mouth.
"You can't run forever."
Alexander froze.
"Who are you?"
The reflection didn't answer.
Instead, the entire water surface became covered in red.
Then...
A voice came from behind him.
"Alexander."
He turned around.
Nobody was there.
The voice came again.
"Alexander..."
The ground began to shake.
The red sky cracked.
The city started falling apart.
Alexander looked toward the sky.
A huge dark shape appeared above the city.
He tried to move.
He couldn't.
His body refused to move.
The dark shape came closer.
Closer.
Closer.
Then two enormous red eyes opened in the sky.
Alexander stared at them.
Something inside him screamed.
RUN.
He suddenly woke up.
Alexander sat straight up.
His breathing was heavy.
He looked around.
The room was dark.
Everything was normal.
He touched his face.
No blood.
He quickly looked toward the window.
The city was still there.
The lights were shining.
People were still moving outside.
Alexander slowly breathed out.
"It was a dream."
He looked at his hands.
They were shaking slightly.
Aiona was still asleep beside him.
Alexander looked at her.
He didn't want to wake her.
He quietly stood up and walked toward the window.
He looked outside.
Everything seemed peaceful.
But something didn't feel right.
He remembered the red eyes.
He remembered the strange voice.
Most of all...
He remembered the words.
You can't run forever.
Alexander closed his eyes.
Then suddenly...
A sharp pain went through his head.
He grabbed the side of his head.
Another image appeared.
The same red eyes.
But this time...
They were not in the sky.
They were inside him.
Alexander opened his eyes.
His reflection appeared in the window.
For less than a second...
His eyes became red.
The strange octagon shape appeared again.
Then they returned to normal.
Alexander stepped away from the window.
"What is happening to me?"
Behind him...
Aiona slowly opened her eyes.
"Alexander?"
He turned around quickly.
"You're awake."
She sat up.
"Why are you standing there?"
Alexander hesitated.
"I had a strange dream."
"What kind of dream?"
He looked at her.
"I don't know how to explain it."
Aiona stood up and walked toward him.
"Try."
Alexander told her everything.
The red city.
The blood.
His strange eyes.
The giant eyes in the sky.
And the voice.
Aiona listened carefully.
When he finished, she remained silent.
"Do you think it was just a dream?" Alexander asked.
Aiona looked toward the window.
"I don't know."
She walked closer to him.
"But something may have caused it."
Alexander frowned.
"Something?"
Before Aiona could answer...
The lights in the house suddenly went out.
Both of them became still.
Outside...
The entire street went dark.
Aiona looked through the window.
Every light in the city had disappeared.
Then...
A single red light appeared far away.
Alexander stared at it.
The red light slowly became bigger.
Aiona whispered,
"Alexander..."
He didn't answer.
The same feeling from his dream had returned.
The feeling that something was coming.
Something powerful.
Something that had nothing to do with the demon they had fought earlier.
Then a voice suddenly came from the darkness outside.
Not from the street.
Not from the sky.
But from somewhere much closer.
"I found you."
Alexander's eyes widened.
Aiona immediately moved beside him.
Neither of them spoke.
Then...
Two red eyes appeared outside the window.
And they were looking directly at Alexander.
To be continued...