Asher tried to keep his days normal, but nothing felt normal anymore. Even the sound of children playing in the market seemed distant, like he was standing in someone else's life. The dreams, the whispers, the glowing locket—each night blurred into the next, tugging him further into a world he didn't understand.
Grandma Elara watched him closely, her sharp eyes reading more than his words ever admitted. One evening, while Eli played in the corner, she set down her teacup and said, "If the forest calls to you, resist it. Nothing good comes from shadows born under the moon."
Asher stiffened. "I never said—"
"You don't have to," she cut in softly. "I see it in your eyes. The same look your mother once had before she vanished."
Her words hit like ice. He swallowed hard, the locket pressing against his chest as though it had heard her too.
That night, unable to endure the suffocating questions, Asher slipped out. The moon lit his path as if it had been waiting, guiding him to the forest's edge. The trees loomed tall, their branches weaving into a cathedral of shadow. His heart pounded—part fear, part hunger to know.
The moment he stepped beneath the canopy, the air changed. It was cooler, heavier, humming with something old and alive. Leaves rustled though no wind passed, and Asher swore he heard faint voices weaving through the silence.
Then, he saw him.
The man stood a few steps ahead, no longer just a fleeting vision. Tall and poised, his dark hair framed a face too sharp, too flawless to belong to anyone human. Those eyes—again silver in the moonlight—pinned him in place.
Asher's breath caught.
"You… who are you?"
The man didn't answer. Instead, his gaze dropped to the locket glowing against Asher's chest. For a moment, something flickered across his face—recognition, maybe sorrow.
Asher's fingers tightened around the pendant. "Do you… know what this is?"
The man stepped forward, silent, his presence pressing down like the weight of the night itself. Asher's pulse raced, torn between bolting and staying rooted.
Just as the distance closed, a branch snapped.
"Asher!"
Lune's voice shattered the moment. He came crashing through the trees, panting and glaring. "Are you insane? I told you to stay away from here!"
Asher turned back—but the man was gone, as if he had melted into the shadows. Only the whisper of the locket remained, warm and insistent against his skin.
"…soon."
To be continued....