The lab smelled like cold metal and disinfectant. Machines hummed quietly, their screens blinking with green lights. Taye stood beside Inspector Onah, both men watching as the lead technician flipped through digital charts on her monitor.
"You said you found something unusual?" Taye asked.
The technician, a small woman with tired eyes, nodded. "Yes. The blood sample from your victim... it's not like anything we've seen before. It reacts strangely when exposed to heat."
She picked up a small glass tube filled with dark liquid. When she held it near the flame of a Bunsen burner, the blood shimmered faintly....like dust reflecting sunlight underwater.
"See that glow?" she said. "We've tested thousands of samples, and none have done this. It's like the blood is alive."
Onah crossed his arms. "Alive how?"
"It moves," she whispered. "Even outside the body. Look closely."
The two men leaned in. The blood inside the tube was indeed shifting...not bubbling, not boiling, but breathing.
Taye's heart began to race. His wrist tingled under his sleeve.
"Have you tested it for radiation or chemicals?" he asked.
"Everything came back clean," the technician said. "But here's the strangest part... when we magnified it, we saw symbols."
"Symbols?"
"Tiny patterns, like carvings inside the cells. They form a circle when combined."
Taye felt a chill run down his spine. The mark. The same circle he'd seen in ash.
"Send me the image," he said quickly.
"Already done," she replied, turning to her screen. "It's in your email."
Taye nodded, then turned to Onah. "We need to recheck the other victims. If they share this same blood type..."
"...then we've got something bigger than murder," Onah finished.
Outside, the rain had calmed to a slow drizzle. The morning light made the wet streets shine like mirrors. As they walked to the car, Taye couldn't shake the weight pressing on his chest.
"You okay?" Onah asked, starting the engine.
"Yeah," Taye lied. "Just tired."
But in truth, he wasn't tired.... he was scared. The woman's words still echoed in his head:
"When the circle closes, you'll remember everything."
Back at his apartment, Taye poured himself a cup of coffee and opened his laptop. The email from the lab was there. When he clicked the attached file, the image loaded slowly....cell patterns arranged into a glowing, circular symbol.
The same design that had appeared on his wrist.
He exhaled shakily. "What are you trying to tell me?"
Then something strange happened. The mark on his wrist began to burn again... harder this time, like fire under his skin. He grabbed his arm, wincing.
The lights in the room flickered. His coffee mug slid across the table by itself and fell, shattering on the floor.
From the reflection in the spilled liquid, he saw her again. The woman in white.
"You shouldn't have opened it," she said.
Taye turned fast. She was there, standing by the window.
"What do you want from me?" he demanded.
"Not want," she corrected softly. "Warn."
Her eyes glowed faintly gold. "They're watching now. The ones who took the bodies. They know you've started to remember."
"Who are they?"
"Those who guard the darkness of the Veil," she said. "They fear what you were...and what you could become again."
"I'm not anyone," Taye snapped. "I'm just a man trying to solve a case."
"A case that chose you," she replied.
He shook his head, backing away. "This isn't real."
But deep down, something in him knew it was. The voice, the symbols, the mark...it was all connected.
"If you keep chasing this," she said, "you'll wake what sleeps beneath Lagos."
"Then tell me what that is!" he yelled.
"You already know," she whispered.
Her body dissolved into mist, leaving only her voice behind. "Eran of the Light was never meant to return alone."
Taye dropped to his knees, his breath shaky. The room was quiet again. Only the sound of rain hitting the window remained.
He stayed there for a long time, eyes staring at nothing. Then his phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number: > "You've seen her. Meet me before she finds you again. Old bridge, 8 PM. Come alone."
No name. No signature.
Taye stared at the message, his gut twisting. He looked at the clock...7:12 PM.
He grabbed his coat and gun, then hesitated. He didn't trust it, but he needed answers.
The bridge stretched across the dark river like an old scar. Mist hovered above the water, glowing faintly from streetlights. Taye arrived first, checking his surroundings.
Footsteps echoed behind him.
> "You came," a deep voice said.
Taye turned. A man stepped out of the fog....tall, wearing a black coat, face half hidden under a hood.
"Who are you?" Taye asked.
"A friend," the man said. "Or what's left of one."
Taye frowned. "You sent the message?"
The man nodded slowly. "You've been marked, Eran."
Taye's hand moved to his gun. "Don't call me that."
> "You think a gun can help you?" the man said quietly. "You used to command light itself."
Taye stared at him. "You're crazy."
The man smiled sadly. "I wish I was. But they're coming for you, the ones who still serve the shadows. They can't let you awaken."
"Awaken to what?"
> "To yourself."
The man stepped closer, pulling something from his coat,a pendant, circular, with a faintly glowing symbol at the center. It was the same mark on Taye's wrist.
> "This belonged to you once," the man said, placing it in Taye's palm. "Keep it close. It remembers your light."
Before Taye could ask another question, the man stepped back toward the fog.
"Wait... who are you?" Taye called out.
> "A shadow that used to follow your light," the man replied. "Now go. They've found us."
A cold wind rushed over the bridge. Taye looked around....no one. When he turned back, the man was gone. Only the pendant remained, warm in his hand.
By the time he reached home, night had swallowed the city whole. Thunder rolled, and the streets were empty.
He placed the pendant on his desk. It pulsed faintly in rhythm with the mark on his wrist.
Taye whispered, almost to himself, "Eran of the Light… what did you do?"
The room answered with silence....until a faint whisper rose behind him.
> "He betrayed the goddess," said a voice not his own. "And now, the debt is coming due."
Taye froze. Slowly, he turned.
And there.....in the doorway....stood the first victim, pale, eyes glowing gold.