The rain had stopped, but the city was still soaked in silence. The kind that makes even the wind sound nervous. Taye sat in his car, staring at the spot where the lightning had drawn a door in the sky. His breath fogged the glass as he whispered, "The River Gate…"
He didn't know how long he sat there before his phone buzzed again, another message from Nnena.
"Come to the station. Now. It's urgent."
He sighed, ran a hand over his face, and started the car. The pendant on the dashboard dimmed, almost like it was resting after what just happened.
At the station, the air was heavy. Officers moved around quickly, but everyone looked uneasy. The rain had cut the power twice already, leaving flickering lights that made the whole place feel haunted.
Taye walked straight to the homicide unit. Nnena was waiting, leaning on the edge of her desk. When she saw him, her eyes were sharp, the kind that meant she'd been thinking too much.
"Taye," she said quietly. "You better see this."
She pulled a file from the table and handed it to him. Inside were pictures... the girl from the river, and next to them, an older photo.
"Wait," Taye said, frowning. "That's impossible."
"It's not," Nnena replied. "That older photo is from a missing person report filed seven years ago. The same girl. Same birthmark. But according to the report, she vanished near… guess where?"
Taye didn't answer.
"The river," she said. "Exactly the same area."
He flipped through the file again. The girl's name was Aisha Kareem.
Kareem.
His chest tightened. "She's related to Adamu."
"His sister," Nnena confirmed. "Records show they both went missing within a week of each other. But Adamu's body turned up later. Hers didn't..... until now."
Taye stared at the photo. The same golden shimmer on her skin. The same pattern on her wrist.
It wasn't coincidence.
"What's going on, Taye?" Nnena asked softly. "You've been different since Ash Street. You knew something was coming, didn't you?"
He opened his mouth, then stopped. What could he even say? Yeah, I might be a fallen guardian of light who sealed evil in a river years ago.
Instead, he said, "There's a connection. But I need to see the body again."
The morgue was colder than usual. The fluorescent light flickered weakly above the table where Aisha's body lay. Nnena stood behind him, arms folded, while Taye slowly lifted the sheet.
Her face was peaceful, almost glowing faintly. That shimmer again.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the pendant. As soon as it came close to her wrist, both began to hum....soft, low, in rhythm.
Nnena gasped. "What is that?"
"Energy," Taye murmured. "Or… memory."
"Memory?"
Before he could explain, a small spark flashed between the pendant and Aisha's mark. Taye's vision blurred. The world tilted and suddenly, he wasn't in the morgue anymore.
He stood by the river again, but it was different now... calm, golden, glowing under the moonlight. Aisha stood at the water's edge, alive, wearing a white dress.
"Who are you?" he asked softly.
She turned, smiling faintly. "You already know."
"Adamu's sister."
"And your keeper," she said. "Before you fell."
Taye's throat tightened. "Why are you showing me this?"
"Because the River Gate is waking. The seal you placed is breaking, and with it, the darkness you locked away."
He stepped closer. "How do I stop it?"
She looked past him, her eyes filled with sorrow. "You can't stop what's meant to rise. But you can choose which side you'll stand on when it does."
Then her smile faded. "He's coming, Eran. The Shadow Lord. And this time, he won't be alone."
A loud crash echoed across the river and she vanished.
"Taye!"
He blinked hard. The morgue came back into focus. Nnena was shaking his shoulder, eyes wide.
"You blacked out," she said. "You were talking to yourself, saying names. 'Aisha,' 'Eran,' and something about a gate."
He rubbed his forehead. "I'm fine."
"No, you're not fine," she snapped. "What's going on? You're seeing things, hearing things....."
"Not things," he said quietly. "People."
Nnena stared at him like she was looking at someone she didn't recognize. "You sound crazy, Taye."
He looked up, meeting her eyes. "Maybe I am. But if I'm right, this isn't just murder. It's something old. Something that remembers me."
She wanted to argue, but something in his tone stopped her. Instead, she sighed. "Then we find out what's under that river."
He nodded slowly. "The River Gate."
Outside, dawn was just beginning to break. The city's lights faded into soft gray. Taye and Nnena drove toward the river again, silence filling the car.
When they arrived, mist covered everything. The water looked calm, too calm. The air buzzed faintly, like static.
They stepped out, walking toward the edge.
"Taye," Nnena said, her voice low. "If we go in, and this thing is real… what then?"
"Then we end it," he said. "One way or another."
The pendant began to glow brighter, reacting to the water's pulse. He held it forward and the surface of the river began to ripple, then split, forming a faint glowing path that led into the mist
Nnena gasped. "That's not possible."
"Neither am I," Taye said quietly.
They stepped forward together. The air grew colder. Every sound faded, no wind, no birds, no city. Just the hum of the river and their footsteps.
At the end of the glowing path stood a stone arch, carved with the same spiral symbols from the sand. The River Gate.
Taye touched the stone. The symbols lit up.
Nnena whispered, "What happens now?"
He looked at her, eyes glowing faintly gold. "We cross."
The ground rumbled. The gate cracked open, spilling light so bright it burned through the mist.
And as they stepped forward, a voice echoed from the other side....deep, cold, and ancient:
> "Welcome home, Eran."