Morning sunlight crept through the curtains, casting golden veins across the pale blue walls. Dust motes drifted lazily in the light, and the soft hum of the city outside was distant, almost comforting.
Ren's alarm clock screamed beside his bed.
BEEP.BEEP.BEEP.
He slapped it quiet and groaned, his face buried in the pillow. For a moment, he simply lay there — half awake, half drowning in the fading fragments of the same dream. His pulse was still uneven, his hands trembling faintly as though the echoes of something vast and heavy still clung to him.
"Find… them… before…"
The voice lingered in his skull like smoke.
Ren's eyes opened. Sweat clung to his temple. The whisper was fading fast, like it always did, slipping through the cracks of memory before he could hold on to it.
He sat up and rubbed his face, muttering to himself."Why do I keep hearing that voice?"
His hand went instinctively to his chest — nothing. No warmth. No mark. Just the hollow ache that dream always left behind.
He reached for his phone on the nightstand. 6 missed massages
Akira: Bro wake up already. Toma: Don't tell me you're late again. Akira: He's totally late again. Toma: I bet he's dreaming about aliens. Ren: …
He sighed. "Perfect start to the day."
At school.
By the time Ren reached school, the bell had already rung. He jogged through the front gates, shoes half tied, hair sticking in every direction.
"Late again, Ren!" shouted Akira from the courtyard. Ren shot him a look. "You say that like it's new information."
Their laughter echoed through the hallways. Inside the classroom, the usual chaos greeted him — papers fluttering, chatter bouncing off walls, the faint smell of instant noodles from someone's bag.
He slid into his seat, hoping the teacher hadn't noticed.
Then, the door slid open.
"Good morning, everyone."
Mr. Alen stepped inside, his tone gentle but precise. The room fell quiet as she set his books down.
His gaze drifted, almost absently, until it landed on Ren. For just a second, his eyes narrowed, thinking something is wrong with him.
Ren quickly looked away. His expression lingered on him a moment longer before he began class.
The rest of the morning unfolded in its usual rhythm — Akira doodling instead of taking notes, Toma nearly setting a paper on fire during science, laughter and teasing filling the air.
It was normal. Simple. The kind of life Ren always thought he wanted.
But even in that ordinary noise, something in him felt disconnected — like a distant static humming beneath the surface of his thoughts.
Halfway through history, Ren's pen slipped from his hand.
The sunlight through the windows dimmed, colors dulling, outlines bending like heat waves in the air. His hearing faded — replaced by a deep, rhythmic pulse.
And then, the voice again — clearer this time, almost pleading.
"Find… before… light… breaks…"
Ren's vision blurred. The teacher's words warped into static.
"Ren? "Mr. alen's voice snapped the world back into focus.
He blinked — everything normal again. The students were staring. His hand was shaking.
"Are you alright?" he asked softly, concern cutting through the calm in his tone.
"I—yeah. Just dizzy, I guess."
he didn't look convinced. His gaze lingered for another heartbeat — not as a teacher, but as someone remembering. Then he nodded and returned to the board.
Ren sank in his seat, his thoughts racing. That voice again. But it's louder now. Closer.
He forced himself to focus, but the rest of the day felt distant, like he was half awake inside someone else's dream.
After School
Evening light painted the sky orange and violet as Ren walked home, the sound of cicadas echoing faintly through the streets. He passed the convenience store where Akira worked part-time, waved without stopping, and turned down the quieter path that led toward his neighborhood.
His mind was a whirl of thoughts — the dream, the whisper, the look his teacher gave him.
Halfway down the street, a chill crawled up his spine. Someone was watching.
He turned — nothing. Only shadows stretching long beneath the dim streetlights.
He exhaled, shaking it off. "Get it together, Ren. You're just tired."
But as he turned back, far down the road — where the streetlight barely reached — a tall silhouette stood motionless. A faint glow shimmered in the figure's eyes.Then it was gone.
He finally got home
Ren pushed open the door. The familiar warmth of home greeted him — the smell of food, the hum of the ceiling fan.
"Ren!" his mother called from the kitchen. "Your uncle stopped by earlier. Left something for you on the table."
"Uncle?" Ren frowned. "That's random."
He hadn't seen his uncle since yesterday . The man was eccentric — always speaking in riddles about "fractures" and "the true shape of light." Ren had long written it off as harmless weirdness.
On the dining table sat a small black box, neatly tied with a thin red ribbon.
Ren hesitated, then opened it.
Inside lay a pendant — crystalline, irregular in shape, faintly translucent.At first glance, it looked like fractured glass, but as light touched it, faint colors danced within — red, gold, and pale blue swirling together.
A strange warmth spread through Ren's palm. His heartbeat slowed — then quickened.
Thin, luminous lines pulsed beneath his skin, tracing the veins of his wrist for a brief second before fading.
Ren stumbled back, gasping softly.
"What… the hell was that?"
The pendant now lay still, cold again, as if nothing had happened.
He turned it over in his hand — the surface felt alive, vibrating faintly like a heartbeat.
Ren(whispering) "This shape… it feels… familiar."
He didn't know why. But something deep inside him — something buried — stirred at its presence.
At night
The city had fallen silent. Ren sat on his bed, the pendant resting on his desk, its faint light reflecting off the glass window.
He couldn't sleep. Every time he closed his eyes, he felt as though something was waiting for him in the dark — something old, patient, and near.
He stared at the pendant again, muttering to himself, "Why does it feel like it's watching me?"
His phone buzzed — Akira. He ignored it.
Sleep came slowly. The hum of the city faded into a soft void.
And then — he was standing in water. Dark water that stretched infinitely beneath a fractured sky.
A whisper reached him again — softer, sorrowful.
"The first… has found you."
The reflection of his own face rippled across the surface — and for an instant, it wasn't him staring back. It was someone else. Eyes of burning crimson and sorrow.
He gasped, waking in the darkness. His room was quiet, but the pendant still glowed faintly — pulsing like it was breathing.
Ren sat there, clutching his wrist, heart pounding. He didn't notice the faint red mark beginning to form beneath his skin.
coming soon
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