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Daniel's POV
I stared at the keys.
Then the vial.
Then the keys again.
Silence.
…
"Okay."
I leaned in a little closer.
As if the objects were suddenly going to decide to cooperate.
Spoiler: they didn't.
I sighed.
"Think, Daniel."
The keys weren't magnetic.
Not mechanical either.
Not ordinary.
And this vial…
I rolled it gently between my fingers.
Verbena.
Mom had injected that into my sister while she was convulsing.
And the weirdest part…
It didn't have a medical label like the other meds she brought home.
On top of that, she'd tried to hide it.
Why hide a simple sedative?
I frowned.
Then an idea crossed my mind.
If this vial was important…
I couldn't afford to break it.
I stood up, grabbed a small container from my desk, and started pouring the liquid into it.
Except—
"Shit!"
The glass slipped slightly.
I cut my finger.
Not deeply.
But enough for a few drops of blood to fall onto the desk.
Fantastic.
I finished pouring the verbena into the container with a grimace.
While I searched for something to clean my hand, my elbow bumped the desk.
One of the keys slid.
Clinked against the wood.
And stopped…
In a mixture of blood and verbena.
I barely paid attention to it.
I rummaged through my drawer.
"I had lotus leaves somewhere…"
That's when I felt the desk vibrate.
Very slightly.
Like a phone on silent mode.
I froze.
My eyes swept across the desk.
Nothing.
Then my gaze landed on the key.
The one that had touched the blood.
And the verbena.
It was vibrating.
I slowly straightened up.
"… No."
The key moved a millimeter.
I leaned closer.
Closer still.
And for one entire second…
Nothing happened.
I exhaled through my nose.
"Okay, Daniel. You're getting paranoid."
I finally grabbed something to wipe my cut.
And that's when I saw it.
A light.
Golden.
Faint.
Coming from the key.
I blinked.
The light pulsed.
Stronger.
The engraved circle lit up as if something had just activated.
My brain took two full seconds to catch up with what my eyes were seeing.
"… holy fucking shit."
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---
POV
I woke up with a jolt.
As if something had shaken me from the inside.
My breathing was too fast.
The room was dark.
But not completely.
A golden glow was slipping beneath the door.
I slowly sat up.
And my heart skipped a beat.
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