One last note.
I apologize if the chapter feels confusing or hard to follow—this is just a test translation.
Thank you so much in advance!
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> "I never wanted to be cruel. I just wanted to be enough for someone who never was."
Logan Marrows.
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Chapter 1 – Origin.
I suppose dying was never part of the plan.
But falling in love with her wasn't either…
And yet, here I was.
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> Forks.
The rain falls over the leaves of the trees, hits the stone pavement of the town, and the lights of the bars reflect on the puddles and wet stones. Loud music deafens everything around, becoming clearer with every step. There, leaving a bar, a young man opens the door — and as he does, the music escapes, decorating the depressive atmosphere.
He is Logan Marrows. Beside him is his best friend, Riley Bears. His best friend. Both university students, full of dreams… Riley walks him to the door of the bar. Logan prepares his umbrella to face the rain before saying goodbye to him.
Riley stays under the bar's awning, lighting a cigarette while watching Logan open the umbrella.
—Are you sure you don't want me to walk you home? —he asked—. It's raining hard.
Logan smiled slightly, that tired smile he always used when he didn't want to worry anyone.
He was always… like that.
—Relax. I don't live far. Besides, someone has to get home sober tonight.
Riley let out a low laugh.
—Liar. You're the most responsible guy I know… and that scares me.
Logan glanced at him.
—Scares you how?
—That one day you'll forget to think about yourself —he replied honestly—. You're always taking care of everyone else.
Logan hesitated for a second before answering.
—Someone has to do it.
Riley stepped closer and placed a hand on his shoulder.
—Alright… just text me when you get home, okay?
Logan nodded.
—Always.
They looked at each other for another moment. It wasn't uncomfortable. It was… familiar.
—See you tomorrow —Riley said.
—See you —Logan replied, and started walking into the rain.
---
> Streets.
Logan kept walking, disappearing into the deserted night, following his usual path to his apartment. Until… a shadow passed beside him.
The sound of the rain stopped.
The air pressure thickened.
A shiver ran through his body.
The shadow passed in front of him again. It moved too fast.
It wasn't human. It was almost supernatural. Logan stopped.
—Should I try to see what that was?—
Nerves struck his body.
A tremor began running through his legs. His throat was dry.
He couldn't speak…
He tried to speed up. Turned into a neighbor's street. But it was already too late.
A shadow jumped on him with animal agility. It blended with the darkness of the night, as if it had always been there… waiting for him.
It threw him to the ground. Up until that moment, Logan only felt a heat growing inside his body, and a knot twisting his stomach.
With the strength he had left, he screamed.
—Who's there?! —his voice broke— Who are you?!
Everything fell into silence.
There was no answer.
Only… fear.
Logan ran desperately through the shadowy streets. In the distance, he could see his apartment… From several blocks away, he spotted the security guard sitting behind the glass.
Happiness flooded his body. The bad moment would soon be over.
But then— a hand grabbed his neck from behind, dragging him back into the shadows.
Terrified, he tried to get up, but his body didn't fully respond.
—Let me go! Why are you chasing me?! —he shouted into the darkness.
No answers.
He ran through the alleyways as best as he could, where he had fallen before, but his legs failed him. Every step ended in another stumble.
He stopped.
A wall blocked his path. There was no exit.
He slowly looked back.
His heart pounded violently in his chest. His body felt cold. Very cold.
The air moved.
It wasn't a sound.
It wasn't a step.
It was the feeling that something was already behind him.
Logan barely managed to turn his head when a brutal force slammed him against the wall. The impact knocked the air out of his lungs. The world turned white for a second, then black.
He fell to his knees.
He tried to stand, but something grabbed his shoulder and threw him to the ground as if he weighed nothing. The asphalt was cold. Wet. His face hit it, and the metallic taste of blood filled his mouth.
—P-please… —he managed to say, his voice broken.
He didn't see her face.
He couldn't.
He only perceived movement. Too fast. Inhuman.
A presence that appeared and disappeared, surrounding him, watching him… playing.
Then it happened.
A pain pierced his neck.
It wasn't immediate.
It was explosive.
Something broke through his skin, and in the next instant, a burning liquid began to spread through his veins. Logan screamed. A torn, animal scream that vanished into the empty alleys.
The venom burned.
Not like fire.
Like acid.
Like something was tearing him apart from the inside.
He writhed on the ground, clawing at the asphalt, searching for air, for help, for Riley, for anything that wasn't that impossible pain.
—It hurts…! —he sobbed— Please… stop!
But there was no mercy.
The pressure on his neck lasted one second longer… and then vanished.
Logan was left alone.
Trembling.
Convulsing.
The venom advanced. It climbed up his throat, exploded in his chest, burned every thought, every memory, every part of who he had been.
His heart pounded violently…
and then it began to fail.
Tears mixed with the rain.
He thought about his friend.
About his life.
About everything he never said.
The cold wrapped around him.
And as darkness claimed him, a horrible thought crossed his mind, clearer than anything before:
This is not a death.
It's something worse.
His final scream drowned in the night.
And his humanity…
began to die.
And while his body was left behind, the world kept turning.
---
The next morning, Forks woke up under the same persistent rain.
The streets were calm. Too calm.
On the local radio, the announcer's voice sounded neutral, almost bored, while listing minor news: the weather, road conditions, a small accident on the outskirts of town.
Then he paused.
—In other news —he continued—, authorities have reported the disappearance of a young university student identified as Logan Marrows, twenty-one years old.
The sound of a paper being adjusted.
—According to the police report, he was last seen the previous night leaving a downtown bar. Witnesses state he was walking alone in the rain. No signs of violence were found in the area.
A brief silence.
—Police ask anyone with information to contact the local station.
The broadcast continued.
Rain tapped against the windows of the buildings. Life went on.
Somewhere, far away from that calm voice, the body of Logan Marrows lay motionless, while something new and dark finished forming inside him.
To Forks, he was just another name. Another disappearance. Another mystery without answers.
To the world…
Logan Marrows had ceased to exist.
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To be continued…