As the car's wipers cut through the rain, Shino's eyes weren't fixed on the road ahead. When the headlights scattered across the wet tar, the reflections kept shifting into unfamiliar shapes, and something about them held her attention. Each time the light slid away, for a brief moment, it looked like a human figure standing still, or perhaps walking, impossible to tell. A shadow. She blinked. The road returned to normal. The wipers moved again. The rain grew heavier. Inside the car, silence thickened, broken only by Nancy's breathing slightly faster, slightly louder, the breath of someone trying to hide fear.
"Are you sure we should be coming here?"
Nancy asked. Her voice projected courage, but the way her fingers were clasped together told another story they had turned pale. Nancy's face was always like an open book: large eyes, a slightly curved nose, and a constant trace of worry shadowing her lips. Rainwater clung to her softly curled hair; the girl who usually spoke with ease now chose her words carefully.
Shino didn't reply. Her hands on the steering wheel were steady long fingers, nails cut short, hands that hadn't quite let go of an investigator's habits. Her face was more muted than Nancy's; not the kind easily called beautiful, but her eyes carried constant alertness dark, deep, trained to observe many things at once. Her black hair fell in loose waves over her shoulders; rain pinned a few strands to her forehead, and she didn't bother brushing them away.
"If we don't come," Shino finally said
"it will follow us."
Nancy didn't question her. She lowered her head. She knew this side of Shino well no explanations, only firm decisions.When they reached the dock area, the sound of the rain changed. In the open space, the wind struck harder, wet cargo containers colliding and producing hollow echoes. Blue and red police lights shattered against the rain; caution tape trembled in the wind. Faces shifted under those lights exhaustion, curiosity, and in some, an unsettling stillness. When Shino stepped out of the car, her shoes made a sticky sound against the soaked ground. She scanned the area, her body leaning slightly forward the posture of someone always calculating escape routes. Nancy followed, clutching her coat tightly.
"The cold here feels different,"
Nancy said. Shino knew she wasn't talking about the weather.
As they neared the tape, an officer raised his hand,
"You can't" , Before he could finish, Shino's gaze slipped past him and into the cordoned area. She had long lost the habit of asking permission. She lifted the tape and stepped inside. Nancy hesitated, then followed.The air inside was heavy rain's dampness, the salt of sea wind, and beneath it something else… a human scent. The body wasn't fully visible; it was covered with cloth. But even before seeing it, Shino knew something was wrong. There was too little blood on the ground. Unnaturally little. Around it were circular marks not footprints, not drag marks. Someone had stood here for a long time.
"This… isn't normal,",,Nancy whispered. Her voice nearly dissolved into the wind.
Shino crouched and touched the wet concrete with her fingers. Cold. Then a shiver. For a moment, the room from her dream flashed in her mind. The hollow in her chest. She pulled her hand back sharply.
"Shino?" Nancy looked at her.,,
Shino shook her head. "Nothing."
But inside, she knew nothing was right.
They didn't lift the cloth. They didn't need to. Shino already knew there would be no visible wounds, but something had been taken. She closed her eyes. The sound of rain faded away. In its place came a strangled breath. A woman's breath.
"You don't need this."
Nancy suddenly stepped back,,
"Shino… behind you…" Her voice broke.she turned There was no one there.
But Nancy's eyes were locked onto empty space as if she were staring directly at a person.
"There's someone here…"Nancy said, then fell silent.
The wind surged. A cargo container shifted and slammed loudly against the ground. Everyone turned. In that instant, a breath brushed close to Shino's ear. Too close, She turned,Nothing.
But a cold surged through her body, head to toe. In her mirror-bright eyes flashed something for a fraction of a second not anger, not fear, but pure vigilance. She grabbed Nancy's hand. Tight. Nancy trembled, but the contact steadied her.
"We're leaving," Her voice was low, but it carried command.
As they turned away, the rain suddenly intensified. The police lights seemed to dim. For one fleeting moment so brief it could almost be imagined Shino's shadow on the ground moved in the opposite direction instead of following her.
Nancy saw it,she said nothing,
she couldn't.
As they returned to the car, the same realization settled in both of them: this wasn't the first time. And it wouldn't be the last. Virenhalm was watching them.
Not asleep,Not awake,Waiting....