After dinner, everyone went to their own rooms, including me.
After locking my door from the inside, I went to the cupboard and removed the lower cabinet panel to reveal a coiled rope hidden behind it.
Don't ask me why I have it. Teenage shenanigans.
Anyway, I went to the window and tied one end to the railing. It felt solid enough — it had been a while since I'd done this, but the knot held. I carefully climbed down, hand over hand, and slipped away into the dark toward my hiding spot.
It took me about fifteen minutes to get there on foot.
When I arrived, the place looked empty at first. I clicked on my flashlight and flashed morse code into the darkness.
1 — 2 — 2 — 1
A beat of silence. Then from somewhere ahead, light blinked back.
2 — 1 — 1 — 2
Shane stepped into view from the direction of the signal, and we both made our way inside — slipping through a side entrance into a room we'd claimed a long time ago. I pulled the door shut and flicked on the lamp.
The light filled the room warmly. Bean bags, snack packets, a folding table with a map and some notes spread across it. It smelled like chips and dust. Comfortable, in its own way.
Shane dropped onto one of the bean bags and looked at me.
"So. Talk."
I sat down across from him and said, "How much do you already know? I'll pick up from there."
"The mayor got arrested on corruption charges. He's going to be behind bars for a long time."
I narrowed my eyes at that.
So even the real story was being kept from the public. Which meant they had a grip on both the media and the local government. Tighter than I thought.
"The arrest wasn't for corruption," I said. "The mayor was working with a vampire. Helping him sacrifice people from this town. The ritual would've made the vampire significantly more powerful."
Shane stared at me for a long moment like I'd just grown a second head.
"It's never boring with you, is it?"
"You tell me. And just so you know — demons, angels, dragons, werewolves — all of it's real."
He put a hand over his chest. "At least warn me before you drop something like that."
I snickered.
"I only came to catch you up and check on you," I said. "I need to make a call and meet someone, so I can't stay long."
The second I finished that sentence, Shane looked at me like I'd personally betrayed him.
"How could you do this to me, man?"
"What?"
"We agreed. We said we'd be alone together forever, side by side, into the sunset — and now you're meeting someone and you didn't even tell me—"
I was not amused.
"Cut it out. It's demon-related, so I have to meet her. There's nothing romantic about it."
He gave me a long, disappointed look.
"Seriously? A female interaction and it's about demons? Would it kill you to just... be normal for once? Get a girlfriend or something? Are you still—"
I stood up.
"I'll text you after the meeting."
Shane watched me go, and I heard him sigh quietly behind me.
"Still hasn't let it go... this guy..."
(Kray's P.O.V.)
That sentence sat in my head the whole walk over. Twice in one day, and from two different people. I pushed it aside and called Alice.
Ring... ring...
"So you finally called."
"Yeah. I needed to sort a few things out and figure out what story to give my parents. I also have some questions that need answers — where can we meet?"
"Right now?"
"I figured you'd be free at night, like last time. That's why."
Silence.
"...Fine. Meet me near the spot where we fought the spectres."
"Okay. See you there."
I made it to the location in about twenty minutes on foot. Alice was already there, standing under a streetlight with her arms crossed.
"Sorry — did you wait long? I had to come on foot."
"It's fine," she said flatly. "It's not like you called me out in the middle of the night or anything."
Ah. That's why she's grumpy.
"Sorry."
She exhaled. "Apology accepted. What did you want to know?"
I nodded and started going through my questions one by one. She answered each of them calmly and without making me feel like an idiot for asking, which I appreciated more than I let on.
After a while, once I'd gotten everything I needed, she reached into her jacket and held out a card and a folded piece of paper.
"...For further advancement knowledge of core i am not authorized to share it with you.I'm heading back to the academy tomorrow. That's a contact card — if you ever want to learn more about the supernatural world, reach out. You've got real talent, Kray. You could become a great hunter."
We talked a little more after that. Then she said her goodbyes, pulled on her helmet, and rode off into the dark on her bike.
I watched the tail light disappear, then turned and walked back home.
I climbed back up the rope, pulled it in through the window, and tucked it away behind the cabinet panel. Washed my face. Changed nothing else. Just fell into bed and let the exhaustion pull me under.
And the moment I drifted off—
"Well. Look who came back."
I didn't even need to open my eyes. I just sighed.
"Couldn't you have let me rest?"
"I didn't bring you here," Draken said, his tone unbothered. "You relax your mind and come here on your own. If you don't want to end up here, don't think about this place."
I shook my head and sat up in the white, formless space that passed for my mind space.
"Anyway — here's what I learned about the human power system."
I walked him through everything Alice had told me. He listened without interrupting, which for Draken meant he was actually paying attention.
"So that's how humans channel mana," I finished. "They form a contract with an elemental spirit — one that matches their natural affinity — and the spirit assists with core formation. Instead of the human forcing the process through intent alone, the spirit acts as a guide. It reduces the risk and increases the purity of the mana in the core."
Draken went quiet.
I already knew what he was thinking.
"There's a chance it'll clash with the demon system," I said.
"Yes." He floated down slightly, like the thought was weighing even on him. "Spirits don't form contracts with demons. They never have. Our kind earned their hatred a long time ago, and they haven't forgotten."
I turned it over in my head, staring at the blank white ground. There had to be a way around it. There always was.
Then my eyes landed on Draken, and something clicked.
"Hey — Draken. Wouldn't you technically count as a spirit?"
He blinked his fireball eyes at me slowly. "What are you talking about? A spirit is a pure elemental being — a soul entity. They need to feel a genuine connection to the person they bond with. An attraction, almost. You can't just—"
He stopped mid-sentence.
His eyes went wide.
I smiled at him.
A beat of silence — and then we both started laughing.
"Not bad, kid," he said, shaking his head with what might have been pride. "Not bad at all. Since I'm already linked to you, the affinity issue doesn't exist. And there's no risk of backlash." He paused, then added, "You know, for a half-demon kid sneaking out of his house with a rope, you're not completely useless."
"Thanks. Really touching.also maybe i shouldn't have told you how i got out of house"
But then I frowned.
"One thing I can't figure out — how did you even become a spirit? Spirits are supposed to be pure. You were a demon. You said so yourself."
Draken was quiet for a moment. "Honestly? I don't know. I wasn't the worst demon that ever lived, but I was no saint either. It shouldn't have happened." He paused. "Maybe there's more to it. Or maybe the universe just decided to be convenient for once."
"It feels a little too convenient for my taste," I muttered. "But I don't have another option. I can't stay this weak. Not with everything that's coming."
Draken nodded, looking at me steadily.
"Then let's do this properly. Before we move forward with the contract, I won't be able to guide you in the real world — so we're going over the entire process again tonight. Every step. Every detail. Nothing left to chance."
"Agreed."
We spent the rest of the time going over it — step by step, question by question, until I could run through the whole process without hesitation. When I was finally satisfied, I told him my plan: wait until tomorrow noon, when the house would be empty, and do it then.
He approved.
I said goodnight to whatever version of goodnight you say to a spirit-demon living somewhere in your subconscious, and with a sharp jerk — the kind that always came with leaving this place — I opened my eyes.
I was on my bed. Staring up at the ceiling. Same clothes, same position. I didn't bother moving.
I went back to sleep
Tomorrow was going to be the biggest day of my life.
Tomorrow, I start my journey.
________________________________________
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