Matthew and I stopped in front of the counter.
Behind it stood Raven.
The giant bartender glanced up from cleaning a glass.
A smirk immediately appeared beneath his beard.
"Look who finally decided to show up."
"We've been here for almost an hour."
"Exactly."
Raven nodded seriously.
"Late."
Matthew rolled his eyes.
I laughed.
"What do you boys want?"
I looked toward the rows of bottles behind him.
There were dozens.
Maybe hundreds.
I had no idea what half of them were.
Matthew noticed my hesitation.
"Whiskey?"
"Hm."
"Gin?"
"No."
"Vodka?"
"No."
"Scotch?"
"That."
Raven nodded.
"Good choice."
A few moments later, he placed three bottles on the counter.
Five glasses followed.
Matthew ordered food while I paid.
Before we could leave, Raven suddenly bent down.
When he stood again, another bottle rested in his hand.
It looked older than the others.
The glass was dark.
The label had nearly faded.
Raven placed it on the counter.
"This one's special."
Matthew raised an eyebrow.
"Special how?"
Raven shrugged.
"Old.
"Expensive?"
"Very."
I immediately pushed it back toward him.
Raven pushed it back toward me.
"From the house."
I opened my mouth.
He pointed toward the table.
"Go celebrate your birthday."
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then I smiled.
"Thanks, Raven."
The bartender simply waved us away.
"Get out of here before I change my mind."
When we returned, the others immediately attacked the tray.
"Finally!"
"Took you long enough."
"Did you two get lost?"
"Maybe."
Dak grabbed a bottle.
"That's concerning."
Laughter filled the table.
For a while, everything felt normal.
Comfortable.
The way it always had.
The conversation drifted naturally from one topic to another.
School.
Teachers.
Old memories.
Future plans.
Eventually Ozias leaned forward.
"What are you guys planning to do now?"
Matthew answered first.
"I want to keep drawing."
Nobody looked surprised.
Matthew had always been talented.
He could sketch almost anything.
"Tattoo artist?"
Dak asked.
Matthew shrugged.
"Maybe."
Ozias nodded.
"That suits you."
"What about you?" Matthew asked him.
Ozias stared into his glass.
"I honestly don't know."
"That's depressing."
"Thank you, Dak."
"I try."
Kael smirked.
The conversation continued.
Eventually their eyes landed on me.
Dak pointed.
"What about Zeven?"
"What about me?"
"You never talk about the future."
I thought about it.
Then shrugged.
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"No."
Dak stared.
Matthew stared.
Ozias stared.
Even Kael stared.
I laughed.
"What?"
"You're weird."
"Thanks."
"No problem."
The table erupted into laughter once more.
Eventually someone suggested pool.
Nobody remembered who.
Five minutes later we were already standing around the table.
Competition immediately replaced friendship.
As always.
"I'll destroy you."
Kael pointed the cue toward me.
"You say that every time."
"One day it'll be true."
"It won't."
Matthew stepped beside me.
"Don't worry."
"I'll carry you."
"That's offensive."
"It's accurate."
The game began.
The next thirty minutes disappeared in laughter, arguments, cheating accusations and terrible shots.
Mostly from Dak.
"That counted."
"It didn't."
"It spiritually counted."
Eventually the game ended.
For once.
My team won.
Kael looked personally offended.
I enjoyed every second of it.
Then my phone vibrated.
I pulled it out.
Mom.
A smile immediately appeared on my face.
"Hello?"
"Happy birthday."
Her voice instantly made me feel ten years younger.
"Thanks."
"I love you."
"I love you too."
The conversation continued for several minutes.
Simple.
Warm.
Comfortable.
Before hanging up she mentioned something waiting for me back home.
A gift.
Now I was curious.
When the call ended, I returned to the group.
The celebration continued.
More stories.
More laughter.
More drinks.
Outside, rain slowly began to fall.
The droplets tapped softly against the windows.
Thunder rumbled somewhere in the distance.
Eventually I stood.
"Bathroom."
Nobody paid much attention.
I walked toward the back of Raven's.
The music became quieter with every step.
The hallway was empty.
The bathroom even more so.
Only the sound of running water greeted me.
After finishing, I stepped toward the sink.
Turned on the faucet.
Cold water splashed against my face.
For a moment, I simply stood there.
Enjoying the silence.
Then I looked up.
And froze.
The person staring back wasn't me.
My eyes were gone.
No sapphire blue.
No white.
Nothing.
Only darkness.
Endless.
Bottomless.
Black.
My heart stopped.
A cold sensation rushed through my entire body.
I stumbled backward.
The world tilted.
My legs nearly gave out beneath me.
"What..."
The word barely escaped my lips.
I blinked.
The reflection remained.
Watching.
Waiting.
Something about those eyes felt wrong.
Inhuman.
Ancient.
Hungry.
Then suddenly...
They vanished.
Blue eyes stared back at me.
Normal.
Completely normal.
Silence filled the bathroom.
I stared at the mirror.
The mirror stared back.
My breathing became heavier.
Faster.
"What the hell was that?"
No answer came.
Only rain against the windows.
Only thunder beyond the city.
Slowly, I gripped the sink.
Trying to steady myself.
Trying to convince myself I imagined it.
Yet deep down...
I knew I hadn't.
And somehow...
That terrified me less than it should have.
A small part of me wanted to see them again.
Outside, another rumble of thunder echoed across Stonehaven.
And for the first time in eighteen years...
Zeven felt that something was watching him.
The rain continued falling outside.
By the time I returned from the bathroom, the game had already ended.
Dak was arguing with Ozias.
Kael was laughing.
Matthew wasn't.
The moment I sat down, his eyes landed on me.
I ignored it.
Or at least I tried to.
"What took you so long?" Dak asked.
"I got lost."
"You got lost in a bathroom?"
"Maybe."
"That's impressive."
Normally everyone would have laughed.
Normally I would've laughed too.
This time I didn't.
And Matthew noticed.
Of course he did.
The conversation continued.
Food arrived.
The whiskey disappeared little by little.
Stories were exchanged.
Laughter filled Raven's once more.
Yet something felt wrong.
Every few minutes I found myself touching my face.
My eyes.
Making sure they were still normal.
Making sure I wasn't losing my mind.
Matthew saw everything.
He didn't say a word.
Not yet.
An hour later I stood up to grab another drink.
Matthew stood too.
"Come help me."
I looked at him.
"You have two functioning legs."
"Just come."
That was enough.
I followed him.
The moment we were out of earshot, Matthew stopped.
"What happened?"
I sighed.
"Nothing."
"Bullshit."
"Matthew."
"Zeven."
We stared at each other.
Neither moving.
Neither speaking.
Then another voice joined us.
"What happened?"
Kael.
Of course.
He had followed us.
Matthew crossed his arms.
"Something happened while he was in the bathroom."
Kael looked at me.
Then narrowed his eyes.
Only now did I realize what he was staring at.
My hair.
I had retied it differently.
The old elastic was gone.
"You look like shit."
"Thanks."
"Not a compliment."
I sighed again.
The second sigh in less than a minute.
Neither missed it.
Great.
"What happened?" Kael repeated.
I looked toward the table.
Dak and Ozias were busy arguing.
Good.
No need to drag them into this.
At least not yet.
I sat down on one of the empty sofas.
Matthew and Kael sat across from me.
Waiting.
The two people who knew me best.
The two people most likely to notice when something was wrong.
And unfortunately...
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
I rubbed my face.
Trying to figure out how to explain something that I barely understood myself.
Finally, I spoke.
"When I went to the bathroom..."
The words felt ridiculous already.
"I looked into the mirror."
Matthew remained silent.
Kael frowned.
"And?"
I swallowed.
"My eyes changed."
Silence.
A long silence.
Then Kael blinked.
"What?"
"My eyes."
I pointed toward them.
"They turned black."
Neither laughed.
Neither made a joke.
That surprised me.
"I don't mean dark blue."
I shook my head.
"I mean black."
"Completely black."
"No white."
"No color."
"Nothing."
The memory sent a chill down my spine.
"It looked like an abyss."
The rain hammered against the windows.
Thunder rolled somewhere in the distance.
For a few moments, nobody spoke.
Then Kael leaned back.
"How much did you drink?"
I immediately threw a napkin at him.
His serious expression cracked.
"Fair question."
"It was one glass."
"Two."
"One and a half."
"Two."
Matthew ignored us.
His gaze remained fixed on me.
Thinking.
Analyzing.
Searching for something.
Eventually he asked:
"Has anything like this happened before?"
The question hit harder than expected.
Because the answer should have been simple.
No.
Yet for some reason...
I wasn't completely sure.
A strange feeling settled in my chest.
A feeling that had been growing all evening.
Like something was waiting.
Watching.
Sleeping just beneath the surface.
Waiting for the right moment to wake up.
I looked away.
Toward the rain-covered window.
Toward the darkness outside.
And for the first time in my life...
I felt afraid of my own reflection.