The Midnight Echo
Before Kael could sever the connection, the shadows on his bedroom wall violently detached themselves from the plaster. They rose into towering, suffocating figures, blocking out what little light remained. Behind him, a sharp click echoed through the room—the door had locked itself from the outside.
One of the shadows detached from the mass, gliding silently across the floor straight toward Kael.
"Wait! Is this a dream?!" Kael shouted, snapping his eyes open and bolting upright in bed.
The shadows were gone, but the air remained freezing. Then, a creepy, distorted woman's voice echoed through the empty bedroom:
"Dear… I am waiting."
Kael gulped, his throat tight with panic. "W-who are you?"
Receiving no answer, he desperately tried to contact Sara in his mind. 'Sara! Do you know something? What's happening?'
Silence stretched for a terrifying moment before Sara's voice finally cut through. 'Something is off… I recognize that sound, Kael, but it's too creepy. It feels wrong.'
'Can I sense anything from far away?' Kael asked internally, closing his eyes tightly.
'Yes,' Sara replied.
When Kael snapped his eyes open, his usual appearance gave way as his eyes flared a sparkly, brilliant golden before shifting into a piercing, vivid green. He scanned the room wildly, his enhanced vision catching sight of something hidden in the dark—something he instantly wished he hadn't seen.
The sheer shock of the vision overwhelmed him. Kael collapsed back onto his bed, consciousness slipping away as Sara's frantic voice continuously echoed in his mind.
The Altered Reality
When Kael woke up the next morning, the sun was shining normally. There were no shadow figures, no suffocating auras. He let out a massive sigh of relief, feeling as though his biggest fear had finally vanished.
Suddenly, Sara's voice echoed sharply in his mind. 'Kael… something is still very wrong. Look at that building.'
Kael froze. He realized he wasn't in his bed anymore; he was already standing outside, completely stunned.
Towering before him, a modern skyscraper had been completely transformed into an ancient, dark monument. A suffocatingly heavy aura radiated from the stone, yet crowds of regular people were gathered around it, completely oblivious to the danger, recording videos on their phones. The bizarre phenomenon was already spreading across social media like a wildfire in a dry forest.
Kael checked his watch, his eyes widening. "Oh… no!"
He sprinted toward his school, but when he arrived, he skidded to a halt. The entire architectural structure of the school had fully changed overnight into something foreign and gothic.
Nearby, a student was whispering frantically to another. "Do you even remember what we did yesterday? It's like a blank."
"Right?!" the second student replied. "We have no idea. And the real question is—when the hell did our school even look like this?"
Kael tore his gaze away from them as he spotted Renjiro walking up, with Azune closely following behind.
Kael pointed a trembling finger toward the mutated school building. "See that…?"
Both of them stared, completely dumbfounded. "What is this?" Renjiro breathed.
Azune frowned, her voice laced with disbelief. "Did these changes seriously happen in just a single day?"
"It wasn't even like this yes—"
Before Renjiro could finish his sentence, Kael clamped a hand tightly over his friend's mouth, giving him a sharp, warning look to stay silent. Renjiro hunched his shoulders, giving Kael a confused, questioning look that clearly asked, 'Why?'
Kael grabbed Renjiro by the arm, pulling him into a secluded corner out of earshot. "Listen to me… they all have no memory of yesterday's incident."
Renjiro blinked, then smirked and murmured under his breath, "Hmm… just like you don't know about the Eclipse of the Erased."
"Hmm?" Kael asked, catching the strange phrase.
Renjiro just pushed him back playfully, brushing it off. "Alright, forget it."
The Summoning Letter
Kael looked back at Azune, and the three of them walked into the school together.
As they crossed the courtyard, the illusion of a girl's image appeared at the very edge of the roof. Her long hair waved gracefully in the chilling winter air. Looking straight down at him, she whispered into the wind:
"Kael Redgrave… I have been waiting for you since this summer."
Sitting at his desk moments later, the reality of it all hit him. "What?!" Kael gasped aloud, instantly slamming his hands over his mouth as the whole class turned to look at him.
Blushing, Kael rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Ah… I am so sorry, teacher…"
On his desk lay a plain white envelope. He opened it with trembling fingers. The letter read:
Hello, Kael Redgrave…
I managed to find your name in the attendance books. Your surname is quite chilling. I like it.
You should come to the park on December 25th at 7 o'clock.
To my dearest friend…
From, The Demon Lord.
Kael gulped, a chill running down his spine. He immediately crumbled the letter into a tight ball and threw it into the classroom dustbin.
Just then, the teacher walked up to the podium, shivering slightly. "Good morning, children. It is exceptionally cold today."
"Yes, ma'am," the students chorused.
Class began, and the rest of the day proceeded with eerie normalcy, completely ignoring the monstrous architecture of the school around them.
An Unexpected Guest
"Today was entirely too exhausting," Kael muttered to himself, finally stepping off his school van.
But when he reached his front door, his breath hitched. Standing there was a girl who looked exactly his age.
"Hi," she said, tilting her head with a mysterious smile. Her long, crimson hair moved smoothly over her shoulders. "I am Nyxara Virelith. You can call me Nyx."
Kael blinked in confusion, trying to be polite. "Uh, hi. What are you doing here?"
"Am I not allowed to come to the house of my friend?" she asked, stepping closer. As she stood before him, a dangerous spark flickered in her deep crimson eyes. "I simply wanted to visit an old friend."
Kael let out a heavy sigh, too tired to argue. "Ah… I'm too exhausted for this."
He unlocked the door and let her inside. Dropping his heavy schoolbag onto a chair, he immediately turned on the television to clear his mind.
A breaking news report flashed onto the screen. "...This world is proving to be full of unexplained wonders. In our city alone, two strange, ancient buildings have inexplicably appeared overnight—"
Kael's eyes snapped toward Nyx. She was sitting on the couch, staring at the screen with a knowing, serene smile. Kael narrowed his eyes, focusing intensely back and forth between the TV and her face.
Before he could question her, the front door clicked open.
"I'm home!" Elara, Kael's mother, called out cheerfully.
Kael quickly ran to the entryway to greet her. "Hi, Mom! Um, I actually have a friend over today. This is Nyx."
Nyx stood up politely, offering a graceful greeting before settling back onto the sofa.
Elara slightly tilted her neck, her eyes tracking the crimson-haired girl with a deeply puzzled expression. She frowned softly and whispered to Kael, "She… looks incredibly familiar."