I couldn't stop thinking about the dream.
It made no sense.
Just darkness and that man.
I could still see his face whenever I closed my eyes, his presence.
There had been something wrong with him.
Not physically.
Something deeper.
Something about the way he looked at me.
Like he'd been waiting, watching. Like he knew me.
I sat on the edge of the bed in the recovery room, staring down at my hand.
The ring was still there.
I turned it slowly around my finger.
It looked exactly the same.
Old, simple, unremarkable and yet precious.
My father had given it to me years ago, but I'd never really questioned why.
Until now.
Why had that man looked directly at it?
I needed answers.
I couldn't keep pretending this was nothing.
I got out of bed and left the recovery room.
Henry and Arielle were sitting outside.
Henry looked up when he saw me.
"You're awake."
"Yeah."
Arielle stood.
"How are you feeling?"
"Better."
Henry smiled.
"That tonic worked wonders."
I nodded, but my attention was somewhere else.
"I need to tell you guys something?"
Arielle immediately noticed the change in my expression.
"Sure."
"What happened?" Henry asked
I looked between them.
"I had a dream."
Henry raised an eyebrow.
"What kind of dream?"
I told them.
The darkness. The man. The voice.
The way he'd looked at my hand.
The words he'd repeated.
"Wake up, James."
When I finished, neither of them spoke.
Henry's expression had become unusually serious.
"What?"
He looked at Arielle.
Then back at me.
"Okay not to take away from the dream you had but i've been looking into something."
"What?"
"I didn't want to say anything until I knew whether there was actually something there."
"Something about what?"
Henry lowered his voice.
"The academy."
My stomach tightened.
"What about it?"
"I went down a rabbit hole. I have a few contacts outside the academy. People who know things they probably shouldn't."
Arielle folded her arms.
"And?"
Henry looked at me.
"There are rumors about a program."
"What kind of program?"
"One that supposedly makes humans stronger."
I frowned.
"Stronger?"
"Faster. Stronger. More resilient."
My mind immediately went back to Dennis.
Henry continued.
"Nobody knows exactly how it works."
"Then how do you know it exists?"
"Because people are dying."
Silence.
"What?"
"Students."
Henry's voice became quieter.
"Students have been disappearing. Some of them die during what the academy calls accidents."
Arielle stared at him.
"You're serious?"
"Completely."
"How many?"
"I don't know."
He shook his head.
"That's the problem. Every time someone gets close to finding out, the information disappears."
I stared at him.
"Why would the academy cover up something like that?"
Henry looked at me.
"Because whatever they're doing isn't safe."
Arielle couldn't believe, she curiously asked.
"You said the program makes people stronger."
"That's what the rumors say."
"And the people who die?"
Henry nodded.
"They don't survive the process."
I thought about Dennis.
His Qi.
The way it had changed.
The way he'd gotten stronger the longer he fought.
"Do you think Dennis…"
Henry didn't answer immediately.
"I don't know."
Then—
Something changed.
The air became heavy.
A strange pressure settled over the corridor.
Arielle stopped speaking.
Henry was the first to notice it, he became pale and slowly turned his head.
"What is that?"
I didn't know.
At first, I couldn't see anything.
Then I noticed it.
A darkness.
Not darkness in the ordinary sense.
It was more like a shadow had been separated from whatever had cast it.
It stood at the end of the corridor.
Motionless.
Watching us.
I couldn't make out a face.
Or a body.
Just an unnatural darkness.
Arielle's breathing stopped.
Henry froze.
Literally.
Neither of them moved.
I looked at them.
"Henry?"
Nothing.
"Arielle?"
Nothing.
Their eyes were open.
They were conscious.
But they couldn't move.
Then I realized something.
They weren't afraid.
They were trapped.
My heart began pounding.
The shadow shifted.
Slowly.
It seemed to notice me.
Then my ring became warm.
I looked down.
The warmth increased.
Before I could understand what was happening—
The shadow disappeared.
A split second later, something grabbed my throat.
My feet left the ground.
The world blurred.
The figure had crossed the entire distance between us in an instant.
Its hand tightened around my neck.
I couldn't breathe.
Then its head tilted.
It looked at my hand.
At the ring.
And suddenly—
I heard the voice.
The same voice from my dream.
Only this time, it wasn't distant.
It was inside my head.
Clear.
Firm.
Urgent.
Take the ring off.
I stared at my hand.
Why?
I didn't know.
But Henry and Arielle were still frozen.
Whatever this thing was, they were in danger.
I pulled at the ring.
It came off.
Nothing happened.
The figure stared at me.
For a second, neither of us moved.
Then its fist slammed into my face.
Everything disappeared.
I flew through the wall.