"N-No, that's not true!" Batis stammered, shrinking under his gaze.
Dong tilted his head, eyes narrowing. "You don't back the gang. You don't share your cash. And how long's it been since you vanished from school again?"
He turned to his boys, who were smirking like they were watching a comedy show.
"Almost three weeks, boss," one chimed in.
"He's slipping," another laughed.
Dong turned back, fake smile wide. "Three weeks is a long time, Batis. You duckin' school to avoid me now? Hmm? You planning on droppin' out of the gang? That why I haven't seen a single coin from you?"
"No, no, Dong—I mean, boss!" Batis gasped. "My mom, she's been sick. I had to look after her. We don't have money for her treatment, i was raising some penny for cure so I couldn't bring you anything. But I swear, I'll start supporting again soon!"
Dong adjusted Batis's collar and patted it down, almost gently.
"Aww… poor aunty's sick? That's real sad."
He leaned in, voice ice-cold.
"But that's not my problem, is it?"
He tilted his head. "Should I let Lardo know you've gone soft? Pretty sure he'd love to make you his obedient little bitch, compared to him I'm being very kind to you."
As soon as Batis heard the name, he dropped to his knees, trembling.
"Please, boss… don't tell Lardo. Please!"
"I'll make it up to you somehow," Batis begged from the ground. "Please… let my mother heal first."
"Oh, okay," Dong said casually, then turned to his boys. "Get poor Batis on his feet, will you?"
Batis smiled nervously, thinking it was over.
But once they lifted him, they dug into his pockets and yanked out a small pouch. Batis reached for it in panic, but one of the thugs held it up like treasure.
"Ohohoho! Boss, look! Thirteen shiny silvers. He was hiding this from you!"
"No, boss, please, not that!" Batis pleaded. "That's for my mother's medicine and food. I don't have anything else. She needs this so much…"
Dong's boot slammed into his chest, knocking him down. The gang piled on, kicking and punching as Batis curled up, coughing. Seeing how they'd never give his money back he begged for himself instead.
"Please! You can keep the money, just stop hitting me! If my mother sees bruises… she'll worry herself sick!"
"Aww," Dong mocked. "Mama's boy, huh? Don't worry, i can care about that. Then how 'bout you pick a spot? I'll hit you there so you won't have visible scars for the worried aunty."
"However you don't get to walk free of punishment if you betrayed our code, so I will have to punish you hard to set an example for others."
Batis sobbed, clutching his stomach. "Just… just hit me there, please…"
Dong cracked his knuckles, but before he could swing, the world glitched. For one second, reality jittered like a broken screen.
Then someone moved past Dong, hitting his shoulder and throwing him off balance, he moved fast and silent.
Dong spun around, eyes blazing. "You arrogant son of a—"
Dong grabbed the guy by the shoulder and yanked him around. "When you hit someone, you better apologi—"
He froze.
It was a student. Same school uniform. Maybe the same age as him, nineteen.
But his appearance didn't belong to a student, his eyes were wrapped in bandages. His hair was long and wild, waving down everywhere and touching the floor. His feet were bare and his nails were black and clawed.
In his hand, he held a glowing orb… a rotating world with lands, oceans, and clouds spinning slowly, like a miniature Earth.
The stranger didn't speak. He simply stared at Dong through his blindfold, then glanced at the hand still resting on his shoulder.
The stranger smiled, revealing rows of sharp teeth like a beast. "You are perfect for being my pet," he said, brushing the hand off casually from his shoulder
"Oye oye… are you seriously going to let this freak call you his pet?!" His gang squealed in defence.
Dong didn't wait for instructions. His fists flew in quick motion, straight toward the stranger's face. "I'm going to mess you up at least bad enough for the rest of your face to have bandages too!!"
"Stop." The stranger commanded
So the whole world stopped and glitched for him and turned red.
Dong's eyes snapped wide, he was frozen in shock. In the dead silence, the only sound was the thunder of his own heartbeat.
Thump.
Thump.
Dong was frozen mid-air, inches from landing the punch, his body obeyed the command, but not his will. Confusion washed over his face like sweat. The walls around him glitched, pixelated, and dissolved, ripping away reality piece by piece, bringing him silence of something much bigger.
He found himself in the cold, suffocating void of outer space.
No sound. No air. Just infinite black.
He clawed for breath as his chest tightened, eyes bulging, panic choking him. Stars drifted far beyond reach. Galaxies spun in mocking stillness. Dust glimmered like frozen fire.
He was alone, small and forgotten.
And all of it, every ounce of terror, every inch of cold came from just the touch of the stranger's aura.
"On your knees," the stranger said his voice flat, cold, and utterly devoid of emotion.
So the reality snapped back, and Dong was instantly bowed before the stranger's feet on the school grounds. He coughed and struggled to breathe, lungs burning. His whole body was trembling, his skin cold and blue. Sweat drenched his face, and he… peed himself.
His goons watched in horror. Their feet didn't need orders they ran without looking back. All except Batis, who remained, watching everything with silent amusement.
"Good, good," the stranger said as he calmly sat down in front of Dong, legs crossed and holding the mini earth in his hand between them.
"Today I'm in a good mood, so I won't kill you. My children have returned after such a long time." He tilted his head with a smile. "What's that thing you humans call it? When a father shows it after their child has accomplished something?"
A moment of silence.
"Oh, right, Pride!" His grin widened. "I'm so proud of their growth."
He leaned forward.
"So I won't kill you, I'll make you my pet instead, do you want to be my pet?"
"Let me call you by your title, what would it be, hmm.. dog?"
"Bu-but… my n-name is Dong…"
"Dog."
"Would you like to be my pet?"
Dong's face twisted in resistance, but something deeper, something buried inside betrayed him. His head nodded slowly, against his will.
Every time the stranger spoke, every time Dong's body obeyed, the glowing Earth in his hand pulsed brighter, like the entire planet, and everyone on it, was his to command.
Suddenly, as soon as dong agreed to be his pet, his fingers snapped and twisted into paws. His ears grew long with fur. His teeth turned sharp. A tail ripped out from his lower back and with that, he was fully transformed into a beast, a dog. Something similar to a Grimhound but smaller and less of a wolf hybrid and more of a common dog.
It drooled. It wagged its tail, but it's eyes teared down.
The stranger exhaled deeply, he was satisfied.
"My children are important to my plan… but they've been ruined by the worldly connections. And now they're endangered by that meddling Vessel of Light's return."
He looked toward the distance, then back.
"I can't leave these walls. I'm trapped here because of that Light. But if you destroy her anchor to this world, her shrine, she will not reincarnate here again."
"So do that for me dog…" the stranger said with a calm, chilling smile, "and I'll let you live tomorrow too."
The beast, once Dong nodded without question.
Then, with a sudden jolt, it leapt out the window. The glass shattered around him, but he didn't flinch. Within seconds, it was gone, its rapid movements already carrying it deep past the dark and dead woods, vanishing into the darkness like a cursed wind.
Only one sound remained behind.
A long, mournful, twisted howl was heard through the cold and lonely night.
HOOOOOWWWWLLL.
A lone figure clung to the fresh grave just outside the school and she heard that, her arms were wrapped tight around the cold earth as if she could pull her sister back from it. Everyone else had gone. Only Giselle remained, sobbing softly, whispering hopes that her sister jiselle would wake up soon and go home with her from school like she always did.
Her body was growing pale and blue, her face hollow, her eyes dry and lifeless from all the tears she'd shed.
Everyone had left her.
Except Kowa.
He stood a few steps behind in silence, letting her grieve with no words, no judgment, just the cold night and her broken heart.
Then came the howl.
Long, guttural, and inhuman, it was the howl from before.
Giselle flinched violently and turned, throwing herself into Kowa's arms.
"Wh-What is that?" she whispered, trembling. "I thought all the animals in those woods were gone…"
Kowa gently helped her get on her feet.
"Come on… it's getting late and cold. It's not safe to stay here."
He tried to sound calm, but his eyes kept flicking toward the woods.
Something was wrong.
She shuddered harder, each breeze colder than the last as the ocean below the cliff raged, waves crashing like distant cries.
"I can't go back to my place without her," she whispered, staring at the tiny town on the horizon, barely a smudge of lights. "It won't be the same…"
Her voice trembled. "that house will suffocate me. I'm scared…"
She wept quietly, shoulders shaking.
Kowa lit a cigarette, the soft flicker briefly illuminating his face in the darkness. He exhaled slowly, smoke curling into the cold air.
"How about a friend's place? Or maybe a relative who'll let you in? I'll take you there. Leaving anyone alone out here now… isn't safe."
She looked up at him, so tall, so calm, so gentle and warm in the cold night. Her cheeks flushed as his warmth rushed to her face.
"H-How about… your place?" she asked, almost too softly to hear.
"Please. Don't leave me alone and go, i need you.."
She pressed her head to his chest, clutching his shirt with trembling fingers refusing to let go.
"Well, it's just as you said... I'm a "brothel dog.""
He looked at her sideways, voice low. "You really want people to see you walking with a man of my profession?"
Her cheeks flushed with heat, but she turned her face away in shame. The memories of how cruel she'd been to him gnawed at her, and now, words failed her.
"Y-you hate me, don't you?" she asked, her voice low and trembling. "I must look horrible to you."
"Of course I do." Kowa didn't miss a beat. His eyes locked onto hers, cutting straight into her soul. "You and your sister tormented Randa. You gave her scars she'll carry for life, scars a pure girl like her should never have."
He took a breath, sharp and cold.
"Randa's a good girl… in this twisted, freezing world, she's the only one who makes it feel warm. She looks at me and smiles and it feels like everything is really okay in my life. Like I'm okay." He clenched his jaw. "And you... you even had to poison that?"
"I'll never forget that!" His voice dropped, steady and brutal. "You make me feel sick just being near you, I'm only here because your father was upset and trusted me to be with you."
The words hit her like blades. But Kowa couldn't be that heartless.
He saw her trembling, shivering not just from the cold, but from the weight of everything. Her body was frail, her spirit cracked. She wasn't the girl who once laughed cruelly in the school halls. Not tonight.
She was just a broken sister kneeling in the dark, scared and alone.
Kowa looked away, clenching his fists. His anger, still burning hot, didn't vanish but it simmered beneath the guilt of kicking someone already down.
"…Alright. Come with me," he said, his voice gentler now as he reached out and held her hand.
"Wait," she said softly. "But… you said your place is…"
"That's not the only place I've got, y'know," he cut in, smirking. "Now let's get going. It's a bit of a walk from here."
"You better be able to walk long distances or I'm not carrying you," he said with a crooked grin, teasing her just enough to make her fluster. She stumbled a step before rushing after him, cheeks warm as he led the way.
After a while, Giselle now rested quietly in Kowa's arms, her legs too bruised and exhausted to carry her any further. She blushed, her face tucked into his chest, unable to meet his eyes. Kowa blushed too, but he turned his head, making sure she didn't catch it.
"We're here," he said softly.
Giselle blinked, looking up. Before them lay the other side of town, quiet, forgotten, and wrapped in cold mist. The ocean stretched out endlessly, its waves crashing against the broken shoreline. The fog swirled in ghostly trails, hiding everything except the tall silhouette of a lighthouse far out at sea, its dim eye blinking slowly through the haze.
They stood on what once must've been a port, though calling it that now felt generous. Most of it had sunken under the tide long ago.
"W-wait... you don't mean you live there, do you? At the light house?" Giselle's voice cracked with a tremble as she looked at the distant lighthouse. "I've heard rumors. That place... they say the devil used to live there. Now that he's back, we shouldn't go anywhere near it."
Kowa chuckled at her fear, the wind tugging at his messy hair.
"I made that place mine long ago. If the devil dares intrude, I'll kick his ass right off my property."
"But... how do you even get there?" she asked, eyes scanning the water. "The path's gone. It sank years ago."
Kowa turned toward the ocean, a wild grin spreading across his face. "Oh, it's simple. I swim, so that's how we are getting there." He took a few steps forward with Giselle in his arms who was a bit scared of water.
"Cold water does amazing things to your body," he added. "Plus, swimming this far morning and night? Best full-body workout you'll ever get."
Giselle's heart pounded. She clutched his shirt tighter, panic setting in as his feet neared the edge. "No! No don't! I-I can't swim!"
Then he jumped.
She screamed.
But when she opened her eyes, bracing for the icy plunge, she found herself lying safely on a small wooden boat.
Kowa was already laughing. "Haha! Did I scare you?" He winked. "Relax, I don't drown the ladies I bring over. I've got class, see?"
He tapped the side of the boat as it gently rocked on the waves.
The relief washing over Giselle was priceless. But she still punched his chest with a pout. "You jerk! You scared me half to death!" he laughed at her even more.
The lighthouse was far, really far. At least an hour's journey, maybe more, even with steady rowing.
"Here," Kowa said, handing her one of the oars. "Don't just sit there. If you help me pedal, we'll get there much faster."
Giselle was still shivering but she reached out, quietly grabbing the oar and beginning to row alongside him.
And then..
It was strange, too strange. Maybe it was her eyes, dried and tired from too much crying. Maybe it was her mind playing tricks. But the lighthouse didn't just approach… it stretched, bending closer like rubber, pulling them in.
What should've taken an hour passed in minutes.
They were here.
The boat rocked gently as they stepped onto the shore, now facing the towering shadow of the old lighthouse. Black, rust-covered, caked in years of dust and salt, it stood like a forgotten sentinel at the edge of the world. The rotating beacon at its peak slowly swept across the ocean, casting pale light over the waves, though no boat ever came this way anymore.
Giselle looked up in awe and fear. On the far side of the lighthouse, nearly at its peak, a giant windable fan turned slowly in the breeze. It wasn't just a lighthouse, it was also a silent power source, kowa had made this possible with a little bit of help from his friend longs who was good at building stuff.
No matter how lonely and eerie the lighthouse had seemed from the outside, the moment Giselle stepped inside, her eyes lit up with surprise and quiet excitement.
The space was nothing like she imagined.
It was clean, really clean. A large, cloud-like bed sat in the middle of the room, covered in soft sheets and glowing with tiny decorative lights. Shards of colorful glass and crystal hung from strings, catching the light in dazzling patterns. Couches and cushions were scattered around like a nest, with papers, books, and sketches littering the floor in what looked like organized chaos. The walls were freshly painted and lined with soft LED lights, flickering like distant stars. Candles burned gently around the room, filling the air with a warm, hypnotic aroma that instantly eased her nerves.
But just as her heart began to settle… her eyes caught something else.
Her excitement vanished in an instant as her gaze landed on the walls, they were lined with naughty paintings of alluring women in bikinis lounging on beaches, seductively posed under glowing suns.
She blinked. Hard.
Kowa, standing beside her, rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Okay, don't judge me, alright?" he laughed nervously. "This isn't exactly a place women usually choose to visit with me. I get… y'know…? lonely!"
He chuckled, trying to play it off, but even he was clearly caught red-handed. Giselle crossed her arms, half amused, half scandalized.
"You're such a pervert."
"Agreed." He said.
Kowa gestured toward the bed, his voice softening with genuine care. "You must be exhausted. You should rest your head here. I have to take a bath first but I'll be right here on the couch. Don't hesitate to ask if you need anything."
"Also i don't keep much food around here, but there might be a few energy bars by the side of the bed. If you're hungry, feel free to have some," Kowa said casually, glancing over at her.
Giselle's face turned red as Kowa peeled off his shirt, tossing it onto the couch. His back flexed as he moved, every muscle defined by the ocean breeze and candlelight.
"I'm gonna shower," he said, stretching his neck a little. "The salty breeze always makes my skin feel weird."
She tried to look away, but her gaze betrayed her, lingering a moment too long on his well-toned body, the strength in his arms, the quiet power in his shoulders. Her lips parted slightly, caught off guard by the heat creeping into her chest.
Just as Kowa turned to leave for his bath, Giselle suddenly sprang from the bed and threw her arms around him. Her body pressed against his bare back, cheek against the warmth of his skin, trembling.
"No… don't leave me alone," she whispered, clinging tightly. "I'm scared…"
To be continued