Morning had come too soon.
The blue rays of the artificial solar system streamed through the filtered window of the dorm room, slicing the space into cold, geometric lines. Outside, footsteps echoed. Voices. Giggles. Laughter.
Kael lay still, eyes wide open.
Breathing. That was all.Every muscle was tense, yet his body remained inert. A mask. A shell.
— "Hey, this guy still sleeps with his eyes open," one of the roommates laughed.— "Maybe he's in a trance. Or dreaming he has a girlfriend."
Laughter. Jokes. Feet on the floor, the rustling of sheets.
Another one slammed a locker:— "Today's the drone test, right? Hope none explode like they did in Nash's face!"
Kael didn't react. Didn't blink.
In his head, the echoes of the night still screamed:— "You opened the door. You don't even know what you've unleashed."— "You were mine."— "What have you done, KAEL?"
Seraphine was silent now, but the wound left by her fury was still there, pulsing like an open sore on his soul.
Seth… Seth wasn't speaking yet either. But Kael could feel him — like a shadow that didn't demand attention, only waited for his mind to slip.
When he got out of bed, his legs trembled. Not from fatigue. But from absence — as if a part of him hadn't returned from the previous night.
But before he could take a deep breath, an alarm vibrated through the walls.Not an external emergency. A local one.
A cold, mechanical voice:
"Attention. Students from Dorm 7 are required to attend an emergency meeting in the library, first floor."
His roommates exchanged glances. The smiles vanished. Silence fell like a heavy blanket.
— "What the hell...?" one murmured.— "That wasn't on the schedule..."— "Did you do something, Enzo?"
Kael slowly pulled on his shirt, massaging his temple. He could feel the shadows around him become… alert.
They headed to the library. The automatic doors opened slowly, almost solemnly. Inside, the space looked like an interrogation room after an invisible massacre.
Broken shelves. Scattered books. Cracks in the floor. A chair in pieces. A table, partially scorched.
Kael froze.
He had been there.
That was where the ritual had been born. Where Seraphine had struggled. Where… something new had emerged.
Up front, a tall man in a black uniform spoke in a calm voice, laced with iron.
— "This is not a joke. What happened here last night isn't just a violation of rules."
Pause.
— "It's a threat."
Silence. Breaths were held.
— "One of you — or something — came in here and unleashed an unknown force. There are no signs of external entry. No video recordings. Only..."He turned toward the table.— "...chaos. Pure. Brutal. Deliberate."
His gaze fell on Kael. Just for a second. But it was enough.
— "Until we identify the source, all dorms will be searched. Shadows will be scanned. Every student will be interviewed."
A murmur rippled through the crowd.
Kael held his breath. His shadows were silent, but tense — like animals sensing the knife's approach.
A boy from the back asked:— "Do you think… a monster entered the campus?"
The professor replied without hesitation:— "No. We believe it was already here."
**
Kael clenched his fists. Breathed slowly. Thought even slower.
Seraphine was wounded. Seth… was waiting.
And him?He stood in the midst of chaos, wearing the mask of a boy among children.
His shadow, in that moment, was reflected in the cracked library window.But something was wrong.
The reflection had no eyes. Only a half-open mouth, smiling.
After the library was evacuated, the dorm's atmosphere thickened — like a room where someone had died in their sleep. No one talked about what had happened, but everyone felt it.
Kael walked the halls with thoughts wrapped in barbed wire. He still felt the room's cold, the sound of bones breaking in shadows, and… the voice.
His voice. Seth.
He hadn't said anything more. But his absence felt like a breath on the nape of Kael's neck.
A hologram flickered in the hallway. The system's formal voice activated:
"Students Nash, Cael, Sten, and Kael — report to Control Room 3A for further evaluation."
Kael froze.
He felt something inside him drop from his stomach to his feet. His shadow… sensed it before him. It tensed. Darkened. Clung to his body like a second skin. Not fully under control.
"If my shadows won't obey… then what am I?" he thought.
Inside, the professor was waiting.Kael recognized him instantly — the same one from Chapter 13. Narrow eyes, soft but cutting voice.
— "Come in. I'd like to revisit... your shadow's projection."
Kael sat silently under the system lights. The floor was cold, damp. Like a warning. The shadow scanner beeped faintly, and from his body, the reflection stretched across the gray tiles like a canvas resisting being painted.
The professor frowned.— "Interesting movement…"
The shadow trembled.It spread. Slowly. As if it wanted to look behind the professor.
Kael clenched his teeth.The shadow wasn't listening anymore.
Panic began to rise — but so did something else…
— "Don't fight it. Guide it."Seth's voice was calm. Cold.— "I can't control it. Not yet. But you can."
— "And if I can't?" Kael thought.
— "Then… you'll be lost. Like all the others before you."
Kael closed his eyes for a moment.And remembered.
The fire.The little girl.The silence he'd hidden in.Seraphine's roar.The shadow born from the betrayal of his own shame.
And in that moment… he didn't command the shadow.He called to it. Acknowledged it.
— "You're part of me. It's not time to emerge. Not yet."
The shadow calmed. Slowly. Molded back into its "standard" shape.
The professor raised an eyebrow.
— "For a moment, it almost looked like it wanted to… detach."
Kael said nothing.
— "I remember you, Kael. Your shadow stood out during the first scan. It was too... quiet."
The scanner shut off.— "It's stable now. I see nothing outside normal parameters."
The professor's gaze lingered. Cold.But he had no proof. Not yet.
— "You may leave. But… be careful. Shadows don't forget what we choose to ignore."
Kael walked out with heavy steps. His shadow followed once more, but it wasn't obedient.It was understanding.It was… waiting.
And in his mind, Seth whispered:
— "You did well. You chose. I didn't save you. You chose… to be like me."
Kael stopped. Leaned against the wall.
— "I'm not like you."
Seth chuckled briefly.
— "No. Not yet."