Chapter 5 — No Longer Hidden
Darkness.
That was the first thing Kevin became aware of. A heavy, suffocating black that clung to him, cold and still.
Then came the voices.
Low. Muffled. Just out of reach.
"…could've killed him…"
"…we had no choice…"
"…not ready for this…"
"…she won't be happy…"
The words bled into one another, but one thing was clear: they were arguing. About him.
His heart pounded in his chest. His wrists ached — bound tightly behind his back — and something rough and hot pressed against his face.
Then, hands. A rush of motion, and the black bag was yanked off his head.
Kevin squinted against the dim, flickering light. Shapes came into focus.
The mysterious woman from the bar — her. She was crouched right in front of him now, her green eyes wide and shining not with menace this time, but something that almost looked like… panic.
Her hands flew to his face, scanning his cheeks, his eyes, his neck, as though afraid he might vanish if she didn't keep touching him.
"Are you alright?" she demanded, her tone sharp, almost frantic. "Did they hurt you? Answer me, Kevin — did they do anything to you?"
Kevin blinked at her, completely dazed. "I…" His throat felt like sandpaper. "…what… what's going on?"
She shot up, whirling on the three figures standing behind her — the same three who had fought the intruders in his apartment.
"You idiots!" she shouted, her voice cracking. "I told you to bring him here safely — SAFELY! Untie him, now!"
They flinched under her fury, and one of them quickly knelt to cut the ropes at his wrists and ankles.
Kevin rubbed at the raw skin where the ropes had dug in, still staring at her as though she were a dream he couldn't wake from.
She dropped back to her knees, gripping his shoulders, her voice softer now but just as intense.
"Kevin," she said, "look at me. Are you hurt? Did they tell you anything? Did they… touch you?"
Kevin swallowed hard, his chest heaving. "I don't… I don't even know who they were. They just— came out of nowhere…"
The woman's jaw tightened, her hands briefly covering her mouth before she stood.
"Get out," she ordered the three others flatly.
They hesitated.
"I said OUT!"
Without another word, they filed out of the room, leaving only her and Kevin in the dim, tense silence.
She stayed quiet for a long moment, her eyes on him, as though debating something with herself.
Finally, she spoke.
"Did they say anything to you?" she asked.
Kevin shook his head helplessly. "I… I think one of them… he said something about… my mother. And about me. But it didn't make any sense."
Her shoulders stiffened, and for the first time since he'd met her, the calm confidence she carried seemed to crack just slightly.
"That's… what I was afraid of," she murmured.
Kevin opened his mouth to ask what she meant — but then the air in the room shifted.
Colder.
He flinched as a presence he hadn't noticed before filled the space behind him.
A voice — soft, rich, and sorrowful — spoke from the shadows.
"It is no longer possible to hide him," it said.
Kevin whipped around, heart hammering, as a tall woman stepped forward from the corner of the room.
Her face was partly obscured by the hood of her dark robe, but her pale mouth curved into something like pity as she gazed at him.
"This was inevitable," she said quietly. "The boy must know what he is."
Kevin's breath caught. He scrambled backward on his hands, his confusion and fear mounting.
The woman from the bar — the one who had been frantic only moments ago — now stood frozen, her eyes glistening.
Her expression… was sad.
Terribly, unbearably sad.
And for the first time since this nightmare began, Kevin realized that whatever was going on… whatever they knew about him…
It was something he could never go back from.