Kaito woke to the smell of blood.
His ears rang. His body trembled.
Their house was destroyed.
Flames licked broken wood. Smoke filled the air.
"Kaito…" a weak voice called.
He turned.
His mother was lying against a broken beam, blood spreading beneath her.
"M-Mom…"
She smiled softly, even now.
"You must live."
Behind her—
The shadow creature emerged.
Tall. Thin. Its body flickered like smoke. Its mouth stretched too wide.
It reached toward her.
"No!" Kaito screamed.
Something inside his chest burned.
A black mark on his heart began to glow crimson.
The shadow paused.
It looked at him again.
Curious.
Hungry.
It lunged.
Kaito didn't run.
He reached out.
And grabbed it.
The world shattered into silence.
The shadow screamed.
Not in pain.
In fear.
And then—
It was pulled into him.
Swallowed.
Absorbed.
The crimson mark on his chest spread like veins of darkness.
His eyes opened.
They were no longer brown.
They were glowing red.