My life was dull and simple—until everything changed when that one unexpected tragedy struck my ordinary, unremarkable world. From that moment onward, everything became tangled, chaotic, and nearly impossible to untangle. Yet I never gave up. Even standing on the very edge of hardship, I kept moving forward.
I am Gerie. And this is where my life began to twist into something I never could have imagined.
It was a rainy afternoon. I knew I might get soaked, but I chose to walk home anyway—it wasn't far from school. My only shield against the downpour was a dark gray foldable umbrella, though it could never truly keep me dry.
Ah!
I cried out abruptly as I rounded the corner, startled by a shadow darting across my path. To my relief, it was only a cat, leaping out from a nearby trash bin.
I kept walking, even as unease coiled in my chest. I found myself wondering why I hadn't just taken a cab. And worse—why had I chosen to cut through that alley, the one everyone whispered was full of mystery and shadow? It had been my usual route since my first year of college. I had never felt anything wrong here before. But today… today felt different. Had my luck finally run out? Or was this simply my unlucky day? Whatever the answer, one thing was certain—I needed to get out of there as fast as I could, before something terrible happened.
Against the fear screaming in my bones, I forced myself to glance over my shoulder one last time.
And there it was.
A human shape, draped entirely in a dark cloak that swallowed the light. Nothing visible beneath the hood—no face, no hands, no clue who or what stood there. I felt as if I'd been doused in a bucket of ice, my blood turning cold in an instant. It felt as though the figure was smiling at me—slowly, wickedly, with a hunger that made my skin crawl.
In that heartbeat, I gathered every shred of courage I had left and ran. Faster than I'd ever run before. I had no desire to know what lay beneath that cloak. To find out would surely mean a fate far worse than I could bear. No matter how quickly my legs carried me, the feeling never faded—that presence was drawing closer, riding on the wind itself, trailing right behind me.
Is this the end? I thought. Am I going to die here, without even a fight? Is there anyone who can hear me?
So I ran. Away from the shadows. Away from the evil that followed. Away from death itself.
And then—I saw it. Light. The glow at the alley's far end, the promise of open street and safety. I pushed myself harder, gasping, lungs burning, until finally I burst out into the open air. Relief washed over me in waves. I'd made it. But I knew this moment would scar me—I would never set foot in that alley again.
Before I turned away, I cast one final look back, half-terrified, half-hoping to see nothing at all.
But the figure was gone. Vanished. As if it had never been there at all.
I stood there in the rain, shivering, staring into the dark. And that was when I understood: the figure hadn't been trying to catch me. It had only been letting me know… that it was watching.
And somewhere in the shadows, the Necromancer waited.