The storm slowed to a cold drizzle, tapping the tin roof of the shed like impatient fingers. The silence between the droplets felt unnatural—thick, expectant, as though the night itself held its breath.
Elara leaned against the wall, listening.
Nothing moved.
Nothing spoke.
But it wasn't gone.
Creatures like that never left.They simply waited.Until you made a mistake.
Rowan sat across from her, drenched, pale, and shaking. His eyes kept drifting to the small puddles on the shed floor—water that hadn't come from the storm.
Water that shouldn't be there.
"Elara…" Rowan whispered. "What does it mean? That it marked me?"
She hesitated.
The truth wasn't gentle.
"Sometimes the sea choses someone," she said quietly. "Someone it wants back. Someone it doesn't release."
"Why me?"Rowan's voice cracked. "What did I do?"
"It's not about what you did."Elara took a slow breath."It's about what you survived."
Rowan looked away. "The storm. When I fell off the boat."
She nodded."You should have drowned that night. You were in the water for hours. The coast guard found you unconscious—but alive."
"And the doctors called it a miracle," Rowan whispered.
Elara shook her head.
"It wasn't a miracle. It was a bargain."
Rowan stared at her.
"A… what?"
Before she could answer, something thumped against the wall of the shed.
Once.Twice.Slow. Heavy.
Rowan flinched back."It's here—"
"No." Elara raised a hand. "It's testing the walls."
Another thump.Then a sound like wet rope dragging along the exterior.
Rowan's breath caught."Elara—what does it want?"
She looked into his trembling eyes.
"You."
The shed fell silent again.
Only Rowan's shaking breaths filled the air.
"Elara… how do I break the mark?"
"You can't."Then she softened her voice."But we can delay it. Maybe even confuse it."
He wiped his face with trembling hands."Tell me how."
She took his wrist gently."Look at your skin."
Rowan lifted his arm into the dim moonlight seeping through a crack in the boards.
A faint symbol had appeared—circle-shaped, dark blue, like a bruise forming from the inside out.
Rowan recoiled."No—no, what is that?!"
"The mark," Elara said quietly.
"It lets the sea find you anywhere."
He backed away like the symbol might burn him."How long have I had it?"
Elara swallowed.
"The moment you heard your mother's voice."
Rowan's face went hollow.
"Elara… what do we do?"
She leaned closer, her voice urgent.
"You need to stay awake. As long as you can."
"Why?"
"Elara," he whispered, "what happens if I fall asleep?"
Her voice was barely a breath.
"That's when it pulls you back."
Rowan froze.
And then—
Tap.Tap.Tap.
A slow dragging motion from the shed's window.
Rowan's eyes widened."Elara… it's waiting for me to close my eyes."
She grabbed his hand."Then don't."
But Rowan was already wavering. Exhaustion hit him like a wave. His eyelids sagged—not from tiredness, but something deeper.
Something unnatural.
"Elara… I feel… strange…"
She shook him."Stay with me."
"I… I can hear it. Calling me from the waves…"
His voice trailed off as he stared blankly at the floor.
"Elara," he whispered, "I think I'm dreaming."
She grabbed his shoulders."Rowan! Look at me. You're awake. You have to fight it—"
But Rowan wasn't looking at her.
His eyes were fixed on the puddle forming beneath the door.
Inside the water…his mother's face was staring back at him.
Smiling.
"Elara…" Rowan whispered, tears falling."She's here."
"No—Rowan, it's not her! Don't—"
But Rowan's eyes were closing—
And from outside, the creature let out a low, eager groan.
"Come home…"
Elara grabbed Rowan's face between her hands.
"ROWAN! LOOK AT ME!"
But he was drifting.
His body going slack.
His eyes half-shut.
The mark on his skin pulsed like a heartbeat—
—and something began rising from the puddle.
A hand.
Reaching for him.
"Elara…" Rowan murmured.
"…don't let me go."