The night Aiden Cross first learned monsters were real, he was elbow-deep in dust, mold, and regret.
He hadn't planned to spend his twenty-first birthday crawling through a stranger's attic, but rent was due, his grocery budget was a joke, and online handyman gigs paid fast. So when a woman named Mrs. Harrow begged for someone anyone to "check the noises upstairs," Aiden took the job.
He'd expected raccoons. Maybe a squirrel. Worst case? A rat with an ego.
What he didn't expect was the cold.
The moment he pushed open the attic door, a breath of air brushed past him, sharp as winter teeth. The house was warm; the attic shouldn't have been this icy. His flashlight flickered once, twice, then steadied.
"Great," Aiden muttered. "Classic horror-movie ambience. Totally fine. Completely normal."
He climbed the last step, the wooden boards groaned under him like they were warning him away.
Dust swirled in the flashlight beam, old trunks, stacks of newspapers, a rocking horse with one eye missing. The sort of place where nightmares came to rest.
Just find the animal, get the money, get out.
He moved forward, the beam trembling only a little in his hand. Something skittered across the ceiling joists above him fast.
Aiden froze.
"Hello?" he called, instantly hating how shaky his voice sounded. "If you're… uh, a raccoon, that's totally cool. You can… leave peacefully."
He wasn't sure why he was negotiating with wildlife or why the air felt like it was pressing against him, thick and heavy.
The skittering stopped.
Then something whispered.
Not animal.
Not human.
Something in between.
Aiden's blood turned to ice. The whisper came again right behind him.
He spun around, the flashlight sputtered and went out.
"Come on, seriously?!" He hit the flashlight with his palm. Nothing.
Then something breathed against his ear.
Aiden jumped back, heart exploding in his chest. He groped for his phone with shaking hands and flicked on the dim flashlight.
In the weak glow, he saw it.
A figure crouched in the far corner, knees bent wrong, head tilted too far to the side. Its skin was gray-blue, stretched tight over bones. Its eyes were black. Not dark, black.
It opened its mouth.
The voice that came out sounded like a dozen whispers layered on top of each other.
"Help me…"
Aiden stumbled back. "Wh..what are you?"
It crawled closer, joints cracking like snapping twigs. "Help… me…"
It didn't look like anything that needed help. It looked like something that ate the things that asked for help.
Aiden turned to run.
The attic door slammed shut.
Something grabbed his ankle.
He screamed...
but then a gunshot tore through the attic.
The creature hissed and recoiled, its arm sizzling as if burned, Aiden rolled away, gasping.
Heavy boots thudded across the attic floor. A tall figure stepped between Aiden and the creature, long coat, broad shoulders, a shotgun glowing faint silver in the dim light.
"Stay down," the man said, voice calm, steady. Commanding.
Aiden didn't argue.
The creature lunged.
The man moved like someone who'd done this a thousand times. He swung the shotgun up, fired again, the creature slammed into a trunk, shrieking.
"You really don't know when to stay dead, do you?" the man muttered.
Aiden stared. "Who..who are you? What is that thing?!"
"Later." The man reloaded. "Right now it's trying to kill you."
The creature screeched and crawled across the ceiling, impossibly fast, darting toward them.
This time, the man holstered the shotgun and drew a blade, a long silver knife etched with glowing runes.
Aiden blinked. "Okay, what..what is that?!"
"Insurance."
The creature dropped from above. The man caught it mid-air, slamming the blade into its chest. It screamed, convulsing, shadows ripping off its body like smoke.
Then it went still.
The attic went quiet.
Aiden pushed himself up, chest heaving. "Is… is it dead?"
"For now," the man said, pulling the blade free. "Wraiths don't stay down unless you burn them. Preferably fast."
Aiden swallowed hard. "Wraith? As in… ghost?"
The man finally turned to him, dark coat, older than Aiden by maybe fifteen years, face lined, eyes cold and tired. A man who looked like he hadn't slept in weeks. Or years.
"Name's Gabriel Holt," he said. "I'm a hunter."
"A hunter," Aiden repeated numbly. "Like… a monster hunter?"
Gabriel shrugged. "Depends on what you call monsters."
Aiden looked at the corpse. "That. I call that a monster."
"Then, yes. I hunt monsters."
Aiden sat back, trying to process. "Okay. Sure. Monsters are real. Ghost things are real. That's… okay. Totally sane."
Gabriel stared at him. "Kid, you're seconds from passing out."
"No, I'm fine," Aiden lied.
He passed out.
Aiden woke up on a couch he didn't recognize.
The room was warm, lit by soft lamplight. Someone had draped a blanket over him. His head felt stuffed with cotton.
He bolted upright.
"You fainted," Gabriel said from the kitchen doorway, sipping coffee like monster hunting was just another Thursday.
"You caught me?" Aiden asked.
Gabriel snorted. "No. You hit the floor. I checked to see if you were alive."
"Comforting."
Gabriel didn't smile. "You're lucky Mrs. Harrow called me after she hired you. Wraiths latch onto guilt, grief, trauma. Something in that attic woke it."
Aiden rubbed his hands over his face. "I thought I was going crazy."
"You weren't. You're just unlucky."
Aiden let out a shaky breath. "How long have you been doing this?"
"Too long."
"And you're just… what? Some supernatural exterminator?"
Gabriel's eyes hardened. "I protect people. Sometimes that means saving them. Sometimes it means killing what's hunting them."
Aiden hesitated. "And that… thing. Why did it, why me?"
Gabriel didn't answer. Instead, he studied Aiden with that cold, assessing gaze again.
"Most civilians run screaming when they see their first monster," Gabriel said. "You stayed. Didn't freeze. Didn't collapse until the danger was gone."
"I didn't exactly fight, though."
"You didn't die. That's a start."
Aiden frowned. "Why does that sound like a compliment and an insult at the same time?"
"Because it is."
Gabriel set his coffee down. "Something big is moving in this city. Wraiths don't show up alone. They're foot soldiers. Scouts."
"Scouts for what?"
Gabriel hesitated.
Aiden leaned forward. "Tell me."
Finally, Gabriel said, "A cult called the Red Veil. And whatever they're trying to bring back into this world."
Aiden felt a chill. "Bring back… like resurrect?"
"Worse."
Aiden swallowed. "Okay, so… what does any of this have to do with me?"
Gabriel picked up a small object from the table and tossed it to him.
Aiden caught it.
A pendant. Silver. Warm to the touch despite the room's temperature. Etched with the same symbols Gabriel's blade had.
"When the wraith got close to you," Gabriel said, "it reacted. That means you have potential."
"Potential for what?"
"To become a hunter."
Aiden froze. "No. Nope. Absolutely not. I repair furniture for cash. I fix leaky sinks. I do not fight demons."
"You did tonight."
"That was accidental! And terrifying!"
Gabriel shrugged. "Look, kid. You saw behind the curtain. There's no going back. Monsters know your face now."
Aiden's heart dropped. "You're kidding."
"Do I look like someone who jokes?"
Aiden groaned. "So what, I'm on some cosmic hit list now?"
"Pretty much."
Aiden stared at him. "You're terrible at pep talks."
"I'm not giving a pep talk. I'm giving you a choice."
Gabriel stepped closer, coat swaying.
"You can pretend none of this is real… and die in your sleep one night when something decides you're an easy meal."
Aiden's stomach lurched.
"Or," Gabriel continued, "you can train. Learn. Fight. Protect yourself. Protect others."
Aiden looked down at the pendant in his hand. It pulsed gently, like a heartbeat.
"My whole life," Aiden whispered, "I've never been good at anything."
"This isn't about being good," Gabriel said. "It's about surviving."
Aiden closed his fingers around the pendant.
"All right," he said softly. "Teach me."
Gabriel nodded once. "First lesson: monsters aren't people. You can't save them."
Aiden lifted his chin. "I don't believe that."
Gabriel's expression darkened. "You will."
Before Aiden could reply, the lights flickered.
Then went out.
The house plunged into darkness.
A low growl echoed from the hallway.
Not human.
Not animal.
Something worse.
Gabriel grabbed his shotgun.
"Aiden," he said, voice suddenly sharp, "stay behind me."
Something moved in the shadows, large, fast, hungry.
Gabriel raised his weapon...
and the living room window exploded inward.
A massive, horned silhouette landed on the carpet, eyes glowing red.
Aiden screamed as it lunged straight at him...