The city never truly slept. Even at two in the morning, neon lights dripped like paint across wet asphalt, reflecting in puddles from a recent rain. The distant hum of traffic mingled with the occasional siren, a lullaby for the restless. Liora Vale walked briskly along the cracked sidewalk, her coat pulled tight against the chill. She could feel the city's heartbeat beneath her feet, and it resonated strangely with the flutter in her chest.
Tonight, the streets seemed different. Shadows twisted at odd angles, as if whispering secrets meant only for her. She shivered not entirely from the cold. Her gift, her curse, had been dormant for years, but tonight, it stirred. A fleeting image: a girl standing in a dimly lit room, her face blurred, her eyes wide with fear. Then it vanished.
"Just a trick of the light," Liora whispered, though her voice barely carried over the wind.
Her footsteps echoed against the walls of abandoned buildings, and for a moment, she felt the oppressive solitude of a city that forgot the missing. And yet, she remembered. Always.
A sharp sound a metallic scrape made her freeze. From the corner of her eye, a man stepped out from the shadows. Tall, broad-shouldered, but careful, deliberate. His eyes were a storm-gray, calculating, almost too aware.
"You shouldn't be here," he said, his voice low but firm, carrying a weight that made Liora instinctively take a step back.
"I… I live nearby," she replied, keeping her tone steady despite the pulse racing in her throat.
The man studied her, as if weighing her worth, before giving a curt nod. "Be careful. This city… it doesn't forgive the curious."
Before she could respond, he melted back into the darkness. Liora's heart pounded not just from fear, but from a strange, inexplicable pull. She knew she had just brushed against something bigger than herself, something hidden behind the neon glow and the hum of the streets. Something that could never be explained, only felt.
And for the first time in years, she realized that the city's whispers weren't just shadows they were calling her.