Chapter 1: The Mark That Shouldn't Exist
The first time Ava noticed the mark, it was bleeding light.
Not blood. Not ink. Light.
It burned against her skin like something alive, curling across her wrist in a symbol she had never seen before. It pulsed once. Then again. Like it had a heartbeat.
Her heartbeat.
"This has to be a dream," she whispered.
She pressed her thumb against it.
The symbol flared brighter.
The lights in her apartment flickered violently.
And then—
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Ava froze.
It was nearly midnight. No one visited her at midnight.
The knock came again. Slower this time. Heavier.
Her stomach twisted.
She walked toward the door carefully, every step feeling louder than it should. When she opened it, cold rain swept into her hallway.
And behind it stood a boy who looked like he didn't belong to this world.
His clothes were soaked. Dark. Strange. Almost ancient. But it was his eyes that made her breath catch.
Gold.
Not brown. Not hazel.
Gold.
They scanned her face… then dropped to her wrist.
His expression changed instantly.
"It awakened," he murmured.
"Excuse me?" Ava snapped, stepping back. "Who are you?"
He didn't answer her question.
Instead, he stepped forward.
"You have no idea what you've just started."
Her pulse quickened. "Started what?"
He looked past her into the apartment, as if searching for something she couldn't see.
"They've felt it," he said quietly.
"Felt what?"
"The collision."
The temperature dropped.
The lights flickered again.
And in the reflection of the hallway mirror—
Ava swore she saw something standing behind her.
Tall. Shadowed. Watching.
When she turned, nothing was there.
But when she looked back at the boy…
He was already inside her apartment.
"You're in danger," he said.
And the mark on her wrist burned hotter.