The wind cut through the trees like a whispering blade.
Liam wrapped his arms around himself as he stared at the dark forest stretching endlessly around them. Snow crunched beneath his boots, and the cold air burned his lungs every time he breathed.
"This…" he said slowly, still trying to process everything, "this is real."
Aria was still kneeling in the snow.
Her breathing was shallow. Teleportation had drained nearly everything she had.
"I told you…" she murmured weakly. "You shouldn't have followed me."
Liam knelt beside her.
"You just teleported us across… what? Miles? Cities?"
Aria shook her head.
"I didn't choose the destination."
Liam frowned.
"What do you mean you didn't choose it?"
Aria slowly looked around the forest.
Tall black trees.
Frozen branches.
And the eerie silence that felt too familiar.
Her blue eye flickered faintly.
"This place," she whispered.
"You know it?" Liam asked.
Aria swallowed.
"I've been here before."
A cold chill crawled down Liam's spine.
"From the vision."
Aria nodded slowly.
"Yes."
Snowflakes drifted through the air as the wind picked up again. Somewhere deeper in the forest, a branch snapped.
Liam stiffened.
"You heard that too, right?"
Aria stood up slowly, steadying herself against a tree.
"Yes."
Her hand moved instinctively to the silver pendant around her neck.
"The last time I was here…" she said quietly.
"You killed someone," Liam finished.
Aria looked at him sharply.
"You saw that part too?"
Liam nodded.
"The body. The blood."
For a long moment, Aria said nothing.
Then she sighed.
"That wasn't murder."
Liam waited.
"It was survival."
Another sound echoed through the forest.
Closer this time.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Footsteps.
Liam turned.
"Please tell me we didn't just teleport directly into another problem."
Aria's blue eye suddenly glowed brighter.
"No," she whispered.
"Worse."
A shape moved between the trees.
Tall.
Unnaturally tall.
At first Liam thought it was just a shadow.
Then it stepped into the pale moonlight.
Liam's stomach dropped.
The figure was humanoid, but its limbs were too long, its body thin like stretched wire. Its skin looked pale gray, almost translucent, and its head tilted unnaturally as it studied them.
Its eyes glowed faintly.
Blue.
Just like Aria's.
"What…" Liam whispered.
Aria's voice was tight with fear.
"They followed us."
"But the hunters were human," Liam said.
Aria shook her head.
"They're not the real hunters."
The creature took another slow step forward.
Its joints cracked softly.
"And that…" she said quietly.
"Is."
"The real one."
Liam slowly reached into his camera bag.
Aria stared at him.
"What are you doing?"
"Instinct," Liam said.
He raised the camera.
Click.
The flash exploded through the dark forest.
For a split second, the creature shrieked — a piercing, inhuman sound that echoed across the snow-covered trees.
It recoiled violently.
Aria's eyes widened.
"You idiot!"
"It worked!" Liam said.
But the creature straightened again.
And now it looked angry.
Very angry.
More shapes began moving between the trees.
Aria's face went pale.
"Oh no."
Liam slowly turned.
There were more of them.
Three.
Five.
Ten.
Their glowing blue eyes lit the darkness like distant stars.
Liam swallowed hard.
"So…" he said quietly.
"On a scale from bad to worse…"
Aria grabbed his arm again.
"We run."
Liam groaned.
"Again?"
The first creature lunged.
And the forest exploded into chaos.
Chapter 7 – The Secret of the Pendant
Snow exploded beneath Liam's boots as he ran.
Branches clawed at his jacket while the forest behind them filled with the terrible clicking sounds of the creatures pursuing them.
"Faster!" Aria shouted.
"I'm trying!" Liam gasped.
Another shriek tore through the trees.
Liam risked a glance over his shoulder.
Bad idea.
The creatures were gaining.
Their long limbs moved unnaturally fast, bending in ways bones should never bend. Their glowing blue eyes burned through the darkness like hunting lights.
"Aria!" Liam shouted. "They're catching up!"
"I know!"
They burst through a line of trees and stumbled into a small clearing. Moonlight spilled across the snow, illuminating the open space.
Aria suddenly stopped.
Liam nearly ran straight into her.
"What are you doing?" he shouted.
Aria turned slowly.
Her face was calm now.
Too calm.
"We can't outrun them."
"Then what's the plan?!" Liam demanded.
Aria reached beneath her coat and pulled out the silver pendant.
The eye-shaped metal shimmered faintly.
Liam stared at it.
"The thing you were holding in the alley."
Aria nodded.
"Yes."
Her fingers tightened around it.
"I've been running from them for years."
The forest around them grew quieter.
The creatures had stopped at the edge of the clearing.
Watching.
Waiting.
"They're afraid of something," Liam whispered.
Aria gave a sad smile.
"Not afraid."
"Respectful."
Liam frowned.
"That doesn't make me feel better."
Aria looked down at the pendant.
"This isn't just jewelry."
She turned it over.
Ancient symbols were carved into the silver — symbols Liam didn't recognize.
"What is it?" he asked.
Aria took a deep breath.
"A lock."
Liam blinked.
"A lock for what?"
Aria slowly lifted her head.
"For me."
Liam stared.
"...I'm sorry, what?"
Aria closed her eyes.
Her voice trembled slightly.
"My name is Aria Vale."
"You know that part."
"But that's not what I am."
Wind swept through the clearing, stirring the snow around their feet.
The creatures shifted uneasily.
Liam watched them carefully.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
Aria opened her eyes.
The blue one glowed again.
Brighter than ever.
"My eye isn't just strange," she said quietly.
"It's a key."
Liam's mind raced.
"A key to what?"
Aria held up the pendant.
"This pendant suppresses what I really am."
"Without it…"
Her voice faded.
Liam's stomach twisted.
"...Without it?"
Aria looked toward the creatures.
"They find me."
The creatures stepped slightly closer.
Drawn to the glow.
Liam swallowed.
"What exactly are they?"
Aria answered with one word.
"Echoes."
"Echoes of what?"
She hesitated.
Then said it.
"People like me."
The realization hit Liam slowly.
"...People like you?"
Aria nodded.
"There used to be many of us."
"The ones born with a Veil Eye."
She tapped her glowing blue eye gently.
"It allows us to see memories."
"Touch minds."
"Walk between places."
Liam stared at her.
"Teleportation."
"Exactly."
"And the visions I saw?"
"Memories."
"Not just mine."
"Anyone's."
Liam felt dizzy.
"So… you're basically a psychic teleporting mind reader."
Aria gave a tired laugh.
"That's the simplified version."
Liam gestured toward the creatures.
"And those things?"
Aria's smile disappeared.
"They're what happens when someone like me loses control."
Liam felt his blood run cold.
"You mean..."
Aria nodded slowly.
"The Veil Eye consumes them."
"Their minds collapse."
"Their bodies change."
"They become hunters."
The nearest creature tilted its head toward her.
Almost like it recognized her.
Liam whispered,
"So they're… former Veil Eye users?"
"Yes."
Silence settled between them.
Then Liam asked the question that had been building in his chest since the beginning.
"So why are people chasing you?"
Aria looked down at the pendant again.
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"Because I'm not just a Veil Eye."
She turned the pendant.
There was a small hidden seam.
Click.
The pendant opened.
Inside was a second eye carved from deep blue crystal.
The moment it was exposed—
The entire forest trembled.
The creatures froze.
Their glowing eyes widened.
Liam felt pressure in his skull like the world had suddenly grown heavier.
"What… is that?" he whispered.
Aria's voice barely carried through the wind.
"The source."
Liam stared at her.
"The source of what?"
Aria's blue eye flared like a star.
"The first Veil Eye."
The ground vibrated softly beneath their feet.
Deep in the forest…
Something enormous stirred.
Liam slowly looked at Aria.
"...Please tell me opening that wasn't a bad idea."
Aria looked terrified.
"It was a terrible idea."
Another roar echoed through the forest.
Much deeper than the creatures.
Something older.
Something worse.
Liam sighed.
"I had a feeling."
Aria snapped the pendant shut again.
The glow faded.
But the forest remained silent.
Waiting.
Then she looked at Liam.
"I need to tell you the truth now."
"All of it."
Liam nodded slowly.
"Good."
"Because I'm pretty sure we're way past normal explanations."
Aria took a deep breath.
"My family created the Veil Eye."
Liam blinked.
"...Created it?"
"Yes."
"And the hunters in Ravenshade?"
"They work for the people who want it back."
Liam crossed his arms.
"And you stole it."
Aria shook her head.
"No."
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
"I am it."
Lightning flashed across the distant sky.
And Liam finally understood.
The hunters weren't chasing a girl.
They were chasing a living weapon.