"Mom!"
Claire burst through the front door excitedly, dropping her school bag carelessly onto the couch before rushing deeper into the house.
"Yes, darling?" her mother answered from the kitchen.
A moment later, she appeared holding a spatula, clearly in the middle of making dinner.
The moment she saw Claire's unusually excited expression, surprise crossed her face.
Ever since Claire turned eighteen and began suffering from strange visions, moments like this had become rare.
"What happened?" her mother asked curiously. "You look excited."
Claire immediately wrapped her arms around her in a quick hug.
"You won't believe what I found today!"
Her mother laughed softly.
"Then tell me."
Claire quickly reached into her bag and pulled out the strange old book from the library.
"This!"
Her mother blinked in confusion.
"A book?"
Claire nodded eagerly.
"No, Mom, listen." She quickly opened the diary and flipped through the pages. "The girl who wrote this diary experienced the exact same things I'm going through."
"What do you mean?"
Claire turned the book toward her mother and pointed at Andrea's entries describing the black-cloaked figures and strange visions.
"She saw things too," Claire explained excitedly. "Just like me."
But while Claire remained focused on explaining everything, she failed to notice her mother's expression slowly changing.
The color drained from her face completely.
Fear.
Real fear.
Before Claire could continue, her mother suddenly grabbed her wrist tightly.
"Where did you get this book?"
Claire flinched slightly at the sudden force.
Her mother's grip tightened further.
"Claire," she asked again, her voice strained this time, "where did you get this book?"
Claire frowned in confusion.
Why was she reacting like this?
"From the school library," she answered slowly. "Mom… what's wrong?"
For a brief moment, her mother looked completely lost.
Then just as quickly, she forced herself to calm down.
"It's nothing," she said quickly, releasing Claire's wrist. "I was only surprised, that's all."
Claire stared at her suspiciously.
She was lying.
Claire knew her mother well enough to notice when something was wrong.
And right now, her mother looked terrified.
Still, Claire decided not to push further.
At least not yet.
"I'm going upstairs to freshen up," she said quietly while taking the diary back.
Her mother nodded absentmindedly.
Claire slowly headed upstairs, but even as she left, she could still feel her mother staring at the book.
As though it carried something dangerous.
After taking a shower, Claire returned downstairs for dinner.
Unfortunately, she ended up eating alone.
Shortly after she went upstairs earlier, her mother suddenly announced she had an important matter to attend to and left the house immediately.
At night.
Without explanation.
Claire frowned while absentmindedly poking her food.
What kind of matter couldn't wait until morning?
The entire situation felt strange.
First the diary.
Then her mother's reaction.
Now this.
Nothing made sense anymore.
Too exhausted to think further, Claire quickly finished eating and returned to her room.
Thankfully, sleep claimed her the moment her head touched the pillow.
Meanwhile…
Far away from the city, inside a dark unknown chamber illuminated only by flickering flames, a man sat upon a massive black throne.
His crimson eyes glowed dangerously in the darkness while sharp claws rested against the arm of his seat.
Beside him stood two monstrous creatures cloaked in shadows, their growls echoing softly throughout the room.
A woman knelt before the throne trembling violently.
Her head remained lowered in submission.
"What happened?"
The man's deep voice filled the chamber like thunder.
The sheer pressure in the room made it difficult to breathe.
The woman swallowed nervously before forcing herself to speak.
"I… I discovered something about the girl."
The creatures beside the throne growled
lowly.
The woman nearly collapsed from fear but continued anyway.
"The girl's mother left something behind," she explained shakily. "A diary containing secrets about us. If the girl continues reading it, her powers may awaken sooner than we expected."
Silence filled the room.
Dangerous silence.
Then suddenly—
"I gave you one job."
The man's voice exploded through the chamber violently.
The creatures beside him snarled louder.
The woman's entire body shook uncontrollably.
"I trusted you to handle something so simple," the man continued coldly. "Yet you failed."
"I-I'm sorry, my lord," the woman stammered desperately.
The man's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"That," he said darkly, "is the one sentence I hate hearing the most."
The woman lowered her head further, terrified beyond words.
Truthfully, if she were no longer useful, he would have killed her long ago.
Mercy was not something he believed in.
But for now…
He still needed her.
Needed her help to obtain the girl.
And once that happened—
She would become useless.
The thought alone made the man smile faintly.
Coldly.
"Retrieve the diary," he ordered finally.
Then suddenly—
He vanished into thin air.
The pressure in the room disappeared instantly.
The woman collapsed onto the floor gasping for breath, clutching her chest painfully as though invisible hands had been strangling her moments ago.
After several seconds, she slowly stood up.
Fear still lingered in her trembling eyes.
Then she disappeared into the darkness as well.