Sarah remained where she stood, watching him go. Her thoughts were tangled. She did not know whether to call him foolish or brave. The world was not what it used to be. Trusting someone you had just met could be considered suicide. People lied. They deceived. They used trust as bait.
What if Fai turned out to be someone else entirely?
But then again… what about her?
She had known Fai longer than Johnson had. She had been there before this stage, before this assessment. And yet, it was she who struggled to see him differently. Why was it so difficult for her to stop viewing him as the weak boy he used to be? Johnson had met him only hours ago, yet he did not hesitate to believe in him.
Even after knowing that Fai was still human.
Then Johnson's last words echoed in her mind.
He's going to change the world.
Her fists clenched slightly.
"I don't believe in instincts… but if there is one thing I'm sure of… it's that Fai has always been a good person," Sarah whispered to herself.
"What are you waiting for? Come on. I bet he's tired. He's going to need your shoulder to lean on," Johnson called out urning around facing her .
"My shoulder? What happened to yours?" Sarah asked.
"Mine still hurts, remember?" Johnson replied casually.
For a brief moment, despite everything, Sarah almost smiled.
______________________________________________
A demon.
A supernatural evil being, often believed to originate from a realm separate from the human world.
In most religious and cultural traditions, demons are entities associated with malevolence, temptation, and chaos. They are said to influence humans by provoking fear, corrupting morals, encouraging destructive desires, and spreading misfortune. Some legends describe them as servants of a greater evil force. Others portray them as independent spirits driven purely by malice.
Across ancient folklore, demons may take physical or non-physical forms. They may possess humans, manipulate events from the shadows, or inhabit forbidden places where light rarely reaches. Their defining trait is not merely their power, but their role as agents of corruption—beings that stand in opposition to good, order, and divine law.
In simple terms, a demon is believed to exist to harm, deceive, or spiritually destroy humans and disrupt the natural order.
That was public information.
No… scratch that.
That was the bare minimum of what society allowed itself to know.
It was common knowledge that demons were not from this world. It was common knowledge that they meant no good. Everyone understood how dangerous they were. But what was not common knowledge,what few ever spoke about—was how well demons could blend into society.
How perfectly they could fit in.
And Conor was now a victim of that truth.
He had been walking beside his best friend all this time, laughing, talking, sharing ideas , never once suspecting that something was wrong. Never once noticing the subtle differences. Never once questioning the familiarity he had taken for granted.
Not realizing that the person beside him was not what he was meant to be , not human.At least, not anymore Conor stared straight at Hans.Or was it even Hans?
The figure standing before him began to change. Slowly at first. Subtly. The skin seemed to ripple unnaturally, as though something beneath it was shifting. Bones appeared to elongate. Muscles contorted. The outline of his face blurred and reshaped, as if reality itself was struggling to contain whatever was emerging.
Conor's breath caught in his throat.
The transformation was not dramatic or explosive. It was worse. It was gradual. Controlled. Deliberate.
The familiar features of his best friend twisted into something foreign.
Something wrong.
Conor was in grave danger.
The realization struck him all at once, and fear surged through his body like electricity. Confusion clouded his mind, refusing to settle into anything coherent. And then he felt it—the cold, sharp pressure against his neck.
A claw.Long. Thin. Unnaturally sharp.
It rested just against his skin, not yet slicing deeply, but enough to make its presence known. He could feel it pressing in slowly, deliberately, as though savoring the moment. A thin line of blood formed where the claw grazed him, warm liquid sliding down the side of his neck.
His body reacted before his thoughts could catch up.
The hairs along his arms stood on end. His muscles tightened instinctively. His heart began pounding so violently that he could hear it in his ears, each beat louder than the last.
"What's this…?" Conor asked, his voice strained but controlled. He was trying, desperately to remain calm.
"Hans… what are you doing? What's happening to you?" he continued, forcing himself to look directly at the creature forming before him.
Fear was no longer creeping in.It was there.
Fully present.
As he stared at the changing figure, fragments of memories surged up from deep within his mind. Lessons etched into him since childhood. Suddenly all the Information about demons, about how they could hide among humans, how they could mimic voices, faces, even emotions everything was now becoming clear .The thing in front of him was not his best friend.It never had been.
"Hans , What are you doing ? , What's happening to you ?" Conor asked, his voice trembling despite his effort to steady it. He stared at the creature slowly forming before him, his mind refusing to accept what his eyes were clearly seeing.
Fear did not rush into him all at once; it crept in gradually, like cold water seeping through cracks in stone. As he continued to watch, fragments of memories from his past began to surge forward,memories etched into the back of his mind, buried but never truly forgotten.
Those memories were waking up now, clawing their way back to the surface as he realized what stood before him.