The man studied him for a moment, like he was checking whether the words had actually cost Ashen anything, or if he'd just said them to make the fear stop.
"Good," he said finally. "Smart kid." He turned and walked back toward the fence he'd been leaning against earlier, unhurried, like the whole exchange had already been settled somewhere in his head before Ashen even answered. He grabbed two wooden boxes from nearby. "Sit. This won't take long, and I'd rather not repeat myself."
Ashen didn't sit. His legs felt like they belonged to someone else, but he stayed standing, arms loose at his sides, watching.
"There's a man," the man said, not looking at him, occupied instead with something in his pocket. "Runs a shop on the east side, near the old textile mill. He owes me for something, and I'd rather not go collect it myself tonight. You're going to take him a package, and you're going to bring back what he gives you in return. That's it. That's the whole job."
"Who are you? And what's in it?" Ashen asked, his eyes fixed on the man.
The man let out a short chuckle. "Asking that now?" Then his voice sharpened, quiet and serious, the kind of tone that told Ashen not to test his luck any further. "The Crow. I think that's enough of an introduction, isn't it?"
Ashen didn't try to push it.
The Crow looked up at him then, something almost amused behind his eyes. "It's none of your business, kid, I think."
"I want to know what I'm carrying."
"No," The Crow said, not unkindly, "you don't. You want to think you know, so you can feel better about carrying it. There's a difference." He took a small package out of his pocket and held it out toward Ashen. "You carry it. You don't open it. You don't drop it, you don't lose it, and you don't get curious halfway there. Understood?"
Ashen's jaw tightened, but he nodded.
"Good." The Crow pushed the package toward him. "Address is on the inside of the wrapping, back corner. Memorize it, don't write it down anywhere. You go tonight not tomorrow, not when it's convenient for you. Tonight."
"And after? You said you'd tell me what you know."
"I did say that." The Crow leaned back against the fence, arms crossed, studying him the way he had all night like Ashen was a puzzle he hadn't decided was worth solving yet. "One delivery doesn't buy you a name, kid. It buys you a conversation. Do this clean, and we'll talk about what comes next."
"You're stalling."
"I'm negotiating." A faint smile. "There's a difference there too. You'll learn it."
Ashen picked up the package. It was lighter than he'd expected, and that, somehow, made it worse.
"One delivery," he said, more to himself than to The Crow.
"Sure," The Crow said, already turning away, already bored with him. "And one more thing."
Ashen looked at him. Crow was still sitting on the box, and when he spoke again, the calm never left his eyes, not for a second.
"If you try to be smart, or do something I don't like, I will find you. And I will kill you myself. I don't joke about things like that." He let that sit a moment before continuing. "Once the package is delivered, I'll be informed automatically. Come back here."
Ashen nodded and stood. "I'm going now."
Before he could turn, Crow called his name. "Take that knife with you."
Ashen hesitated, confused, but went along with it anyway pulling the knife from where he'd stashed it and fastening it into the holder on his belt. He looked at Crow a moment longer before finally turning and walking off into the dark.
He moved through the streets slowly, face half-covered, one hand pressed against the package in his pocket to keep it from shifting. Maybe I already have an idea what's in it, he thought. But I don't think I want to confirm it. This is all for revenge's sake. Stars scattered across the night sky, and it was beautiful in a way that felt almost unfair the streets below were empty, still, like he was the last person left alive in the world. He kept his pace slow and careful, no rush in his steps.
He watched for cameras, for people, for anyone who might slow him down or cause a problem. A week of late-night wandering through Graywater had taught him where he could move fast, and where he'd get caught if he tried.
The farther he walked, the more the doubt crept in.
Should I really deliver this? he thought. I'm ruining lives by doing this. People are going to suffer because of me. Then, quieter, more insistent: No. I only need to care about myself. Be selfish. I've already joined hands with him there's nothing left to do now but keep moving forward.
He kept talking himself back into it the whole way there.
Somewhere in the walk, his mind drifted to his grandmother the love she'd given him without condition, the way she'd worried over him constantly, the guilt of knowing how much he used to make her worry. Then his thoughts moved to Walter and Nora, and how he was betraying their trust too, the same way he was betraying his friends' trust, the same way he was betraying whatever was left of the person he used to be. Everything he was doing now, he told himself, was only for himself.
He reached the destination and looked around. No one was there until a voice came from an old car parked across the street, in front of the mill. A man stepped out of it, wearing a sleek white coat, dressed like he'd walked straight out of a business meeting.
He looks quite wealthy, Ashen thought.
"You got the package, Ashen?"
Ashen's eyes went wide, his heart lurching. "How do you know my name?" he asked, too quickly.
"Does it matter?" the man said.
Ashen locked his gaze on him, watching his every movement. "How do I know you're the one I'm supposed to deliver this to?"
The man seemed almost surprised by the sudden edge in Ashen's voice. He adjusted his coat, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small wooden box, opening it just enough for Ashen to see inside. "This what that bastard sent you to collect?"
Ashen's doubts settled. "Hand it over first," he said, steady.
"You don't trust me?" the man said, something almost delighted in his tone. "Bold of you, kid. Haven't learned your lesson yet, have you?"
"And what if I haven't?" Ashen said.
The man laughed, low and short. "That's a question for the Crow, I'd think what he'd make of it."
"Fine," Ashen said, jaw tight. "Then ask him. I'm still not moving until I see it handed over."
The man chuckled again, shaking his head. "You're amusing. Here take it. It's worthless to me anyway." He handed the box over. Ashen took it, then reached into his own pocket and pulled out the package, holding it out in return.
"Here's your stuff," Ashen said, looking him dead in the eye.
"Don't want to know what's inside it?" the man asked.
"I already know what's inside," Ashen said. "And even if I'm wrong, I don't want to know." He turned and started walking back the way he'd come.
The man watched him fade into the dark, laughed quietly to himself, and climbed back into his car. "This one was interesting."
Ashen walked back the way he'd come, hands shoved deep in his pockets, the same slow, careful pace he'd kept all night. His mind wouldn't stay quiet.
"My heart's beating fast again," he muttered, mostly just to fill the silence. "Why would someone that wealthy want drugs delivered like this?"
He didn't notice it happening, but somewhere between that thought and the next, the suspicion sitting at the back of his mind had already hardened into something closer to certainty. He didn't push at it further. He'd told himself he didn't want to know, and some stubborn part of him was still trying to keep that promise, even now.
Before long he reached the fence where Crow was waiting, still perched on the same wooden box, like he hadn't moved the whole time Ashen was gone.
"Back already." Crow didn't look up right away, turning the returned box over in his hands. "No trouble?"
"None," Ashen said. "He knew my name before I said a word."
"Of course he did." Crow glanced up, unbothered. "I told him to expect you."
"You could've told me that too."
"Could have." Crow shrugged, setting the box down beside him. "Didn't."
Ashen stood there, jaw tight. "Now tell me what you know. About the third one."
Crow didn't answer right away taking his time, weighing, it seemed, exactly how much truth one errand was worth. "Fine. I heard those three ran. After whatever they did to your grandmother, they ran for the mountain, out past the edge of town. Haven't heard so much as a whisper about any of them since."
"The mountain." Ashen's chest tightened. "Which part of it?"
"That's more than I have." Crow's voice stayed flat. "I'm not your personal detective, kid. I gave you a direction. What you find when you get there or don't isn't on me."
"That's not enough."
"It's what you're getting." Crow stood, brushing something off his coat, already done with the conversation before Ashen was. "You want more than a direction, you go find it yourself. That's how this works. I point, you walk. If the trail runs cold up there, that's just the world being what it is not me lying to you."
Ashen studied his face, searching for anything else he might be holding back. He found nothing readable there at all.
"Fine," Ashen said quietly. At least it confirmed his suspicion three people, not two, not one.
"Fine," Crow echoed, already turning away. "Go home, kid. Get some sleep before school." A pause, faintly amused. "Or don't. Not my business either."
Ashen looked at him a moment longer, said nothing, and turned to go.
He walked home with his eyes fixed somewhere past the pavement, slipped in through the back door, and dropped onto his bed the second he reached his room. The mattress was cold, and it helped, somehow pulled the tension out of his shoulders the way nothing else had all night. The exhaustion of the day caught up with him all at once, and he was asleep before he even realized he'd stopped fighting it.
He woke with his eyes still heavy, his body aching like it had been dragged behind a truck.
"What time is it?" he mumbled, pushing himself up, his back protesting the movement. He checked six in the morning. "I only slept three hours?"
He lay back down and tried to will himself back to sleep, but his body wouldn't cooperate. "All that running around at night finally caught up with me," he said to the ceiling, as if that would help. Sleep, apparently, was the one thing his body now refused to do on command.
He gave up and went downstairs. Nora was already up.
"Morning, Ashen. Looks like you didn't sleep well last night," she said.
"Morning, Aunt. Yeah didn't sleep well. Might not have slept at all, honestly."
She chuckled. "Happens sometimes. Staying home again today?"
He thought about it for a second, then nodded. "Yeah. I'll fall asleep in class otherwise."
"Fair enough." She turned back to whatever she'd been doing at the counter. "Go shower, I'll make coffee." Walter was still asleep upstairs.
She came back a while later with two mugs. Ashen thanked her but didn't drink.
"Not to your taste?" she asked.
"No, it's not that if I drink it now I won't be able to fall back asleep."
Nora smiled. "That tracks. So you're planning to sleep the whole day? I'd say try to stay awake until it gets dark instead."
He blinked at her, his sleep-deprived brain a full step behind.
She caught the confusion on his face. "If you sleep now, you'll never get back on schedule tonight. Push through until evening that way even if you crash early, you'll wake up on the right day." He nodded slowly, though there was still something unmoored behind his eyes, the look of someone who'd misplaced a piece of himself somewhere in the night.
He drank his coffee and decided to take a walk. He made his way down the street toward the park, slow and unhurried. Morning dew still clung to the grass, catching the early light. The air, when it hit his lungs, felt lighter than usual colder too, but the kind of cold that woke something up in him rather than dragging him down. He slipped off his shoes on a whim and walked barefoot the rest of the way, grass brushing cool and ticklish against his feet with every step.
He circled the field a few times and settled onto a bench as the park slowly filled with people around him. He sat alone with his thoughts.
The mountain, he thought, eyes narrowing. I remember Jamson saying he saw a purple light up there. Something clicked into place. They were already talking about a trip. If I remember right — that could actually help. Then, almost immediately, the doubt followed. Would it be dangerous, bringing them along? No I'm only going to look for whatever's there. And it might help things feel normal again, between me and them.
He looked up at the sky and made his decision. He'd go with his friends, on that trip to the mountain.
The day passed quickly after that. He went up to his room after dinner and slept properly for the first time in days.
The next morning he went through his usual routine and headed to school. At lunch, he found his friends already gathered at their usual table.
He set his tray down and announced, "I've decided something."
Everyone looked up, confusion plain on all their faces.
"Decided what?" Jamson asked.
Ashen just looked at him, a smirk on his face that gave nothing away, and pointed his spoon in Jamson's direction.
Jamson leaned in, even more confused now, and the others waited.
"I've decided we're going on that trip to the mountain," Ashen said. "To see if what Jamson told us was actually true."
Arnold blinked, genuinely startled. "What do you mean, we?"
Charlie let out a short laugh.
"Yes. We. All of us going," Ashen said.
Jimmy smacked him on the back of the head. "Seriously? What happened to that whole speech you gave us?"
"Ah, that." Ashen shrugged. "People change, you know. Now I want to go."
Everyone stared. Arnold grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked.
"Ow what are you doing?" Ashen said, trying to pull free and failing.
"Checking to see if you're really Ashen, or someone wearing his face," Arnold said, grinning.
After a bit more back-and-forth, they all agreed meeting the next day.
"We'll meet at five, in front of the mountain barricades," Jamson said. "And when you shut the idea down that day, I went and checked it out myself anyway. I already know a way in."
Everyone stared at him in surprise.
"You actually went? And isn't five too late?" Charlie asked.
"Nope. What's the fun in going during broad daylight? You want to get caught?" Jamson replied. Charlie had no answer for that.
"Everyone fine with it?" Ashen asked. Arnold, Charlie, and Jimmy all agreed at once.
"I'll text you what to bring," Jamson went on. "Flashlight and water bottles are non-negotiable and I'm not sharing mine." Everyone looked at him like he was, unexpectedly, the most competent person in the group for once which, to be fair, he was.
He was still mid-lecture when Arnold and Charlie came up behind him, glaring.
"So. You went alone." Arnold's voice was almost pleasant. "Interesting. I think you need a lesson."
Jamson gulped. "Guys, I can explain..."
Before he could say anything else, they shoved him to the ground and sat on him.
He apologized the whole time they had him pinned. Eventually they let him up, and he stood there rubbing his back, wounded but unbowed. "So everyone ready?"
Everyone nodded, and the plan was set.
The next day, Ashen packed his bag with snacks and a flashlight.
"Where are you off to with all that?" Nora asked.
"Little trip with the guys. I'll be back soon."
She looked a little worried. "Alright but where exactly?"
"Just an old abandoned factory outside town," he said, meeting her eyes.
"Isn't that dangerous?"
"Nah, we'll be fine. Don't worry."
She let it go, eventually. "Back before seven, like you said. If you're not, I'm not letting you out of this house for a week. Understood?"
"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry."
He said goodbye and made his way to the meeting spot. Three of the others were already there Charlie was missing.
"Where's Charlie?" Ashen asked, looking around.
"On his way. Should be here soon," Jamson said. "God, I can't wait I'm so excited."
Everyone looked at him and sighed in unison. Same as always, they all thought at the same time. Charlie showed up not long after, and they set off along the path Jamson had scouted.
They found the gap in the barricade and slipped through, one at a time.
"We're in we're actually in. I want to scream, but we'd get caught, so I won't," Jamson said. Arnold smacked him on the back of the head. "Start moving."
They pushed deeper, following where Jamson claimed he'd seen the light. Birds called somewhere above them, grass rustling soft beneath their feet. Everyone seemed almost hypnotized by it.
"This feeling's kind of amazing," Charlie said.
"Yeah this could be someone's secret base," Arnold said.
Everyone turned to stare at him, because that was, genuinely, a strange thing for him to say.
"Didn't know you were into stuff like that," Jimmy said, teasing. Arnold just chuckled and let it go.
A while later they stopped to rest.
"Watch out for insects," Jamson said. Everyone checked the ground before sitting, then pulled out snacks. "And make sure you pack out your trash after."
"Say one more word," Charlie said, voice tight with irritation, "and I will personally throw you into one of these trees." Jamson went quiet, obedient as a scolded kid, and everyone laughed.
"Anyway," Charlie said after a moment, frowning. "What season is it again?"
"Late autumn," Jimmy said.
Charlie looked at him, confusion sliding into something closer to unease. "Then why is this forest so green?"
Everyone stopped. Looked around properly, this time.
"Yeah," Arnold said slowly. "This isn't the kind of green you're supposed to see this time of year."
"Guys, I don't know," Charlie said. "I've got a weird feeling. I think we should head back."
"No." Jamson's voice cracked up sharp. "We're too far in now, we're close to the spot just a little further."
"Jamson, this isn't a park," Jimmy snapped. "It's a jungle. We could get lost out here."
"I think Jamson's right," Ashen said. "Just a little further."
No one had an argument left for that. They kept moving.
They walked and walked.
"Guys," Charlie said slowly, "doesn't this look a little familiar?"
Everyone looked around.
"This is where we stopped for snacks," Arnold said, and the realization hit all at once. Panic crept into every face.
"This isn't fun anymore," Jimmy said, scared now. "We need to go back."
Ashen agreed. All eyes turned to Jamson.
"Guys I think we're close," he said.
"That's the fourth time you've said that." Jimmy's voice cracked into a scream. "Look around you — we're lost!"
Jamson tried to argue, but there was nothing left to argue with. It was already getting dark. They started moving again anyway, faster now, the fear creeping into every one of them at once.
Then, without warning, the forest went silent.
"Guys," Charlie said, quieter now. "I don't think this is the right way."
No one answered. No one wanted to be the one to say out loud what they already knew. It wasn't dark enough yet to blind them completely but dark enough that nothing past a dozen meters ahead held its shape anymore, just outlines and shadow.
They stepped into a clearing, and every one of them froze.
Two bodies lay in the open ground. Not killed cleanly torn apart, in pieces that didn't belong together anymore.
That wasn't even the worst part.
Their eyes were drawn, all at once, to the deepest dark at the clearing's edge where something sat, back turned toward them, unmoving. It hadn't noticed them yet. Charlie shifted his weight to step back, and a twig cracked underfoot.
The thing's head snapped around.
No one breathed. Hands shook. Sweat ran down skin gone cold. For one endless second, nobody moved at all.
It rose to its feet, and the terror in the clearing doubled with it nearly four meters of height, limbs too thin, skin too pale, and where a face should have been, nothing but a wide, wrong spread of eyes. It let out a roar with no mouth to shape it.
Before any of them could think to run, it moved. An arm shot out, elongating faster than any of them could track, and punched clean through Jimmy pinning him to the trunk of a tree behind him.
"JIMMY!"
The scream tore out of all four of them at once. For a second nobody moved, frozen by the sight of it and then Arnold was grabbing at whatever he could reach, sleeves, shoulders, screaming at them to run.
They ran. The creature's arm had caught fast in the bark, buying them a few precious seconds. It didn't stay stuck for long.
Charlie's scream came first, from somewhere behind Ashen high and raw. "I don't want to die! I don't want to die!" He was still screaming when the sound of it changed, swallowed suddenly into the dark, and then there was nothing left of him at all except the fading echo of his voice.
The three who were left kept running. Legs burning, branches tearing thin lines into their arms with every stride. Jamson was slowing.
"Guys... I can't..." he gasped.
They looked back. It was already there.
Ashen lunged to grab him, but Arnold caught his collar first and hauled him forward instead.
"Please... save me..."
The creature was already on him. Its arm closed around Jamson's head, and the sound that followed didn't belong to anything human... a wet, tearing crack, and then his voice simply wasn't there anymore, cut off mid-word like a wire pulled from a socket. It tore his head clean from his shoulders, spine trailing after it in a way that didn't look real, and let the rest of him drop.
Neither of them looked back to see it happen. Neither of them needed to.
They kept running. Ashen's lungs burned, every breath tearing at his throat, and beside him Arnold's breathing had gone ragged, uneven, his strides shortening even as he pushed harder. The dark blurred everything into shapes and noise branches, roots, the growl somewhere behind them that never seemed to close the distance or fall away either.
"Ashen..." Arnold's voice cracked out between breaths. "I don't think I can..."
Then his foot caught on a root, and he went down hard.
"Ashen... go..." He tried to push himself up. His leg wouldn't hold.
Ashen turned back for him anyway, hands already reaching. "I'm not leaving you here."
"Leave me!" Arnold's voice cracked into something desperate. Behind them, the growl was already closing the distance.
"Go... NOW!"
Ashen's eyes burned, but there was no time left to argue. He ran. When he looked back just once the creature was already standing over Arnold.
"Fuck you," Arnold said, loud and clear, and raised his middle finger at it with whatever strength he had left. "You piece of shit."
It didn't so much as flinch. It picked him up and tore him apart from the middle, guts and intestines spilling out, blood pouring over the creature as it dropped what was left of him to the ground.
Then its eyes found Ashen again.
He didn't look back a second time. He ran until his legs no longer felt like his own, hope thinning with every step, the creature's growl always somewhere just behind him, never quite far enough. His heart hammered against his ribs, adrenaline the only thing keeping him upright.
Then light. Bright, sudden, off to one side.
He turned toward it without thinking. The creature's footsteps closed in behind him, but the light kept pulling him forward, brighter with every step, until he broke through a last stretch of bushes and it was right there in front of him blinding, purple, impossibly bright.
Ashen stared at it, eyes wide.
Chapter 10: End