The shadowy entity began slowly drawing the entire white space into itself. The whiteness around them darkened at the edges, as if black ink had been spilled over it.
The walls, the floor, the endless horizon, everything began to take on a deep, velvet black color.
The white bar gradually dissolved, the bottles disappeared, the counter melted like smoke. The shadow spread gently and unhurriedly, transforming the sterile emptiness into a warm, cozy darkness.
The dark Ethan looked at the real Ethan with incredible tenderness. His eyes were full of warmth, almost love.
"I am you now," he whispered tenderly, continuing to embrace him.
"You have always been mine. I will help you with everything. But first, you need to remember something."
When the last white spot disappeared and only pure darkness remained around them, the shadowy entity pulled back slightly. It placed its palms on Ethan's shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes.
"I will send you into your real memories," it said softly.
"Look and remember. And then… we will continue. I don't want to do this while your memory is missing."
He flew backward, falling into a bottomless black abyss filled with fragments of memories, faces, voices, and new images. The darkness enveloped him without suffocating, it guided him, showed him, revealed every single card.
Ethan closed his eyes.
The shadowy entity smiled gently, still holding Ethan in its arms. Its voice became quiet, almost affectionate:
"Now remember… from the very beginning, who you were and who you were meant to be…"
Everything around Ethan began to spin again, this time not in chaos, but in a soft, almost tender flow. The darkness parted, and he fell into the light.
Year 2041.
Ethan opened his eyes. It wasn't exactly time travel, he had become a kind of observer, watching from the side while simultaneously experiencing everything as reality. No, he hadn't gone back or reincarnated. This was simply the continuation of his original life.
He was sitting at an old kitchen table in a small, cozy apartment. Morning sunlight gently filtered through slightly worn curtains. On the table stood a box of Honey Stars cereal, milk, a few bananas, and three bowls. He was sixteen.
"Ethan, you're falling asleep over your plate again," came his father's warm, slightly teasing voice.
Ethan blinked and looked at him. His father was a tall, sturdy man with a short, graying beard and tired but kind eyes. He sat across from him, smiling. He had already finished his coffee and was now scrolling through an old tablet with the news.
Next to their father sat Gina.
She was two years older,eighteen. A beautiful blonde with long, slightly wavy hair that she usually tied in a messy ponytail. Right now it was loose and fell over her shoulders.
She was eating cereal, lazily stirring her spoon in the bowl, and occasionally throwing her younger brother a mocking glance.
"Seriously, squirt," she said with a smile.
"Every morning you look like you spent the whole night fighting demons. Were you on your tablet again until three?"
Ethan blushed slightly and lowered his gaze to his bowl. The cereal was already getting soggy.
"God, I'm so tired of her sarcasm, he thought."
"I don't want to tell my sister about my feelings. That would be stupid… Sometimes I feel like I don't belong here…"
"I slept fine," he muttered, scooping up a spoonful.
"Just… thinking about stuff."
Their father put down the tablet and looked at him more attentively.
"About stuff?" he asked gently.
"If something's bothering you, you can tell us. We're family."
Gina snorted, not entirely kindly.
"Oh come on, Dad. He's a teenager. Hormones, girls, existential crisis, it's classic."
She winked at Ethan and kicked him lightly under the table.
"Hey, squirt. If you need anything, your wise big sister can always give you advice. For example, how not to screw up on a date."
Ethan couldn't help but smile. Despite all the strange thoughts inside him, sitting at this table felt warm.
"What an idiot…" he thought, looking at his father, then at Gina.
"Why do I sometimes feel like I don't deserve them?"
He scooped another spoonful of cereal and answered quietly:
"Everything's fine. Really. It's just… sometimes it feels like something's missing. We don't even go to school."
Their father nodded, as if he understood far more than he let on.
"Everyone feels like that at your age. The main thing is not to rush. And you definitely don't need school with the kind of things you two do."
Gina reached across the table and ruffled his hair.
"Exactly. Now finish your cereal. And don't forget to take out the trash today, or I'll take you out myself."
Ethan laughed sincerely.
"Haha, sure!"
He finished the last of his cereal and was about to get up from the table when his father suddenly put down the tablet and let out a heavy sigh.
The sigh was so deep and tired that both Ethan and Gina immediately fell silent and looked at him.
David sat with slumped shoulders, staring into his empty coffee mug. The wrinkles on his face seemed deeper than usual today.
He ran a hand over his short graying beard, as if gathering strength.
"Today…" he began quietly, barely raising his eyes.
"Today you both are giving blood. And tonight… your initiation begins. Your first mission. Well? Are you ready?"
Ethan froze with the spoon in his hand. Gina slowly put hers down.
"Initiation…" she quietly repeated. There was no joy in her voice.