I didn't know darkness could have weight.
Until I opened my eyes..
and felt it pressing against my chest.
Not surrounding me.
Pressing.
As if the space itself had decided I was already inside it.
The air was cold,not the natural kind, but something heavier. It didn't flow into my lungs.
It settled.
Like the city was breathing into me instead of the other way around.
A blue neon light flickered above.
Buzzing.
Fading.
Returning.
Each time it died..
my shadow trembled across the cracked asphalt.
For a moment, I thought it moved before I did.
The thought didn't leave.
It stayed.
A faint whistling sound slipped between the buildings, stretching through the empty streets. Long. Hollow. Almost human.
Like something trying to speak..
and choosing not to.
I pushed myself up slowly.
My body responded.
But something felt… wrong.
Not pain.
Not weakness.
Something quieter.
A certainty.
That I didn't belong here.
Or worse…
that I had been placed here.
I looked around.
The alleys were narrow and suffocating, swallowed by darkness that didn't behave like darkness. The buildings rose like broken frames,corroded, skeletal, leaning just enough to feel unstable.
And the windows..
every single one of them..
felt like an eye.
Not watching.
Waiting.
Waiting for something specific.
Waiting for me.
I placed a hand on my chest.
My pulse was steady.
Too steady.
Like it hadn't noticed the change yet.
That was all I had.
No memory of how I got here.
No trace of where I came from.
No explanation…
only a direction.
It formed in my mind without warning.
Without reason.
Clear.
Precise.
Find the heart of the city.
The First District.
Where everything begins.
I didn't question it.
Because something deeper than thought had already accepted it.
I took a breath.
Cold air settled inside me again.
And I started walking.
One step.
Then another.
The sound of my footsteps didn't echo.
It disappeared.
As if the ground absorbed it before it could exist.
The silence followed me.
No…
it adjusted.
Each step I took, the space shifted slightly, not enough to see, but enough to feel.
As if the city was making room for me.
Or closing around me.
The buildings seemed closer now.
The alleys narrower.
The darkness deeper.
Not changing.
Responding.
A flicker caught my attention.
Not from above.
From below.
I looked down.
My shadow stretched along the ground.
Still.
Flat.
Normal…
for a moment.
Then…
it moved.
Not with me.
Before me.
A slight shift.
A hesitation.
Like it was deciding something.
Then it aligned again…
as if nothing had happened.
I stopped.
The world didn't.
The silence tightened.
Not louder.
Not heavier.
Focused.
Like something had just narrowed its attention.
I didn't turn.
I didn't need to.
Because I felt it.
Not behind me.
Not in front of me.
Everywhere.
Something had noticed.
Not a sound.
Not a movement.
A change.
Subtle.
Precise.
Irreversible.
The city hadn't been empty.
It had been waiting.
And now…
it wasn't just watching anymore.
It was aware.
And whatever had been sleeping inside it…
had just opened its eyes.