Chapter 4: The Keepers in the Rain
Rahmat Ali locked the front door of his shop, his hands still trembling. The girl, whose name was Maya, sat on a wooden stool, shivering. The black shoes on the workbench seemed to glow faintly in the dark.
"Who are the Keepers of the Void?" Rahmat asked, handed her a warm cloth to dry her hair.
"They are the hunters of things that shouldn't exist," Maya whispered. "That stranger... he didn't buy those shoes. He stole them from the Void. They are not just leather and thread; they are a vessel for a soul."
Suddenly, a heavy thud echoed from the roof. Something was moving up there. It wasn't the sound of a human; it was like the scratching of sharp claws against the tiles.
"They are here," Maya gasped, looking up in terror.
Rahmat looked at the black shoes. A dark mist was starting to rise from them, swirling around the room like a living shadow. He realized that to save his shop and the girl, he had to do the one thing he feared most—he had to put the shoes on.