"LEO!, LEO!!, LEO!!!"
Leo's eyes snapped open, his pupils dilating as he shot upright. He gasped for air, his lungs burning as if he had just been dragged from the bottom of a dark, frozen ocean. His chest heaved violently, his heart hammering against his ribs in a frantic, uneven rhythm.
His vision was a blurred smear of colors at first, slowly coalescing into a familiar face.
"Jane...?" he croaked, his voice sounding like it belonged to someone else.
Jane stood over him, but there was no relief in her eyes. Instead, she looked at him with a raw, wide-eyed terror that chilled him to the bone. "How... how are you still alive?" she whispered, her voice trembling.
Leo looked around, the world coming back into sharp, painful focus. The street was still a scene of absolute carnage. People were still running, their screams echoing off the buildings. The sirens, the smoke, the smell of gunpowder—it was all real.
"Do you know how long I've been like this?" Leo asked, his voice weak and trembling.
Jane narrowed her eyes, her fear momentarily replaced by a flash of her usual sharp temper. "You really love answering questions with questions, don't you?" She exhaled a sharp, jagged breath. "I'll tell you—but first, we need to get off this road. Can you stand?"
Leo hesitated, testing his limbs. To his surprise, the agonizing heat in his chest had faded into a dull, pulsing ache. He slowly pushed himself up, his movements stiff. "...Looks like I can."
***
[Leo's Apartment]
The moment the door clicked shut behind them, Jane exploded.
"What the hell is going on with you, Leo?!" She pointed a trembling finger at him, her voice rising to a frantic pitch. "There is blood all over your shirt! I saw you get hit! I saw you on the ground gasping for your last breath! How are you standing here right now?!"
Leo scratched the back of his head, his mind racing. *How do I explain this? Which lie is the best one?*
Inside his mind, a thought flickered: *Will she believe me if I tell her something... entered me? No. There's no way. She'd think I've finally lost it.*
He forced his voice into a casual, nonchalant tone, though it felt like a fragile mask. "Nothing actually happened, Jane. I was just... playing dead. You know, so the shooter wouldn't come back to finish the job."
Jane's eyes sharpened, cutting through his lie like a scalpel. "Then why is there blood all over you? And why did you stand up in the middle of the street and say—'What have you done?'"
Leo froze, his blood turning to ice. "...I stood up?"
Jane stepped closer, her presence overwhelming in the small living room. "Yes. I ran past you at first—I was panicking, Leo. I thought you were gone. But then... you just stood up. Like a puppet being pulled by strings."
Her voice lowered to a terrified whisper. "You said those words. You looked right through me. And that's when I saw it... the glow."
Leo swallowed hard, his throat tight. "What happened after that?"
"You collapsed," Jane answered quietly. "Like all the life had been sucked out of you."
A heavy, uncomfortable silence settled over the room. Leo lowered his head, his thoughts swirling in a dark vortex.
*That glowing thing...* he thought, his internal voice reaching out into the void of his own mind. *Can you hear me?*
A voice resonated within him, not as a sound, but as a vibration in his very soul. **"Yes... I can hear you."**
Leo's eyes widened for a split second, a jolt of pure shock electrifying his nerves, but he quickly forced his expression back into a neutral mask. He looked back at Jane, his mind made up. "Jane... you should go home. It's not safe to be out, but you need to be with your family. I'll talk to you later."
Jane frowned, her concern overriding her fear. "But everything is still in chaos outside, Leo. I can't just leave you like this."
Leo paused, the weight of the presence inside him growing heavier by the second. "...Then you can stay. But I need to rest."
Suddenly, a strange, crushing pressure expanded within his chest, radiating through his limbs like molten lead. It felt as if his body was no longer entirely his own.
The voice spoke again, authoritative and ancient. **"You need to sleep... or your physical vessel will collapse. The bond is not yet stable."**
Leo stiffened, his vision beginning to swim. "Uh... Jane... I really need to sleep now. Just... make yourself at home."
Without waiting for a response, he rushed into his bedroom and slammed the door. He fell onto the bed, his eyes struggling to stay open. Each blink felt heavier than the last, the darkness pulling at him with irresistible force.
Then—nothingness.
***
**[The Living Room]**
Jane sat on the edge of the sofa, her fingers tightening into white-knuckled fists. The silence of the apartment was deafening.
*Something is wrong with him. Terribly wrong.*
She leaned back, staring at the closed bedroom door. *When I found him... he was glowing. Like he was made of starlight.* She let out a long, shaky sigh, the weight of the day finally beginning to crush her. "...What is happening to this world?"
***
[Next Morning]
"LEO!! LEO!!! WAKE UP!"
Jane was shaking him violently, her hands gripping his shoulders. Leo gasped, his eyes flying open as he bolted upright for the second time in a day.
"What's wrong with you?! Why are you hitting me?!" he yelled, rubbing his sore shoulder.
Jane crossed her arms, her face pale. "We're late, Leo. Extremely late."
Leo's eyes widened as he glanced at the clock. "WHAT?!" Then he asked "Wait, You waited all night!!?". Jabe ignored the question and dragged him out of the bed.
***
[City High School - Assembly Ground]
They ran toward the school gates, their breath coming in ragged gasps, their hearts pounding a frantic rhythm in their ears. They didn't stop until they reached the assembly ground, where a crowd of students and teachers stood in absolute, petrified silence.
Suddenly, every radio and PA speaker around the school crackled to life.
*CRRRRRSHHHHH…*
A distorted, metallic voice echoed through the speakers, carrying a weight of authority that made the air itself feel cold.
"Attention all citizens! This is a global emergency broadcast. I repeat—this is a global emergency."
The entire school froze. Not a single person moved.
"Our planet is under an unprecedented extraterrestrial incursion. We are not yet certain of their origin... but here is the information every human must know to survive."
"There are three distinct classifications of unidentified beings currently active on Earth."
**1. Spiritual Beings**
"Glowing entities composed of pure energy. They cannot survive long in our atmosphere and must inhabit human hosts to remain stable. Some may be benign... others are hostile. If you are chosen, they may preserve your soul... or they may destroy it. We have classified them as Spiritual Beings."
Leo's blood turned to ice. He felt the presence inside him stir, a cold, ancient resonance vibrating in his bones.
**2. Demons**
"Highly aggressive entities fueled by a corrosive dark energy. They are extremely dangerous and show no mercy. If encountered—do not engage. Run immediately. We have limited data, as few survive an encounter."
**3. The Beasts**
"Monstrous creatures of immense physical strength and durability. They are highly destructive and act on primal, predatory instincts. Avoid all contact."
"This is a global lockdown order. Stay indoors. Patrol units are being deployed worldwide. Stay safe. May God help us all."
*CRRRRSHHHHH—*
The transmission cut off, leaving a silence so deep it felt like the world had stopped breathing.
Jane slowly turned toward Leo, her eyes searching his face for an answer he didn't want to give. Leo didn't move. He didn't blink. The air around them grew heavy, oppressive, and unnaturally cold.
Because deep inside Leo's mind, the voice whispered one final time.
**"Now you understand... little vessel. The war has come for your world."**
Jane felt it too—that crushing pressure, that unknown presence radiating from the boy she thought she knew.
The world was no longer normal. It was the beginning of the end.
To Be Continued…