(Lisa's POV)
The stranger's eyes held mine, like he was searching for something. Susan stood frozen, her face pale. I felt a shiver, but curiosity kicked in.
The evening air suddenly felt colder, the kind that prickled along your arms even when the temperature wasn't that low. The streetlights buzzed faintly above us, and for a moment I wondered if that sound was the same hum I'd been hearing all night.
The guy didn't look threatening exactly. But something about him felt… wrong. Or maybe not wrong—just unfamiliar, like he belonged somewhere else entirely.
His dark eyes didn't blink.
"What do you mean?" I asked, trying to sound braver than I felt.
My voice came out steadier than I expected, but inside my chest my heart was pounding like crazy.
The stranger's gaze didn't waver. "You're part of this, Lisa. Whether you know it or not."
Part of what?
The words hung in the air between us.
I glanced at Susan, hoping she'd say something—anything—but she was staring at the guy like he'd sprouted wings. Her mouth was slightly open, her grip tightening on my arm.
The stranger continued, "My name's Alex. I'm... a watcher. And you're connected to something big."
A watcher? Connected?
My mind spun. "What are you talking about?"
Nothing about this made sense. Twenty minutes ago we were celebrating a soccer win. Now some mysterious guy knew my name and was talking like I was part of some secret world.
Alex reached into his jacket slowly, like he didn't want to startle us.
For a second I tensed, half expecting him to pull out something dangerous.
Instead, he held up a small pendant.
Alex pulled out a small, weird-looking pendant from his jacket. "This is a shard. You have one too."
The pendant caught the light from the streetlamp. It looked like a broken piece of crystal wrapped in thin silver wire, faintly glowing with a soft bluish shimmer.
I shook my head immediately. "I don't—"
The hum returned, louder.
It slammed into my head like a wave.
I felt a sharp zing in my chest, like static electricity bursting through my body. My breath caught, and suddenly heat spread down my arm.
A symbol appeared on my palm, glowing faintly.
It wasn't bright, but it was unmistakable—a looping shape made of thin golden lines, twisting like two circles crossing over each other.
Susan gasped. "Lisa... what's going on?"
Her voice trembled.
I stared at my hand in shock.
The symbol pulsed once, like a heartbeat.
Alex's eyes narrowed. "You've suppressed it. The shard's inside you."
My head was a mess. "What does it do?"
The glowing lines on my palm flickered slightly as I spoke, like they were reacting to the sound of my voice.
Alex glanced around the empty sidewalk before answering.
"It binds you to... others. People with power. You've been feeling it – the hum, the sparks."
My stomach dropped.
The weird sensations.
The frozen cafeteria.
The humming in my ears.
The strange pull tonight.
It was real.
Susan found her voice. "Lisa, what is this?"
I looked at her, freaked. "I don't know."
Part of me wanted to laugh and say this was all some elaborate prank.
But the glowing symbol in my palm made that impossible.
Alex stepped closer. "Lisa's part of a group – people with abilities. You've been hiding it, maybe even from yourself."
Hiding what?
My thoughts were chaos.
Abilities? Powers? That sounded like something out of a comic book, not real life.
But my body remembered the sparks in my hands.
The frozen world.
The humming.
Alex reached into his pocket again and pulled out a small folded paper. He handed it to me carefully.
Alex handed me a small, folded paper. "Meet me at Oakwood Park tonight. Midnight. I'll explain."
The moment the paper touched my fingers, the humming stopped.
Just like that.
The symbol on my palm faded.
The world snapped back.
Cars passed on the nearby street again. The distant sounds of people talking returned. A dog barked somewhere down the block.
Susan grabbed my arm. "Lisa, what just happened?"
Her eyes were wide with panic.
I stared at the paper in my hand, unsure. "I... I think I need to go."
Susan's eyes widened. "No way. This is crazy."
Her voice was louder now, almost desperate.
I looked at her, a mix of fear and curiosity. "I have to."
Because deep down, I knew something had changed tonight.
Something inside me had woken up.
We stood there, the silence thick. Then Susan nodded. "I'll come with."
Relief flickered through me for half a second.
But Alex spoke again.
Alex smiled, just for a second. "Not this time, Susan."
Before either of us could react—
He vanished.
Not walked away.
Not ran.
Just… gone.
Like the air swallowed him.
Susan spun in a circle, looking around the empty sidewalk.
"What the—"
The paper in my hand said: Oakwood Park. Midnight.
Susan turned to me, freaked. "Lisa, what are you gonna do?"
I looked at the paper, my heart racing.
Part of me was scared. Part of me was curious.
And part of me... felt alive.