Yuki's legs felt heavy, as if he were being pulled by an invisible chain.
He glanced back once at Luka and Lane, who were lost in their own world, and then slowly moved toward that dark corner.
The strange boy was still there, like a lifeless statue.
Yuki didn't go right up to him but sat on the cold, stony ground just a short distance away.
He kept his gaze lowered and his voice so low it was barely a whisper.
"How... how do you know so much about him?"
There was a strange mix of fear and curiosity in Yuki's words.
On the other side of the cell, Luka noticed Yuki had suddenly gotten up and moved toward the stranger.
A slight frown appeared on Luka's forehead.
His lips parted as if he were about to ask, "Yuki, why are you sitting near that creepy boy?"
But Luka swallowed his words.
He saw that Yuki's back was hunched, and he looked deeply stressed.
Luka narrowed his eyes, then took a long breath and looked away.
He fixed his entire attention back on Lane.
As if by ignoring Yuki's strange behavior, he was trying to convince himself that everything was alright.
The silence in the corner grew even deeper.
The strange boy, who had been staring at the wall until now, slowly turned his head toward Yuki.
There was a cold glint in his eyes, as if he were relishing Yuki's shattered trust.
He gave no answer, letting only the sound of his breathing remind Yuki that every wall had ears and every shadow was a witness.
The strange boy didn't turn his head; he only looked at Yuki with a slanted gaze from the corners of his eyes.
A very faint, almost invisible smile appeared on his face—
A smile that offered no comfort but spoke a bitter truth.
He waited for a few moments, as if feeling the fear floating in the cell's air.
Then, in his dry voice, he said, "Do you know, Yuki... I can see everyone's energy."
Yuki's heart skipped a beat.
Shrinking back slightly in his spot, he asked, "What do you mean? Energy? What kind of energy are you talking about?"
The nervousness in Yuki's voice was clear.
He couldn't tell if this boy was mad or truly seeing something beyond his understanding.
The boy didn't budge from his position.
He closed his eyes, as if he could see everything inside the cell even with them shut.
"I am talking about the energy that turns the soul dark," he whispered.
His voice now hit Yuki's ears like a cold wave.
"An energy... that is not ordinary."
"It makes a person terrifying and dangerous."
"When I look at that child, I don't see light, but a darkness that is desperate to spread."
"He is dangerous because that energy—even he doesn't know what it is capable of."
Yuki looked toward Luka, who was still sitting there holding Lane's hand.
Yuki felt as if Luka was standing next to a burning sun.
Without having the slightest clue that he could be incinerated at any moment.
The strange boy slowly turned his face toward Yuki.
This time, there was a strange challenge in his eyes.
He lowered his voice until it sounded like the rustling of the wind.
"I told you so..." he said haltingly, as if rubbing salt into Yuki's wounds.
"That he would never let you touch those marks at the corners of his eyes."
"Did you see? How quickly that innocence of his vanished?"
Yuki said nothing, but his trembling fingers betrayed his nervousness.
The boy cast a sidelong glance at Luka, who was still sitting close to Lane.
"Now, do one thing," he urged in a whisper.
"Tell that friend of yours... that Luka... to try and touch the corners of Lane's eyes."
"Let's see if Lane behaves the same way with his 'special' friend as he did with you."
He narrowed his eyes and said with a terrifying smile.
"Will Lane show that horrific form again? Or does he have a different face for Luka?"
"Go on, test it and see who that child really belongs to."
Yuki's heart sank.
He looked at Luka. Luka was oblivious, laughing and talking with Lane.
A war broke out in Yuki's mind—should he put Luka in danger?
Or use Luka to prove this horrifying truth?
The air in the cell began to feel even heavier and colder.
Yuki's mind was like a burning furnace.
On one side was that stranger and his terrifying prophecies.
And on the other was Lane's innocent face, giggling against Luka's shoulder.
Yuki rose slowly, a slight tremor still lingering in his legs.
He stood close to Luka and Lane.
A war was raging within him—should he put Luka in danger?
But then he thought, if Luka sees the same horrific sight I saw, maybe I can pull him away from this 'darkness'.
"Luka," Yuki's voice was dry and heavy.
"Look at Lane's eyes... those patterns at the corners. Do you know what they are?"
Luka looked closely at Lane's face and then turned to Yuki.
"Yes, I noticed them when I first met Lane. But after that... I never really looked at them that way again. Why? What's the matter?"
Yuki's throat was parching.
"Would you... would you like to see them closely once?"
Clouds of confusion filled Luka's eyes.
"No, I don't want to. Why are you suddenly asking so much about these marks, Yuki?"
Yuki quickly hid his panic behind a lie.
"When... when Lane fell just now, I thought he got hurt near his eyes."
"I thought something might have gone inside. Won't you check?"
Luka took a deep breath.
He reached out and held Lane's face tenderly in his palms.
Yuki's breath hitched.
He narrowed his eyes, expecting Lane's eyes to turn pitch black again and for him to lash out at Luka.
But nothing happened.
Luka gently traced his fingers over those patterns.
Lane remained perfectly still.
"Lane, does it hurt?" Luka asked.
"No, not at all!" Lane replied chirping.
Then he turned his face toward Yuki, his eyes holding that same old golden spark and innocence.
"Yuki Bhaiya, there's no injury near my eyes. Why are you saying that?"
Yuki froze.
There wasn't a hint of the bitterness in Lane's voice that had been there moments ago.
"I... I thought when you fell, you might have been hurt," Yuki said, making his excuse.
But his ears were still waiting for that stranger's laughter.
In the yellow light of the cell, Lane once again looked like a small, helpless child.
But Yuki knew—Lane was wearing a different mask for Luka.