"You are marked. You are watched. Prepare."
The words carved inside me as I stumbled into Marconi's Pizza the next morning.
The funeral was over, but grief didn't stop for me. My chest still tight, my throat raw from screaming, but life… life didn't wait.
The kitchen was chaos as always. Orders shouted. Knives clattering. Steam rising from ovens. I tried to focus, chopping dough, sliding pizzas into the oven.
But something was definitely off.
Steam from a pot twisted like snakes. Shadows on the walls stretched too far, too fast. My stomach clenched.
"Alex! Dough!" the chef barked. Calm. Sharp. Business as usual.
I nodded, hands trembling. Tried to ignore the shapes flickering in my peripheral vision.
Then I saw it.
A rat? No… too big. Too fast. Its glowing eyes locked on me. Its shadow stretched and twisted, alive.
I swung a pan, heart hammering, hands shaking. Missed. Smoke burned my eyes.
Panic snapped. I dropped the pan and ran. Didn't look back. Not once.
Outside, the cold air hit like a slap. My lungs burned. My heart raced. Legs trembling.
I pressed against a brick wall, trying to catch my breath.
The world… wasn't right.
Streetlights flickered unnaturally. The pavement seemed to ripple. People passed, but their shadows split, twisted. A man walked past—eyes flickered red for a fraction of a second. Shapes shimmered, half visible, just beyond normal sight.
My stomach turned. I wanted to scream.
Then it stepped into the street.
Human-shaped, but wrong. Its skin dark and shifting, neither flesh nor shadow, both at once. Its eyes glowed faintly, piercing.
My knees buckled. I tried to move, to run, but my legs felt like lead.
[Contract available: neutralize corrupted wraith — reward: 15XP, 250$, Wraith Crystal. Patron: HADES observing.]
The words appeared in my mind. The system. Hades. Watching.
I stumbled backward.
The thing glided toward me silently.
I grabbed a brick from the sidewalk, heart hammering.
I swung.
It passed through. Nothing. Cold air.
"WHAT THE HECK?!"
The wraith's arm lashed out. I felt it hit my shoulder, hard, crushing. Pain shot up my arm. I stumbled, almost fell.
Scrambling, I grabbed a pipe this time.
I swung again. Missed. Nothing.
The shadow moved closer, eyes locked. Panic roared in my chest.
I pressed my hands to my head, gasping. My chest heaving. My mind racing. I couldn't fight it. Nothing worked. I thought I was done.
And then it pulsed. Behind my eyes. A pressure, faint but insistent, like the world itself was shifting.
Shadows solidified. The wraith's form snapped into clarity. I could see its face now—hollow, hollow eyes, empty mouth, feeding on fear.
The smaller creatures around it, like whispers of souls, trembled and clung to its shadow.
The pulse spread through me. Warm, alive, terrifying.
[Ability unlocked: Soul Sight — allows detection and limited interaction with wraiths, spirits, and corrupted entities.]
I froze. Heart hammering. The wraith hesitated, sensing me change. My vision adjusted.
I could see the spirits caught between worlds, pale and flickering. Their eyes followed me.
The wraith lashed out again. This time I could see its strike clearly, and I sidestepped instinctively, guided by some sudden awareness.
My hands shook, but I could feel… something. The pulse. My mind reaching out.
I focused, slowly, trying to understand, to touch the shadows. One of the small spirits floated toward me, hesitating. I held my hand out. It lingered. A cold shiver ran up my arm. It recoiled and vanished.
The main wraith didn't wait. It lunged. I ducked. Heart racing. Adrenaline blazing. The system blinked in my vision:
[Patron: HADES — observation: active.]
[Contractual bond: active. First contract pending.]
I realized something. This wasn't just random. Hades… he was watching. Testing. Waiting.
The wraith struck again. I swung my brick, this time guided by the Soul Sight.
I grazed its form.
A shimmer of resistance. Something it didn't expect. My confidence wavered, but it was there—a hint that I could actually interact with it.
I hit it again.
This time with more force, the brick breaking on contact with the creatures head...
It writhed in pain, releasing a huge scream that made me shiver.
And then it vanished.
I sank to the sidewalk, chest heaving, hands trembling. The city felt quiet again. Too quiet.
The system flashed again
[Patron: HADES — observation: active.]
[Contractual bond: active. First contract COMPLETED. Calculating rewards...]