---
The sound that woke her wasn't human.
Grandma's eyes snapped open in the darkness. For a moment, she lay perfectly still, ears straining. The compound was silent. Too silent.
Then she heard it again. A low, rumbling growl. Deep. Wrong.
Her hand moved beneath her pillow, fingers closing around the worn hilt of a tanto blade. She was a woman who'd weathered seventy years like ancient stone, skin lined with age but eyes still sharp as polished steel. Her hair, once black as midnight, now hung in a single gray braid down her back. The years had taken much from her, but they hadn't broken her.
She rose without a sound, bare feet touching cold wooden floors. The growl came from outside, near the eastern wall. Not a specter. She would feel that. This was something else.
Something familiar.
Grandma moved through the darkened halls, past closed doors where the children slept. The main entrance loomed ahead.
She opened it.
The courtyard was bathed in moonlight. And there, near the gate, stood a wolf.
White as fresh snow. Golden eyes gleaming.
Her breath caught.
On its back lay a body, limp and bleeding.
She rushed forward, blade forgotten. The white wolf lowered itself carefully. She pulled the boy from its back.
Raon.
Blood soaked through his clothes. A massive gash split his chest. His face was deathly pale.
But he was breathing.
The wolf melted into shadow.
Grandma lifted her grandson and carried him inside.
---
She laid him on the floor of her room. Traditional tatami mats, sliding screens, wooden furniture untouched by the modern world. Only a single lamp in the corner.
She moved quickly. Opened the drawer. Pulled out her medical kit.
His hoodie came off in shreds. The wounds beneath were worse than she'd feared. Claw marks. Bite marks. The kind that came from specters toying with prey.
*How did you survive this?*
She fetched water and cloth, began cleaning the blood away.
Then she saw it.
Her hands stopped.
There, beneath the blood on his arm, dark lines emerged. Intricate. Spreading.
She cleaned faster, heart pounding.
The marks covered his arm. His shoulder. His torso. His back.
No.
*No.*
Her hands trembled as she stared at the complete pattern she'd only seen in fragments, painted on the old clan walls. Something that shouldn't exist anymore.
For a long moment, she couldn't move. Couldn't breathe.
Then her training took over.
She placed her hands on his skin, channeling spectral energy through her palms. Searching. Checking. Her energy flowed through every mark, every line, probing for what shouldn't be there.
Nothing.
She checked again. His arms. His back. His chest.
Still nothing.
That made no sense.
She pulled her hands back, staring at the marks. At her grandson's unconscious face.
Questions crashed through her mind, but there was no time for answers.
If anyone else saw this, if they scanned him...
She placed her hands over his head and chest.
The sealing words came from memory, silent on her lips:
*By authority of name and mark,*
*I define the boundary and deny passage.*
*Let what stands before me be recorded, restricted, and bound.*
*This space is no longer yours.*
*Remain. Obey. Be sealed.*
Energy flowed from her palms. The marks began to fade. Lighter. Lighter. Until they were barely visible, a faint shadow on his skin that you'd miss unless you knew to look.
She finished cleaning him. Changed his clothes. Bandaged what she could.
Then she searched his pockets.
No phone.
Her stomach sank.
If they found his ID in that place, they'd come looking.
---
She sat beside him through the night, watching his shallow breathing.
Dawn came. He didn't wake.
The day passed slowly. She checked on him. Made sure he was stable. Waited.
Evening fell.
Then came the knock.
Three sharp raps against the door.
She stood and walked to the entrance, already knowing what she'd find.
Two investigators in dark coats stood on her doorstep. The taller one, a man with cold gray eyes and sharp features, held up a badge.
"Investigator Aldric Veyran, Government Spectral Division," he said. His voice was clipped, professional. "This is Investigator Maren Cole. We're looking for Raon Kagero."
She stared at them, silent.
"We found a student identification card in a cleared specter nest. C-rank threat zone. The boy may be injured." His eyes narrowed slightly. "Is he here?"
She said nothing.
"This is official business. We need to verify his condition."
Still nothing.
Aldric's jaw tightened, but he kept his composure. "Ma'am, refusing to cooperate only raises questions."
After a long pause, she stepped aside.
They followed her through the compound. She felt their eyes cataloging everything. The traditional architecture. The emptiness. The silence of a clan nearly extinct.
She led them to her room and slid the door open.
Raon lay on the futon, bandaged and unconscious.
Aldric moved closer, examining the injuries with a practiced eye. Then he paused, leaning in.
"What's this?" He pointed to Raon's exposed forearm, where the faintest trace of markings was barely visible beneath the bandages.
She met his gaze. Silent.
"I asked you a question."
Silence.
His expression hardened. "This boy has severe trauma and unexplained markings. He needs proper medical examination. We're taking him to the hospital."
She knew what that meant. Scans. Tests. Questions.
She also knew refusing would make everything worse.
She nodded once.
Aldric gestured to his partner. "Call for transport. Priority medical."
Maren stepped outside.
Aldric turned back to her. "What happened to him?"
Silence.
"Where was he tonight?"
Silence.
"How did he get these injuries?"
Nothing.
His frustration showed for just a moment before his professional mask returned. "Your silence isn't helping him."
She didn't react.
Twenty minutes later, the transport arrived. Medics loaded Raon onto a stretcher with practiced efficiency.
Aldric stopped at the door, looking back at her one last time.
"I'll be watching," he said quietly. "Whatever you're hiding, we'll find it."
She stood in the doorway as they carried her grandson away.
The transport doors closed. The engine started.
Red lights faded into the darkness.
She was alone.
She closed the door and returned to the empty silence of the compound.
One hand pressed against the wood, steadying herself.
"Hold on, boy."
That was all she could do now.
Hold on and hope.
---