The ground shook.
Not violently not yet but enough that dust drifted from the stone ceiling in slow, silent spirals. Each grain caught the dim golden light His body tensed before his mind caught up. a heartbeat before settling again, like the world itself was hesitating.
Eli felt it through his spine before he heard anything, a deep vibration that crawled into his bones and stayed there. It wasn't the kind of shaking caused by collapsing stone or explosions.
It felt deliberate.
The ember in his chest pulsed once.
Then again. Stronger.
Each pulse carried a faint pressure behind it, like something inside him was bracing itself, tightening its grip on existence.
They're close, the man said calmly.
Eli looked at him, heart pounding. The man hadn't moved, hadn't reacted beyond speaking, yet the air around him felt heavier as if his presence alone anchored the chamber.
You said angels were coming.
The man nodded. I did.
You didn't say how fast.
A faint smile tugged at the man's lips, but there was no humor in his eyes. They were old eyes. Eyes that had seen things Eli couldn't imagine surviving.
Heaven doesn't waste time on mistakes.
Another tremor rolled through the chamber. The golden cracks in the walls brightened, reacting to something far above them. The light wasn't warm anymore it was sharp, almost painful to look at.
Eli's hands clenched.
Every instinct screamed at him to run, but his legs refused to move.
"Then why am I still alive?
The man studied him for a long moment, as if weighing something invisible. Eli felt exposed under that gaze, like every failure, every fear, every memory of kneeling instead of fighting was laid bare.
Because, he said finally,you haven't chosen yet.Chosen what?
Whether you want to keep surviving, the man replied, or start living with the consequences of power.
The words settled into Eli like cold iron.
The man turned and walked toward the far side of the chamber. His footsteps made no sound. Eli hesitated only a second before following.
With every step, the stone beneath Eli's feet felt warmer, alive in a way that made his skin prickle. His body still ached, but it was distant now muted, as if pain had been downgraded from an enemy to a reminder.
What are you? Eli asked.
The man didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he placed a hand against the wall. The stone rippled like water, folding inward, revealing a narrow passage bathed in dim gold light. The air beyond smelled different cleaner, older, like rain that had never touched pollution.
I was human once, the man said as they walked. A long time ago.
Eli frowned. Once?The man glanced back. Does that scare you?
Eli thought of angels tearing through the sky. Of vampires kneeling before a throne. Of a city that had never cared whether he lived or died.
No,he said honestly. Not anymore.
The man nodded, as if that answer pleased him.
"Good," he said. Fear keeps humans alive. But it chains gods.Eli stopped walking.
The word hit him harder than the tremors.
Gods? he echoed.
The man turned fully now. For the briefest moment, the light shifted and Eli saw something else layered over him. Not wings. Not horns Authority.
It pressed down on Eli's chest, heavy and ancient, like gravity had decided to take a personal interest in him. It wasn't violent. It didn't need to be.
Old, heavy, and exhausted.
You don't feel it yet, the man said quietly,
but Heaven does. Vampires do. Dragons do
He stepped closer.There is something inside you that shouldn't exist,he said.
A fragment of divinity that didn't ask permission.Eli's chest burned, the ember reacting sharply to the words. Memories surfaced pain, light, voices screaming judgment, the impossible weight of being seen.
So what am I? he asked, voice tight.
The man exhaled slowly.
You are unfinished. The word echoed.
Unfinished meant incomplete.
Unstable Dangerous.
A distant sound rolled through the passage like thunder tearing through glass. The walls vibrated, shedding thin streams of dust.
The man's eyes sharpened. We're out of time.
What about them? Eli asked. The people up there. My school. My
Your foster parents? the man interrupted.
Eli flinched.
They won't miss you,the man said bluntly. And Heaven won't hesitate to erase them if it means reaching you.
Eli's stomach twisted. He wanted to argue, to insist it mattered but deep down, he knew the truth.So I just leave? he demanded.
I just disappear?
The man stopped at the end of the passage. Stone peeled away, revealing the night sky.
Yes, he said. Or you die.
Above them, the clouds were wrong too still, too bright. Light bled through them in sharp lines, like cracks in reality itself.Eli felt it then.
Six presences.Cold. Perfect. Watching.
They weren't searching randomly.
They were listening.
His knees nearly buckled.
I can't fight that,he whispered.
You're not supposed to,the man said. Not yet.
He placed a hand on Eli's chest.
The contact sent a shock through him not painful, but overwhelming. The ember inside him reacted violently, flaring as if recognizing something familiar.
Close your eyes.Eli hesitated then obeyed.
Breathe, the man instructed. Not like a human. Like something that refuses to break.
Eli inhaled shakily.The ember surged.
Pain lanced through him but this time, it didn't consume him.
It listened.
He focused, compressing the fire instead of letting it spill. The pressure built, dense and heavy, until it felt like holding a star in his ribs
Good, the man murmured. Now push it down. Not out.
Eli gasped as something shifted. The fire condensed further, folding inward, sinking deep. The golden lines beneath his skin faded, dimming like dying embers.
The pressure in the air lessened.
The watching presences hesitated.
Eli opened his eyes, shocked. What did I just do?
The man smiled for real this time.
You hid, he said. From Heaven.
They moved fast after that.
Not running not flying but slipping through places Eli didn't realize existed. Alleys bent. Shadows stretched. Streets folded in on themselves like pages being turned.
At one point, Eli glanced back.The city looked the same.And completely different.
He saw it now the way blood soaked into its foundations. The way monsters fed without being seen. The way Heaven watched from above, detached and cold.
Why me? Eli asked suddenly.The man slowed.Because you were empty, he said.
Eli frowned.That's not an answer.
It is,the man replied.Divinity doesn't settle in people who are full of themselves. It looks for cracks. For abandonment. For endurance.He looked at Eli carefully.
You survived things that should have broken you, he said. "That's why it chose you.
They stopped at the edge of the city.
Beyond it lay forest.
Old forest.
The kind that pressed in on itself, branches twisted like claws, roots exposed as if the land itself was waiting.
This is where I leave you,the man said.
Eli's head snapped up. What?
For now, the man added. If I stay, Heaven will find us faster.
Then what am I supposed to do?
Eli demanded.
The man stepped back, eyes gleaming.
Learn,he said. Control. And most importantly decide.
Decide what?
Whether you'll kneel,the man said, or make Heaven kneel first.
The forest wind howled.Eli swallowed hard.
When will I see you again? he asked.
The man turned away.
When you stop asking that question.
And then he was gone
Eli stood at the forest's edge, heart pounding.
The city behind him hummed faintly, unaware of how close it had come to annihilation.He was alone again.
But this time, something was different.
The ember inside him wasn't raging. It wasn't afraid.It was waiting.
Somewhere far above, angels searched.
Somewhere deep below, vampires hunted.
And somewhere older than both
Something watched with interest.
Eli stepped forward into the forest.
For the first time in his life, he wasn't running because he was weak.
He was running because he wasn't ready to stop.