A man in his mid-thirties trudged down a quiet street, his office bag slung loosely over one shoulder. The day had drained him—another series of pointless meetings, unread emails, and the same coffee machine conversation about the weather. His tie was half undone, his shirt untucked at the sides. The streetlights flickered dimly above him, casting long shadows across the pavement. The city around him felt silent, too silent, as if the world itself had grown tired.
Then he saw her.
A little girl, no older than seven or eight, stood by the roadside under a flickering lamp. Her head was bowed, small shoulders trembling. She was crying—soft sobs barely audible over the distant hum of the city. Her white dress was slightly torn at the hem, and her hair clung to her damp cheeks.
He slowed his pace.
His instincts told him to walk on. This wasn't his business. Someone else would help her—surely. But as he passed by, guilt pressed into his chest like a hand refusing to let go.
With a quiet sigh, he turned back.
He knelt beside her, resting on one knee, trying to appear gentle and non-threatening.
"Hey," he said softly. "Are you alright? Why are you crying?"
The girl didn't respond.
He glanced around the street. Not a single soul in sight.
"Where are your parents?" he asked, voice tightening with concern.
Then, something strange happened.
The girl's sobbing ceased.
Completely.
Everything around them stopped—the rustling of leaves, the buzz of electricity from the streetlamp, even the air felt frozen. The world held its breath.
He blinked and looked around.
"What the…?"
A chill ran down his spine.
The little girl slowly raised her head and looked at him. Her eyes were no longer filled with tears. They were empty. No… more than empty. They were deep—bottomless—like staring into a void.
Then she spoke.
But it wasn't her voice.
It was a voice ancient and deep, echoing from a place beyond time.
"Human… you have been chosen."
Before he could react, a wave of dizziness washed over him. His vision blurred, his knees gave way, and he collapsed onto the pavement with a hollow thud.
The world faded.
His life ended.
But his story did not.
He woke to nothing.
No floor beneath him. No sky above. Just white.
An infinite white space surrounded him, blinding and serene. He floated—or perhaps stood. It was impossible to tell.
"Where… where am I?" he muttered, spinning slowly, looking for anything. A shape. A shadow. A door.
Then, a sound like breaking glass echoed across the void. He turned—and watched the white around him fracture, forming jagged lines in the air like splintered crystal.
From the largest crack, something emerged.
A single, colossal eye.
Its size dwarfed everything he knew—it was as large as a star, burning with quiet intensity. The iris shimmered with colors that didn't belong in the human spectrum, and at its center sat a long, almond-shaped pupil, slit and ancient.
His breath caught.
Terror surged through him, primal and paralyzing. He ran.
He didn't know where he was going—he just ran, away from the eye, away from the madness.
"Human."
The voice shook him to his soul.
His body seized up, suspended mid-run. He floated, limbs limp, drawn inexorably back toward the eye.
He hung before it now, weightless and helpless. The air—or whatever filled this space—felt thick, like pressure pressing against every inch of his skin. His chest tightened. His thoughts scattered.
But still… he stared into the eye.
It watched him, unblinking. Cracks now ran along its surface, pulsing with strange light. It was breaking apart, just like the space around it.
Then, the voice came again—quieter now, tinged with urgency.
"Human…I have little time left."
The man struggled to speak. "What are you?"
The eye did not answer his question.
"You are my final hope. My last vessel."
"I will grant you my blessing… Fullfill the wish i could not."
"Wait! What are you talking ab—"
But he was cut off as the eye burst into brilliant light.
One beam of that light shot forward, slamming into his chest.
He gasped, the force of it knocking the breath out of him. His body convulsed. Then—a sudden calm.
Sleep.
His eyes fluttered.
Darkness took him.
But before consciousness faded completely, the voice echoed one last time in his mind:
"Human…you must kill them."
And then—silence.