"Three days after Sade returned to the living world, something strange began to happen."
She was alive.
Breathing.
Warm.
…But the world didn't feel the same.
Sometimes, when she blinked, the walls of her room flickered—
from normal…
to faintly glowing…
to almost transparent.
Sade whispered to herself:
"It didn't stay behind."
Because the truth was terrifying:
A piece of the spirit realm followed her home.
And it was watching her.
That night, around 2:14 AM, she woke up suddenly.
No sound in the house.
No footsteps.
No movement.
But she felt it.
A vibration.
Soft… steady… rhythmic.
"Dum… dum… dum… dum…"
Not human drumming.
Not earthly drumming.
Spirit drumming.
She sat up slowly, her breath trembling.
The corners of her room darkened unnaturally, swallowing even the moonlight.
Then—
A silhouette formed in the darkness.
Not Tunde.
Not the river elder.
This spirit was…
smaller.
Childlike.
Familiar.
A whisper drifted out of the shadows:
"Sade… you left without me."
Her heart nearly stopped.
"Who are you?" she whispered.
The silhouette stepped forward.
And Sade froze.
It was her younger brother.
The one who died when she was 10.
The one she never got to say goodbye to.
Except… he wasn't fully him.
His eyes glowed too brightly.
His body flickered like a broken candle flame.
His shadow stretched across the floor like it wasn't attached to him.
Not a ghost.
Not a memory.
Something else.
A shadowed echo.
He smiled softly.
"I'm not supposed to be here… but you opened a door, Sade."
Her skin crawled.
"What door?"
The spirit-child tilted his head.
"The Living Door.
The one that connects the two worlds.
The one you unlocked when you came back."
Sade clutched her chest.
She brought something back with her.
Something dangerous.
Something unfinished.
Before Sade could speak, the spirit-child's face changed.
His smile faded.
His eyes dimmed.
His voice cracked.
"He's coming."
"Who?"
The spirit-child began trembling violently, flickering like a light fighting to stay on.
"The one who wants you back."
Sade felt ice crawl up her spine.
"Tunde?" she whispered.
The spirit shook his head slowly.
And the darkness in the corner of her room thickened…
moving like smoke underwater…
forming eyes.
Not human eyes.
Hungry eyes.
The spirit-child screamed:
"RUN!"
And the lights in Sade's house exploded.
"After the spirit-child vanished and the lights shattered, Sade didn't sleep again."
But at sunrise, something strange happened.
Her room was quiet.
Still.
Too still.
The shadow that watched her all night…
was gone.
She stepped outside her house for fresh air, her mind still shaking.
The neighborhood was normal.
People sweeping the front yards.
Children in uniforms.
Cars honking.
Nothing felt dangerous.
Nothing felt supernatural.
But then—
At the far end of her street…
she saw him.
A young man in white clothing.
Tall.
Calm.
Familiar.
Her heart almost stopped.
It was Tunde.
Standing in sunlight.
Alive.
But something was wrong.
His feet didn't touch the ground fully.
His shadow pointed the wrong way.
And the air around him shimmered like heat waves.
Sade whispered:
"Tunde…?"
He turned slowly, as if he heard her from inside his bones.
When their eyes met—
the world tilted.
The sound of cars faded.
Time slowed down.
Tunde whispered her name, but his voice wasn't coming from his mouth.
It echoed inside her mind.
"Sade."
She ran to him.
But the closer she got, the colder the air became.
When she reached out to touch him—
her hand went through his chest for a second…
then suddenly stopped, as if his body solidified.
A pulse of blue light shot up both their arms.
Tunde gasped.
Sade stumbled back.
And then he said something that destroyed every thought in her head:
"I'm not supposed to exist here."
Sade touched her glowing hand, trembling.
"What does that mean? How are you here? Did you follow me?"
Tunde shook his head.
"No. You called me."
"What? I didn't—"
He stepped closer, eyes glowing faintly in daylight.
"The moment you crossed the Living Door, something attached us together. A thread. A bond."
Sade swallowed hard.
She could feel it — a faint pull in her chest, like her heart knew his heartbeat.
Tunde continued:
"And now… your world is pulling me into it.
And my world is trying to pull you back."
Sade's breath hitched.
"…Am I dying again?"
Tunde looked down.
"…Not yet."
Before she could speak, a loud crash thundered behind them.
They both turned sharply.
A taxi that had been driving down the road suddenly swerved and slammed into a street pole.
People screamed.
Crowds ran toward the accident.
But Sade and Tunde froze.
Because the driver wasn't fainted.
Or injured.
He was staring directly at Sade with glowing black eyes.
His voice was not his own.
It was layered.
Deep.
Ancient.
"Found you."
The driver's mouth stretched unnaturally, forming a smile too wide for a human face.
Tunde grabbed Sade's arm.
"We need to leave. NOW!"
The man stepped out of the crashed car.
Not bleeding.
Not limping.
Walking like a puppet controlled by something else.
"You opened the door, girl. You belong to us."
Sade's skin crawled.
"Tunde… who is he?"
Tunde's eyes darkened.
"Not who.
What.
The Shadow Hunter found you."
Tunde suddenly held her hand tight.
The same blue light shot between their palms—
but this time, it didn't hurt.
It melted into something warm.
Strong.
Binding.
Sade felt her heartbeat sync with his.
He whispered:
"Sade… if we don't break this bond, both worlds will tear each other apart because of us."
She stared at him, breath shaking.
"Can it be broken?"
Tunde shook his head slowly.
"…Only if one of us lets go of the other."
Their eyes locked.
And for the first time,
Sade realized something terrifying…
She didn't want to let him go.
Perfect.
"The possessed driver stepped out of the wrecked taxi, his shadow moving like smoke behind him."
People around screamed and ran.
But the man didn't look at anyone else.
Only Sade.
His voice shook the air:
"You don't belong here."
Tunde pulled Sade behind him.
Blue light flared across his arms — faint, unstable.
"Sade, listen to me," he whispered.
"This thing isn't a spirit. It's a hunter. One of the ones sworn to drag runaway souls back."
Sade's eyes widened.
"I'm not runaway— I'm alive!"
Tunde whispered in her ear:
"Not completely."
Her stomach dropped.
The possessed man rushed at them — unnaturally fast.
Tunde pushed Sade aside just as the hunter's hand slammed into the ground, cracking the concrete.
People screamed.
Someone shouted, "Blood of Jesus!"
Cars reversed.
Phones came out.
Chaos.
But the hunter ignored everything except Sade.
He pointed at her, his voice trembling with dark power:
"The bond has begun. Break it… or I break you."
Sade stumbled back.
"Tunde, why me?! Why are they after me?"
Tunde didn't answer.
Because he was scared.
Terrified.
And Tunde… never got scared.
The hunter lunged again—
Tunde grabbed Sade's hand—
BOOM.
A blast of blue and gold light exploded from their palms.
The hunter was thrown backward, skidding across the road.
Cars shook.
Windows shattered.
Birds flew from rooftops.
Sade gasped.
"Tunde—what was THAT?!"
Tunde stared at their glowing hands.
"Our bond just strengthened."
Sade swallowed hard.
"Does that mean—"
He stepped closer.
His voice dropped.
"It means your soul chose mine."
Her breath caught.
"Chose… you?"
Tunde nodded slowly, eyes softening.
"It means you trust me more than anyone. Even more than yourself."
Sade's heart beat wildly.
"But I don't—"
"You do," he whispered.
She looked away quickly… because he was right.
The hunter rose from the ground, laughing.
Not human laughter.
Not spirit laughter.
Something older.
Something hungry.
He wiped the blood from his mouth and smiled with black teeth.
"Do you even know who he is?"
Sade froze.
The hunter pointed at Tunde.
"He didn't tell you.
Of course he didn't."
Tunde's face hardened.
"Sade, don't listen—"
The hunter interrupted:
"Tunde was not a spirit before he died.
He was a Guardian."
Sade blinked.
"A… what?"
The hunter tilted his head.
"A Guardian is a spirit bound to protect a soul in life.
A soul they're matched with before birth."
Sade's heart dropped.
"What soul?"
The hunter smiled.
"Yours, Sade."
Sade's knees shook.
Tunde closed his eyes.
He didn't deny it.
Sade whispered:
"Tunde… is that true?
You were my Guardian?"
Tunde stepped closer, eyes glowing softly.
"Yes."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because Guardians aren't supposed to fall in love with the souls they protect."
Sade froze.
"What?"
Tunde's voice cracked for the first time.
"I was never meant to reveal myself to you.
Never meant to touch you.
Never meant to follow you into death…
or come back with you."
Sade's breath trembled.
"So… the bond between us—"
"It's forbidden," Tunde whispered.
"Deadly.
For both worlds."
Before she could speak, the hunter charged again—
The hunter's clawed hand was about to tear through Tunde—
When Sade screamed:
"STOP!"
Everything froze.
Literally.
The air.
The dust.
The movement.
The hunter.
Even Tunde.
Sade stood there…
eyes glowing bright white.
Not blue.
Not gold.
White.
Pure.
Unnatural.
Spirit-powerful.
Tunde struggled to move, shocked.
"Sade… you… you froze time."
Sade stared at her hands, shaking.
"What is happening to me…?"
Tunde's voice trembled.
"You're becoming what you were never supposed to be."
Sade looked at him.
"…What am I?"
Tunde swallowed hard.
Then whispered to her,
"You're becoming a bridge.
A living link.
A key between the dead and the living."
And the hunter, frozen in time, smiled…
as if he heard everything.