Kai Linden had never run so fast in his life.
He didn't stop until he burst out of the narrow alley, chest burning, legs shaking, vision swimming from leftover fear. The memory of the girl — her small body curled inward unnaturally, dried and brittle with a long jagged claw mark across her chest — clung to his mind like a stain he couldn't scrub away.
Kai staggered to the main street and bent over, gasping for air.
For one split second, he considered pretending he'd seen nothing.
Forget it. Act normal. Go home. Sleep. Reset.
But the thought of her drained corpse made his stomach twist.
He couldn't just walk away from that.
With shaky hands, he pulled out his phone and dialed his dad.
No answer.
He tried again. Nothing.
"Okay… okay…" he whispered, voice trembling. "Help… police. You need the police."
His fingers shook so badly he almost dropped the phone. "Wh-what if it was just a prank?" he muttered, Maybe it's just one of those sick kids' pranks, though he didn't believe it.
When the emergency operator answered, his voice cracked apart.
The words tumbled out of him in a panicked mess — a girl… in the alley… something attacked her… a smoky shadow… a mark on her…
They told him to stay where he was.
He didn't.
Terror seized him, and Kai sprinted toward home, running on pure instinct — running as if the darkness behind him might reach out and grab him too.
---
Ani Walsh walked alone down a narrow alley on her way home from an evening club meeting. She was younger than Kai—small, cheerful, the type of girl who hummed to herself when no one was watching.
As she passed the entrance of the alley, something glinted on the ground.
A tiny gold ring with a bright red gemstone.
"Huh? Who left this here?" she murmured.
The wind shifted.
The willow branches behind her gave a low creaking groan… almost like a warning.
Ani bent down to pick up the ring. A thin crack ran through the center of the gemstone, catching the faint light.
That was when she felt it.
A sudden drop in temperature.
A breath behind her that didn't belong to any human.
A shadow on the ground even though nothing stood there.
Her fingertips hovered above the cracked gem—frozen in place as she absentmindedly rubbed the crack.
A thin wisp of black smoke seeped from it. A whisper slid through the dark—not a voice, not human at all—something deeper, ancient, and hungry.
Ani's breath caught in her throat.
She turned.
A whisper—low, cold—slid past her ear.
A shadow darker than darkness itself stretched upward, forming the vague outline of an inhuman entity. Amber eyes glowed like embers in the void. Long, slender claws extended from its hands. Its edges melted into the air as though the night itself had taken form. It opened its mouth wide...
SLASH!
Its claws raked across the girl's small chest.
Ani's scream tore through the alley—high, sharp, terrified.
"Ahhhhhhhh—!"
Then the alley fell quiet again.
Completely quiet.
---
Kai didn't stop running until his house finally came into view—the porch light glowing faintly. He stumbled up the steps, breath shaky, heart pounding so hard he felt it in his teeth, nearly tripping as he shoved the door open.
He fumbled with the doorknob, slipped inside, and slammed the door behind him.
For a moment, he just leaned against it, trying to catch his breath.
"Dad! Mom!" he gasped.
Hana turned from the half-unpacked boxes, alarmed. "Kai? What's wrong? Why are you shaking? Are you hurt?"
"No—no, but there's… there's a girl—" His voice cracked as he grabbed the side of the sofa to stay upright. "In the alley—something attacked her—it wasn't human, I swear—it had claws, and—and—"
His father's face went pale instantly. "Kai. Slow down. What happened? Are you hurt?"
"No! No, but she is—Dad, I think she's dead." His voice cracked on the last word. His voice collapsed.
Hana's hand flew to her mouth. Tears flooded her eyes instantly as she rushed to him, checking his arms, his neck, his clothes. "Oh God… why were there? What if—what if the killer had gone after you too?"
Kai didn't know what to say. He still felt the cold from the alley clinging to him. His hands were still trembling.
Hana pulled him into a tight, trembling hug. "You're safe. You're safe," she whispered, her voice breaking as tears wet his shoulder.
His father stepped closer, voice unsteady but trying to stay controlled. "Where did it happen?"
Kai stared at nothing, as though the memory had swallowed him whole. "The alley… near the park."
That was all his father needed.
"Hana," he said, grabbing his police radio and keys, "I'm going to the station."
He rushed out the door.
Kai sank onto the couch, still shaking. The room was warm, the lights bright—but he couldn't shake the image of the alley or the way the darkness had seemed alive.
Kai stood up, looked at his mother, and she gave him a small, understanding nod. Without a word, he headed upstairs. He closed his bedroom door gently and leaned against it, waiting for his heartbeat to finally calm down.
But the night refused to let him rest.
Every time he shut his eyes, the girl's ruined body flashed in his mind — the dryness of her skin, the claw mark, the terror frozen on her face.
He tossed and turned, flipping his pillow, squeezing his eyes shut, but sleep stayed far from him. Eventually, he gave up and sat upright in bed, staring blankly at his window.
Outside, police cars rushed down the street, sirens echoing through the neighborhood. He heard car doors slam. Murmured voices. Neighbors stepping onto their porches with pale, confused faces.
Through the noise, Kai recognized his father's voice — low, tense — telling another officer that questioning Kai could wait until morning.
The wind stirred the old willow tree, swaying its long branches left and right with calm, rhythmic motions.
Except… it wasn't wind.
The movement was too slow. Too heavy. Too quiet. Too deliberate.
Kai swallowed hard. "It's just the wind… it's nothing else," he whispered, though he didn't believe it.
Then a shadow shifted outside.
A shape he didn't recognize — tall, unmoving, as if waiting.
His blood ran cold.
"How could someone be outside my window?" he thought, heart pounding "I'm just stressed out and imagining things". His room was on the second floor. No one could stand there. No one normal.
His mind flashed back to the alley. The smoke. The eyes. The claws.
And suddenly he felt it…
A presence.
Something was watching him through the glass.
Kai froze. Slowly, he pulled the blanket up to his chin, gripping it tightly. His heartbeat thudded so loudly he was afraid the thing outside would hear it.
He didn't dare move. Didn't dare breathe too loudly.
Eventually — after what felt like hours — exhaustion won, pulling him into a shallow, restless sleep… while the shadow outside never fully faded.
And just like that, the Clamima had claimed it's second victim — and Kai was just lucky enough to see the aftermath.