Chapter 3 — Things That Exist
Jainen continued walking annoyed.
The red sky was still there when he opened his eyes. He stared at it from beneath the half-collapsed administrative building and sighed.
"Of course," he muttered. "Still ugly."
His stomach growled like it wanted to start a fight with the rest of his body. Jainen ignored it. He thought to himself that hunger is not a main priority right now so just ignore it.
He sat up slowly, joints stiff, and immediately felt it.
That weight.
It was putting too much pressure on him that he almost shed a tear.
Jainen froze mid‑movement, eyes narrowing. "Yeah, yeah," he whispered to the air. "I feel you. You can stop staring."
He stood anyway, rolling his shoulders, brushing ash and centuries-old dust off his coat. His satchel was still there. Good. His knife too. Better. He checked his surroundings out of habit—no Klins, no people, no immediate reason to panic.
Which meant today might go as normal as ever.
The streets beyond the shelter looked wrong in the way only familiar places could. Buildings were leaning towards each other. Jainen stepped forward,
"Don't steal. Don't destroy. Don't ask why," he read aloud from a half-buried slab.
He snorted. "Real welcoming place."
The deeper he walked, the heavier the air became. A low sound drifted through the street it was like a growl but weaker. Jainen stopped instantly his muscle locked up. He crouched beside a collapsed wall, hand already on his knife.
"Okay," he whispered. "Let's not do this today."
The sound faded, As my grandpa would say death without the courtesy of being fresh he thought . Jainen waited another full minute before moving again, eyes scanning rooftops, alleyways.
He then reached the survival cluster by late morning. Smaller than the last one, rougher, built more out of garbage than actual buildings. Smoke rose from camp fires, curling into the red sky like the world was exhaling through broken lungs.
People noticed him immediately.
They always did. because he looked dangerous
That made people nervous.
A man near the gate squinted at him. "You armed?"
"Yes."
"With what?"
Jainen tilted his head. " A cocky attitude and smart decision-making."
The man blinked. "…Right. Go in. Don't start anything."
"I never do," Jainen said honestly.
Inside, the cluster was buzzing with low conversation. Walkways were packed, people brushing past each other. Traders shouted half-hearted pitches. Like they were daring the world to notice them.
Jainen bought water. Then bread.
"Is this… supposed to be bread?" he asked the vendor.
The vendor shrugged. "Technically."
"Fantastic," Jainen said. "Love living in the future."
He turned—and nearly walked straight into a girl. "Whoa—sorry," he said, stepping back.
She didn't move.
Dark hair pulled back tight. Eyes sharp. Too focused for someone standing in a crowded market. Thin, almost invisible strands shimmered around her fingers, catching the light just enough to make Jainen's skin crawl.
She looked him up and down. " Are you new here? If so, you don't belong here."
He raised an eyebrow. "Wow. You say that to all the strangers, or am I special?"
Her mouth twitched. Not quite a smile. "You look too decent to be from around here."
"Yeah, I get that a lot."
Someone behind her shouted, "Lael, stop messing around!"
Lael. Jainen filed the name away automatically.
The threads around her fingers twitched.
People nearby stiffened.
Jainen felt it quickly it was like his own emotion wasn't his for a second. Fear. Regret. Desire. All tangled together like someone had dumped a thousand thoughts into the air at once.
"Hey," he said quickly, hands raised. "Probably not the best place for… whatever that is."
Lael grimaced. "I know."
Invisible threads snap and several people gasped, clutching their heads. One man dropped to his knees, sobbing for reasons he clearly didn't understand.
"Damn it," Lael muttered, pressing her palms to her eyes. "Every time."
Jainen backed away slowly. "You might wanna—uh—practice that somewhere with less… people."
She peeked at him through her fingers. "You're not affected."
"Give it time," he said. "Everything else eventually gets to me."
A shout echoed from the edge of the cluster.
"KLIN!"
The word tore through the market like a knife.
Panic exploded.
People scattered, stalls overturned, guards shouting orders that no one listened to. Jainen spun toward the sound just in time to see the thing crawl over the outer wall.
It was so disgusting to him it had so many limbs. Its body is still as dark as ever, but this one looked like a straight up horror scene.
"Oh, come on," Jainen groaned. "I just ate."
Lael swore beside him. "I can't control it if I—"
"Then don't," Jainen snapped. "Just get people out."
The Klin lunged.
Time stopped for just a quick second but then resumed.
Jainen felt that pressure again—stronger now, sharper, like something inside him was leaning forward for the first time.
The Klin's movement twisted mid-air, limbs tangling, momentum collapsing in on itself like a bad idea realizing it was wrong too late.
"What—" Lael started.
The Klin hit the ground wrong. Very wrong. Its body folded, It shrieked, then unraveled into dust and broken noise.
Silence slammed down.
Jainen stood there, heart pounding, hands shaking.
Someone whispered, "Did you see that?"
"I didn't do anything," Jainen said immediately.
Lael stared at him. "You absolutely definitely did something."
"I really didn't," he insisted.
Guards rushed in, weapons raised too late to matter.
"What happened?" one demanded.
Lael pointed at Jainen.
Jainen sighed. "I can explain."
"No," the guard said. "You really can't."
Jainen turned and ran.
He didn't stop until the cluster was far behind him, lungs burning, legs screaming. When he finally collapsed against a broken wall, he laughed—short, breathless, almost hysterical.
"Great," he muttered. "Now I'm that guy that everybody wants dead."
The red sky shined dark as ever but for a quick moment it turned blue but went back to bloody red. As Jainen made it to the collapsed administration building he told himself "What the hell happened out there". Something is n right I gotta figure it out.