For several seconds after Evelyn spoke, Adrian simply stared at her.
"You woke the Abyss."
The sentence hung in the air between them like a storm cloud.
Adrian blinked.
Then he laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because it was absurd.
"Okay," he said, raising both hands slightly. "I don't know if this is some kind of elaborate joke or if you're part of a very dedicated theater group, but—"
"Look outside," Evelyn interrupted calmly.
Adrian frowned.
"What?"
"Outside," she repeated.
Her tone had changed.
More serious now.
Adrian hesitated.
Then he turned his head toward the café window.
At first, everything looked normal.
People walked along the sidewalk.
Cars moved through the morning traffic.
But then he noticed something strange.
The fog.
It was thicker again.
Rolling slowly through the street like pale smoke.
And nobody seemed to notice it.
Adrian narrowed his eyes.
The fog moved unnaturally.
Almost like it was flowing toward something.
Toward—
The café.
Toward him.
His stomach tightened.
"You see it now, don't you?" Evelyn said quietly.
Adrian slowly turned back toward her.
"What is that?"
Evelyn stood up.
"Trouble."
She reached into the inside pocket of her coat and pulled something out.
A thin metal object.
At first Adrian thought it was a knife.
Then the metal shifted with a soft click, extending into a narrow blade about the length of her forearm.
The surface of the weapon was etched with strange symbols that faintly glowed silver.
Adrian stared.
"Is that… a sword?"
Evelyn ignored the question.
Her eyes were fixed on the window.
The fog outside was getting thicker.
Much thicker.
Within seconds it swallowed the entire street.
People were still walking through it, but they moved slower now.
Uncertain.
Like they couldn't see properly.
The bell above the café door suddenly rang.
But no one had opened it.
Cold air poured into the room.
Adrian felt the temperature drop instantly.
The barista behind the counter looked up.
"Uh… did someone leave the door—"
Something moved inside the fog outside.
Tall.
Wrong.
Adrian's chest tightened.
"Not again…" he whispered.
The shape stepped closer to the window.
Then another one appeared beside it.
And another.
Evelyn muttered something under her breath.
"Damn it."
Adrian looked at her.
"What?"
"They followed the scent."
"Scent of what?"
Evelyn glanced at him.
"The Abyss."
Adrian's heart began pounding again.
Outside, the fog pressed against the glass like a living wall.
Then—
A shape slammed into the window.
The entire café gasped.
A creature clung to the glass.
Its body was thin and twisted like a starving corpse.
Long black veins pulsed beneath its pale skin.
Its mouth stretched unnaturally wide, revealing rows of thin needle-like teeth.
Someone screamed.
The creature scraped its claws across the glass.
Another slammed against the door.
Then another.
The fog outside erupted with movement.
There were dozens of them.
Adrian staggered backward.
"What the hell are those things?!"
Evelyn's voice was cold.
"Hungry."
The first window shattered.
Glass exploded inward.
The creature leaped into the café.
People screamed and scattered in panic.
The monster landed on all fours, its limbs bending like those of a spider.
It turned its head toward Adrian.
Its eyes were empty black pits.
Adrian's heart stopped.
"It sees you," Evelyn said quietly.
"Because of the seal."
The creature lunged.
But Evelyn moved first.
Her blade flashed through the air with incredible speed.
A bright silver arc sliced across the creature's neck.
The monster's head separated instantly.
Its body collapsed onto the floor, dissolving into black ash.
Adrian stared in shock.
"What—"
The door exploded inward.
Three more creatures rushed inside.
The café erupted into chaos.
Tables overturned.
People ran for the exit.
Evelyn stepped forward calmly, spinning the blade in her hand.
"Stay behind me."
Adrian didn't argue.
One of the creatures leaped toward her.
Evelyn sidestepped smoothly and drove the blade straight through its chest.
Silver light burst from the wound.
The creature shrieked as its body disintegrated.
But the others kept coming.
Too many.
One slipped past her.
Straight toward Adrian.
Time slowed.
The creature's claws reached for him.
Adrian froze.
The mark on his hand suddenly burned.
A familiar voice whispered inside his mind.
"Ah… more prey."
Adrian clenched his fist.
"No…"
"You felt it last night."
The creature was almost upon him.
"Use it."
Adrian raised his hand instinctively.
The symbol ignited.
Darkness burst from the floor beneath him.
Shadow tendrils shot upward and wrapped around the creature mid-air.
It screeched violently as the darkness crushed its limbs.
The entire café went silent for a moment.
Even Evelyn stopped moving.
She stared at Adrian.
The creature struggled desperately.
Adrian's hand trembled.
The voice whispered again.
"Finish it."
Adrian swallowed.
Then slowly—
He closed his fist.
The shadows tightened.
The creature collapsed into black dust.
Silence filled the café.
Adrian stood there breathing heavily.
The darkness slowly retreated back into the floor.
Evelyn stared at him with wide eyes.
Not fear.
Something else.
Something closer to realization.
Then she spoke quietly.
"You really don't know what you are, do you?"
Adrian shook his head slowly.
"No."
Evelyn looked toward the broken window.
More shadows moved in the fog outside.
Many more.
Her expression hardened.
"Then we're out of time."
She grabbed his arm.
"We need to leave."
Adrian blinked.
"Leave where?"
Evelyn pulled him toward the back exit.
Her voice was deadly serious.
"To the only place in London where they can't reach you."
Adrian felt dread crawl up his spine.
"And where is that?"
Evelyn pushed the door open.
Cold mist rolled into the alley behind the café.
She looked back at him.
"The Veil."
And somewhere deep beneath the streets of London—
Something ancient smiled.