THE UNSEEN VEIN-EDGAR

CHAPTER 1 C – THE CROSS BOW

Edgar stared at the woman gripping his shoulder. The rain blurred his vision, but her eyes cut through it, steel-gray, unblinking. “Hold on,” he stammered. “You’re telling me, someone wants to kill me?”

“Not someone,” Aria said. “Everyone.”

“That’s, that’s not reassuring!”

“Good. It’s not meant to be.”

Edgar tried to pull free again; she tightened her grip. “Let go!”

“No,” she said. “If I let go, you’re dead in under sixty seconds.”

Edgar blinked rapidly. “From what?!”

“Pick one,” Aria replied. “Collectors. Hunters. Syndicate operatives. Anyone tracking awakened spikes.”

“I don’t even know what a spike is!”

“It’s what happened when your power awakened. It lit up every Awakened monitor in a six-mile radius.”

“That sounds, bad.”

“It is.”

Edgar swallowed hard. “Look, can we slow down? I’m barely processing the whole healed-my-own-bones thing.”

“You don’t have time to process. You have to move.”

She pulled him into a run, darting through the wet streets with impossible speed, dragging him behind her like he weighed nothing. “H-hey—hey, slow down!”

“No.”

“I’m not a track star!”

“Then start learning.”

They turned sharply into another alley. Edgar’s chest burned, but adrenaline pushed him forward. “What about, Shin?” Edgar gasped. “Is he… is he okay?”

Aria didn’t answer immediately. Her silence was worse than a no. Finally she said, “If Shin is fighting a Collector, he won't win easily. And he definitely won’t win with you still nearby.”

Edgar’s legs nearly buckled. “He stayed behind… because I was slowing him down.”

“Yes.”

“That’s, that’s not fair.”

“Life isn’t fair,” Aria said coldly. “Especially not yours.”

Edgar exhaled shakily. “You don’t even know me.”

“I know your type.”

“My, type?”

“The ones who awaken by accident,” she said. “The ones who panic. The ones who run. The ones who die first.”

Edgar flinched. “Well… thanks for the vote of confidence.”

Her jaw tightened, but she didn’t respond. They reached another alley, and Aria suddenly shoved him back against a wall. “Stay still.”

“What? Why”

“Quiet.”

Her eyes scanned the rooftops. Her hand hovered near the strange badge on her belt. Edgar whispered, “What do you see?”

“Not what I see,” she murmured. “What I don’t.”

“That sounds… worse.”

“It is.”

She stepped forward, slow and cautious. “Come out,” she said to the darkness.

A dry chuckle echoed across the rooftops. A shadow peeled away from the edge of a building, slender, moving with a fluidity that defied normal physics. Aria stiffened. “Damn it.”

Edgar whispered, “Who’s that?!”

“A Syndicate scout,” she said. “One level below a Collector. Faster than me. Deadlier than you.”

“Why does everyone have a title?!” Edgar hissed.

The shadow landed silently. As it straightened, Edgar saw reflective eyes and a thin mask with a spiral etched across it.

The scout tilted its head. “Aria Vale,” it purred. “Babysitting?”

“Get lost,” Aria snapped.

“No,” the scout said. “I’ve come for the boy.”

“Well, you’re not getting him.”

“You’re outnumbered.”

Aria blinked. “It’s one versus two.”

“Yes,” the scout said, “but only one of you matters.”

Edgar felt his stomach drop. “Okay, I don’t like that phrasing.”

“Move aside,” the scout said, stepping closer. “Or die protecting someone who won’t survive the night anyway.”

Edgar’s heart hammered. “Aria…?”

“Stay behind me,” she muttered.

The scout blurred, Aria blocked the strike so fast Edgar barely saw her move. Metal clashed against something invisible, and the shockwave rattled a nearby fire escape.

The scout hissed. “You’ve gotten stronger.”

“I’ve had reasons.”

Aria shoved the scout back, but it recovered instantly, reshaping itself into motion like smoke. Edgar panicked, flattening against the wall. “Do I help?! Do I run?! What do I”

“Stay still!” Aria barked.

The scout appeared behind her. “Aria, look out!”

She spun, blocking again, but the scout slid its blade across her arm. Aria winced. “Damn.”

Edgar gasped. “You’re hurt!”

“Not the time, Edgar.”

Her use of his name made him freeze. The scout lunged. Aria moved to counter, But the scout vanished mid-strike. “What, where’d it go?!” Edgar cried.

Aria didn’t answer. Then Edgar felt it. Cold breath at his ear. “You smell like awakening,” the scout whispered. “Raw. Untouched. Precious.”

Edgar froze in horror. Aria turned too late. The scout wrapped an arm around Edgar’s throat. Edgar choked. “Aria!”

Aria’s eyes widened. “Let him go!”

The scout pressed a needle-like instrument to Edgar’s neck. “No. He comes with me. The Syndicate wants his blood. His marrow. His core.”

Edgar trembled violently. “Don’t worry,” the scout whispered. “The pain ends quickly.”

“No, no, no, no” Edgar gasped.

Aria took a step forward. “Release him and walk away.”

“You’re in no position to threaten me.”

Aria’s voice lowered. “I wasn’t threatening you.”

The scout stopped. She raised her hand. And the air shifted. Edgar felt something, pressure building, like static, like the atmosphere tightening. The scout hissed. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Oh, I would,” Aria said.

The scout pressed the needle harder into Edgar’s skin. “One twitch and he dies.”

Aria’s eyes narrowed. “One twitch and so do you.”

Edgar’s pulse spiked. This was it. He was going to die. He squeezed his eyes shut, and something inside him snapped. A pulse shot through him, hot and bright. The scout recoiled.

“What ?!” it snarled.

Aria stepped back, stunned. “Edgar, what did you just, Edgar didn’t know. He didn’t understand.

But energy, warm, terrifying energy, rushed through his veins like a memory he’d forgotten he had.

The scout tried to tighten its grip, And Edgar moved. He didn’t think. He didn’t plan. His body simply remembered.

He twisted. His elbow slammed into the scout’s ribs, precisely, efficiently, painfully. The scout gasped, stunned by the sudden, perfect technique.

Aria’s eyes widened. “That’s a martial form!”

Edgar threw the scout over his shoulder. It hit the ground hard enough to crack the pavement. Edgar staggered back, staring at his own hands in horror. “I… I didn’t mean to… I didn’t know I could”

Aria grabbed him. “We need to move, NOW.”

But the scout wasn’t finished. It rose slowly, mask cracked, voice shaking with fury. “You,” it whispered, pointing at Edgar.

“You aren’t supposed to exist.”

Edgar’s blood turned to ice. Aria pulled him toward the street. “Run!”

They sprinted. Behind them, the scout screamed, a warped, inhuman sound. Edgar risked one look back, And saw the scout’s mask peeling open, revealing something monstrous beneath.

Aria yanked him harder. “DON’T LOOK BACK!”

Edgar’s lungs burned, feet slipping on rain-soaked asphalt. They burst onto a main road, And skidded to a stop. Another figure stood waiting.

A man. Tall. Coat fluttering in the wind. Umbrella missing. Master Shin. But something was wrong. Terribly wrong. His eyes, usually calm, were burning with fury. Aria froze. “Shin?”

He didn’t look at her. His gaze was locked onto Edgar. “You activated it,” Shin said quietly.

Edgar’s throat tightened. “Activated… what?”

Shin stepped forward. “The thing inside you,” he said.

“The thing I hoped would never wake.”

Aria stiffened. “What are you talking about? What did he activate?”

Shin’s voice dropped to something cold. “Something older than the Syndicate. Older than awakenings. Older than me.”

Edgar trembled. “Shin… what’s inside me?”

Shin finally met his eyes. “Not a power,” he said.

“A legacy.”

Thunder roared above them. The ground trembled. And behind Edgar, the scout shrieked his name. The chapter ends. Darkness follows.