Chapter 73 The Thing That Wants In
Kai’s POV
I couldn’t shake the feeling. Even after we left the science lab… even after that thing…that shard…went still, as it had just decided to play dead… something wasn’t right.
It wasn’t outside anymore. It was inside.
“Hey… Luna?” I said, my voice quieter than I meant it to be.
She turned to me immediately, her eyes sharp. “What is it?”
I hesitated. My chest felt tight, like something was sitting just under my ribs, breathing when I breathed. “I think…” I swallowed. “I think it didn’t just stop.”
Her expression changed instantly. “What do you mean?”
I pressed a hand to my chest, frowning. “It’s like… I can feel it. Not physically, but…like a second heartbeat. Faint. Wrong.”
Luna stepped closer, her gaze scanning me carefully. “Kai, that’s not normal.”
“Yeah, I figured that part out.” I tried to laugh, but it came out strained.
We were standing just outside the school building now. The sun had dipped lower, casting long shadows across the empty courtyard. The place felt too quiet and too still.
Luna reached for my wrist. The moment her fingers touched my skin, something inside me reacted. It felt like a sharp pulse shot through my body.
I jerked back with a gasp. “Don’t…!” I snapped, and then suddenly froze still.
Her eyes widened. “Kai…”
“I didn’t mean that,” I said quickly, breathing hard. “I just….something pushed back. Like it didn’t want you touching me.”
Silence fell between us and that was when we both understood. It wasn’t just lingering. It was aware, and a cold chill slid down my spine. “Okay,” I said slowly. “That’s… that’s not good.”
Luna shook her head, stepping back slightly. “No. No, it’s not.”
I ran a hand through my hair, pacing a little. “Maybe it’s just… residue? Like when you touch something hot and your skin keeps burning after?”
But even as I said it, I knew it wasn’t true. Because I could feel it. It felt faint, coiled and waiting. And then…. A whisper. “You shouldn’t ignore me…”
I froze mid-step. “…did you hear that?” I asked.
Luna stiffened. “Hear what?”
My stomach dropped. “No,” I said under my breath. “No, no, no…”
The voice came again, but closer this time. “He won’t protect you forever…”
I pressed my hands against my ears instinctively.
“Make it stop,” I muttered.
“Kai?” Luna stepped forward again, panic creeping into her voice. “What’s happening?”
“It’s talking,” I said, my voice shaking now. “It’s…inside my head.”
Her face went pale. “That means it attached itself to you,” she said quickly. “When you grabbed it….Kai, I told you to stay back!”
“Yeah, well, a little late for that now!” My chest tightened again, but harder this time.
I gasped, stumbling slightly as a wave of dizziness hit me. The world tilted and for a second… just a second…everything went dark. And in that darkness… I wasn’t alone, I was standing somewhere else, more like a void.
It was endless, black, and silent. And then I saw it….A shape.
Not fully formed, it was more like a shadow trying to become something real. Its edges flickered, unstable, but its presence… It was heavy and hungry.
Its voice echoed, not in my ears…but in my head. “You’re weak.”
I clenched my fists. “Get out of my head.”
“You felt it… didn’t you?” it continued, ignoring me. “That night. When you almost died.” My breath hitched. Because it knew. “I can protect you.” Then the shadow shifted closer. “I can make you strong.”
My heart pounded. “No,” I said, louder this time. “I don’t need you.”
It laughed. Then a low, distorted sound that sent chills through my entire body. “You already let me in.” and the darkness surged forward….and suddenly I was back.
I stumbled backward, nearly collapsing. Luna caught me this time, gripping my shoulders despite whatever resistance had been there before.
“Kai!” she shouted. “Stay with me!”
I blinked rapidly, trying to focus. “It’s… " It’s trying to possess me,” I said hoarsely.
Her grip tightened. “Fight it.”
“I am fighting it!” My body jerked suddenly. But not by my own will. My fingers twitched, curling slightly and my breath hitched. “…Kai?” Luna’s voice trembled.
“I didn’t do that,” I said quickly.
Then my arm moved again and this time, lifting slightly. Slow and unnatural.
Like something was testing control. Fear slammed into me hard.
“Luna…” I whispered. “I think it’s learning.”
Her eyes filled with determination. “Then we don’t give it time.”
“How?!”
She hesitated for a split second. And in that moment…the voice returned stronger and clearer. “Let me help you…”
My vision flickered again and for a brief second, I saw Luna….
But not as she was.
I saw her through someone else’s perspective. Like a target, an obstacle, and a threat. I staggered back, horrified. “No,” I said, shaking my head. “No, no, no…that’s not me.”
Luna froze. “You saw me differently, didn’t you?” she asked quietly.
I couldn’t answer because she was right. And that terrified me more than anything.
The presence inside me stirred again, and it was pleased. “You see clearly now…”
“Shut up!” I snapped.
My voice echoed strangely and layered. Like it wasn’t just mine anymore.
Luna’s breath caught. “Kai… your voice…”
I grabbed my head, dropping to my knees. “Do something,” I said through clenched teeth. “Please. Before it…” Then my body jerked again harder this time. Then a sharp pain shot through my chest. I gasped.
And then…. My eyes lifted slowly, but I wasn’t the one fully in control anymore.
Luna took a step back. “Kai…?”
I could still hear myself, I could still think, and still feel. But something else was there now and it was right behind my thoughts and right behind my eyes. Watching, waiting, and smiling.
My lips moved. But the voice that came out… it wasn’t entirely mine. “…interesting,” it said softly.
Luna’s face drained of color. “No.” and inside my own head, I screamed.
Stop! Stop! STOP….
But it only laughed.
“Don’t worry,” it whispered. “I won’t take everything… just enough.”
My hand lifted slowly and reached toward Luna. Not to hurt her, not yet, but to test, to feel, and to claim. And in that moment, I realized the truth, that this wasn’t just a fragment. It wasn’t just a leftover. It was something that had been waiting and watching.
And now….
It had found a way in.