Chapter 2: The Wind Carries Whispers
The world was still standing.
The sun still rose.
People still laughed.
And Aria Solenne still walked through it like a ghost wearing skin.
⸻
The bookstore was quieter than usual.
Mrs. Yune, her boss, didn't come in that morning. She never missed a shift. Aria brewed the tea anyway, leaving the second cup beside the register. It grew cold. The air felt heavier, like the shelves had begun holding their breath.
She shelved a copy of Legends of the End Times.
The spine cracked in her hand.
Inside, every page had been torn out—except one.
"She will bloom when all else dies."
Aria stared at the words, frowning, before sliding the book back into its place. Her fingertips tingled.
⸻
Later, in the market, the vendors spoke in hushed tones. The news played behind them, the volume just low enough to be unsettling.
"—unknown illness—"
"—containment zone breached—"
"—animals behaving strangely—"
She picked out apples. Red ones. Her favorite.
When she bit into the first, the flesh was black inside.
⸻
That night, the crimson bloom on her shelf had grown.
Now it had two heads.
She reached out again. This time it shivered beneath her fingers, as if breathing. The air around it pulsed—once. Twice. And then stopped.
Her mirror cracked in silence. Just a sliver. Just enough to catch her eye.
⸻
She didn't scream.
Instead, she stared at herself. Her reflection.
It didn't look back.
It simply waited.