The screen went dark.
The room didn't.
---
Neither of them moved.
---
Dev's eyes stayed on the phone.
Kai's didn't.
---
"…You saw that," Dev said.
---
Kai didn't answer.
---
He already knew.
---
The silence pressed again.
Heavier this time.
---
"It wasn't a notification," Dev continued.
"No vibration. No source."
---
Still no response.
---
Kai stepped away from the window.
Slow.
---
"…I'm going," he said.
---
Dev looked at him.
Not surprised.
---
"Of course you are."
---
A pause.
---
"You don't even know why," Dev added.
---
Kai stopped near the door.
---
"…I don't need to."
---
The answer came too naturally.
---
Dev noticed.
---
That was the problem.
---
"I'm coming with you," Dev said.
---
Kai didn't turn.
---
"You don't have to."
---
"I know."
---
Silence.
---
"That's not why I'm coming."
---
A brief moment passed.
---
Then—
Kai opened the door.
---
The night air felt normal.
---
But stepping into it—
didn't.
---
The street was empty.
No movement.
No sound.
---
Dev walked beside him.
Not ahead.
Not behind.
---
Equal.
---
Neither spoke.
---
The road stretched forward.
Familiar.
Yet—
not quite the same.
---
"…It's pulling you," Dev said quietly.
---
Kai didn't deny it.
---
"It feels like I already know the way," he replied.
---
Dev's gaze shifted slightly.
---
"Like memory?"
---
A pause.
---
"…Something like that."
---
They kept walking.
---
Streetlights passed above them.
One by one.
---
For a moment—
Kai slowed.
---
Not by choice.
---
Something—
shifted.
---
He stopped.
---
Dev noticed immediately.
---
"What happened?"
---
Kai didn't answer.
---
His eyes moved.
Not forward.
---
To the side.
---
Then—
down.
---
His shadow stretched along the ground.
---
Normal.
---
But—
---
For a fraction of a second—
---
It didn't stop when he did.
---
It moved.
---
Just slightly.
---
Ahead of him.
---
Then—
matched again.
---
Kai blinked.
---
Nothing.
---
Dev watched him carefully.
---
"You felt it again."
---
This time—
Kai didn't deny it.
---
"…Yeah."
---
Silence returned.
---
But now—
it wasn't just around them.
---
It followed.
---
They moved again.
---
Faster this time.
---
The road narrowed.
The lights thinned.
---
The air changed.
---
Not colder.
---
Just—
heavier.
---
Dev exhaled slowly.
---
"We're close."
---
Kai didn't respond.
---
He already knew.
---
The gate appeared ahead.
---
The graveyard.
---
Dark.
Still.
Waiting.
---
Kai stopped.
---
Dev looked at him.
---
"Why did you stop?"
---
A pause.
---
Kai's eyes didn't move.
---
"…We're not alone."
---
The silence answered for them.