Adrian Cole had long accepted that nothing good ever happened after midnight.
It wasn't just a saying. It was experience.
Every bad decision, every strange encounter, every moment that made him question his life choices always seemed to happen during hours like this.
2:17 AM.
He stared at the number on his phone for a second before dropping it back onto the desk.
The security room was quiet, lit only by the dull glow of the monitors. Half of them showed empty hallways. The other half showed places no one cared about—storage rooms, stairwells, dead corners of a building that only existed for people with money.
Adrian leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes.
"Six more hours," he muttered.
The monitor in front of him flickered.
He frowned.
Static flashed across the screen for a brief second, then disappeared.
Adrian leaned forward slightly.
"Don't start…"
The building wasn't new, but it wasn't old enough to justify constant issues either. Still, strange things had been happening during his shifts lately. Small things. Easy to ignore.
Lights flickering.
Cameras glitching.
That feeling… like someone was watching when no one should be there.
He shook his head.
"Just tired."
Then he heard it.
A soft sound from outside.
Tap.
Adrian froze.
He turned his head slowly toward the door.
"…Hello?"
No response.
For a moment, he considered ignoring it. That would have been the smarter choice.
Instead, he stood up.
"Yeah, this is how people die in movies," he muttered, grabbing his flashlight anyway.
The hallway outside was dimly lit, the overhead lights buzzing faintly. Everything looked normal.
Too normal.
Adrian stepped out, the door clicking shut behind him.
Tap.
This time it came from further down the hallway.
He tightened his grip on the flashlight. "Alright, if someone's messing around, it's not funny."
No answer.
He walked forward carefully, his footsteps echoing lightly.
Something felt off.
Not wrong in an obvious way. Just… off. Like the air itself had changed.
Tap.
Closer now.
Adrian stopped.
"…Okay."
He slowly turned—
And nearly walked straight into someone.
He stumbled back immediately, his heart jumping.
A woman stood in front of him.
Close enough that he should have noticed her from a distance.
But he hadn't.
"How did you—" he stopped himself, frowning. "Who are you?"
She didn't answer right away.
Her gaze stayed on him, calm and unreadable.
Her eyes were red.
Adrian blinked, trying to process it.
"…Contacts?" he guessed.
"You can see me," she said.
Her voice was smooth, almost quiet, but it carried weight. The kind that made it hard to ignore.
Adrian let out a short breath. "Yeah. I can also hear you. So maybe start explaining why you're here?"
She tilted her head slightly, studying him like he was something unusual.
"Interesting," she murmured.
A faint chill ran down his spine.
"Look, if you're not supposed to be here, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
It wasn't a threat. He didn't get paid enough to make threats.
"It won't matter," she replied.
Adrian frowned. "What won't—"
The lights went out.
Everything dropped into darkness.
Adrian tensed immediately. "Seriously?"
Then he felt it.
A presence behind him.
Cold. Sharp. Close.
"Don't move," a quiet voice said near his ear.
Adrian froze.
That made two.
"And yet," another voice echoed softly from the front, "he walked straight into it."
Three.
There were three of them.
Adrian swallowed slowly.
"Alright," he said, forcing his voice steady, "I don't know what's going on, but if this is some kind of setup—"
"You're going to die tonight," the second voice said.
Flat. Direct.
Adrian blinked. "…I'm sorry, what?"
"He already did," the third voice added lightly.
For a second, nothing happened.
Then pain exploded in his chest.
Adrian gasped, staggering backward as his hand flew to his shirt.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
He looked down.
Darkness made it hard to see—but he could feel it.
Wet.
Warm.
Blood.
"I don't…" his voice shook, "I don't understand…"
His legs gave out, but someone caught him before he hit the ground.
The red-eyed woman.
Her grip was steady. Unnaturally strong.
"You were marked," she said quietly.
Adrian's vision blurred. "By… who…?"
She held his gaze.
"By something that hunts in this city."
A pause.
"Something far worse than us."
Adrian let out a weak, broken laugh. "…That's not reassuring…"
The third woman crouched in front of him, her expression faintly amused.
"But we decided not to let it have you," she said.
"Why…?" he whispered.
The second woman stepped closer. The shadows around her seemed to move with her.
"Because you're useful," she said.
The first woman leaned in slightly, her crimson eyes locking onto his.
"And because," she added softly, "we chose you."
Adrian tried to speak, but the strength was leaving his body fast.
"What… are you doing…?"
"Saving you," she said.
Then her voice lowered just slightly.
"And binding you."
Darkness closed in.
The last thing Adrian felt—
Was three separate heartbeats.
Not his.
Never his.
Then everything went silent.
…
A sharp breath tore through his lungs.
Adrian's eyes snapped open.
The world felt heavier.
Different.
Alive in a way it hadn't been before.
And deep down, something answered that feeling.
Something new.
Something dangerous.
From the darkness, a voice spoke.
"You feel it, don't you?"
Adrian looked up slowly.
The red-eyed woman stood there, watching him.
"This city isn't as simple as you thought," she said.
A faint smile touched her lips.
"And now… you're part of it."