Chapter 1
Selene Nyx
The city lights blurred beyond my apartment window, streaks of gold and silver slicing through the night. New York City had a way of swallowing you whole, yet here I was-one small soul of 25 years old, in the steel jaws of a place that never slept. I drew in a quiet breath, eyes tracing the light of the city.
How many times had I thought about fading into those city shadows? The thought had become a soft refrain, something to tuck away in quiet moments, like tonight.
My life here was mapped out in predictable rhythms. Wake up, code for hours, troubleshoot someone else's vision, and repeat.
A software engineer's world-logical, ordered, and everything mine was not.....yeaaah "I am a mess".
My mother called it a blessing, this job with a well-known tech company that any upper middle-class family would proudly boast about. Yet, something felt missing, as if I was a ghost slipping through my own life.
I ran my fingers through my hair, catching a glimpse of myself in the glass. "Beautiful", they said, and "timid" -a rare combination, like a flower trembling under the weight of its own petals. But beauty was its own cage, a lure that attracted things I was never prepared to face. Not that I belonged anywhere; I was adopted, always balancing in a world that didn't feel quite like mine.
Tonight, though, was different. There was a weight in the air, a quiet hum beneath the city's chaos. It was nothing I could explain, only a knowing that, perhaps, everything was about to change.
"That's all for today, a stressed beauty.....now, let's sleep,........
"my bluie"
And then I hugged my fluffy and softy penguin toy and went into slumber sleep.
(knock, knock)
Then suddenly I heard someone is knocking on my apartment door, "it's 1:20 a.m. literally midnight, who is there"...I checked my phone, no text or call from my best friends, so who is there, is it ghost?? No - no, what nonsense I am thinking.
Who could be here at this hour?
The knock came again, sharper this time, making me shiver.
I get out of my bed, my bare feet hitting the cold floor, and I slowly walked toward the door. Shadows stretched along the hallway, and the dim light outside flickered, casting strange shapes on the walls.
My hand paused on the doorknob. Part of me wanted to go back to bed, to pretend I hadn't heard anything. But I couldn't ignore it. As people said I'm timid but I am not that timid.....I took a breath, steadied myself, and turned the handle.
Whatever was waiting on the other side felt like the beginning of something I couldn't escape. I opened the door slowly, looking into the empty hallway. Silence filled the air.
There is no one here, just the dim glow of the hallway lights, and on this floor there are only 2 apartments, one is mine and in another an old couple lives. I let out a breath, part of me relieved, part of me puzzled. Had I imagined the knock?
Stepping out....suddenly, I felt something under my foot.
I looked down, there is a plain, sealed envelope lying right outside my door.
I picked it up, my fingers tracing its edges. No name. No address. Just a single word written on it
- "My rabbit" and nothing else.
A chill ran down my spine.
Whoever left this... wanted me to find it.
