Bound by the king of destruction

Before I could say anything, an old woman stepped between us. With a soft laugh, she brushed the younger attendant aside and said,

"Let me handle this."

She turned to me with a warm smile and gently took my hand.

"Come, I know just what you need."

She led me to another section, smaller and tucked away at the corner. The shirts here were simpler, cooler, and cheaper, yet each had its own personality. She beamed with pride.

"See? I have the best taste," she said with a warm smile, as if she had placed them there just for me.

I sighed and told her the truth.

"I don't have any money with me. My grandma's the one to pay, but she's not close by."

The old woman waved her hand like it was nothing.

"It's okay, just choose what you want and leave them at the counter. Your grandma can pay later."

A faint smile tugged at my lips. She was the first person in the city who made me feel it was okay to just be myself. She didn't judge me like the others, and yet she seemed to know exactly who I was.

Behind me, voices stirred. Two men were talking just beyond the hallway. Their words slipped in between the hum of the mall, rough and urgent.

"Wait… isn't he the kid?"

A pause.

"What's he doing in the city? I thought he was ousted."

My hands stopped flipping through the shirts.

Another voice… quieter but sharper.

"This is just gonna be another catastrophe. Wasn't he satisfied with what he did already?"

One of them stepped forward, but his friend held him back.

"Don't. You don't want him to destroy this mall, do you?"

For a long moment, all I heard was murmuring, whispers behind shelves, reflections in mirrors. It felt like the mall had swallowed my name and was now chewing on it.

I turned back to the old woman.

"I forgot something important I needed to do. I'll come back with my grandma."

Then I walked out.

Three years, and nothing has changed.

The stares are still the same.

---

I wandered back to the ice cream shop, my gaze drifting across the road and to my surprise, the strange guy was still there. Still standing in the same place, as if he hadn't even blinked since I last saw him.

I thought he hadn't noticed my gaze. But then, slowly, he shook his head.

His eyes met mine once more, empty, dead. It felt like looking into a mirror that gave back no reflection.

I turned away quickly and walked off, returning to the bench outside the ice cream shop where Grandma had left me. The scent of sweet cream still wafted from the window, soft and warm, mocking my empty pockets.

Time slipped by.

Two hours had passed, yet across the road, the golden-haired guy was still there. Still rooted in place, watching, waiting, like a shadow that didn't belong to this world.

---

Eventually, Grandma finished buying her furniture and returned home. Delivery workers unpacked everything as she gave out orders with her usual sharp voice.

"Put that there. No, to the left. No, more to the left."

When it was all done, she collapsed onto the couch like a soldier after a war and fell asleep. Clara dozed off too, curling against her elbow in cat form.

In her room, Van was asleep as well, oblivious to whose bed he had chosen. He never paid attention to scents or photo frames.

Five hours passed, and night began to settle over the city. I glanced across the alley again, the strange guy was gone.

---

As the golden sun bled across the windowpanes, Grandma stirred. She stretched her aching back, yawned, and rubbed her eyes as she walked down the hallway toward the restroom. But as she turned into her room, she froze.

There… lying on her bed was a figure.

Her brow twitched. Hands firm on her hips, she stepped closer, lips curving into a sharp frown.

"Now... What the heck is this?"

Van's eyes snapped open. Silence hung heavy in the air. He stared at her like a boy caught red-handed. He knew trouble had arrived.

"What do you think you're doing in my bed, kid?" Grandma demanded. She already knew it was Van, but he still had to explain himself.

Van sat up slowly, completely speechless. He hadn't known, he really hadn't. How was he supposed to guess it was her room? He'd simply followed the scent he liked best.

Grandma squinted, lips pursed but then something clicked in her memory. Her expression shifted.

"Oh… no…"

She remembered.

She had left me in the city.

---

She turned abruptly, brushing off the moment.

"We'll talk about this once I'm back. Don't move an inch."

She spun on her heel and bolted out the door, panic blooming quietly in her chest. Clara followed, padding close behind.

---

Just as Grandma reached the edge of the street, two men appeared.

They didn't walk.

They drifted.

And then, like mist given shape, they phased straight through the house's walls.

---

Van sat on the bed, unmoving, obedient, but his eyes narrowed the moment the figures entered.

These weren't hunters.

Not exorcists either.

And for some reason, he hadn't sensed them at all.

One of them raised his hand, fingers flexing like they were tugging invisible strings. Gleaming dark ropes lashed out from the ground, coiling tightly around Van's wrists, dragging his arms to his sides.

He struggled, but these ropes weren't normal. They pulsed, almost alive. He tried to phase through them but nothing.

Another figure stepped in behind the first two. He held something strange, a metallic object, shaped somewhere between a tin and a kettle.

Lifting his index and middle finger to his chin, he began to chant.

---

"Vorrenak sil'tuum… entari el'shaar…

Vel'tar ish nuun, enkari fel'kaar.

From silence born, to silence bound,

Let not his echo touch the ground.

Thread of flame, fold of night,

I call thee home, away from light.

Vel'shar denathuul, kasrek ien vorak,

Bound be the soul, sealed be the mark."

---

Low, ancient syllables rolled through the air like waves of smoke. The object began to glow, vibrating, pulsing faintly. Van felt something inside him being pulled.

He resisted.

But the pull grew stronger.

His vision blurred. Limbs tightened.

And then—

The pull won.

Van screamed, but no one heard. His body shattered into light and was sucked inside the glowing object.

And just like that, the men disappeared with him.