NOVEL WEB Chapter 7: chapter 7
The Shadows Always Know
(Daniel's Point of View)
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Elian left just after midnight.
He didn't ask for anything.
Didn't press me to explain.
He just sat there — beside me — like his presence was enough to keep the walls from falling in.
I didn't tell him, but it mattered more than he could ever know.
But peace doesn't last where I come from.
And by morning, the silence had teeth again.
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There was a scratch on my window when I woke up.
Not a crack.
A symbol.
Sharp. Etched. Familiar.
The kind we used to leave behind — warnings, markers, death sentences.
Only this one wasn't for me.
It was for him.
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Stay away from the boy.
Three words, smeared across the glass in something that looked too dark to be paint.
I stared at it for a long time.
They knew.
They always knew.
I used to be one of them — the watchers in the dark. The ones who kept the city's secrets quiet.
But then I saw something I wasn't supposed to.
I ran.
And now they want me to stay invisible — even if it means erasing the only person who's ever looked at me without flinching.
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I didn't go to class.
Didn't eat.
Didn't sleep.
All I could think about was Elian.
What if they followed him?
What if they hurt him?
I told myself I'd keep him out of this.
But now it's too late.
The moment he knocked on my door, he became part of the story.
My story.
And stories like mine don't have happy endings.
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Later that day, I saw him.
He was walking near the bookstore, headphones in, humming something only he could hear.
He smiled at someone passing by.
He looked safe.
Untouched.
It made me want to scream.
I stayed hidden, watching him from across the street. My wings itched beneath my jacket, restless and heavy.
I shouldn't be here.
I shouldn't watch him.
But I did.
And I hated how much I needed to.
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Then his phone rang, and he stopped — suddenly looking around, confused. His smile dropped. He stepped aside and answered.
I couldn't hear what the voice said.
But I saw his face change.
He went pale.
Eyes wide.
Mouth half-open like the words on the other end weren't real.
He looked up — right at me.
He didn't know I was there.
But somehow… he looked right at me.
And I knew.
They had called him.
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So I ran.
Not toward him.
Away.
Because if I stayed one more second, I might've done something stupid.
Like hold him.
Or tell him the truth.
Or beg him to forgive me before everything broke.
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I disappeared into the alleyway, shadows curling at my feet like old friends. My wings stretched wide under my coat. My heart cracked.
Because no matter what I did to protect him…
The shadows always knew.
And now?
So did he.
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