The Introvert

Lena didn't stop moving until she reached her apartment complex.

Her fingers trembled as she unlocked the door, slipping inside and pressing her back against it. Her breaths came fast, uneven.

She could still hear Riven's voice echoing in her mind.

"They're lying to you."

Lena squeezed her eyes shut.

He was wrong. He had to be.

Ethan had protected her from the beginning. He had warned her about The Vanished, about the dangers lurking in the shadows.

But then why had Riven looked so damn confident?

Why did it feel like he knew something she didn't?

Lena ran a hand through her hair and groaned in frustration.

She needed a distraction. Anything.

Her phone buzzed.

She grabbed it instinctively, her heart jumping when she saw the name flashing on the screen.

Ethan.

Lena hesitated for a second before answering.

"Where are you?" Ethan's voice was sharp, urgent. "I've been waiting."

Lena frowned. "Waiting where?"

A pause. Then—

"The rooftop."

Her stomach twisted.

She had left him there. She had needed time to think, space to breathe.

But now…

She wasn't sure she was ready to face him.

Ethan sighed on the other end. "Did something happen?"

Lena bit her lip.

She could lie.

She could tell him she was fine, that she had just needed fresh air. That she hadn't just had a conversation that threatened to unravel everything she thought she knew.

But something inside her hesitated.

Lena had always trusted Ethan.

But now, for the first time…

She wasn't sure if she should.

Because what if Riven was telling the truth?

"Lena," Ethan pressed. "Talk to me."

Lena closed her eyes.

"I saw him again."

Silence.

Then—

"Where?" Ethan's voice was low, controlled, but she could hear the tension beneath it.

"Outside my building."

A sharp inhale. "Did he touch you?"

Lena's fingers curled around the phone. "No."

A heavy pause.

Then Ethan's voice dropped to a whisper.

"What did he say?"

Lena hesitated.

They're lying to you.

She wanted to tell Ethan. She wanted to spill everything. To demand answers.

But something stopped her.

Would he even tell her the truth?

Lena's grip tightened.

"He was just trying to mess with my head," she said finally.

Ethan exhaled, and she could almost hear his shoulders relaxing. "You did the right thing, Lena. You ignored him. That's all you need to do."

But was it?

She wanted to believe that.

But the seed of doubt had already been planted.

And it was growing.

--

That night, Lena lay awake, staring at the ceiling.

Her thoughts wouldn't stop racing.

The Vanished. The Watchers. Riven. Ethan.

The war between them was bigger than she had realized.

And she was caught right in the middle of it.

A part of her wished she had never discovered her ability.

That she could just be normal.

But deep down, she knew—

That was never going to happen.

A sudden tap at her window made her freeze.

Lena's breath caught in her throat.

Slowly, she turned her head.

And her heart stopped.

Riven was outside her window.

Watching her.

The streetlamp cast long shadows across his face, but his golden eyes were unmistakable.

Lena's chest tightened.

How?

She was on the second floor.

There was no balcony. No ledge.

But Riven stood there—as if he had simply appeared.

Lena shot up, backing against the wall. "What the hell are you doing here?" she hissed.

Riven tilted his head. "You left too quickly earlier. Thought we should finish our conversation."

Her pulse pounded. "There's nothing left to say."

Riven's smirk deepened. "That's where you're wrong."

Lena clenched her fists. "Get out."

Riven's gaze flickered over her face.

And then, to her complete horror, he lifted a hand—

And placed it against the glass.

The second his skin touched it, the window vanished.

Lena's breath hitched.

The glass didn't shatter.

It didn't break.

It simply ceased to exist.

Like it had never been there at all.

Riven stepped forward, now standing inside her room.

Lena's legs screamed at her to run—but she couldn't move.

She had seen Ethan do things. She had seen strange, impossible things.

But this…

This was something else.

Riven was watching her, his golden eyes unreadable. "You see now, don't you?"

Lena forced herself to speak. "See what?"

"That you don't belong in their world," he murmured. "You belong in ours."

Her stomach twisted.

"No," she whispered.

But the word felt weaker than it should have.

Because deep down—

Somewhere she refused to acknowledge—

A small, terrifying part of her wondered.

What if he was right?

---