Blade institute: the unseen prophecy

26

The morning air was crisp, almost biting, as I stepped out of the cabin and into the soft, muted light of dawn. The forest around us was still, a stark contrast to the storm of thoughts raging in my mind. I glanced back toward the cabin door, half-expecting him to follow, but I knew better. There was a distance between us now, a chasm that had grown overnight, inexplicable and sudden.

Last night, after the mission, we had talked, or at least tried to. There was something in his eyes, something dark and brooding, but when I pressed, he had shut down completely. His usual warmth was replaced by a cold, impenetrable wall, leaving me standing on the other side, confused and hurt. I had thought of so many things to say, questions to ask, but in the end, I had remained silent, afraid of pushing him further away.

Now, as I stood alone in the clearing, I felt the weight of that silence pressing down on me. The mission ahead was supposed to bring us closer, a chance to work together again, to heal whatever rift had appeared between us. But instead, it felt like we were drifting further apart, two ships lost in the fog.

He finally emerged from the cabin, his face a mask of indifference. His dark hair, still damp from the quick shower he had taken, clung to his forehead. He didn't meet my eyes as he approached the car, instead focusing on the ground, as if the gravel beneath his boots held some secret truth he couldn't yet decipher.

"Ready?" I asked, trying to keep my voice neutral, hiding the hurt that threatened to spill over.

"Yeah," he replied curtly, opening the driver's side door. He paused for a moment, as if considering saying something more, but then he slid into the seat without another word.

I sighed inwardly and walked around to the passenger side. The car door closed behind me with a soft thud, sealing us in an uneasy silence. He started the engine, and the low hum of the car filled the small space, doing little to ease the tension between us. Without a word, he pulled out onto the dirt road that would take us back to the Institute.

The drive was long, the road winding through dense forests and past empty fields. The landscape was a blur, a backdrop to the thoughts racing through my mind. I stole glances at him, trying to read his expression, but he kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead, his hands gripping the steering wheel tigght.

—

The Institute loomed in the distance, a dark silhouette against the early morning sky. It was a place of knowledge, of secrets, and of the unknown. It was also where we had received our orders for the second mission, a mission that, on the surface, seemed straightforward. But after what had happened last night, I couldn't shake the feeling that there was more at play here, something hidden beneath the surface.

We parked the car in the gravel lot outside the Institute and made our way inside. The grand entrance hall was empty, the usual hustle and bustle of students and staff replaced by an eerie stillness. Our footsteps echoed off the marble floors, the sound reverberating through the empty space.

"Let's just get this over with," he muttered under his breath, his tone clipped and distant.

We headed straight to the briefing room, where we were met by the mission coordinator, a stern-faced woman named Dr. Laurent. She greeted us with a curt nod, her sharp eyes assessing us as we took our seats.

"I'll keep this brief," she began, her voice devoid of any warmth. "Your mission is to investigate a series of disturbances reported in the northern woods. Several witnesses have claimed to see strange creatures lurking in the shadows, and there have been reports of people going missing. Your task is to find out what's causing these disturbances and eliminate any threats."

She handed us a file, which he took without a word, flipping through the pages with a focused intensity that only deepened my concern. I tried to catch his eye, to communicate silently that we needed to talk, but he remained fixated on the file, his expression unreadable.