The First Sibylline (The Magic of Contrast Trilogy)

The Shadow's Shadow

The Shadow's Shadow

Nox' Perspective

The rain was relentless tonight, pounding against the windows with an intensity that made the shadows within my room tremble. I’ve grown accustomed to their presence—the way they seem to dance and shift, as if they’re alive. The shadows always whispered, but tonight, they were louder than usual. Something was changing.

I leaned back, letting the dark swallow me. My name was a secret—a name that I carried like a weight. Nox. A word that meant shadow, darkness. It suited me well, like an old cloak I never removed.

I hadn’t meant to leave that slip of paper in her apartment. It was an accident, a brief lapse in control. How it ended up there, in her space, still baffled me. I didn’t know who she was, and I definitely wasn’t looking to get involved in anyone else’s life. “The last thing I need is attention,” I thought.

“But why her?” The shadows twisted at the thought. I had felt a strange pull ever since I saw her from afar. A coincidence, I told myself. It had to be.

Earlier, I had been moving through the city like I always do—unseen, unnoticed. The rain had masked my presence, making it easy to slip through the night without being detected. I wasn’t headed anywhere in particular, just drifting.

When I passed by that apartment complex, something caught my attention. It was a small, modest place. But for a moment, I felt a tug, like the shadows wanted me to stop.

“What’s here?” I had asked the shadows. They never answered me directly, but they seemed to guide me. The faint glow from the windows of her apartment caught my eye, but I didn’t intend to linger. I just moved past it. “Keep going,” I told myself.

Then, like a slip of fate, that damned note had fallen from my coat pocket. The one with my name. “Nox.”

I cursed under my breath when I realized it later, back at my own place. “Bakit ngayon pa?” I muttered. I’d always been careful, always made sure nothing could tie me to anything or anyone. But now, my name sat somewhere in a stranger’s apartment, waiting to be found.

...

I couldn’t sleep. My mind raced, wondering what would happen if she found the note. Would she know what it meant? Probably not. But the uncertainty gnawed at me.

I wasn’t supposed to care. I’ve lived in the shadows for so long, that I’d forgotten what it was like to even feel concern for another person. But for some reason, the thought of her discovering that note filled me with unease.

I glanced out the window, watching as the rain painted streaks of silver on the glass. The shadows danced around the edges of my vision, restless.

“Why her?” I asked again, knowing I wouldn’t get an answer. Still, something about her presence called to me—like the shadows were urging me to notice her.

It was a strange night. After leaving her apartment complex, I’d felt something shift in the air. The darkness seemed heavier than usual, like the city itself was holding its breath.

I’d wandered for hours after that, trying to shake the feeling. I don’t know how long I stood outside her apartment window, watching the shadows stretch and retreat under the dim streetlights.

That’s when it happened. I hadn’t even realized it at first. When I moved to leave, I brushed my coat, and the slip of paper with my name on it fluttered to the ground, unnoticed by me at the time. I hadn’t gone back to check. “What are the odds?” I had thought at the time, unaware of the small disaster I’d left behind.