The days after Dante’s defeat passed in a blur of tentative normalcy. Aiden and Maya began the slow process of rebuilding their lives, piecing together fragments of who they were before the chaos unfolded. Yet, despite the surface calm, a sense of unease lingered in the air—like a storm brewing just beyond the horizon.
---
Maya sat by her window one evening, staring at the building across the street. The place where it had all begun now stood abandoned. Its eerie stillness unnerved her, but she couldn’t look away.
“Thinking about him again?” Aiden’s voice broke through her thoughts.
She turned to see him leaning against the doorframe, a warm mug of tea in his hands. He looked better—less burdened than he had been in the days following his father’s death. Yet his eyes carried a shadow of loss that hadn’t quite faded.
“A little,” Maya admitted, gesturing toward the building. “It’s hard not to. Everything started there.”
“And ended there,” Aiden said, crossing the room to join her. He handed her the mug and took a seat by her side.
“For now,” she added quietly.
---
Aiden frowned, his expression turning serious. “Do you think it’s really over?”
Maya sighed, blowing on her tea. “I want to believe it is. But something feels… unfinished.”
“You mean Dante?”
“Not just him,” she said, shaking her head. “The rift, the book, the things we saw—they were bigger than him. He might have been a catalyst, but I don’t think he was the end of it.”
Aiden nodded, his gaze distant. “I feel it too. Like there’s more out there. More we don’t understand.”
---
Their conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door. They exchanged a wary glance before Aiden rose to answer it.
Standing in the hallway was Clara, one of their friends from the design school. Her face was pale, her eyes wide with panic.
“You two need to come with me,” she said, her voice trembling.
“What’s wrong?” Maya asked, standing quickly.
“It’s about the building,” Clara said. “Something’s happening there. You need to see it.”
---
Reluctantly, Aiden and Maya followed Clara to the rooftop of her apartment, which had a clear view of the now-abandoned building. The sight that greeted them sent chills down their spines.
A faint, glowing crack had appeared on the side of the structure—eerily similar to the one they had sealed. It pulsed with an unnatural light, casting long shadows across the surrounding buildings.
Maya’s stomach dropped. “It can’t be…”
“I thought you destroyed it,” Clara said, her voice rising in panic.
“We did,” Aiden said firmly, though doubt crept into his voice.
“Then what’s that?” Clara demanded, pointing at the crack.
---
Before they could respond, a figure emerged from the shadows near the glowing rift. It was tall and lean, with a familiar silhouette that made Maya’s blood run cold.
“It’s him,” she whispered.
“Dante?” Aiden asked, his voice a mixture of disbelief and anger.
Maya shook her head. “No… it’s someone else.”
The figure stepped closer, and the glow illuminated its features. It wasn’t Dante, but it bore an unsettling resemblance to him—a distorted version, as though shaped by the rift itself.
---
The figure raised its hand, and the glow from the crack intensified. Maya and Aiden shielded their eyes as the light became blinding.
When it faded, the figure was gone, but the crack had widened, its pulsing light growing stronger.
“We need to stop this,” Aiden said, his jaw set.
Maya nodded, her heart pounding. “But how? The book is fading, and the rift is stronger than before.”
“We’ll figure it out,” Aiden said, determination hardening his voice. “We have to.”
---
As they left the rooftop, Clara looked at them with fear in her eyes. “You’re not going back there, are you?”
“We don’t have a choice,” Maya said.
Clara hesitated before nodding. “Then I’m coming with you. Whatever’s happening, it’s affecting all of us now.”
Aiden and Maya exchanged a glance. They both knew how dangerous this was, but they also knew they couldn’t face it alone.
---
That night, as they prepared to return to the building, Maya felt a strange mix of dread and determination. The rift was calling to them, and the fight they thought was over was far from finished.
She glanced at Aiden, who was checking the small array of tools they had managed to gather. Despite everything, she felt a sense of comfort knowing they were in this together.
“Ready?” he asked, meeting her gaze.
“Ready,” she replied, though her heart felt anything but.
And as they stepped out into the night, the pulsing glow of the rift lit their path—a stark reminder that their story was far from over.
YOU ARE READING
Beneath the Shattered Sky
RomanceIn the heart of a bustling city, Maya finds herself caught between two worlds-one filled with passion, secrets, and betrayal, and another yearning for freedom and clarity. When she meets Aiden, the charming but mysterious boy from her design school...
