Kelani pov
I woke up with a jolt, heart pounding, and found myself in the arms of a strange man. My whole body went stiff, terror shooting through me so fast I barely remembered how to move. I twisted away, pushing at him with every ounce of strength in my small body, and scrambled to the other side of the sofa, breathing hard.
Something didn't feel right—everything was wrong. I looked around, desperate for any sign of Mama or the comforting swirl of her darkness. Nothing. No protective shadow wolves, no soft humming from the corners of the room, just too many strangers, all staring at me.
I called out, the only thing that made sense: "Mama?"
No answer. I heard a woman talking, her words muffled by the panic filling up my head. I blocked out everyone else and glued my eyes onto the scary man, the one who'd been trying to hold me. He kept creeping closer, like he thought if he used the right words, I'd just let him.
He was growling at someone about having the right to meet his "flesh and blood," about how my mommy had "no right" to hide me. Every word made me angrier. Who were these people to talk about my mom that way?
I tried, desperately, to summon my poison darkness—my secret weapon—but nothing happened. The cold realization ran through me like ice. I couldn't feel my power, couldn't even feel the tingling in my chest that usually flickered just below my skin.
Then that man knelt down in front of me, smiling like he was pleased with himself, and said, "Hello, little one. I'm your grandpa. I've been so eager to meet you! What is your name, child? How old—?" He reached toward me, his hand too big and too close.
I jerked away, throwing him a glare full of all the disgust and defiance I'd inherited from Mama. "Don't touch me," I said, my voice small but fierce.
But my mind was spinning. Mama would never, never leave me with strangers. Not willingly. So if she wasn't here… My chest hurt. Had they… had they hurt Mama? Had they killed her? Was I alone?
I looked straight at him, my voice shaking but as brave as I could make it. "Wheres my mommy?"
He hesitated, and no one else answered. None of these faces were safe. None of these people were mine.
I knew I had to get out. I had to find Mama and make sure she was safe. My little fist clenched, and before I could even think about the pain in my hand, I swung with everything I had, punching the old man in the nose. Then I bolted, faster than anyone thought a small child could move.
Hallways blurred by. I couldn't hear anyone chasing me, not over the roar of my own heartbeat and the sharp pain throbbing in my hand. I had to hide, had to disappear the way Mama had taught me.
When I saw the vent, I dove for it without thinking, wiggling inside and slamming the grate behind me. No powers, no shadows to help me—just me, alone in the dark.
My hand throbbed with a pain that made my eyes water. Looking down, I saw it was already purple and swollen, my fingers bent at awful angles. I'd broken them all with that punch, and now I was trapped, shaking and freezing in a metal tunnel, my only strength leaking away.
But fear wasn't as strong as the guilt that crept in, cold and mean. "This is all my fault," I whispered, my voice shaking. "Mommy died because of me. I couldn't save her like I promised. These people…they're bad, and I'm weak, and my powers are gone."
Every minute felt like forever. Time stretched, each moment colder and lonelier than the last. "If death is the only way for me to see Mama again, I'll take it," I thought, tears streaming down my face. I smiled—a sad, broken smile—feeling a numbness spread through my whole body.
"I'm coming to join you soon, Mommy," I whispered, and before I could lose my nerve, I let myself drop down the vent tunnel, not caring anymore where it led. The world spun, my body slamming against walls and metal as I fell, and just as everything went black, I smiled, finally welcoming the warm darkness that took me away from the cold and the fear and the strangers.
Because if I couldn't be with my mommy in this world, maybe I'd find her again in the next.