Chapter One: The Last Light
The slums smelled of rust, rot, and broken promises.
Leo slipped through the alleys like a shadow, careful not to brush against the damp sheets strung between crumbling walls. Even the stones under his feet felt tired, worn thin by too many broken dreams.
He wasn't looking for trouble just scraps. Anything he could sell before the sun dropped behind the rooftops and the real predators came out. His stomach twisted, but he ignored it. Hunger had been part of him for as long as he could remember.
Turning a corner, something sharp caught his eye: a flicker of silver beneath a collapsed market stall, half-buried in ash and shattered glass.
Curious, Leo crouched down and pulled aside the debris with quick, careful hands.
At the bottom of the mess sat a cracked wooden box. Inside, cushioned by filthy rags, were two strange contact lenses, glimmering faintly as if they drank the last scraps of daylight.
A sudden cough rasped behind him.
Leo froze. In one motion, he pulled the small knife from his belt and spun around but it was no threat, just an old man slumped against the wall, blood soaking through a torn cloak.
The man's clouded eyes locked onto Leo's.
"Take them," he rasped, voice no louder than a breath. "See the world for what it truly is. But beware..."
His hand twitched once, then stilled.
Silence swallowed the alley.
Leo stood there, heart pounding, staring down at the box.
In the slums, nothing came free and nothing free ever came without a price.
But sometimes, you had to take the risk.
Sometimes, danger was the only way out.