The rain had already stopped by the time Nate stumbled into his room, soaked, shivering, and still clutching the strange black device like a lifeline. His hands trembled, not from the cold, but from something else: fear... and hope.
He sat on the edge of his worn-out bed, the springs creaking under his weight. The room around him was as empty as his life — a single flickering lightbulb overhead, cracked wallpaper peeling at the edges, and a broken clock that hadn't ticked in years.
Nate placed the device on his lap and stared at it.
It looked almost alive.
Smooth, cold, with a faint pulse of blue light traveling along its veins — veins that hadn't been visible before.
Was it even real?
Or had the humiliation finally snapped something inside him?
The screen on the device suddenly blinked to life without warning.
"Welcome, Nate Carter," the words floated above it in shimmering silver letters.
"You have been chosen."
Nate's throat dried.
He tried to speak but no words came out.
His heart hammered in his chest.
Beneath the welcome message, two options appeared:
> [Accept]
[Decline]
His finger hovered uncertainly.
Every instinct screamed for him to throw the thing out the window, forget he ever touched it.
But then, visions flashed through his mind — his torn shoes, his mother's weary face, the rich kids' laughter at his expense, the countless times he was shoved into lockers and left behind.
His jaw clenched.
They would never respect someone like him.
Not unless he changed everything.
Nate pressed [Accept].
The moment his finger touched the screen, the device vibrated violently, making him almost drop it.
The flickering lightbulb above exploded in a shower of sparks. Darkness swallowed the room.
Then, a voice spoke inside his head — calm, composed, and chillingly familiar.
> "The deal has been sealed."
> "Your identity will be reshaped. Your fate re-written. Your enemies... crushed."
Nate gasped, backing away as the device levitated in the air, spinning faster and faster.
The walls of his room trembled, dust falling from the ceiling.
> "But beware," the voice whispered, soft as a blade across skin.
"The greater the gift, the heavier the price."
Suddenly, a searing pain erupted from his chest.
Nate cried out, clutching himself as a burning symbol etched itself into his skin — a sigil neither he nor any human had ever seen.
His body crumpled to the floor. His vision blurred.
Before unconsciousness claimed him, Nate heard one last sentence, dripping with both promise and doom:
> "Awaken, Nate Carter — heir of silence, keeper of shadows."
And then...
Nothing.
---
When Nate finally awoke, hours — or maybe days — later, everything had changed.
His body felt different — stronger, lighter, like a coiled spring ready to snap.
The cracked mirror across the room reflected a boy who looked like Nate Carter but wasn't quite him anymore.
His eyes, once dull and defeated, now gleamed with a strange, almost predatory sharpness.
His once thin frame had filled out subtly, his muscles toned, his skin paler but flawless.
On his nightstand sat the device, now silent.
But beside it was something else: a black card — sleek, unmarked, and humming faintly when he touched it.
A handwritten note lay underneath it:
> "Use it wisely. This is only the beginning."
---
For the first time in his miserable life, Nate Carter smiled.
Not a smile of happiness.
A smile of something darker.
Something dangerous.
Something that would change everything.
The first crack had already appeared.
The world just didn't know it yet.
---