Kazi continued to stare at the message.
"Do you feel it now?"
"What does that mean," she thought to herself
Her thumb hovered over the screen, unsure if she should reply. Every instinct screamed that whoever sent this wasn't just curious, they knew something. Something about the mark. About her.
Luma peered closer. "You gonna answer it?"
"I don't know what to say, I…," Kazi murmured.
Before she could finish her thought, another message appeared.
"The mark has chosen. You've been activated."
Kazi's stomach twisted. "What does that even mean?" she whispered.
The typing bubbles blinked once, then disappeared. No further reply followed.
She turned the phone toward Luma. "Okay. That's not creepy at all."
Luma frowned. "Activated? That sounds like some cult nonsense."
Kazi wanted to laugh, but the weight in her chest wouldn't let her. "It doesn't feel like nonsense. It feels real for some reason."
She rolled her sleeve back up, exposing the tattoo. It had stopped glowing, but it still looked alive, vibrant, even under the dim light. The curves and symbols within it seemed deeper now, as if etched into her soul.
Luma leaned closer. "Why does it look different?"
"It is different."
Kazi's phone buzzed again. Another text from the unknown number.
"Meet me. Midnight. 326 Crane Street."
Still no name or other instructions.
Kazi's heart raced.
"Absolutely not," Luma said immediately. "You are not meeting some random person in the middle of the night!"
"I have to," Kazi said quietly. "They know something."
"But they could be dangerous." Luma said with concern.
"And so could this," Kazi replied, pointing to her tattoo. "And I don't have the luxury of pretending it isn't happening anymore."
Kazi, walked towards the door and grabbed her jacket. The night air beckoned through the window with a soft gust.
"Kazi…" Luma's face was full of fear for her friend.
"I'll be careful," Kazi promised. "But I have to know."
Kazi stepped outside just before midnight. The streets were quieter than usual; too quiet. As if the city itself had pulled back, waiting.
Eventually, she found 326 Crane Street tucked away between an abandoned bakery and a faded mural of a lion. It wasn't a building, but a narrow alleyway lit by a single flickering bulb. The address was painted crudely on the brick wall.
She looked down the alley and saw no sign of anyone. She then took a step forward.
But she heard a voice, smooth, low and confident, coming from the shadows.
"You made it." They said.
She froze. "Who are you?"
A figure stepped into the light. A man, tall, cloaked in a long coat. His eyes glowed faintly, not amber like her tattoo, but silver, like moonlight.
"I'm someone who's been waiting for you," he said.
"How do you know what's going on with me and my tattoo?" Kazi asked.
He smiled faintly. "Because I carry one too."
He rolled up his sleeve, revealing a tattoo nearly identical to hers. Only his pulsed with silvery light.
Kazi's breath caught.
"You're not alone," he said. "Not anymore."