??? Punfire, rocket explosions, and even ndmionations echoed in the distance from the massive mansion.

  Inside, a man was sweating profusely. The mansion, a secret base of operations, was supposed to be imperable. He wore a biform, his chest adorned with the insignia of a powerful aive family—one of the most iial in the world. It was a fact he had always take pride in.

  But in this moment, the General regretted ever aligning himself with them, despite dedig nearly 30 years of his life to their cause.

  Why?

  Because a nightmare inate was sughtering his men outside.

  Bullets didn’t stop him. Rocket unchers didn’t stop him. And the way he killed… it was horrific.

  So brutal, in fact, that some of the General’s men vomited at the sheer gruesomeness of it. Others abaheir posts entirely, choosing to flee rather than die in such a monstrous way.

  Then, the General’s radio crackled to life. He grabbed it and pressed it to his ear.

  "Status report."

  A bloodcurdling scream tore through the speaker. The sheer terror in that voice made the General’s hair stand on end.

  "SIR!! SIR!! IT'S KILLING US!! IT'S I—"

  Silence.

  Everyone ihe mansion froze, waiting for a response.

  "Soldier? Soldier!? Status repor—"

  A voice cut through the radio, chilling and inhuman.

  "He's dead."

  The General’s stomach twisted. The men around him stiffened.

  They all knew who it was.

  "I am ing for you."

  Then—static.

  For a moment, no one breathed.

  And then, the mansion's wall exploded.

  The force sent several men flying. Dust and debris filled the air.

  Through the smoke, a figure emerged.

  He wore a gas mask and a helmet. A long bck trench coat draped over his frame. His entire body was dark, tattered clothing—gray gloves, bck pants. The rips in his attire revealed patches of rotting flesh.

  In his hands, he held a rocket uncher.

  The men ihe base gasped in horror.

  The figure walked forward, slow and deliberate. He dropped the rocket uo the ground as if it were nothing.

  The General stood frozen.

  He had heard the rumors. The impossible whispers that this thing was a dead man.

  Now, he believed them.

  As the figure closed the distahe stench of decay filled the General’s nostrils. But his mind was too ed by fear to react.

  Without warning, the figure grabbed the General by the throat and lifted him effortlessly into the air.

  The General struggled, g at the inhuman grip around his neck—but it was useless.

  "You know what I wish to ask, do you not?"

  The voice—distorted, unnatural—sounded like a mix of radio statid something… impossible.

  "I... I don’t kno—"

  The General's throat tightened further.

  "Lies."

  The figure’s grip crushed down.

  "You have five seds before I separate your head from your body.Five... Four..."

  The General thrashed, desperate.

  "Three."

  "W-wait—"

  "Two."

  "P-please—"

  "One."

  Just as the General braced for death, one of his men shouted in panic.

  "WAIT! PLEASE! SPARE HIM! He's on an isnd! AN ISLAND!!"

  The figure loosened his grip on the General’s throat and slowly turoward the man who had spoken.

  "Speak."

  "T-The truth is... we don’t kly where he is because it’s so secretive, but—b-but there’s a base on a hidden isnd near Hawaii. I swear, that’s all we know! That’s all we tell you!"

  The man dropped to his knees, l his head. The others in the base followed, their will to fight pletely shattered.

  "P-Please, let him go... We swear, we’ll never work for this family again. We promise—no, we absolutely promise—we’ll leave and never speak a word of this." His voice trembled with siy, his desperation evident.

  The figure observed them for a long, silent moment before finally releasing the General.

  The General colpsed onto the ground, gasping and coughing, his throat raw from the crushing grip.

  Then, the figure turo face the kneeling men.

  "Do you son this?"

  "Y-Yes... We… we give up," one of them stammered. "You’ve already killed enough of us... We will never get in your way again. I swear it—upon my soul, and upon everyone here."

  The figure nodded and stepped forward. Even as he moved past them, the men remained frozen in pce, paralyzed by dread.

  "Leave. Now."

  Without hesitation, they obeyed. Two of them quickly grabbed the General, helping him to his feet and dragging him away.

  Then—

  "Wait."

  Everyone froze in pce.

  One of the men swallowed hard before stammering, "Y-Yes? W-What is it?"

  "Tell me the password for the puters here."

  A high-ranking officer frantically pulled a card from his pocket—an access key for bypassing security. With trembling hands, he stepped forward and ha over.

  The figure took it without a word.

  "Thank you. Now leave."

  The men wasted no time. They turned and rushed out of the mansion, vanishing into the night.

  The figure didn’t watch them go. Instead, he asded the stairs and found a rge puter terminal. Sliding the card through the reader, the security systems unlocked.

  With precise movements, he typed in a and. Within seds, an image of a base appeared on the s, along with coordinates.

  His destination.

  The figure muttered under his breath.

  "Oep closer to finding you... son."

  But what he didn’t know—

  A ghostly presened behind him.

  A woman, translut ahereal, hovered in the air. Her long, bck-blue twin-tailed hair(dark enough to be mistaken as a pure bck, but when looking at it very closely theres a faint dark blue color there) cascaded over her shoulders. Her golden eyes gleamed beh the veil draped over her head. She wore a dark blue dress, her form radiating an otherworldly beauty.

  She watched him with a soft, tender smile. A gaze filled with quiet admiration.

  "Yetting closer and closer... dear."

  He didn’t hear her. Couldn’t hear her.

  The figure snapped a picture of the coordinates on the s and turo leave the mansion.

  The ghostly woman lingered behind, watg him go.

  "It’s frustrating that I only unicate with you through dreams… but oh well."

  A chuckle.

  "I’m getting stronger and stronger. So please… be patient… husband."

  Hello Everyone.

  If you're reading this, thehis is aory I’m w on. I had this idea in my head alongside A New Life, A New Insecurity, so I decided to start writing this one as well. This ory will be written alongside my other one.

  Once again, I hope you enjoy it.

  I’m still a new writer, so please feel free to provide any corres or criticism-I want to improve my grammar, writing, and w. If I show any insisten uploading chapters, it’s mostly because I’m busy studying for exams or w on te-night homework(same reason as my other story).

  This is my sed story, so it might not be great-just a heads-up. But despite that, I truly appreciate your patience, and I hope you enjoy reading. Once again, thank you for readin this story.