Rain hammered against the windows of Blackridge City like restless fingers trying to get inside.

Lira Vale sat curled beneath the glow of her desk lamp, one knee pulled tightly to her chest while unfinished homework lay scattered across the floor around her. Thunder rolled through the apartment walls, low and distant, shaking the glass slightly.

The storm had been raging for hours.

Usually she liked storms.

Tonight felt different.

The lights flickered again overhead.

Lira looked up from her notebook with a sigh.

“Seriously?”

The lamp dimmed for a second before stabilizing again. Shadows stretched across her bedroom walls, thin and distorted beneath the weak yellow light.

Outside, rainwater raced down the window beside her bed in silver streaks. Beyond the glass, the city looked almost drowned in darkness.

Another crack of thunder echoed through the sky.

Lira rubbed tiredly at her eyes.

The digital clock beside her bed read:

12:47 AM.

Too late to still be awake.

But sleep felt impossible tonight.

An uncomfortable feeling had followed her all evening — the strange sensation of being watched.

Not by a person.

Something else.

Something patient.

She tried ignoring it.

Tried focusing on schoolwork.

But every few minutes her attention drifted toward the mirror hanging beside her closet.

It wasn’t even a special mirror.

Just old. Tall. Slightly cracked in one corner.

Yet all night she kept feeling like someone was standing inside it.

Lira shook her head at herself.

“You need sleep.”

Thunder growled again.

The lights flickered harder this time.

Once.

Twice.

Then darkness swallowed the room completely.

Lira froze.

The apartment fell silent except for the storm outside.

“Great,” she muttered under her breath.

She reached toward her desk blindly, searching for her phone flashlight.

Then lightning flashed beyond the window.

For one brief second, white light flooded the room.

And Lira saw someone standing inside the mirror.

She gasped sharply and jerked backward in her chair.

Darkness returned immediately.

Her pulse slammed painfully against her ribs.

“No…”

Another flash of lightning illuminated the room.

The mirror stood empty.

Only her reflection stared back now.

Messy black curls. Oversized hoodie. Wide gray eyes filled with panic.

Lira let out a nervous breath.

“You’re imagining things.”

The power suddenly returned.

The desk lamp buzzed back to life overhead.

Warm yellow light spilled across the room once more.

Everything looked normal again.

Still, Lira stood slowly from the chair and approached the mirror cautiously.

The wooden floor creaked softly beneath her feet.

Her reflection copied every movement perfectly.

Normal.

See?

Nothing there.

Lira laughed weakly at herself.

“I’ve officially lost it.”

She reached up to touch the crack running through the corner of the mirror.

Cold.

Too cold.

A chill crawled slowly up her arm.

Then—

Her reflection blinked.

Lira didn’t.

The smile vanished from her face instantly.

Inside the mirror, the other version of her stared back silently.

Its expression slowly changed.

A smile stretched across its lips.

Wide.

Unnatural.

Wrong.

Lira stumbled backward violently.

The reflection stayed still.

Watching her.

Fear flooded her chest so fast it hurt to breathe.

“No…”

The thing inside the mirror tilted its head sharply to one side.

A cracking sound echoed softly from inside the glass.

Then it raised one hand.

Pressed it flat against the mirror’s surface.

Black ripples spread outward beneath its fingers like oil moving through water.

Lira couldn’t move.

Every muscle in her body locked.

The reflection leaned closer.

Its gray eyes darkened completely until nothing remained except endless blackness.

Then it whispered her name.

“Lira.”

The voice sounded layered.

Hundreds of whispers speaking at once.

The desk lamp exploded.

Glass shattered across the room.

Lira screamed and fell backward onto the floor as darkness swallowed the bedroom again.

Thunder crashed violently outside.

Her breathing turned ragged.

For several seconds she stayed frozen on the ground, staring blindly into the darkness.

Nothing moved.

Nothing spoke.

Only rain.

Slowly, trembling uncontrollably, she looked back toward the mirror.

Lightning flashed again.

The mirror looked normal.

Empty.

But something black moved across the floor beneath it.

Lira’s breath caught.

A shadow stretched unnaturally away from the mirror toward the center of the room.

Not connected to anything.

It moved slowly like liquid darkness sliding across the floorboards.

Lira scrambled backward immediately until her shoulders slammed against the bed.

The shadow stopped.

Then slowly—

it turned toward her.

Fear clawed up her throat.

The room suddenly felt freezing cold.

Another flash of lightning illuminated the bedroom.

For the briefest second, Lira saw a tall figure standing inside the mirror behind her reflection.

Watching.

Waiting.

Then darkness swallowed it again.

The shadow on the floor began crawling toward her.

Lira grabbed the nearest thing she could reach — a book — and threw it blindly across the room.

The object slammed against the mirror loudly.

The shadow vanished instantly.

Silence crashed through the bedroom.

Lira stared at the mirror with wide terrified eyes.

Nothing moved anymore.

The room became still again.

Too still.

Slowly, shakily, she forced herself to stand.

Every instinct screamed at her not to get closer.

But she couldn’t stop staring at the mirror.

At her own reflection.

Waiting for it to move again.

It didn’t.

The power flickered weakly overhead.

Lira grabbed a blanket from her bed and wrapped it tightly around herself before sinking slowly onto the mattress.

She wasn’t sleeping tonight.

No chance.

Outside, the storm continued swallowing the city in darkness.

And every time lightning flashed beyond the window—

Lira swore the reflection inside the mirror smiled a second too late.

The rain began just after midnight.

Not ordinary rain.

Black rain.

Thin streaks of darkness slid down the windows of Vale House like spilled ink, staining the glass without leaving a trace. Thunder rolled across the city in slow, hollow waves, and every light in Lira’s room flickered at once.

She sat upright in bed.

Breathing hard.

The nightmare still clung to her skin.

The throne.

The broken moon.

The voice whispering her name from somewhere beneath the world.

Shadowbound.

Lira pressed trembling fingers against the glowing marks on her wrist. The silver veins beneath her skin faded slowly, but not completely.

They were growing brighter every night.

A soft knock sounded at her bedroom door.

“Lira?” her aunt called gently. “You awake?”

Lira quickly pulled her sleeve down.

“Yeah.”

The door opened, revealing Aunt Selene wrapped in a long gray cardigan, dark curls tied loosely over one shoulder. She looked exhausted.

Worried.

“You screamed again,” Selene said quietly.

Lira forced a smile. “Bad dream.”

“That makes five this week.”

“I’m fine.”

Selene didn’t answer immediately. Her gaze drifted toward the window where the black rain crawled down the glass.

For the first time, fear crossed her face.

“Stay inside tomorrow,” she whispered.

Lira frowned. “What?”

“Just… stay home from the academy.”

“That’s not like you.”

“I know.”

The lights flickered again.

This time the room went completely dark for three seconds.

In those three seconds—

Lira saw someone standing outside her window.

Tall.

Still.

Watching her from the rain.

Then the lights returned.

Nothing was there.

Her breath caught.

Selene noticed immediately. “What happened?”

“Someone was outside.”

Selene crossed the room fast and pulled the curtains shut.

Too fast.

Like she already expected something to be there.

“Lock your door tonight,” she said.

“Aunt Selene—”

“Promise me.”

Lira stared at her.

“…I promise.”

Selene nodded once before leaving the room.

But as the door closed, Lira heard her whisper something under her breath.

A prayer.

Or maybe a warning.

The next morning, the city felt wrong.

No birds.

No traffic.

Even the air seemed heavier.

Students filled the halls of Noctis Academy speaking in nervous whispers while teachers avoided eye contact altogether.

Three students had disappeared overnight.

No explanation.

No bodies.

Just empty bedrooms and shattered mirrors.

Lira gripped the strap of her bag tighter as she walked through the crowded corridor.

Something cold brushed past her shoulder.

She turned sharply—

And froze.

A boy stood at the end of the hallway.

Tall.

Dark clothes.

Messy black hair falling over unreadable eyes.

Everyone around him unconsciously kept their distance.

Not because they noticed.

Because something inside them feared him.

Lira’s breath stopped.

No shadow stretched beneath his feet.

None.

The overhead lights touched everyone else normally—

—but around him, the floor remained empty.

Like darkness itself refused to claim him.

The boy slowly lifted his gaze toward her.

And the moment their eyes met—

Pain exploded through Lira’s wrist.

She gasped.

The silver marks beneath her skin ignited violently.

Students nearby turned in alarm.

“What’s wrong with her?”

“Her arm—”

The boy’s expression changed for the first time.

Recognition.

Not surprise.

Recognition.

As though he already knew her.

Then suddenly—

Every light in the hallway shattered.

Glass rained from the ceiling.

Students screamed.

Darkness flooded the corridor in a violent wave, swallowing the walls whole.

And from inside that darkness—

Something moved.

Tall.

Twisted.

Not human.

A creature crawled from the shadows with far too many limbs and a hollow white face split open into a grin.

The Hollow had arrived.

Students panicked instantly.

Some ran.

Some froze.

The creature lunged straight toward Lira.

Too fast.

Too close.

She couldn’t move—

Then black flames erupted across the hallway.

The creature slammed into the wall with a shriek.

The boy stood between Lira and the monster now.

Expression cold.

Eyes glowing faint silver.

Shadows spiraled violently around his hands.

The Hollow hissed at him—

And stepped back.

Afraid.

Impossible.

Lira stared in shock.

The boy tilted his head slightly, gaze never leaving the creature.

Then he spoke for the first time.

Low.

Calm.

Dangerous.

“She found me sooner than expected.”

The Hollow screamed and launched again—

But the boy raised one hand.

The shadows obeyed instantly.

Darkness tore through the hallway like a living blade.

And the creature vanished.

Silence crashed down afterward.

Smoke drifted through broken lights.

Students stared in horror.

Nobody understood what they had just seen.

Except Lira.

Because deep inside—

The voice from her dreams whispered again.

The shadowless prince has awakened.

Smoke curled through the ruined hallway.

The emergency alarms screamed overhead, red lights flashing across shattered glass and terrified faces.

Nobody moved.

Nobody breathed.

The boy stood in the center of the destruction like he belonged there.

Black shadows twisted slowly around his feet before dissolving into nothing.

Then—

He looked directly at Lira.

Not at the crowd.

Not at the teachers rushing toward the scene.

Only her.

Those cold silver eyes held something dangerous.

Something ancient.

Lira’s pulse hammered painfully against her ribs.

The glowing marks beneath her sleeve burned hotter.

The boy noticed.

Of course he noticed.

For one brief second, his unreadable expression cracked—

Concern.

Then it vanished.

A teacher finally found her voice.

“What… what was that thing?!”

No answer came.

Students began shouting over each other.

“Did you see its face?!”

“That monster came from the shadows!”

“Who is he?!”

“The lights exploded!”

Fear spread fast.

And fear always needed someone to blame.

Every eye slowly turned toward the boy.

He didn’t react.

Didn’t defend himself.

Didn’t even blink.

The air around him felt unnaturally cold.

Then Principal Veridan appeared.

The hallway instantly fell silent.

Tall and severe, dressed in a charcoal coat lined with silver thread, the academy principal moved through the crowd with unsettling calm.

His sharp gaze landed on the destruction.

Then on the boy.

For the first time—

The principal looked disturbed.

“…Raven Hale,” he said quietly.

Whispers erupted immediately.

“That’s Raven?”

“The transfer student?”

“I heard he got expelled from Blackthorn Academy—”

“They say people disappear around him—”

Raven ignored them all.

Principal Veridan stepped closer. “My office.

Now.”

Raven finally spoke.

“No.”

The single word silenced the hallway again.

Lira felt her stomach tighten.

Nobody spoke to Veridan that way.

But the principal only narrowed his eyes.

“The Hollow crossed the barrier,” Veridan said coldly. “That should be impossible.”

Raven’s expression darkened slightly.

“Nothing is impossible anymore.”

A strange silence followed those words.

Like everyone sensed something terrible hiding beneath them.

Then Raven turned—

And started walking away.

Students immediately moved aside for him.

Not willingly.

Instinctively.

Like prey making room for a predator.

As he passed Lira, the shadows near her feet trembled.

He stopped beside her.

Close enough for her to feel the freezing air surrounding him.

Close enough to hear his breathing.

The hallway seemed to disappear around them.

“You should leave this academy,” Raven said softly.

Lira swallowed hard. “Why?”

His silver eyes met hers again.

And for the first time—

She saw exhaustion in them.

Not cruelty.

Not arrogance.

Just someone carrying too much darkness alone.

“Because,” he whispered, “they’ll kill you when they learn what you are.”

Lira’s blood turned cold.

Before she could speak again—

Raven walked away.

The crowd parted silently as shadows curled behind him like living smoke.

And the moment he disappeared down the stairwell—

The burning marks on Lira’s wrist flared violently.

Images crashed into her mind.

A broken throne.

A city drowning in darkness.

Silver chains wrapped around the moon.

And Raven—

Standing beside her beneath a black sky covered in ash.

Blood stained his hands.

His expression shattered.

As if he had already lost her once before.

Lira gasped and stumbled backward.

Someone caught her arm.

“Lira!”

Ash steadied her before she could fall.

His dark brown hair was slightly messy, leather jacket half-zipped like he’d rushed there the second alarms started ringing. Unlike everyone else staring at Raven in fear, Ash’s attention stayed completely on her.

“You look terrible,” he said. “What happened?”

Lira tried to answer.

But the vision still echoed inside her head.

Especially one sentence.

One horrible sentence.

A voice had whispered it directly into her soul.

The Hollow Prince will either save the world…

…or destroy it.