Chapter 1: Visitor

When Zayne first appeared, Georgie thought he had seen the Grim Reaper.

He and his mother cowered in a corner with no means of escaping, pursued relentlessly by a monster. Letting out a terrifyingly roar, the creature approached them.

It wore human clothing and bore a human-like visage, but its veiny skin grotesquely bulged. Its pupils glowed a sinister, unnatural blue; its aura was anything but human.

Suddenly, his mother pushed Georgie away. With all her might, she embraced the monster. And from beneath its skin, strange tendrils burst forth, resembling eerie blue hooks. They embedded themselves into her.

Through the tears blurring his vision, Georgie saw a black figure enter the alley.

Just as clouds parted, cold moonlight illuminated the person's black coat. He drew closer, his face expressionless. A sharp dagger in human from.

"Help!"

A child's voice, young and shaky, cut abruptly through the dark, narrow alley.

The monster released the hooks in Georgie's mother and whirled around to pounce on the figure. A garbled roar resounded. A starved beast has spotted easy prey.

The man took off the black leather glove on his right hand. Georgie caught only a glimpse of a thin beam of light shinning between the man's fingers. It was shaped like a shard of ice. In the blink of an eye, it hurled itself toward the monster, piercing its heart.

Frozen and nailed in place by an invisible Force, the monster gazed down at its impaled chest, gasping for air.

The man walked toward it. With each step, the tendrils on the monster's body fractured bit by bit.

When he reached the creature, it collapsed. Its body convulsed a few times before becoming motionless. He bent down to inspect its corpse, then slipped his leather glove back on.

The monster dissipated like mist, leaving behind only dark blue fragments.

"Are you... the Grim Reaper?" Georgie asked.

The man's gaze lingered on the mother and son. His crystalline pupils gleaned with an inorganic luster under the moonlight.

He didn't respond and turned to leave. The clouds once again hid the moon, and his shadow swiftly merged with the darkness of the alley.

**********

The second time Georgie encounters Zayne, it's at a convenience store. One month has passed since then.

Actually, Georgie has observed him for several days. Zayne lives in an apartment nearby. His outings are unpredictable, and whenever Georgie tries to follow him to see where he goes, he always ends up losing sight of him.

The onlu place Zayne consistently visits is this convenience store. He always pick up a box of chocolates placed at the front of the shelf and proceeds to checkout, seemingly indifferent to the kind of chocolate.

Georgie finally musters the courage to approach Zayne just after he finishes paying.

"Hello, we've met before. I'm Georgie. I know you come here every day to buy chocolate. This is imported chocolate. Here."

The eleven-years-old boy, noticeably smaller and frailer than other children, lifts a large glass jar he's holding. Inside it are exquisitely wrapped chocolates in colorful foil wrappers.

Looking up at the man towering over him, the boy asks, "Could you... help me find the person who killed my mom?"

Zayne stares at the young boy, his expression unreadable. After a moment, in a voice as cold as ice, he replies, "That is something you should ask the police about."