WANTED by the GODDESS

r began like any other - quiet, empty, and l

cycle. Elion lay sprawled on his old mattress, wrapped in the tangled sheets of a bed that felt more like a prison than a

ion

ty. It wasn't a name he heard often - not from anyone who mattered. Yet in the

oonlit field. The grass shimmered like silver, swaying to an unseen rhythm. Above, t

ere sh

Her hair moved like waves in a breeze that didn't exist. Her eyes, glowing pools of

ak again. She

e. His body belonged to her now, and de

ked open, and warmth - no, power - flooded into Elion's chest like molten light. He gasped as s

ike that,

ock on his wall blinked 4:07 a.m. in broken red digits. Rain was still falling outside,

half-empty bottle of water beside his lamp. Hi

t where he had felt t

a glowing mark. It shimmered brie

the he

. No glow, no scar, no mark. Just the same tired, hollow-eyed young man who had been scrapi

he muttered. "Just a dre

ye

it up with a notification. His bank app w

: $9,84

art sk

bed his eyes. R

l th

ount last night. That amount could'

otificatio

2,500.00 – Transfer f

t the screen,

n bene

iness partners, no sponsors. The only woman remotely interested in him w

is...

n't be. It m

t returned. That same feeling f

ion

backing away as thou

ed. A chill snake

as in his

not so

eth

room. Nothing. No shadows where th

ent - a heartbeat, no more - her face appeared behind his. T

n she w

ream, but no sound came. He grabbed his coat, his

reath ragged, clothes soaked. The streets were silent at that hour, jus

going

he been

job suddenly didn't feel so necessary anymore. He stared at the numbers in his accou

fee girl gave him a free drink. His b

n his chest kept reappearing

darkness of his room, his win

again. Watch

gave in to sleep,

as waitin