Detective Raine

Detective Elias Raine was no stranger to the stories that clung to the city like mist, but he didn’t have patience for legends. He preferred facts, evidence, things he could touch and see. Yet, the latest reports of "the Shadowed One" caught his attention. Rumors of a vigilante operating in the city’s darkest alleys had surfaced for weeks, and while Raine usually dismissed such stories, the latest incident was different.

Three seasoned thugs members of one of the city's most notorious gangs had been taken down in a single, untraceable encounter. No camera footage, no witnesses willing to talk, only the victims themselves, battered and bruised. Each had muttered the same words: “A man in shadows… with eyes that glowed like the sea.”

Raine leaned back in his chair, studying the photos of the alley, the statements he had taken, and a hastily sketched description of the figure. He frowned. No one in the criminal underworld had this kind of skill, and if they did, they wouldn’t waste it protecting people in forgotten alleys.

The detective stood up, grabbing his coat and his flashlight. He knew exactly where he needed to go.

The rain had stopped by the time Raine arrived in the area of the attack, but the ground was still slick, reflecting the dull orange glow of the streetlights. He moved through the narrow, twisting alleys with a quiet familiarity, his footsteps muffled by the wet ground. After years on the force, he knew the city’s shadowed corners all too well. But tonight, an unsettling silence hung in the air, as if the city itself were holding its breath.

Raine reached the spot where the incident had happened and stood still, his eyes scanning the darkness. It was quiet—too quiet. A few heartbeats passed, and then he felt it: a presence, like eyes watching from somewhere unseen.

“Whoever you are,” he called out into the dark, “I know you’re there.”

At first, nothing happened. Then, as if peeling away from the shadows themselves, a figure emerged a short distance away. Raine squinted, adjusting to the figure’s outline, shrouded in a dark cloak that seemed to drink in the light around him. The faintest glint of aqua eyes flickered beneath the hood.

“Detective Raine,” the man’s voice came soft but strong, and Raine’s skin prickled at the sound. How did this stranger know his name?

“You’re the Shadowed One, aren’t you?” Raine’s voice was steady, but his grip on his flashlight tightened. He hadn’t been sure what he expected, but the figure standing before him felt far more real—and far more dangerous—than any ghost story.

A silence passed. The Shadowed One studied him, his eyes catching Raine’s with an intensity that seemed to strip away every layer of pretense.

“I am what I need to be,” the man replied cryptically. “And you’re a man who follows only what he sees.” A faint smile played at the edges of his mouth, almost as if in challenge. “But not everything you see can be understood, detective.”

“Is that a threat?” Raine asked, his voice low.

“Think of it as a warning,” the Shadowed One answered, his voice shifting to a softer tone. “There are things happening in this city—things in the shadows that you cannot begin to understand. But I am not your enemy. Not unless you make me one.”

And with that, he turned, stepping back into the darkness, his figure blurring with the shadows until he disappeared entirely, leaving Raine alone in the empty alley. Only the faintest echo of his words lingered in the air.

Raine stood there for a long moment, questions buzzing through his mind. Who was this man? How did he know so much? And more importantly, what was he protecting the city from?

As Raine finally turned to leave, he knew one thing: he wasn’t going to let this go. Not until he uncovered the truth about the Shadowed One, even if it meant stepping into the shadows himself.

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***