Edward remained still, the spreading wetness beneath the bandage a black pulse throbbing in counterpoint to the ill rhythm inside him. The silence of the house was no longer quiet, but a cage, closing down with every breath. Shadows danced at the edge of his vision — until they coalesced into the form he both dreaded and required.
The Shadow Man occupied the chair in front of him with the deliberate assurance of an oncoming storm. His charcoal-gray suit was impeccable, shoulders loose, but those silver eyes—too bright, too knowledgeable—had a predator's tranquility.
"You sense it once more, don't you?" the Shadow Man said, voice smooth but cold. "That vibration beneath your flesh. The way your heart runs a different beat."
Edward's hands clenched around the table, gouging wood with nails. Stop. Stop this. I don't want to hear this.
"What do you mean… different?" Edward asked, his voice strained.
The Shadow Man shifted forward, eyes glinting brightly in the darkness. "Your blood isn't like anyone else's. There are mutations — rare, subtle ones concealed way down deep in your cells. Mutations that make you immune to some of the things the virus usually attacks. Think of it as a hidden fault line in your biology."
Edward swallowed hard, fighting to keep down the rising panic. Fault line. Mutation. Just fancy words for broken.
"So that's why nothing showed up on the scans," Edward growled. "Why Kyle's tests were negative. Why."
"Exactly," the Shadow Man said. "Your blood shields you in ways you can't even comprehend. That's why you survived long enough to become. this."
"'This'?" Edward echoed, eyes narrowing.
The Shadow Man's grin was a thin, cruel one. "The walking contradiction. Neither completely infected, nor truly free. We exist in a precarious relationship — symbiotic, if you choose to describe it as such."
Edward's brain screamed, Symbiotic? You're a parasite, a leech!
"I did not agree to this," Edward stated, his voice low and steady.
"No one did," the Shadow Man replied. "But it is what maintains us living. I keep the virus at bay, prevent it from possessing you completely. And your particular blood keeps me grounded here — evading, growing, waiting."
Edward's heart thrashed miserably in his ears. So I'm the cage. And you're the darkness inside.
You said you kept me alive," Edward's voice cracked. "What does that even mean? Why don't I feel alive?"
"Because living and surviving are not the same." The Shadow Man's eyes glinted with something like regret—or was it hunger? "You're limping along on borrowed time. Your body is fighting constantly below the surface, and I am the uneasy compromise."
Edward shook his head, his anger rising up like acid. "I don't want your help.".
The Shadow Man's smile increased. "No one wants this. But you don't get to decide anymore. Not really."
Edward's jaw clenched. "What happens when Kyle finds out?"
"That's the problem, isn't it?" The Shadow Man's voice fell to a cold whisper. "If he does find out, balance is shattered. You lose control. I lose my disguise. Both of us die."
Edward's eyes flashed. "Then I'll prevent him. I won't let you take over."
The Shadow Man chuckled, a dry creaking noise like dry leaves on stone. "You're stronger than the others. I'll admit it. But strength is not enough. This is not a battle you can win by will or brawn alone."
Edward's chest tightened. Then how do I fight?
We're bound by blood," the Shadow Man said softly, "but that is a weak bond. You don't realize how much you can do with your mutation. The virus respects that. Fears it. But it also hungers for change."
Edward swallowed convulsively. "Change? What kind of change?
The Shadow Man stood tall, unyielding height and stance, eyes blazing brighter now. "Renovations. You're going to be altered — your blood reprogrammed, your body remolded, your mind stretched to new possibilities."
Edward's heart racing. "No. I won't let you."
"Denial won't stop it," the Shadow Man said, his voice low and insistent. "Your body can't hold out much longer. This 'partnership' only continues if you alter."
Edward's hands trembled, but his voice didn't. "Then we negotiate."
The Shadow Man stopped short—surprise glinting in his silver eyes.
"Negotiate?" He repeated, amusement seeping into his tone. "You believe you have leverage?
Edward stood that gaze unblinking. "I have something you don't. A mind that won't give in. A bloodline that will not submit to your reinterpretation. You desire me to take in renovations? You desire to edit me? Then it will be on my terms. Not yours."
The Shadow Man studied him quietly, as if measuring a new variable. "Very well. But remember this, Edward—refusing means decay. Weakness. Death. I'm offering a chance at survival, not peace."
Edward swallowed, feeling the cold truth settle over him. "Then it's a chance I'll fight for."
The Shadow Man's smile thinned into a grim line. "Good. Because this is far from over."
And with that, the man vanished into the shadows, leaving Edward shaken—but not broken—alone with the growing stain on his bandage and the battle ahead.