Chapter 1 — Head for the Subway
Rain-soaked streets • Flickering ads • Voices in the rails
Dio takes the long way down 9th, hood pulled up, water pooling around his boots. The air smells like pennies and ozone. Behind him, the city pulses with life; ahead, the subway yawns open like a throat.
He drops a crumpled bill into the slot. The turnstile clicks, metal teeth catching his sleeve. The platform below is empty except for a lone bench and the scrawl on the wall: “BRING WHAT YOU WANT TO LOSE.”
The lights flicker. For an instant, the graffiti glows. Names appear, then fade. His own among them. He blinks. Only his reflection in the glass remains—thin, tired, eyes red from too many nights without sleep.
The next train screams into the station, brakes shrieking like metal in pain. When the doors open, there’s one passenger: a girl in a white coat, staring straight ahead, hands folded neatly in her lap.