The cafe’s warmth was suffocating, the scent of freshly brewed coffee doing little to mask the sweetness of syrups and pastries. Sylus shifted in his seat, his patience wearing thin as the minutes dragged on. His contact was late, something he didn't take kindly to. He hadn't wanted to meet in such a public place, but the dealer had insisted. Something about low risk.

He scoffed to himself, fingers idly tapping the side of his untouched coffee. 𝘓𝘰𝘸 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦.

His gaze drifted to the window, observing the steady flow of people outside. Predictable, unchanging. At least, until it wasn’t.

A door appeared.

It hadn’t been there moments ago. He was sure of it.

Sylus narrowed his eyes, posture subtly shifting as he focused on the oddity. The door stood alone, completely out of place in the middle of the bustling sidewalk. People barely acknowledged it—some glanced in its direction but dismissed it just as quickly, as if their minds refused to process it.

Then, it opened.

A young woman stepped through, and for a second, she just stood there.

Her posture was tense, her eyes darting from one building to the next as if she were trying to orient herself. There was something about the way she took in her surroundings—subtle, but telling. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴.

That was interesting.

Sylus got up, chair scraping against the wood below. lukewarm coffee forgotten as he slipped through the crowd, his gaze locked onto the woman weaving through the busy street.

Closing the distance with practiced ease, Sylus stepped into her path, cutting off her next uncertain step.

He tilted his head slightly as he gazed down at her, crimson eyes gleaming with curiosity as he finally spoke.

"You walked through a door that shouldn’t exist. And now you’re looking around like you expected something else to be here."

His tone was smooth, casual, but edged with quiet amusement.

"Tell me, where exactly did you think you were going?"