The Night Reborn

The streets had never been kind to Isabelle Evermore. At fifteen, she had already lived a lifetime of struggle—a mother lost to crack, a father drowning in alcohol, and a world that didn’t care whether she lived or died. She learned to survive alone, slipping between the cracks, sleeping where she could, stealing when necessary.

But that night changed everything.

It started with a scream—her own.

Three men had grabbed her, hands rough, laughter cruel. She fought, but she was just a girl, and they were stronger, meaner. The filth of the alley pressed in around her, choking her.

Then, like a shadow pulled from the night itself, he came.

Marcus.

He didn’t hesitate. He moved like a phantom—swift, brutal, efficient. The men never stood a chance. A bone snapped. A scream cut short. A body hit the ground.

But Marcus wasn’t unscathed. A blade slashed deep into his side, crimson staining the dark fabric of his suit. Isabelle barely had time to process what was happening before he grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the night.

She didn’t ask where they were going—she just ran.

He led her through the maze of the city, slipping into the shadows like a ghost until they reached an abandoned warehouse.

Then, he collapsed.

At first, she thought he was just catching his breath, but then she saw the blood pooling beneath him. Too much blood. His breathing was ragged, then still.

Then gone.

She had seen death before. She knew what it looked like. She pressed trembling fingers to his neck—no pulse.

The man who had saved her life was dead.

And for the first time in years, she let herself cry.

She sat beside him for hours, the weight of the night settling in. She whispered “thank you” to the stranger who had fought for her, who had died for her.

Then, he gasped.

She screamed as his body convulsed—as if breath was being forced back into his lungs. His wounds, the ones that had killed him, were still there but closing, sealing themselves as if time had reversed.

His eyes opened, calm, knowing.

She scrambled back in terror. “What are you?”

Marcus sat up slowly, pressing a hand to his no-longer-fatal wound. He looked at her with something between curiosity and regret. No mortal had ever known his secret and lived.

But Isabelle wasn’t just anyone.

She was a child. Alone. Afraid. And now, his responsibility.

That night, everything changed.

Marcus didn’t just let her go. He raised her. Protected her. Educated her. Gave her the tools to become something more than just another lost soul on the streets.

Now, thirty-three years later, Isabelle Evermore stands at the helm of Evermore Technologies—one of the world’s most powerful tech firms. A visionary, an innovator, a woman reborn an has built an empire out of the ashes of a broken past.

But to this day, when she looks at Marcus, she doesn’t just see a mentor or a friend.

She sees the man who died to save her.

And came back.