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“Elizabeth, did you forget to take your medicine again? Is your memory acting up?”
Elizabeth froze at my words. For a moment, her face was blank, like she was struggling to process what I’d said. Then, all at once, her expression cleared, and she nodded quickly as if a lightbulb had gone off.
“Oh! Oh, that’s right! I forgot to take it. Thank you, Michael, for reminding me!”
I glanced at Michael. He looked as composed as ever, the same calm, steady presence he always was. When he noticed me staring, he smiled faintly, tilting his head slightly.
“Something wrong?” he asked. “Let’s go.”
But his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.
I shook my head, brushing past him. My chest tightened with unease as I strode forward
and blocked Elizabeth’s path.
“Elizabeth,” I said, my tone sharper now, “where’s your son?”
Her eyes flickered, but there was no recognition in them. She stared at me blankly, her
voice flat and hollow.
“Ms. Handsome? Is that you? You’re here!”
I clenched my fists. “Elizabeth, why are you here today? What are you doing?”
“Ms. Handsome, you’re finally here!” she replied, her smile widening. “Elizabeth’s been
waiting for you for so long!”
“Waiting for me? Waiting for what?”
“Ms. Handsome? You’re here!”
She was stuck. Her words looped back on themselves, repeating like a malfunctioning tape recorder.
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I didn’t need to hear more. The answer was already clear.
I turned back to Michael. He was still smiling, but now there was something fragile in his expression–a crack in the carefully constructed mask he always wore.
“Is there something you want to tell me?” I asked, my voice low..
His smile faltered. For a moment, he looked almost… broken.
“Why?” he whispered. “Why did you have to ruin it?”
I stared at him, taken aback.
“You said you wanted to stay with us forever,” he said, his voice trembling, barely holding itself together. “Didn’t you?”
“You told us you had no family, no friends, no one to rely on. You said meeting us was the happiest thing that ever happened to you.”
His voice cracked, and I noticed the faint tendrils of black mist curling around his feet, swirling and twisting like living shadows.
“And now, we’re here. We came to be with you. Isn’t this what you wanted? Aren’t you happy?”
The mist around him grew darker and thicker as his voice dropped to a whisper.
“So why? Why do you have to keep digging? Why can’t you just leave it alone?”
His words cut deep, but I stood firm. Taking a step forward, I reached out a hand to him, my instinct to comfort him overpowering my fear.
But he flinched, stepping back as the mist surged higher, curling protectively around him.
“Don’t come any closer,” he said hoarsely. “Not like this. You’ll… you’ll be scared of me.”
I didn’t stop moving.
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One step. Another. My hand reached through the heavy fog, brushing against his
trembling arm.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said gently, my voice steady and unwavering. “You’re my friend,
Michael. You always have been.””
“No matter what you look like, it won’t change that. But I need to know the truth.”
His shoulders sagged, his head lowering. Slowly, he pressed his forehead against my hand. A single tear slid down his cheek, landing in my palm. It burned, hot as fire.
“You don’t understand,” he whispered.
“I do,” I said softly. “And I have the right to know. The truth, Michael. Friends don’t keep
secrets from each other.”
He raised his head, his gaze locking onto mine. His eyes were blood–red, raw, and piercing, glowing with an intensity that made me shiver.
The cracks on his face deepened, black veins spidering across his skin, glowing faintly as the mist churned violently around him. He looked like something out of a nightmare–a
demon on the edge of falling apart.
But I didn’t look away.
I reached up, my hand brushing against his cheek. “Don’t be afraid,” I said softly. “Just tell
- me.
His scream split the air, sharp and guttural, filled with pain and something far deeper-
something primal.
The black mist exploded outward, twisting and coiling like living snakes. It wrapped itself around me, pulling me into its suffocating embrace.
“Fine,” he growled, his voice distorted, no longer entirely human. “You want the truth?
Then see it.”
The mist surged, lifting me off the ground. The world blurred, and for a moment, I felt
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The mist surged, lifting me off the ground. The world blurred, and for a moment, I felt weightless, suspended in the void as the wind howled past my ears.
Then I saw it.
Below us, the world stretched out in horrifying detail.
Blood. Blood everywhere.
Bodies lay scattered across the streets, limbs twisted and broken. Some were barely recognizable as humans.
People cowered inside their homes, trembling as they clung to each other. Soldiers stood in formation, their weapons drawn, their faces grim with desperation.
And across from them loomed the monsters–grotesque, twisted creatures that barely resembled anything human.
The scene was chaos. Carnage.
“This,” Michael’s voice echoed through the void, cold and hollow, “this is the truth.”
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