The walk home felt longer than it should have.
Every shadow beneath the trees stretched too far, and every rustle in the bushes made Kai flinch. He had told Noah he just needed rest—that what he'd seen was nothing more than sleep deprivation.
He didn't believe that himself.
The street was quieter than usual, empty in a way that felt unnatural. No passing cars. No distant laughter. Just the sound of his footsteps echoing faintly against the pavement.
Kai shoved his hands deep into his pockets, head lowered, eyes fixed on the ground as if looking up might reveal something waiting for him.
Something watching.
---
By the time he slipped back through his bedroom window, the sun was already sinking low. The house smelled of simmering tomato sauce. From downstairs came familiar sounds—the tap of a wooden spoon against a pot, the soft clink of glass against the counter.
Normal sounds.
Safe sounds.
He hated how uncertain they felt now.
Kai checked his bedroom door to make sure it was still locked and that no one had noticed he'd left. He leaned against it, letting his head fall back.
His pulse still raced.
The orange sky from the vision replayed behind his eyelids—thin and wrong, like a photograph left too long in the sun. Dark shapes spiraling upward. The silence after Noah vanished.
He pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes until colors burst in the darkness.
"What's happening to me…?" he whispered.
Needing something real, something grounding, he grabbed a towel and headed for the shower.
Cold water slammed against his skin, stealing the air from his lungs. He stayed there longer than necessary, hoping the feeling would wash away.
It didn't.
---
A soft knock came a few minutes after he dressed.
"Kai? Dinner in ten minutes, okay?"
His mother's voice was gentle—careful in the way people spoke around broken things.
"Yeah," he called. "Coming."
He waited until her footsteps faded.
Then he turned toward his desk.
The laptop screen glowed to life, illuminating his room in pale blue light.
His browser history already looked like a confession with a bunch of half-searched terms.
signs of hallucinations
how stress affects the brain
seeing things after trauma
Kai hesitated.
His fingers hovered over the keyboard.
Then he typed:
"hooded figures blood moon ritual"
Kai paused, reconsidering his decision.
What the hell am I doing?
What has gotten into me?
A quiet, disbelieving chuckle escaped him as he stared at the search bar — at what he was about to search about.
He pressed Enter.
Dozens of results flooded the screen.
Most were useless — fantasy forums, role-playing discussions, conspiracy blogs filled with rambling theories.
He kept scrolling.
Scrolling.
And scrolling—
Until one result caught his attention.
An old local archive.
The webpage looked abandoned, barely maintained. Yellowed photographs were poorly scanned onto the screen, as if time itself had tried to erase them.
WILLOW CREEK HISTORICAL RECORD
Kai clicked.
An undated drawing appeared.
A line of hooded figures stood in a forest clearing beneath a swollen red moon. Their faces were swallowed by shadow, but one figure stood apart — taller, arms raised toward the sky.
Kai felt his stomach tighten.
He zoomed in.
The raised hands held something.
A thin.
Curved.
Blade.
His breath hitched.
The article loaded slowly, each second stretching his nerves tighter.
Another grainy image of a drawing appeared.
A forest clearing.
Torches arranged in a perfect circle.
Robed figures standing motionless within it.
Kai froze.
It was the same place.
The same formation.
The same circle he had seen in his vision.
His heartbeat thundered in his ears as he read.
> Authorities investigated a secret cult believed to have operated for years, performing rituals beneath the blood moon deep within the forests of Willow Creek.
Kai leaned closer to the screen.
Another paragraph appeared.
> Several townspeople vanished during this period. Officials dismissed any connection between the disappearances and the group later rumored to be called The End's Covenant.
His stomach twisted.
He scrolled again.
The final line drained the warmth from his body.
> The cult ceased activity following a violent incident in the forest that left its members torn apart. No bodies could be identified due to extensive damage. The case remains unresolved — and largely forgotten. Locals avoid discussing it, fearing its return.
Kai swallowed hard.
The sound of the front door opening downstairs snapped him back to reality.
His father's tired but warm voice greeted his mother. Soft conversation drifted upward through the house.
Kai quickly shut his laptop.
Unease clung to him as he walked downstairs.
---
Kai pushed his food around his plate, barely tasting it. The clinking of cutlery sounded too loud in the quiet dining room. His mother kept watching him, her eyes soft but worried.
"How are you feeling?" she asked gently. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Kai muttered.
His father observed him from across the table, silent, studying him over the rim of his glass. The warm kitchen light should have felt comforting, but Kai only felt trapped.
The images from the article wouldn't leave him alone.
The hooded figures.
The circle.
The disappearances.
The vision.
It was real. It had to be.
Kai set his fork down.
"I want us to go back to the city."
The words landed heavily between them.
His mother froze mid-movement. His stepmother sighed softly under her breath. His father didn't respond immediately; instead, he wiped his hands slowly with a napkin, buying time.
Finally, he spoke.
"We can't do that, son."
Kai's chest tightened.
"What do you mean we can't?"
His father leaned forward, voice calm but firm. "I know this town has been… difficult for you. And I understand that the recent events are unsettling. But the town needs me right now."
Kai stared at him, disbelief creeping in.
"This situation will pass," his father continued. "Things like this don't last forever."
His mother sighed again, barely louder than a whisper.
"Here we go again…"
His father's eyes flicked toward her. He had clearly heard it. A brief tension passed between them before he turned back to Kai.
"Everything will be alright," he said gently. "I promise."
Something inside Kai snapped.
He pushed his chair back and slammed his fist against the table.
The plates rattled.
"But it's not alright!" he shouted. "You don't get it, do you?!"
Both parents stared at him, stunned.
"Have you seen what happened to the principal?!" Kai's voice shook. "It was horrible! And that girl in the alley—people are getting hurt!"
His breathing grew uneven.
"I'm done with this town. I know what I'm talking about!"
Silence swallowed the room.
His father looked shocked, his mother speechless. For a long moment, no one moved.
Then his mother stood.
Without saying anything, she walked over and wrapped her arms around him.
Kai stiffened at first, anger still burning in his chest, but the warmth of her embrace slowly broke through his panic. His shoulders trembled as she held him tighter.
"It's okay," she whispered softly. "You're safe."
But Kai knew he wasn't.
Because somewhere in Willow Creak, beneath the quiet streets and normal dinners, something evil had awakened.
And it had already seen him.