"Honey, what do you want?"
A simple, daily question. A request for love, for affection, for a smile, the one he gave to me came easily, yet the one he gave to everyone else felt forced and rare.
I was raised in a loving family. An amazing father. A gentle, caring mother. Whenever I felt upset or overwhelmed, I hid beneath my blanket, curled up in my room. My mother always came to check on me. Even when I was wrong, even when it wasn't her fault, she sometimes apologized anyway.
I used to hate it when my father tried to involve himself too much in my life. He hadn't been there much when I was younger. But I could never truly hate him. I knew why he was absent; he was working endlessly. Now I understand that. He tried to make up for it by giving me everything he could, always smiling, always trying to appear happy, even when life was unbearably hard on him.
He never took time to heal himself. Never rested. Instead, he tried harder to please me.
Now I know I love him more than anything.
And my mother, her back always hurting, her head always aching, still asked about me, still attended my school activities, still loved and adored me without hesitation.
Serena thought all of this as her fingers dug into her own face, drawing blood.
She had just seen them again.
Her parents.
Crying. Hands buried deep into the floor, scraping until they bled.
She ran to her room, screaming without sound, her mind spiraling.
Where are they?
She didn't have the courage to face those things again. Deep down, she feared that if those creatures truly were her parents, then she had already lost everything, and there would be no way back.
The next morning came. She could not sleep.
They sat together at breakfast.
Not normal, but normal enough to be terrifying.
The usual warmth was gone. The familiar smiles, the casual conversations, the gentle teasing, everything had vanished. They ate in silence, cold and detached.
Serena knew this couldn't last.
If her family was in danger, she had to save them. If the people in front of her truly were her parents, then maybe, just maybe, there was still a chance.
But where could she even begin?
She started asking about memories. Childhood moments. Small details only family should know. Her parents answered calmly, helping her piece things together.
But these people in front of her didn't remember.
They didn't care.
Serena felt herself tearing apart.
Whenever despair threatened to swallow her, she thought of one person.
What would Atlas do?
He was the smartest person she had ever known. Someone who didn't quite feel human. If he were here, he would understand. He would know what to do. He would save her family.
She needed to contact Atlas.
Immediately.
Elsewhere, Liam and Kade were struggling with the same terror, identities unraveling, memories warping, something unseen stripping them away piece by piece.
Confused. Afraid.
How could they fight something when they didn't even know where it began?
Then the door rang.
"I'll check," Kade said.
"No," Liam replied quickly. "I invited a friend. Just want to make sure it's him."
"Alright," Kade said, heading for the door.
He opened it.
What stood before him was a seven-foot-long worm. Its body ended in three jagged, spiked points. Its face was a void, absolute darkness. It had four wings, and tiny, impossibly thin human hands protruding from its sides. Embedded along its body were countless human faces, frozen in silent expressions.
Kade's mind went blank.
Fear paralyzed him. He couldn't scream. He couldn't move.
He just stood there.
Liam walked up behind him. "Who's at the door, man?"
Then he saw it.
"Oh," Liam said casually. "It's Void. Come in, Void. I told you I had a friend coming."
Void passed directly through Kade's body as it entered the house.