The enigmatic neighbor

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

The wristband screamed incessantly, its alarms flooding Ethan Lewis's mind with primal terror. He never imagined a Level 3 Aberration could lurk near his home. Grace Quinn had warned him: such threats required teams, not individuals. Yet the wristband—crafted by the Cosmic Arbiter itself—never lied. Its crimson glow confirmed the unthinkable: an Aberration was here.

Why? How? His legs locked. Even seasoned Keepers from the True Gate Sect struggled against Level 3s. One glance from the entity could erase him.

The once-familiar alley warped under the dim streetlights. Shadows pooled like tar, hiding ravenous jaws. Minutes bled into hours. Ethan's legs numbed, but nothing attacked. No assimilation. No whispers. Only silence.

Maybe the wristband's glitching? Logic clawed through his panic. The True Gate Sect monitored Bo City obsessively. A Level 3 breach would've triggered their response.

"Respected Aberration," Ethan whispered, hands clasped, "I'm just… low-calorie takeout. Spare this trash, please?"

He inched forward. At Uncle Wang's doorstep, a pitch-black hound named Xiao Tian stared—its eyes twin abysses. Ten years guarding this house, yet tonight its drooling maw radiated murder. Ethan bowed stiffly and fled.

A flicker of white in an abandoned attic window froze him. A spectral figure hovered, its gaze piercing walls. Distant singing coiled around his mind, soothing his panic against all reason.

"S-sorry! Wrong address!" Ethan bolted.

His house loomed ahead, but icy breath grazed his neck. A gnarled face—wrinkles like fissures—hovered an inch from his. Ethan's scream died as the door exploded inward.

Mother stood there, cleaver in hand. Her fury wasn't for him. She seized the decaying intruder's collar, voice glacial:

"Seeking death?"