Chapter 10 monster

The school felt colder today. As Aurex walked in and said goodbye to his brother, he couldn't help but wonder,Is that even my brother anymore? The smile was the same, the wave familiar, but there was something off in his eyes. Something missing.

Classes started like always. Same teacher, same bored expressions, same walls.

But then something caught his attention.

The math equation on the board,it was the exact same one from two days ago. Word for word. He wouldn't have noticed normally. He barely paid attention in class. But now, his eyes were wide open. Watching. Listening. He flipped through his notes. Same numbers. Same chalk marks. The teacher was explaining it the same way, down to the exact pauses and hand gestures.

Aurex gritted his teeth. How long has this been happening?

He couldn't let this slip away. Whatever was happening to this town, this school, this life,it had begun to show its cracks. If he didn't act now, if he kept hesitating, he might forget again. He might go back to that mechanical routine, back to smiling without meaning it, sleeping without dreaming.

He had to do something.

And that meant breaking the rules. Starting with the house.

After class, he sat down beside the boy again. They kept their voices low, far from everyone else.

Aurex leaned in. "I've been meaning to ask… your family. What happened to them?"

"Shhh." The boy's eyes darted around. "Don't talk about them. We don't know what we're allowed to say."

"We can't just wait around forever," Aurex muttered. "Something has to change. I'm going to do something tonight."

The boy frowned. "What?"

"I always write in a diary. But lately, pages have been ripped out. I think someone took them. I'm going to search the house. Their rooms."

The boy was quiet for a long moment. Then: "It's probably gone. But if it's not… you might find something."

Aurex asked, "And you? Got any leads?"

"I do," he replied. "But it needs time. I want to confirm something. When I'm sure, we move. Together."

Aurex nodded. "Then… good luck. For both of us."

---

6 p.m. again.

Aurex sat in his room, heart thumping, palms sweaty. The quiet crept in like a fog. He could hear them moving downstairs. Every night, around 8 to 9 p.m., they left the house. All except his mother.

He waited. Listened.

8:30. Time to move.

He gripped the doorknob, took a deep breath, and turned it slowly. No creaks. No sound. Just the soft hush of his breath.

His room was near the stairs. To the left was his parents' room. Straight ahead, his brother's. Next to that, his sister's. He didn't dare go far yet.

He slipped into his sister's room.

Clean. Tidy. Empty.

No photos. No books. Just a bed and a desk. Like a prison cell dressed up as a teenage bedroom. There wasn't even a speck of dust.

He searched quickly, quietly. Nothing. Not even a scrap of paper.

He moved to his brother's room. The same. Exact same. Bed. Desk. Bare walls. Not even a single piece of clothing.

It was like the rooms were copied and pasted.

A sick feeling grew in his stomach. This isn't right. None of this is right.

As he stepped out into the hallway, something shifted.

Footsteps.

Fast.

No, no, not now

He turned to rush back to his room,only to stop dead in his tracks.

A head.

A massive head filled the hallway in front of him.

The face was human, but… wrong. Too wide. Too smooth. It smiled at him,huge teeth stretching unnaturally,but the eyes… the eyes were crying. Thick, dark tears rolled down its face in silence. No breathing. No blinking. Just staring.

Aurex froze. His entire body trembled. He couldn't breathe. Couldn't run.

The boy's voice rang in his head: Don't speak. Don't close your eyes.

He bit his lip and stood still, tears pooling in his own eyes now. The face twitched. Then turned,looking past him.

Footsteps again. From the stairs.

He saw a long neck stretching then,

A figure scrambled up,fast, clumsy, twitching limbs. The body was familiar.

It was her.

His mother.

He recognized the clothes. The gait.

But the head,

It was wrong. Too long. The skin stretched like wax. The eyes were hollow black pits, and her smile… it stretched to her ears, filled with long, needle-like teeth.

She was crying too.

She passed right by him. Didn't look. The massive head followed her down the stairs.

Gone.

Aurex stumbled into his room and closed the door, hands shaking, back pressed to the wood.

A smile on his face.

But his eyes were crying.

He sat on the floor, knees to his chest.

"…Mom," he whispered. "Mom…"