The Watcher

"Everyone quiet for a second," I said.

I paused to listen. Something was in the house—a blur, but I saw a figure. Then, the sound of a bowl breaking, shattering against the floor.

Dahlia screamed, but her screams were silent.

"What do we do?" Leon whispered.

I nodded at him to follow me.

Jackson pulled out his gun—the same one he got from the lavender room—and loaded bullets into it.

"Whoever's in here, get the hell out. We know you're here," Jackson said, pointing the gun upward.

"Follow behind me," he whispered.

We all stayed close behind Jackson, the only one holding a weapon.

"I have a gun, and I'm not afraid to use it!"

Suddenly, something crashed inside the lavender room.

"That came from upstairs," Kara said.

We rushed up the stairs and opened the door to the lavender room. Inside, we saw a girl.

"Sophia," Jackson breathed.

"Jackson, why? Why didn't you help us? You failed us," Sophia's voice was distorted, cold.

She had a bullet hole through her mouth, dried blood trickling down her chin.

"You caused so much pain and suffering—for everyone. You're the reason so many are dead. The reason we're dead. The reason I had to kill myself."

"Jackson, don't listen to her. She's not real," I said.

Sophia vanished like mist, then another crash came from downstairs.

"Marc," Jackson said.

"Jackson, why? You failed us. We're suffering because of you."

Marc was missing both eyes, blood streaming from the empty sockets, and one of his arms was gone.

"I had to cut off my arm and eyes because of you."

Marc disappeared just like Sophia.

Then—bang! Something hit outside the house.

We saw another figure.

"Alaina?"

"Jackson, why? I got eaten by The Feed because of you."

"Why is the question, Jackson. Why did you cause so much pain and suffering?" an unfamiliar voice said.

"Why, Jackson," Sophia, Alaina, and Marc whispered together in unison.

"I tried so hard to save them… but it wasn't enough. The Feed found a way to kill them anyway."

"Why don't you prove that?" the unfamiliar voice taunted.

Suddenly, it moved behind Kara and pressed a knife to her neck.

 I had no words for what stood in front of us.

It was humanoid, sort of, but not really. Its body looked like it was made of glass or crystal — cracked in places, glowing faintly from within like it had a dying sun trapped inside. Every time it moved, the air shimmered, like reality was bending around it just to make space.

Its face… it wasn't right. Like someone had tried to sculpt a human expression and gave up halfway. The eyes were just hollow sockets, but inside them flickered a light that felt ancient — like it had seen a thousand versions of me and was disappointed every single time.

Above its head floated these twisted, spiraling black horns that didn't sit on its skull — they hovered, flickering like bad reception. And its mouth — if you could even call it that — was a long, vertical slit that slowly peeled open to reveal rows of thin, bone-colored teeth. They didn't look built for chewing. They looked built for tearing.

It radiated something… something heavy. Like guilt and fear and pressure all at once. My chest tightened just being near it.

Smoke clung to its form, like the thing had crawled out of a burning nightmare. Its hands were too long, ending in claws that twitched with this weird, deliberate rhythm — tap, tap, tap, like it was waiting for something. Behind it, there were these shapes — wings? Tentacles? I couldn't tell. They moved like they were alive, even though they cast no shadow.

And the worst part? It didn't feel like it was just looking at us.

It felt like it already knew us. Every fear. Every weakness. Every secret. 

My body didn't move. Couldn't. It was like gravity had decided to triple just around me. My heart wasn't pounding — it was thudding, slow and loud, like a war drum in my skull. Even the air felt… infected.

The Watcher stepped forward. Or… drifted. Its feet never touched the ground. And when it passed by the wooden table near the couch, the wood warped — darkened — as if time suddenly devoured it.

"Drop the knife now, I have a gun, put her down now."

"You know I watched you all the time. Every second. You were funny. Chaotic. Desperate to be liked. I watched every single video you made , every desperate attempt for approval, every moment of fake laughter and real fear. You humans are all the same…fragile things dressing up your pain with performance. You rely on each other because you're afraid to stand alone. You beg to be seen, but tremble when something actually sees you. You speak constantly but you never listen. Not really. You never notice the shadows growing longer. You never aske who was watching when the camera stopped rolling. You thought you were creating content. I wonder…now that I've touched your lives, how long will it be until I take one?"

"Your The Feed, aren't you," Penny asked. 

"Wish the answer were simple but it isn't. I am something much more. I am the shaper of reality, the hands that mold your world, the silence that answers your screams. I am not the question. I am the solution."

"Put my friend down now or I kill you," Jackson said.

"I'll play your little game, for now. Humans are rather weak, all they do is take and when the world asks them to give back they vanish. Humans are the most disgusting creatures I've ever laid eyes upon. Greedy. Self-absorbed. They destroy everything everything they touch…and still expect to be forgiven."

The Watcher let Kara go.

Jackson didn't hesitate. The shot rang out like a scream through the house, echoing off every wall. 

The Watcher staggered back. Silence. Then…laughter.

"Oh Jackson…" it said, brushing the bullet hole as if it were lint on a jacket. "You really think a thing like me dies like a thing like you?"

Jackson breath was caught. 

Then cough. Another cough.

Thick blood splattered onto the floor as Jackson fell to one knee, gripping his stomach. His hand trembled. His mouth overflowed with red. 

"Wh-what…?"

The Watcher titled its head, amused.

"You wound me…" it whispered, "I wound you. Fair trade, don't you think?"

"JACKSON," I yelled. 

I rushed towards him. 

The Watcher raised one long finger. "He hurt me. And so he pays."

Jackson looked up through his blurred eyes locking onto me. 

"Don't…trust it…it sees…everything."

His body shook. Another burst of blood erupted from his mouth.

The Watchers vocie echoed like thunder behind stained glass.

"One bullet. One price. Such is balance."

The Watcher titled its head. "Curious," it murmured. "Most would die from that. But you, Jackson, have always been stubborn.

With a slow, unnatural grin, the Watcher began to back away…and then vanished.

The house fell silent.

"We need to stop the bleeding," Penny said, already tearing a sleeve from her shirt.

Jacksons eyes fluttered open, just barely. "Did…did i hit it?"

"Yeah," I whispered. "You did."

"Good…"

He passed out before he could say anything else. 

We got him to a couch. Penny and Dahlia tended to him the best way they could. But none of us could ignore the way the lights in the house flickered every few seconds. Or the faint, electronic hum now constant in the walls.

Something had changed.

Jackson was alive.

But the Watcher was real now. Tangible. Killable. Dangerous.

"What do we do now," Leon asked. 

"I don't know, how can you fix something caused by something so demonic," I said with my hand trembling on Jackson chest.

"What was that," Kara asked. 

"I don't know, I know it has something to do with The Feed," I said. "Leon call 9-1-1. Kara grab some bandages."

"Hey yes, my friend is bleeding, he just went unconscious, we need someone to come over here right now, his name is Jackson."

Leon gave the address to the person on the phone. 

We could hear sirens coming fast.

They came as quickly as they could. 

"You did an amazing job sweetheart," the EMT said. "We'll take it from here, you kids just stand back."

"Please save him," Dahlia begged, her voice, cracking under the weight of panic and sorrow.

"We'll do everything we can."

Just like that, he was taken, loaded into the back of an ambulance, red lights painting the house in panic, and rushed to the hospital.

I kept to myself, no words that came out of my mouth could help in that situation. 

"Watcher, I know your listening, you fucked up, you made a few mistakes. The first one you made my closest friends cry. Number two you hurt, no, you nearly murdered my friend, and three you pissed me off. Next time you show up I'll make sure you suffer. You deserve it you damn bastard."

There was a silence after that — cold and suffocating.

Then Dahlia let out this choked sound, a noise I've never heard from her before. She sank to the floor, hugging her knees to her chest, sobbing. Kara tried to reach for her, but her hands were trembling too much. She collapsed beside her instead, burying her head in Dahlia's shoulder.

Penny stood still at first, eyes wide, glassy. Then she whispered, "This isn't fair," and it broke her. She turned away, but her shoulders shook violently.

Leon sat down hard on the arm of the couch, wiping his face with his sleeve like it would hide anything. It didn't.

And me?

I just stood there.

Watching the four people I cared about the most fall apart. My hands were shaking. My throat burned. But the tears wouldn't come. Not yet.

Not until I knew for sure that Jackson would make it.

Because if he didn't… then I would become something the Watcher should be afraid of.