Anomaly

Charlotte wasn't entirely sure whether she should try to make contact with the... thing that had emerged from inside the wall. In the stories and movies she grew up with, that kind of decision almost always ended in the worst possible way.

Curious people who insisted on meddling with things they didn't understand rarely got happy endings. At best, they survived long enough to regret their own stupidity. Most of the time, they didn't even get that much.

Unfortunately, it was already too late for Charlotte and her parents to simply turn around and pretend none of this had happened. After all, being found by the very entity they were, technically speaking, supposed to be running from didn't exactly improve their chances of survival.

Even so, there was something strange about the situation. Charlotte frowned slightly, realizing with a certain degree of bewilderment that she wasn't afraid. Her heart wasn't racing. Her hands weren't shaking. The desperate urge to run, so common in the face of the unknown, simply wasn't there.

Instead, what she felt was a cautious curiosity. Maybe it was... tame? Charlotte blinked several times at the absurd thought that crossed her mind. Although she had no idea what this entity truly was, there was one thing she could say with absolute certainty: It definitely wasn't a dog. Before anything else, there was one unavoidable question: was communication even possible?

Charlotte would be lying if she claimed to know as much about anomalies as any expert in the field. In reality, like most ordinary people, almost everything she knew came from internet forums, shared testimonies, and the carefully filtered bits of information the authorities deemed appropriate to release to the public.

In short, the message was always the same: Anomalies were dangerous, deadly, unpredictable, and, in the overwhelming majority of cases, hungry for human blood. At least, that's what people said. According to the statistics repeated endlessly in news reports, public awareness campaigns, and online discussions, roughly ninety-five percent of encounters with anomalies ended in tragedy.

The remaining five percent involved entities that displayed no immediate hostility, cases so rare, so poorly documented, and so steeped in controversy that many people didn't even believe they were real. Because of that, the most sensible recommendation had always remained the same: At the first sign of anomalous activity, run.

And on that point, Charlotte completely agreed. The truth was that betting your life on the hope of finding an exception sounded like the kind of decision only desperate people, or fools, would make. It was far wiser to flee immediately than to believe that, among countless monsters capable of tearing a human being apart without a second thought, she would somehow be lucky enough to encounter the one anomaly willing to talk instead of kill.

Even so, as she stared at the existence standing before her, one persistent question continued to echo through her mind, stubborn and impossible to ignore. What if this was one of those exceedingly rare exceptions? If it was... Then maybe running wasn't the only choice she had.

Before taking any action, an uncomfortable thought crossed Charlotte's mind: (... Maybe I'm finally losing my mind?) She remained motionless for several seconds, observing the figure with almost obsessive caution.

Part of Charlotte wanted to laugh at herself. After all, trying to strike up a conversation with an anomaly was exactly the kind of thing that would get someone committed if they admitted it to the wrong person: (For some reason... I feel like I really should try to make contact)

Charlotte couldn't explain where that feeling came from. It wasn't logical. It wasn't supported by the information she had or by the countless horrifying stories she'd heard over the years. And yet, it persisted. It settled quietly in her chest like an instinct she couldn't ignore, subtle, insistent, impossible to dismiss.

The feeling that this anomaly was... different. That despite everything it represented, there was something genuine in the way it carried itself. Something that didn't feel like a carefully crafted mask designed to lure in victims. Something human. Or at least, as close to human as an anomaly could possibly be.

Charlotte pressed her lips together, glancing away for a brief moment before looking back at it. Maybe she was making the biggest mistake of her life. Maybe her recklessness had finally compromised her judgment. Even so, irrational as it sounded, she had the strange impression that this entity had no desire to harm humans without reason.

That, to some extent, it was genuinely kind toward them. Anyway, returning to the problem at hand, Charlotte remained perfectly still, staring at the entity before her. In response, the entity simply stared back without displaying any clear intent.

Should Charlotte be the one to make the first move? Considering that both she and her parents were still alive, maybe that meant the entity wasn't dangerous... right? Or at the very least, that it hadn't yet decided to show that it was.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Unfortunately, Charlotte never had the chance to attempt any kind of friendly approach. As curious as she was, she understood perfectly well that her reaction to the situation was far from normal. Most people would probably have been screaming, crying, or trying to run from the very moment they realized the entity was there.

Charlotte, on the other hand, was still considering the possibility of simply saying "Hi" Her parents, fortunately or unfortunately, reacted exactly the way any reasonable person would: "Oh my God!" Charlotte's mother's voice exploded through the room, loud, trembling, and filled with pure desperation.

Everything happened far too quickly. Before Charlotte could even process what was happening, she felt two hands gripping her shoulders firmly. Her body was pulled backward in a movement that was abrupt yet careful, her feet nearly losing their balance. The very next instant, someone stepped between her and the entity.

Charlotte's father's broad back completely filled her vision. His posture was rigid, his shoulders drawn tight like ropes on the verge of snapping. Even without seeing his face, Charlotte could sense the fear woven into every detail of the body standing in front of her.

The slight tremor in his hands, his heavy, uneven breathing, the subtle way he spread his arms, creating a protective barrier between his daughter and the unknown.

Even so, he didn't take a single step back: "Stay behind me..." he said, his voice low and rough, trying to sound steady despite the obvious strain in it: "Don't go near that thing" Behind him, Charlotte's mother gripped her arm so tightly it hurt, as if she feared that if she let go for even a second, her daughter would disappear right before her eyes. And in the middle of all that genuine panic, Charlotte blinked a few times. Then she looked back at the entity, which hadn't moved from where it stood.

Well, naturally, things had spiraled spectacularly out of control, and much faster than Charlotte could have imagined. What had seemed like nothing more than a complicated situation just moments ago had turned into a complete disaster before she'd even had time to gather her thoughts. In the end, there was only one certainty amid the growing chaos: Charlotte had absolutely no idea how to fix this.

***

(POV: Protagonist)

Before I could push any further with my attempt at first contact, the situation stopped being an attempt at communication and turned into an attempt at... what, exactly? Honestly, I hadn't even done anything that justified a reaction this extreme. It was my appearance, wasn't it? It was definitely because of how I looked.

Having absolutely no idea how to respond to that, I slowly raised my hands in the universal gesture of surrender and non-hostility. The movement, however, had the exact opposite effect of what I'd intended. Both adults flinched immediately. The man stepped forward on pure instinct, positioning himself to block my path, while the woman pulled the girl even closer against her side.

They stared at me with an unsettling mix of fear, tension, and anticipation, as though I were some runaway train about to jump the tracks and crush them without warning. Which, honestly, felt a little offensive as a comparison. Naturally, I did absolutely nothing.

I remained where I was, hands raised, avoiding any sudden movements while trying my best to show that I was a harmless anomaly. I even kept a respectful distance, worried that taking a single step forward might trigger a collective heart attack.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be working in the slightest. The harder I tried to appear harmless, the more convinced they seemed that I was simply waiting for the perfect moment to do something terrible. It was hard to blame them. After all, I had no idea what I looked like through their eyes.

Even so, the irony of the situation was hard not to find frustrating. My first attempt at making contact had turned into a silent standoff between me trying to prove I wasn't a threat... and them preparing for the absolute worst.

"Holy shit! Where the hell did that thing come from?!" the man blurted out in alarm, reacting purely on instinct as he immediately placed himself in front of the woman and the girl, as though his own body could serve as a shield against the unknown.

Given the current situation, those two were probably my little sister's parents. I couldn't be completely certain, but honestly, it seemed like the most reasonable conclusion.

Anyway, even with my hands raised in an obvious gesture of surrender, the two of them kept staring at me like cornered animals, tense enough to bolt or attack at the slightest suspicious movement. In short, my attempt to show that I wasn't a threat was failing miserably.

That was exactly why I was momentarily surprised when a small voice from behind them broke the tension-filled silence: "Hey..." the girl said from her mother's arms, tilting her head slightly as she looked at me with genuine curiosity: "You're that anomaly from TV, aren't you? The one who fought that crazy priest who tried to destroy the city... or something like that?"

The child's voice was enough to pull the adults' attention away from me for a few seconds: "What?" the man said, turning toward his daughter. The woman blinked, clearly confused.

"Mom, Dad..." the girl said again, discreetly pointing in my direction: "It's her. That anomaly who saved the city, remember? The one who fought that priest. The anomaly that was apparently friendly toward humans, the one we kept seeing on the news these past few months"

The two adults blinked several times, as if the gears in their heads had finally started turning. Then, slowly, their eyes shifted back to me. This time, there was something different. Recognition. Not much, just enough to suggest they had genuinely connected my face to the news reports.

Even so, fear remained written all over their expressions. The man's shoulders were still rigid. His body remained firmly positioned between me and his family. The woman held the girl just a little tighter than necessary. They definitely didn't look any less frightened... nor any less convinced that I could kill them at any moment if I chose to.

But there was one important difference. Before, I had been nothing more than an unknown anomaly that had appeared out of nowhere without explanation. Now, I was an unknown anomaly they'd seen saving an entire city on television.

It wasn't trust. Far from it. Even so, for the first time since I'd appeared, the two of them seemed willing to try to understand what was happening before giving in to full-blown panic. I suppose, considering all the circumstances, that already counted as a start.

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