Shadow of Death (SOD)

Chapter 37

"....."

"Wha-What do you mean?" Asher questioned with a stupefied look on his face.

He stared at the woman as though she had completely lost her mind.

Defeat the Shadow God?

How the hell was he supposed to defeat an entity like that?

Someone who possessed the power to activate curses and create Shadows?

What was a powerless university student like him supposed to do against such a foe?

He would simply be snuffed out with a flick of the Shadow God’s fingers.

What was Mia even saying?

The woman sighed as she rubbed her face.

"You see how impossible that is, right? That’s how impossible it is to evade the Nightmare. You are basically stuck with no way to escape going into it.

"But it would be possible if you defeat the creator of this mess, which is the—"

"... The Shadow God." Asher muttered silently, a look of hopelessness settling over his face.

"Exactly." Mia breathed out a sigh.

Asher slowly lifted himself upright and sat back down on the sofa.

His shoulders felt heavy.

"What do I do now? How am I supposed to save my family?"

Mia shook her head, then yawned silently while rubbing her tired face.

"I have no idea, kid. Just live out your life normally and see if there’s anything you can do later on. For now, you are doomed."

Asher frowned and shot her a sharp glare.

"Who speaks like that to someone who’s about to die?"

Mia lifted a brow.

"Would you prefer it if I lied?"

Asher blinked.

"No."

"That’s what I thought."

Then, with another sigh, the woman rose from the chair, following it with another yawn and a stretch of her arms.

"Now, if you will excuse me, I have other things to take care of. Just go get yourself some anti-sleep Pills to take care of yourself till when you are ready to go into the Nightmare."

Asher looked at the woman for several seconds.

Then he slowly stood up as well, clicking his tongue.

"Thank you for your help, Miss Mia."

He bowed slightly, then turned around to leave.

The woman stared at his back for several seconds.

A slight flicker passed through her eyes.

The door opened.

Then closed.

And Asher’s frame vanished from her sight.

.....

The boy was back in his house, which was almost empty.

His father had gone to work. Jayden had gone to look for a job as usual, and Jesse had gone to school.

His mum was surely in her room, maybe praying to whatever or whoever she could pray to in order to save her family.

Asher could have also gone to school today, but honestly, he wasn’t even feeling like going anymore.

He had lost all motivation to do anything except save his family.

So he simply dragged his feet upstairs, heading back to his room.

.....

Several hours passed.

Soon, it was evening.

The whole family sat around the dining table with Clara dishing out their food for them one by one.

But to be honest, they had all lost their appetite.

They stared at the food in front of them with blank looks on their faces.

How could they eat knowing that in just a few hours, they would experience those hyper-realistic, twisted dreams again?

And afterward, one of them would have to go into the Nightmare.

After knowing this, how could they open their mouths and put food into them?

Asher looked around the table with a solemn look on his face.

Heaving out a sigh, he grabbed his spoon and lifted a spoonful of rice toward his face.

Then, he ate.

The others looked at him.

Asher glanced back at them.

"What? You all don’t want to eat, but I want to. I mean, who knows? This might be the last time we all sit together as a family and eat."

"....."

The whole table fell silent again as the others stared at Asher shoving spoonful after spoonful of food into his mouth.

For a few moments, nobody said anything.

Then Jayden was the next to grab his spoon and begin eating quietly.

Followed by Jesse.

And after seeing how their children were trying to remain strong despite everything hanging over their heads, their parents also began eating.

Asher smiled softly when he saw his family eating quietly.

Nobody spoke for several minutes.

They simply focused on finishing the food in front of them, almost as though doing so could temporarily make them forget the terrifying reality waiting for them.

Until—

"Dad, Mum; today yielded results." Jayden uttered as he took a sip of his water.

Jack lifted a brow.

"Really?"

Jayden nodded.

"Yes. I got a job at a factory. I will resume tomorrow."

"Wow. That’s great news." Clara commented with a warm smile on her tired face.

"Congratulations, big bro." Jesse spoke with a cheeky smile.

"Congratulations. Now you can finally get me a video game console I always wanted. Hehehe." Asher uttered with a devilish grin on his face.

Jayden frowned.

"Yeah? Tch. Mum is already complaining that you spend all your time on technology and you want me to endorse you some more? No way."

"Come on, Jay. Damn it, bro." Asher scoffed as he threw his head to the side.

Jesse laughed mockingly.

For a brief moment, the Dawson family sounded like the family they had always been.

They bickered.

They joked.

They teased one another.

It was almost as if death wasn’t literally hanging over their heads.

Jack watched his family converse like they always did.

It warmed his heart for a moment.

Then, a pang of regret struck his heart.

’It’s all my fault. If I had listened to Jesse when she said she didn’t want to move cities, we wouldn’t be in this situation. Why? Why did I have to take that same promotion?’

The man’s face scrunched up as the guilt weighed heavily on him.

His fingers loosened around his spoon.

Clatter!

He dropped it, causing it to strike his plate with a loud clatter.

The sudden sound immediately broke the bickering between the children.

They all turned to look at their father worriedly.

"Is-Is everything okay?" Asher asked, his expression immediately becoming concerned.

For a fleeting moment, he wondered if the curse was activating.

Jack managed to force a smile.

He slid his hand into his pocket, reached inside, then pulled something out.

He placed it on the table.

Two small bottles that looked like containers used to hold eye drops.

And inside them—

Tiny little red pills sat neatly.

"I got the anti-sleep Pills."

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