Shadow of Death (SOD)

Chapter 50

FIVE DAYS LATER!

The two siblings had spent two whole days thoroughly grieving their lost family.

They hadn’t stepped out into the sunlight at all, nor had they allowed anybody into their house.

It was just the two of them in each other’s arms, crying and grieving together.

Then, on the third day, the bodies were deposited into the morgue.

Since they weren’t claimed by the Nightmare, their bodies were still intact, unlike Jack’s.

The fourth day was spent grieving once again, but this time, they did so separately in their rooms.

So far, they had been able to evade sleep completely.

But due to the constant, heavy crying, their eyes were more than heavy.

And it seemed like the anti-sleep pills weren’t working anymore.

Asher was in his room, his gaze fixed on the wall in front of him as his mind spun.

"The-The pills don’t seem to be working anymore. Why?"

He stared at the last two pills in his bottle.

Groaning, he pulled one out and popped it into his mouth.

Yet, he was still feeling heavily sleepy.

"Is-Is this... yawn... is this the Shadow God’s doing?"

He rubbed his tired eyes.

A heavy, black bag had formed beneath his eyes.

In fact, his retinas looked almost bloodshot and sunken in.

His mind was all over the place now.

"If I’m having it this bad, I wonder how Jesse is holding up. Maybe I should check up on-on her?"

His thoughts had begun to slur as he yawned once more.

Quickly regaining his focus, he lifted his hand in front of his mouth and immediately bit down on it as hard as he could.

A muffled scream escaped his lips.

....

Jesse could be seen in the kitchen whipping up two cups of coffee.

Her movements were almost sluggish due to her heavy exhaustion.

A spoon slipped from her fingers and clattered to the ground.

Her vision was beginning to blur.

She quickly reached out for the counter and held onto it for her life.

When she managed to stabilize herself, she hung her head low.

Tears fell from her eyes.

"Mum-Mum, Dad... I-I want to sleep so bad. I-I-I can’t do this anymore. I-I have been t-trying to be strong, but-but I can’t anymore. I-I have been trying..."

She sobbed silently.

Her head pounded heavily as her tears fell to the ground.

During that very period of her thoughts, a memory flashed into her mind.

The Shadow God’s offer.

She blinked.

Her mind spun as realization slowly dawned on her.

"Maybe-maybe it ain’t bad after all?"

....

"Ugh... what do I do now?" Asher groaned silently as he massaged his temples with two of his fingers.

Tok! Tok! Tok!

A knock sounded on his door.

"It’s open."

Slowly, the door slid open to reveal Jesse walking inside with a tray that had two cups of coffee on it.

She forced a smile as she walked towards the boy.

"Here."

She stretched out the tray towards him.

"I hate coffee, but man, I need it right now. Thanks." Asher uttered as he lifted one of the cups.

Jesse grabbed her own cup and then sat on the bed beside her brother.

Taking a sip of her coffee, she watched as Asher cradled his own cup.

"I was thinking," Jesse broke the silence as she took another sip of her coffee before letting out a satisfied sigh.

"About?" Asher lifted a brow as he turned to look at his sister.

"The offer the Shadow God made to us. You know? The one where only one of us can survive?" Jesse replied, avoiding Asher’s gaze.

"....?!"

"Huh? Why are you thinking about that? What’s there to think about? We aren’t gonna take that! How can you even think about such a thing when you know that he is the cause of all our problems?

If he could cheat by accelerating the curse for our family and slide a Shadow in to eliminate most of us, do you think his offer would be valid? What will stop him from taking the last of us out?"

Jesse blinked for a second as she looked down at her own cup.

"But what if he isn’t joking? What if he would let one of us go free though? I mean, Mum always says that when there’s a good option or opportunity, we take it, yeah?"

Asher frowned.

His brows knitted together in annoyance.

"So you will trust your family’s killer over your brother? You see, this is what he wants. To divide and conquer. You think he will uphold his end of his deal? Then, if you think so, I will gladly sacrifice my life for you then, if that’s what it takes. Tsk."

Asher shook his head, his gaze turning towards the coffee in his hand.

Jesse blinked at her brother’s words.

Something about his last sentence tugged at her heart, causing her grip on her cup to loosen.

Asher was already moments away from taking a sip from his cup.

Then—

A voice, silent like the wind, whispered into her ears.

"Betrayal."

Her grip on her cup loosened completely.

Crash—!

The cup slipped from her hands and shattered against the ground.

Then, with almost lightning speed, she reached out and snatched the cup from Asher’s hands under the boy’s stunned gaze.

His mind wasn’t all there as he stared at his sister, who had just dropped her own coffee and snatched his instead.

But before he could say anything, the girl flashed him a smile.

"I’m sorry. I just wanted an easy way out, but what better way out than this? Please, if this turns out to be real, please live your life well."

’Huh?’

Gulp—!

In one whole go, not even minding the heat, Jesse swallowed the entire cup of coffee.

The empty cup slipped from her fingers and shattered against the ground while her smile widened.

Tears fell down her eyes as she looked at her brother, guilt written all over her face.

"Please find a place in your heart to forgive me."

Almost instantly, her eyelids wavered for several seconds before she slumped onto the bed.

Her eyes closed immediately, followed by a loud snore that permeated the room.

Asher was still struggling to understand what was happening as his eyelids fluttered for a few moments.

"Huh?"

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