Shadow of Death (SOD)

Chapter 54

"Huuuuuuu....!"

Asher sat upright as straight as a bamboo shoot, a loud gasp escaping his mouth as though he hadn’t breathed in a long time.

His body was drenched in sweat, and his head pounded several times. However, he quickly managed to calm himself down.

’Ah, crazy... my head aches.’

Asher uttered inwardly as he rubbed his temples a few times.

He couldn’t even look around properly.

His vision was still disoriented, and everything around him seemed slightly blurred.

Dropping his hand to the side, he suddenly felt something soft beneath his body.

He blinked.

’Huh?’

His fingers pressed against the unfamiliar softness again.

Slowly, he looked down.

He was sitting on a bed.

A blue-coloured duvet covered him from the waist downward.

His clothes were drenched in sweat too, clinging uncomfortably to his skin, but that wasn’t what occupied his mind.

"This bed.... This duvet...."

His breath hitched.

Asher reached down and touched the duvet before placing his hand against the mattress a few times, making sure he could actually feel them beneath his fingers.

The sensation was real.

Too real.

Then, slowly, he lifted his head and looked around the place.

He was in a room.

His room.

But not the room in Vespers City.

This was the room from the city they had moved out from.

"Huh?! What’s going on? How am I here?"

His head was a mess as he stared around the room with a dubious expression.

None of this made sense.

He blinked countless times, as if doing so could somehow wake him from a dream of some sort.

Yet nothing changed.

His brain wasn’t even thinking straight at first.

Before he could properly understand what was happening, Asher’s body moved on autopilot.

He pulled the duvet off his body and climbed out of bed.

His feet carried him automatically toward the door.

One step.

Then another.

He reached out and grabbed the handle.

His fingers tightened around it before he pulled the door open.

Creak.

Stepping outside, Asher began walking downstairs.

Each step was slow and deliberate.

His heart pounded loudly inside his chest as he navigated through the familiar house, every part of the place feeling strangely nostalgic.

His throat slowly began drying up.

He swallowed repeatedly, taking huge gulps of saliva as he continued downward.

Slowly reaching the base of the staircase.

But even before he reached downstairs, he could hear numerous footsteps moving around the house.

Tak. Tak.

People were hurrying from one place to another, as though they were preparing to get somewhere important.

Asher’s footsteps eventually reached the bottom.

And then—

He froze.

Slowly but surely, his eyes began widening in horror and shock until his mouth fell open.

The whole house was the same.

The same house they had left behind before moving to Vespers City.

But that wasn’t what shocked him.

It was the people moving from one place to another that completely stupefied him.

His lips quivered as he struggled to force the words out of his mouth.

They hadn’t noticed him yet.

"G-G-G-G-Guys? Yo-You are all alive?!"

"...."

The people halted instantly.

One by one, they turned to look at the boy.

Tears began gathering in Asher’s eyes as he stared at each of their faces.

Jack...

Clara...

Jayden...

And Jesse.

His family.

All of them were standing right in front of him.

Alive.

Whole.

Looking at him as though he had completely lost his mind.

Asher’s chest tightened.

What did he mean by asking if they were alive?

They were obviously alive.

From their perspective, there was nothing strange about it.

Yet Asher stared at them as though he had just witnessed a miracle.

Each of their expressions slowly became more confused.

"Er... Asher? What do you mean by that? Did you drink something?"

Jayden asked in a mocking tone, staring at his brother with a raised eyebrow.

"...."

Due to his stunned state, Asher was unable to immediately reply.

Tears streamed down his face as he stared at his family in confusion, his mind struggling desperately to understand what he was seeing.

"Wh-What is happening? Yo-You were all dead. Yo-You all died!"

Asher shouted as he lifted his head and ran a trembling hand through his hair.

His mind was spinning in confusion.

Nothing made sense.

Clara turned to look at her husband for a few moments.

Jack’s eyes remained fixed on Asher’s drenched pajamas.

Especially the top, which looked almost as though he had dipped his entire upper half into a tub of water.

The man sighed before beginning to walk toward his son with unhurried steps.

Hearing the approaching footsteps, Asher’s head snapped upward.

"D-Don’t move! Stay there!"

He shouted, gritting his teeth.

Jack immediately froze.

He was stunned by the tone the boy was using with him.

Clara’s brows knitted almost immediately.

"Is that how to speak to your father? What has come over you?!"

Asher turned to glare at her, his eyes filled with confusion and disbelief.

"Stop speaking like you are my mum! You aren’t. She’s dead! She died in Vespers! Wh-What am I even doing here to begin with? I should be in Ves—"

"—Vespers? We haven’t moved there yet. What are you saying? We’re going in two months."

Jesse butted in, cutting the boy off immediately.

’Huh?!’

Asher blinked in confusion.

He was momentarily stunned by what his sister was saying.

**They hadn’t moved yet?**

Taking advantage of his confusion, Jack immediately stepped forward and placed both hands on the boy’s shoulders.

"Your top is wet. Did you perhaps have a Nightmare?"

"...?!"

Asher’s eyelids fluttered in confusion as he looked directly into Jack’s eyes.

"Nigh—Nightmare?"

The word felt strangely familiar.

Yet at the same time, it felt completely different.

’Why does that word seem different, as if linked to something different that I know of?’

His thoughts became tangled.

Clara sighed and shook her head.

"See why I keep saying you shouldn’t watch horror movies again? Okay, tell me, how did we die?"

She demanded, crossing her arms.

Asher didn’t immediately respond.

He thought for a few seconds as he scanned the faces of each of his family members.

One by one.

Jack.

Clara.

Jayden.

Jesse.

They were all here.

They were all alive.

But when he tried to recall exactly how they had died, something strange happened.

Asher searched through his memory banks.

His lips began to quiver.

"I-I-I can’t-can’t remember. It’s all fr-fragments and pieces."

Jack chuckled and took a step back.

"Then you obviously had a bad dream, kiddo. You must have watched a horror series before bed and then translated it into your dream. Tsk. We haven’t moved to Vespers yet, what are you saying? Hahaha."

Asher frowned.

His mind began rushing and spinning as he desperately tried to recall his memories from when he was in Vespers.

The house.

The Nightmare.

The Shadows.

The Shadow God.

His family dying.

He knew these things had happened.

He was certain.

But the harder he tried to grasp those memories, the more distant they became.

They were slowly turning into something hazy.

Something almost unreal.

Like a distant dream that would disappear the moment one woke up.

The harder Asher tried to remember, the more a certain headache began building inside his mind.

The pain gradually intensified until he was forced to stop.

He couldn’t think anymore.

Lifting his head, he watched Jack wave his hand dismissively.

"Come on now, go change your pajamas and freshen up. Otherwise, you would be late for your last paper today."

Asher blinked.

His eyes slowly shifted toward a particular spot on the wall where the calendar was always hung.

It displayed the date proudly.

**15th June.**

Asher’s pupils trembled slightly.

He had a Chemistry exam today.

It was going to be his final examination paper for high school.

For a moment, he simply stared at the date.

Everything around him felt normal.

Too normal.

"Will you hurry up?"

Clara urged as she began walking toward the kitchen.

Asher blinked before slowly nodding.

"Ye-yeah. I will be back."

He then turned away and rushed toward the stairs, heading back to his room.

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