Shadow of Death (SOD)

Chapter 58

"How was the exam?"

Asher smiled a bit and then replied.

"It was good. Actually, nice. After the exam, the others went crazy in the school and turned the whole thing upside down." He chuckled silently.

Then he paused for a moment.

Something moved in his heart.

It was like a pang of emotion, something buried deep within him, suddenly stirring from somewhere he couldn’t reach.

’Huh?’

"Oh, really? Judging by how long you spent in school before returning, I’m sure you really missed your classmates and wanted to stay with them longer." Jayden spoke with a taunting look on his face.

Asher’s brows knit as he thought back to the moment he walked into the house.

How he had misread the time.

’...Did I even misread? There’s no way my observant eyes wouldn’t have grasped that. Or am I hal—’

"By the way, Dad, why do you still keep going to work even though you got a promotion to another city?" Jesse questioned with a confused look on her face.

"...."

Jack smiled.

"Just because I got a promotion and a transfer doesn’t mean that I won’t still work. If I don’t work this month, how will I get my salary to take care of the house?"

Jesse thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Good point."

Thinking for a few moments, Asher grinned.

"By the way, Dad, what about the laptop I wanted you to get for me? I really need one, to be honest."

Jack glanced at Asher.

Then he reached out for his cup and took a sip of water.

"Hm. A laptop, huh? What do you even need one for?"

Asher’s smile faltered for a moment.

His heart began beating faster, fear creeping into his chest at the thought that his father might reject his request.

"The thing is that I might need it in the university."

Jack shook his head.

"There are already a lot of things we need to get. Especially since we will be moving in less than two months. I need to save every penny I can get."

"Bu—"

The hands on the wall clock ticked backward for a second.

Jack shook his head.

"There are already a lot of things we need to get. Especially since we will be moving in less than two months. I need to save every penny I can get."

Asher paused.

’Huh?’

He blinked while looking at his father.

"Uh... didn’t you just say that a second ago?"

Jack blinked.

"Said what?"

Asher’s heart was beating in fright as he lifted his head and stared at the wall clock, which was ticking as normally as it could.

He didn’t know if he was imagining it, but it sounded like the clock had let out a small chime a second ago.

The same chime.

The one it had made the first time.

His eyes widened slightly.

The clock only let out such a chime at the sixtieth minute.

Yet it had just happened twice.

The first time...

And then the second time, right when Jack repeated his words.

"....!!!"

’Okay? This is creepy. What is going on with me?’

"Asher? Asher? Asher?!"

At the third call, the boy jolted back to reality and saw Jesse waving her hand in the air, trying to get his attention.

"Yes?"

Clara looked at her son with a suspicious stare.

"Your father was asking you something."

"Hm? What was that?" Asher asked with a raised brow.

Jack gazed at his son for a few moments, worry visible in his eyes.

"Champ, are you okay?"

Asher blinked in confusion.

"Ye-yeah? Why?"

"You have been behaving weirdly since you woke up this morning." Jesse blurted out.

"Right? Thought I was the only one who noticed." Jayden butted in.

Then he turned towards his brother sitting right beside him.

"Sure you okay?"

Asher nodded.

"I just have a slight headache."

"It seems like you had a stressful day today. Probably you should go back to your room and rest." Clara uttered with a worried look on her face.

Asher thought for a few seconds, then nodded.

"Mhm. I guess I will go back to my room."

He grabbed his dirty plate and walked towards the kitchen to do his dishes.

Behind him, his family stared at his back with stoic expressions on their faces.

Asher walked into the kitchen and didn’t waste time cleaning it up.

Within a minute or two, he was done.

He scanned the kitchen until he found what he was looking for.

Reaching out, he grabbed a piece of clothing and began wiping his hands with it while standing in front of the refrigerator.

’Man... I think I’m running mad. Why do I feel like some of these events, I have lived them before? While at times, things just become weird. And why the hell are my memories of the days before today so missing and hazy?’

His mind was occupied with the thought as he wiped his hands clean before proceeding to return the fabric to the top of the refrigerator.

Heaving a sigh, he looked down and was about to reach for a drink when something caught his attention.

Something was plastered on the door of the refrigerator.

’Huh?’

Asher paused.

It looked like a torn piece of a newspaper.

His brows furrowed slightly as he crouched down to examine the news.

His eyes scanned the small piece of paper.

Then they caught a single word.

"Vespers...."

His heart gave a slight jolt.

He was about to continue reading when—

"Huh? Thought you were leaving for your room?" Jesse’s voice could be heard calling out from the entrance.

Asher turned to look at her for a moment before glancing back at the newspaper.

His eyes widened for a second.

It was—

The newspaper was gone.

’What the fuck?!’

His gaze remained fixed on the empty refrigerator door.

Nothing.

Not even a torn piece of paper.

"Anything the problem?" Jesse called out again as she walked fully into the kitchen.

Asher didn’t give a reply for several moments.

His mind was still trying to process what he had just seen.

’I wasn’t imagining it, yeah? That paper was here a second ago. So where did it vanish to?’

"Asher....?"

"Ugh...." Asher groaned silently as he grabbed his pounding head.

The pain throbbed against his skull, forcing him to squeeze his eyes shut.

He waited for a few seconds.

Gradually, the headache receded.

Asher slowly rose back to his feet.

’Why does my head even pound? It’s almost like I haven’t had a sound sleep in days. Uh... what was I thinking about before?’

He thought, his eyes blinking as he stared at the empty spot on the refrigerator.

For some reason, he couldn’t remember why he was even standing in front of it.

He tried to think back.

Nothing.

The thought was simply gone.

So he gave up and turned away, beginning to walk back to his room.

As he was leaving, Jesse stared at his back for a second with a raised brow.

"Wonder what is wrong with him."

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