Shadow of Death (SOD)

Chapter 68

It didn’t take long for Asher to get back home.

He didn’t even have the time to bid Rick goodnight, as the boy had long left him behind and must have reached his house long before Asher could even board a bus.

....Well, his neighbours surely would have their sleep disturbed tonight.

With the help of a text, Jayden managed to sneak Asher back into the house.

All without alerting their sleeping family.

Quickly reaching his room, Asher silently entered the shower and began scrubbing his body—most especially his legs.

He kept concentrating on his legs for some reason as the water rushed loudly around him.

By now, his family should have been alerted, and his father, who was usually a light sleeper, should have woken up already.

But for some reason, Jack hadn’t woken up yet.

So Asher was able to take his shower without interruption.

After cleaning his body, he quickly jumped back into bed.

Letting out a breath of relief, Asher exhaled and glanced at the clock beside him.

The time was already 1 AM.

They had left home by 9 PM and returned by 1.

’Damn. How come time moves so fast? It felt like we spent just an hour there. Man.... I’m not doing this again.’

As his eyelids grew heavy and sleep threatened to take him away, a gnawing feeling of worry crept into his mind.

’Why do I feel like I’m forgetting something?’

His thoughts became sluggish, but he remained adamant about recalling whatever was bothering him.

But no matter how hard he tried, only the events of the cemetery remained fresh in his mind.

’Cemetery.... Yeah. Hadn’t I seen something important there? Wh-What was it?’

Sleep became more pressing.

It felt like if he didn’t sleep right now, he would die.

Yawning for what felt like the thirtieth time in just two minutes, he rubbed his face before exhaling.

’Man.... No use giving myself a headache. Let’s just sleep. Tomorrow, I will find a way to recall it.’

With one final yawn, Asher let out a satisfied sigh.

Within minutes, he was already in the hands of sleep.

As soft, silent snores escaped his lips, the door to his room slowly creaked open.

"...."

Standing at the entrance was a figure with its hands clutched behind its back.

Its gaze was fixed ahead.

Its face and features remained hidden by the darkness of the hallway.

Though there was a small, dim bulb illuminating the room, its light barely reached the figure.

It looked almost like a shadow.

Obsidian.

As if it absorbed the light around it completely.

The figure lingered there for several seconds, silently staring at Asher.

Its gaze slowly scanned the room before it began walking backward.

And soon, the door slowly closed on its own as the figure disappeared into the darkness.

Click—!

The door shut silently while Asher continued enjoying his sleep like a newborn baby.

.....

Morning came quickly, but Asher remained unaware as he continued enjoying his deep sleep.

His alarm clock rang and rang until it eventually stopped.

There were several knocks on his door.

Some heavy.

Some soft.

Yet, Asher didn’t wake up.

It felt like he was trapped in some kind of trance—one so deep that even the distractions of the world couldn’t pull him out of it.

A satisfied smile rested on his lips as if he was having a pleasant dream.

But he wasn’t.

He hadn’t dreamed once during the past few days he had spent here.

Just when it seemed like Asher would never wake up—

Ding!

A notification chime from his phone rang out.

Almost immediately, Asher’s eyes snapped wide open.

"Yawn.... Oh! That was a great sleep." He uttered in the middle of a yawn.

His arms stretched above his head.

He let out a breath of relief before glancing toward his phone lying on the small table beside his bed.

Reaching for it, he rubbed his eyes a few times before seeing that it was a text from Rick.

{Good morning, idiot. Hope you slept well after last night? I’m still sore all over though.}

Asher blinked a few times.

’Huh....?’

Then he typed:

"Fool. Why do you make it sound like we both did something together last night? If someone else had seen this text, they would have thought something else. You’re really such a dumbass.... Dumbass."

He hit send, then dropped his phone and let out a huff of annoyance.

Throwing the blanket to the side, he looked up at the clock hanging on his wall.

’Huh?’

The time was already 10 AM.

’I slept this long? Damn... this is a first even for me. But why did nobody wake me up?’

He frowned before rubbing his face a few times.

Yawning and stretching one more time, he decided to go take his shower.

A few minutes later, he was done.

Grabbing his phone, he headed toward his door.

Then he halted.

’Uh... what was it? A dream?’

He frowned as an image suddenly flashed through his mind.

It was of him kneeling in a foggy environment.

And in front of him were two graves.

Clara’s.

And Jayden’s.

He was crying.

Mourning them.

Asher took half a step backward, his brows knitting tightly.

’... What sort of dream is that though?’

But then, an even more confusing thought appeared in his mind.

’Hang on.... It’s been a while since I last dreamt, so what is this? And also...’

His mind churned as a distant memory flashed through his thoughts for the slightest of seconds.

But the boy was fast enough to catch it.

It was of him waking up on the day of his final exam and shouting at his family.

’Huh? Why was I shouting?’

His brows furrowed in deep thought as the memory of that morning became hazy.

Almost like a dream.

And come to think of it, that day was just a week ago.

So why did it seem like he couldn’t remember much?

A sentence.

He remembered shouting a sentence.

"You all are dead. That’s not possible. You all died."

’Died?’

The image of the two graves flashed through his mind once more.

’Were those two events dreams? Or am I forgetting something important?’

The seed of doubt was planted.

But just as he was about to dig deeper into his thoughts—

Tok! Tok! Tok!

A loud knock on his door broke through his thoughts.

Asher jolted out of his daze and glanced toward the door.

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