Shadow of Death (SOD)

Chapter 70

"Asher! Asher! Asher!"

"Mhm?"

A drowsy response escaped Asher’s lips.

"ASHER!"

"Ye-Yes?!"

Asher jolted upright and immediately glanced around him.

His family was standing around him, staring at him with worried expressions.

’Huh?’

"I... yawn..."

Asher rubbed his face and eyes.

"You fell asleep?" Jayden stated with a raised brow as he stared at his brother.

’Huh?’

Asher blinked repeatedly, rubbing his eyes as he looked around him once more.

One moment, he had been thinking about something, and the next, he was awake?

It felt like he had been sleeping for a few hours, yet somehow, he still wasn’t satisfied.

He yawned once more before letting out a tired sigh.

"It seems so."

Clara stared at him worriedly.

"Are you sure that you are okay? You have been sleeping too much recently. Are you-are you pregnant, perhaps?"

"....?!"

"Mum? You realize that that is biologically impossible, right?" Jesse questioned as she stared at her mother while shaking her head.

Clara scoffed.

"One can’t be too sure."

Asher wasn’t even listening much as his brows knitted together.

"What happened?"

Jayden shrugged.

"We had been discussing something, then we ate our breakfast and came back here to have some nice family time. Along the way, it seemed like you dozed off almost instantly."

Asher scanned his family one by one.

They all nodded in response to Jayden’s explanation.

"We ate breakfast?"

"Uh-huh. Mum had even made her famous meat pie just because of you. She said maybe it would help you feel better."

"She did?" Asher asked again with a raised brow.

"Asher? What’s wrong with you? Why are you asking like you weren’t here with us?" Jack asked with a worried tone.

"...."

Asher thought for a few seconds before slowly turning his gaze toward the wall clock.

It was already 2 p.m.

’Two p.m? Why-Why can’t I remember what happened before now? I don’t even remember having breakfast.’

He frowned deeply as he kept staring at the ground beneath his feet—trying his best to come up with a good enough explanation.

But nothing was coming to mind.

Lifting his head, his gaze landed on Jesse’s hand, which was still holding a half-eaten meat pie.

’...So Mum really did bake one? But why can’t I remember eating it? And-and why do I feel like... ugh...’

A sharp pain suddenly slammed into his skull.

Asher’s eyes squinted as he winced.

"Jay? We-weren’t we discussing something important about Jesse? Wh-What was it?" Asher asked, almost in a whisper as he lowered his head.

His hands moved toward his temples, gently massaging them.

Jayden frowned.

"I actually forgot."

’I see....’

Something was gnawing deeply at Asher’s mind.

He could vaguely remember discussing something about Jesse in the living room when his parents weren’t around.

But the entire concept of the discussion was blank.

Gone.

He couldn’t remember much anymore.

Not even the supposed breakfast they had all eaten together.

But there was one thing nobody knew.

Something was stuck inside Asher’s mind.

A single word.

«Written.»

That word kept appearing in his mind again and again.

It was stuck there.

Refusing to leave.

It sounded like a warning.

But... it wasn’t quite that.

"Asher?"

The boy jolted back to reality, only to see his mum shaking him.

He hadn’t even heard her approach him.

Blinking rapidly to refocus, Asher glanced around before letting out a groan.

"I-I have a headache. I-I will be retiring to my room now," he uttered.

Without even waiting for his family’s approval, he hurried away—leaving them all behind in the living room.

They exchanged glances with one another as they listened to Asher’s footsteps gradually fading up the stairs.

Clara looked toward Jack with a worried expression.

"Will he be okay?"

"..."

Jack stared at the staircase for a few moments.

"Hopefully."

....

Dashing into his room, Asher immediately locked the door before rushing toward his bed.

’Ugh.... What the hell is that? Who-who-who said that?’

His hands clutched his hair tightly as he tried his best to focus on the word.

Written.

It wasn’t as if the word simply kept reappearing in his mind.

No.

It came with a fading voice.

A voice repeating the same word over and over again.

Asher desperately tried to get a hold of it.

"Who—?"

He suddenly froze.

His eyes widened as the voice abruptly became clearer.

"Ba.... thump...."

It-It-It was his voice.

The voice belonged to him.

’Why—? I don’t recall saying that. Was it...?’

He frowned once more.

The word had been echoing in the deepest parts of his subconscious, as if it had been trying to tell him something ever since he woke up a few moments ago.

"A dream? Did I dream before I got woken up?"

His eyes narrowed as he stared blankly at the wall.

’Written... written... written... what does that mean? A warning? A quote? Or a code?’

He rubbed his face a few times before deciding to sit properly on the ground, his gaze fixed on the empty space in front of him.

His mind spun as he desperately tried to figure out why such a strange word would be echoing inside his head in his own voice.

The way it had been spoken sounded urgent.

Real urgent.

As if his own voice had been desperately trying to catch his attention and pull him back toward reality.

’Reality... Written... why would my subconscious be nagging me about written? And-and what does it even mean?’

He groaned inwardly while clutching his hair in his hands.

He was one step away from pulling at it from the sheer frustration he felt at that moment.

But then—

He paused.

’Written! Of course. That is it!’

His eyes widened.

He suddenly sprang to his feet, his gaze scouring the room like a hawk.

"Wh-Where could it be?"

’If... if that was a dream, then it means I was the one speaking to myself? And if I know myself well, then it means I would have kept it in a place only I could find it.’

Without another thought, Asher dashed toward his bathroom.

’...Keep it in a place I will find it and where nobody would think to look....’

He pushed the door open and rushed inside before locking it behind him.

Then he dashed toward the mirror.

Staring at his reflection, a smirk slowly formed on his face.

’Myself....’

His gaze remained fixed on his reflection as he reached out and touched the edge of the mirror.

Then he pulled.

The mirror swung open, revealing a small vault hidden behind it.

Asher quickly inputted the code before pulling the vault open.

Inside was a stash of comics and manga.

Newest editions.

Vintage editions.

Years’ worth of collections were neatly stored within.

But that wasn’t what he was after.

’Written....’

He reached inside and began rummaging through the clear rows of books.

His fingers moved past one book after another until they finally stopped on one stored far behind the others.

Reaching for it, he slowly pulled it out.

It was different from the countless comics and manga surrounding it.

And that was because this was neither a comic nor a manga.

It was just a normal, regular book with plain features and a simple cover.

Yet something was drawing Asher toward it.

His heart raced as his fingers tightened around the cover of the notebook.

He swallowed hard as he stared at it.

His mind reeled.

He didn’t remember ever putting this book here.

The comics and manga?

Yes.

He remembered storing them here since he had collected them over the years.

But this one?

He didn’t.

For some reason, the notebook didn’t even seem to exist anywhere within his memories.

Inhaling and exhaling sharply, Asher slowly opened the notebook.

Flip—!

And there, right in front of him, were tons of logs.

Not wooden logs.

Written logs—akin to a journal of sorts.

And the handwriting....

His eyes widened.

’It’s-It’s mine.’

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