Shadow of Death (SOD)

Chapter 74

The door creaked open as Asher walked inside, only to see his family running around unhurriedly—like they were preparing for something.

"Huh? What’s happening?" he asked with a raised brow.

Jayden and Jesse halted in sync, almost as if they had already planned how to move.

They slowly turned to face Asher, who closed the door behind him without turning around.

"Ssssh." Jayden motioned with a finger against his lips as he looked at his brother.

Slowly approaching his siblings with a lifted brow, Asher looked around.

Then, he lowered his voice.

"What’s up?"

Jesse stepped forward.

"Dad and Mum are having quite the argument inside, and it’s quite intense. Jayden and I were thinking of what to do to break up the argument and restore peace."

’Huh?’

Asher looked around and then listened.

Indeed, he could hear his mum’s voice rising from his parents’ bedroom with each passing second.

"What happened?"

Jayden sighed and shook his head.

"Well, Dad brought up the issue of moving to the new city since he just got a promotion. He wanted to discuss how everything will go, but Mum wasn’t having it. She didn’t want to move the whole family over to a completely different city."

"....?!"

Asher’s brows knit in confusion as he stared at his siblings.

"Huh? Why is she having a problem with it now? Haven’t we discussed this before?"

Jayden exchanged glances with Jesse.

"Discussed? When was that? Dad just announced his promotion yesterday and was bringing up the matter of moving today. When did he discuss that with you?" Jesse asked with a lifted brow.

"....?!"

Asher was more than confused now.

Something was wrong.

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

Wasn’t the decision that they would move to the new city in two months?

Wait... he had already spent two years in this strange situation, so two months had already passed.

’What is going on?!’

Before he could open his mouth to say something, a low ding from the wall clock was heard.

This drew his attention as he turned to glance at it.

His eyes stretched wide in increasing horror.

"Ba... thump...."

His hands began to jitter slightly as he stared at it.

The hands of the clock were—were moving backwards.

’Wha—?!’

"Asher? Is everything okay?" Jesse called out with her usual sweet, charming voice.

Asher slowly turned his neck in her direction.

His mum’s voice was still rising. The hands of the clock were moving backwards.

His missing memories and now, the smile from Jesse looked worrying.

Digging his hand into his pocket, he immediately pulled out his phone to check the time.

[7:61]

’What? Sixty what? Hang on.... Sixty seconds make one minute. Sixty minutes make one hour....’

Asher recited the phrase in his head again just to be sure.

’How is this possible?’

His gaze slowly dropped downward some more to the date staring at him.

[June 34th, Wednesday.]

’No, No, No. This is all wr—’

"Asher? Is anything the problem?" Jayden called out once more as his face twisted in worry.

His voice drew the boy out of his thoughts almost immediately as he zoned back in on his siblings’ faces.

’Play along. Play along. Something is wrong, but go with the flow.’

With a silent inhale and then exhale of air, his hands stopped shaking.

A smile flashed across his face almost immediately.

"I’m fine. I was just thinking of a way to help our parents’ situation. But nothing is coming to mind, so let’s just wait till they are done."

He paused dramatically as if he was thinking deeply.

Then he added,

"... We can help them out at dinner when they have somewhat cooled down."

Jesse beamed immediately as she heaved a sigh of relief.

"Yes. That’s a good idea."

Jayden scanned Asher a few times with a suspicious look.

As if noticing this, Asher turned to look at his brother.

He flashed him a smile.

"Has Mum perhaps prepared dinner?"

"...."

’If what my previous self jotted down about seeing Jayden and Mum’s grave is true, then I need to be cautious. I still don’t know what I’m dealing with, aside from the fact that I’m in a trance or sleep-like state if my previous selves were urging me to wake up.’

Jayden rubbed his face.

"Actually, she hasn’t."

Asher clapped his hands together with a wide smile.

"Great. Let’s help her for today and cook some dinner for the family. That should calm her anger down just a bit so we can speak to her."

Jayden nodded with a soft smile on his face.

"Good idea."

Asher turned to face Jesse while pointing towards the kitchen.

"Come on. Let’s go."

Jesse grabbed his arm and began leading him towards the kitchen.

Jayden lingered for a few seconds, staring at his brother’s back.

"Uh... I will come along."

"...."

Asher paused his steps and turned his head around with a raised brow.

"Why? You hate kitchen duties, yeah?"

Jayden smirked.

"Hating it doesn’t mean I can’t help. Besides, I don’t trust yo....your cooking. Who knows? We might start visiting the toilet repeatedly today."

Asher thought for a few seconds.

His sharp mind and observation didn’t miss the sudden halt in between his brother’s words.

He didn’t think too much of it, though, and simply shrugged.

"Well, sure. Let’s go."

And with that, the three siblings headed for the kitchen to prepare a lovely dinner for the family.

At the same time, Clara’s voice was lowering and wasn’t as loud as it had been before.

It seemed like Jack was slowly breaking through her furious wall and speaking some sense into her.

Though each time she spoke, her voice still carried a few tinges of anger that echoed throughout the whole house.

The sound of cutlery working in the kitchen mixed with a few shouts here and there.

The kids tried their best not to burn the whole house down with their cooking.

They worked roughly together, trying their best to make their work as seamless as possible.

’As the saying goes; when in Rome, do as the Romans do. So.... let’s play.... Simple thoughts...’ Asher mused inwardly as he grabbed the salt container and began sprinkling it into the food with an inward smile.

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