As Nox watched the creature, he could feel its gaze fixed on him, despite not seeing its physical form, hidden behind the shelves and shadows. His skin prickled, and his heart raced faster than usual. It felt as though the creature was breathing down his neck, its presence suffocating, though he couldn't see it clearly. His fingers dug into the edges of his jacket, the faint smell of dust mixing with the heavy air. The small stand-off gave Nox a moment to think, but it only deepened his unease.

  Why did they trust my words so easily? He suddenly wondered. How could they?

  He had claimed to the group that he'd been here before, but how could they simply trust that? Especially with the monsters only appearing during the night or early morning—had they not questioned how he knew so much? It didn’t make sense. He wouldn't have had many reasons to visit this store on the same day.

  A cold shiver ran down his spine.

  There’s no way—the thought terrified him, but he couldn't shake it.

  “Say, Nataly?” he tried to keep his voice casual, but it trembled despite his best effort.

  “What?” her voice rang out, distant but still warm.

  “When did those monsters first appear?” Nox asked, hoping his voice wasn’t as shaky as it felt. His hands, though hidden, were trembling as though they had a mind of their own.

  “Huh?” Nataly emerged from the small room, her cart half-filled with various medicines. She glanced at him, confused. “What kind of question is that?”

  “I…” Nox faltered, unsure how to explain the bizarre thought eating at him. Should he mention his encounter with the other monster, how he’d fainted, or how the passage of time seemed more warped than he'd realized? Instead, he settled on a lie. “I wasn’t feeling well those past few days,” he said, his voice quick, avoiding her gaze. “So time... passed in a blur.” He couldn’t bring himself to face her.

  “Are you feeling better now?” her concerned voice asked as she approached him from behind.

  “Don’t.” Nox snapped, instinctively extending his arms to stop her. “Just... tell me how many days have passed.”

  Nataly’s voice softened as she observed him. “It’s been… three days.”

  Three days. Nox felt as though the ground shifted beneath him, the weight of the words sinking into his chest like lead. Three days? His mind raced. Had he misheard?

  He asked again, needing confirmation, but the answer remained unchanged.

  His body felt heavy, like it was betraying him. The dizziness when he first tried to stand, the way his vision grayed—at the time, he’d written it off as a result of collapsing too suddenly, maybe even from hitting his head. But now, with everything piling up, he couldn’t deny it any longer.

  His joints ached, stiff and on the verge of giving out. His exhaustion was bone-deep, as if he’d been running on fumes for far too long. He’d convinced himself it was just the aftereffects of constant movement, the result of hiding from monsters, the constant tension, the constant fear. But it wasn’t that. It was more.

  The headache had been there, persistent and unyielding. It never left, no matter how long he rested. He’d dismissed it as stress, as something he’d have to power through. But now, it was like a dull, constant throb in the back of his skull.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Nox paused, a new thought creeping into his mind.

  "Maybe that hollow feeling I had when I was staring at the spider wasn’t just me getting used to their presence. Maybe it was something else. Maybe I’ve been ignoring my body’s warning signs all along."

  Then, the hunger hit him again. But this time, it wasn’t the usual gnawing emptiness. The thought of food made him feel sick, his stomach lurching in revolt. The nausea threatened to rise, suffocating him, pulling him under. He gagged, his chest tightening with the heaviness of it all.

  "Am I really this bad off?" His mind hesitated. "What’s happening to me?"

  He could barely trust his own body. It was like everything—his body, the monsters, even the world itself—was falling apart. And he wasn’t sure how to hold it all together anymore. He used to know the creatures, studied them, understood their ways. Now, they felt alien, like something he couldn’t understand.

  And his body? It had become just as alien, betraying him in ways he hadn’t anticipated.

  But despite everything, there was one thing he was certain of.

  “Go,” he urged Nataly, his voice clipped, refusing to break his focus on the creature’s location.

  Maybe it was the tone in his voice, or the way he was standing so rigid, but Nataly seemed to realize something. She froze, fear slipping through her defences.

  "He never once looked at me". A sudden thought flashed in her mind, and the terror hit her all at once. She tried to stay calm, but the fear clutched her throat.

  “No,” she shook her head, the bravado in her voice forced. “I’m not leaving you behind.” She scanned the shelves around them, searching desperately for something, anything, to use as a weapon.

  “It hasn’t moved since I started watching it,” Nox said, and with each word, the pain in his chest deepened. His frustration was mounting. "Why is this happening now?"

  “If that thing doesn’t kill me…” He gripped the box in his pocket tightly, his nails digging into the fabric.

  “Still…” Her voice wavered, uncertain.

  “What’s the point of both of us getting caught?” Nox shot back, his tone biting. “Besides, we’re not even sure it’s here to kill us.”

  Nataly felt torn, her insides screaming to stay, but the terror that urged her to run was almost overpowering. She thought of the others at the shelter—people depending on her to come back.

  “Are you sure it’s there?” she whispered, her voice barely a breath.

  “Yes,” Nox confirmed, his voice pained but unwavering. “Just go... I’ll be fine.”

  He wasn’t sure if he could trust his own senses anymore, but he knew one thing for sure. At the age of 10, he’d made a decision: he wouldn’t fear the monsters. He wouldn’t see them as creatures to be hunted, but as beings that shared the world with them. There were good and bad humans, just as there were good and bad monsters.

  Nataly hesitated, but then she pushed her cart away, careful not to make a sound. Nox stayed still, his eyes locked on the shifting shadows.

  He hoped the creature wouldn’t notice her—wouldn’t go after her. But its gaze never left him. It was entirely focused on him, and Nataly was allowed to retreat safely.

  "Guys," Nataly’s voice crackled over the radio, panic threading through the static. “The creature is near the pharmacy. It’s time to go.”

  The radio buzzed to life, the voices coming through were all anxious.

  “What’s happening?” Mike’s voice broke through.

  Nox answered, his voice sharp. “I’m looking at it,” he confirmed, the words straining against the tightness in his throat. “It doesn’t seem to move while someone’s watching it.” His breath hitched, and he had to suppress a cough, his lungs aching from the effort. “Just tell me when everyone is out, and let’s see if it’s here to scare us or kill us.”

  For a moment, there was silence. The others were unsure—torn between the gratitude they felt for Nox staying behind and the shame of not being able to do the same.

  It wasn’t long before Mike’s voice came back, firm and clear. “We’re out.”

  Relief washed over Nox. For a brief moment, he allowed himself to bow his head, and his body gave way to a violent fit of coughs. His lungs burned, his throat raw, but it was that instant—just those few seconds—that the creature lunged.

  A slick flash of shadow, its fur patchy and thin. A grin too wide, stretching over rows of needle-thin teeth. When Nox lifted his head, his lungs still recovering, he saw it—two dim, glowing lights burned through the darkness. Not looking at him, but through him.

  Its body was wrong—too long, too fluid—like it had been stitched together out of scraps that didn’t belong.

  Nox barely had time to flinch before the creature was right there, too close for comfort, the stench of damp fur and copper filling the air. The monster moved faster than he could react, and the world seemed to blur around him.