The moment everything went dark, Jack started rummaging through his bag with trembling hands.
From the outside, he just looked nervous — but inside, it was pure chaos.
— "WHERE IS THAT DAMN KEY?!" he shouted, flipping the bag upside down in panic.
Right beside him, Edwin, with a nearly contagious kind of rage, opened his bottomless suitcase.
Instead of reaching inside, he dove straight in.
Seconds later, a white door flew out, and Edwin popped out right after.
Venus, tense, tried to catch the door mid-air — but missed.
The edge of the wood grazed her arm, slicing it open.
Teeth clenched in pain, she grabbed the door and slammed it into the ground.
Zoe started trembling.
She was scared. Truly scared.
— "V-Veenu-th... I-I'm thcareth... I'm really thcareth..." she said, voice small and shaky, choked with fear.
She cried.
Not sobbing — she cried in silence. But with the weight of a fear that crushed the chest.
Venus turned back into a cat and jumped onto Zoe's lap, trying to calm her the only way she knew how.
— "Shhh... I'm here... we'll be home real soon..."
She tried to sound strong — but inside, she was almost as scared as Zoe.
Jack finally found the key.
Hands still shaking, he reached for the lock.
But before he could turn it, a blinding light exploded behind them.
The boy — the one still on the ground — started screaming.
He was crying blood.
Trembling.
Trying to speak, but no full word came out.
The group turned.
The boy was in shock.
Traumatized.
Terrified.
He saw something behind them.
An entity.
A being too large for the mind to grasp.
Just being near it… bent reality.
Its skin was made of human body parts.
Its "mouth" was a smiling eye — and the smile stretched where its own eyes should've been.
And its "teeth"? Fingers. Jammed deep into the eye, making it bleed.
Instead of eyes, mouths sat on each side of its head.
Around each mouth, fingers forced them open at all times.
Inside… only the void. But the longer you stared, the more your mind began to split.
And the monster laughed.
Its laugh was a choir of screams, agony, and twisted joy — a sound that rattled every spine in the room.
The boy passed out.
Panicked, Jack twisted the key.
The door burst open.
They all rushed in.
Jack carried the boy in his arms — the last one through, walking backwards, not daring to look at the creature.
The moment the door shut, it vanished.
Like a black hole had swallowed it.
The monster, who was laughing just moments ago… now screamed.
With pure, guttural rage.
On the other side — a bridge.
A bridge leading to a house… but both the bridge and the house were upside down.
And the moment they touched the twisted wood, gravity flipped against them.
They flipped, too.
Above them now: the ground.
They were high in the sky — and since there were no clouds, they could see massive creatures and objects walking below, or floating in the air.
Below them — where the sky used to be — was a sea.
Not infinite, but vast.
It looked like it was waiting for them.
On the bridge, long creatures moved slowly, with flames for heads.
Their skin bulged, like people were trapped inside — hands pressing from under the flesh.
In the sea-sky, there was a single giant human eye.
Just one.
But big enough to cover the entire heavens.
Inside the house, they could still hear the monster breathing.
The roars.
The pounding on the door.
As if hell itself was knocking — demanding to come in.
Edwin stayed silent.
His face twisted with rage — the kind that comes from trying to hide fear.
He felt awful about the boy.
Zoe was no longer crying quietly.
She sobbed and wailed.
Venus, surprisingly, was far calmer now. Her only concern was soothing Zoe.
She turned back into her humanoid form and grabbed a stuffed animal from the shelf, offering it to Zoe in her place.
Zoe clutched the toy like her life depended on it.
And cried even harder.
Venus took her to her room.
Jack laid the boy down on the couch, pulled a chair up, and sat in front of him.
He noticed a name on the boy's shirt: "Muta."
Guilt pressed heavy on Jack's chest.
Anxiety followed right after.
Inside Jack's mind:
"Muta, huh?"
His leg started bouncing.
_"Weird name..."_
The bouncing got faster.
Soon, the world around him faded into silence.
_"How could I let this happen?"_
_"It's all my fault."_
_"I was so excited to meet someone new… I forgot the time."_
He put his hands on his head.
_"It's all my fault..."_
He was on the edge of a panic attack when Edwin touched his shoulder.
— _"I know what you're thinking. But it's not your fault. It's no one's fault."_
— _"We were just… happy to meet someone new."_ Edwin's voice was gentle, despite the anger and worry on his face.
— _"C'mon. Let's get changed and get some rest. When he wakes up, all of this'll be over."_
Jack and Edwin left for their rooms.
Before exiting, Jack glanced back at Muta one last time…
Then kept walking.
Trying to believe Edwin's words.