"Hey, what happened… why are you sleeping on duty? Do you wanna get fired, sucker?" The supervisor's voice, laced with contempt, cut through the stale air of the bunker. His subordinate lay sprawled on the concrete floor, motionless for hours.
"Jeez… not even replying. Hey, wake up, sucker!" He knelt, a sneer twisting his lips as he reached out. His hand brushed against cold skin.
"What… he… he isn't breathing?" A jolt of pure terror ripped through the man. He checked, frantically, repeatedly. No pulse. No rise and fall of the chest. Dead.
"Oh, shit. I need to call someone, fast." The words tumbled out, laced with a growing panic. His breath hitched, ragged and shallow. An inexplicable dread began to gnaw at him, tightening its icy grip around his heart. His pulse hammered against his ribs, a frantic drumbeat of escalating fear.
"Aghhh… why… why is everything becoming dark? Am I… am I losing my consciousness?" The man's voice, a terrified whisper, echoed in the oppressive darkness that now consumed the bunker. No one else was there, just him and the chilling presence of a corpse. His vision constricted, the world shrinking into an inky void. He bolted, screaming.
"Help! Somebody, HELP! My subordinate died! My eyes! AGHHHHHHH! MY EYES! I CAN'T SEE ANYTHING!" His world dissolved into absolute blackness. He screamed, again and again, but only silence answered. He fumbled for his phone, a phantom weight in his pocket, but a terrifying paralysis had seized him. His limbs refused to obey.
As the man slowly, agonizingly, lost his life, it felt as though invisible hands were tightening around his throat, strangling the breath from his lungs. A dark shadow, a malevolent void, coalesced beside him, its form shifting, before a chilling, predatory smile split its inky face.
The news broke like a cold, sharp blade across the city of Refan. From the Refan estate bunker, an inexplicable horror had unfolded.
Two middle-aged men, their lives extinguished by a mysterious hand. The post-mortem revealed no heart failure, no signs of a struggle between them. It was as if something had choked the very life out of them, suffocating them with an unseen force. Yet, the investigators found nothing—no marks on their bodies, no trace of a struggle. Nothing.
This was the ninth such inexplicable death to plague Refan city. The reporter's voice, grim and urgent, warned the public to remain vigilant, to guard themselves and their families. Sky, who had just turned off the television, walked towards his room, the chilling details replaying in his mind. He had just graduated, his thoughts now on finding a suitable college. The apartment felt unnaturally silent with Sillia at school.
"Sillia's summer vacation is starting soon. And I haven't seen you, my dear, and Sillia for quite a long time. So come to the town through the train with Sillia. I have booked both of your tickets to Barman Old Town. Do you get it, son?" His mother's voice, warm and familiar, broke through his thoughts from the other end of the phone.
"Well, okay, Mother, but I need to ask Sillia about it first."
"Oh, don't worry, dear. I've talked to her about it. She was ready to come, so prepare your luggage. See you soon, son, love you. Bye…" Sky stared, momentarily stunned by his mother's blunt certainty, but he conceded.
"Okay, bye, Mother." He hung up, his gaze fixed on the ceiling.
That's not bad, but I don't want to go there. He decided. He would take Sillia, drop her off at his parents' place, and then return to his apartment. He'd talk to her about it after school.
Night fell. Sillia had returned in the evening, but Sky had held his tongue, opting to discuss it over dinner. He was in his room, absorbed in writing in a notebook, when his door swung open. He looked up, a faint smile touching his lips.
"Hungry already?" Sky asked, seeing his sister stride purposefully into his room.
"Anh… no, I just… I just wanna talk." Sillia hopped onto Sky's bed, making herself comfortable.
"Talk about what?" Sky noted her ease, the complete lack of shyness in her movements.
"Mother already told you that, right?" Sillia began. "I do miss Mom and Dad and want to meet them."
"And…?" Sky raised an eyebrow, a hint of suspicion in his gaze.
"And I want you to come with me," Sillia declared, looking directly at him.
Oh, so it was you who wanted me to return to that place, right? Sky thought, a quiet smile playing on his lips. "Sure, young lady, don't worry." He nodded, a thoughtful expression on his face.
His words ignited Sillia's eyes. "So you're going with me, right?" she asked excitedly.
"Uh-huh." Sky nodded again. Sillia beamed, a smug look of satisfaction spreading across her face.
"Good, good. A butler should always follow his young lady. You are a good butler… I approve." Sillia's words dripped with self-congratulation, as if she had just achieved a monumental victory.
"Approve what? Anyway, just to clear things, girl, I am only going with you to drop you off at our parents' house. After that, I will return. But surprisingly, I do make a good butler." Sky glanced back at his book.
"Wait… what? Why?" Sillia asked, confusion clouding her features.
"Because you shouldn't travel alone, that's why. At least not until you're eighteen," Sky stated calmly.
"That's not it! Why are you going to return after dropping me off?" Sillia surged from the bed, moving towards him, where he sat at his desk.
"Well, because I want to. You know I don't want to argue with you, so leave it. And tell me, are you hungry?" Sky asked, a hint of weariness in his tone.
"No! I will not leave it! You are coming with me and staying there. Do you understand?" Sillia's voice rose, her body leaning aggressively towards him.
"Why are you so forceful, huh?" Sky sighed.
"Because I want you to go there!" Sillia declared, and then, with a surprising move, she settled herself onto Sky's thighs.
"Why?"
"I don't want to get bored alone, that's why! And don't ask too many questions. You are just going, that's all." She wiggled her butt slightly, adjusting herself for maximum comfort on his lap.
I know why you don't want to go, because of your girlfriend, hehe, she thought, though she kept it to herself. Finally, Sky relented, and they went to eat dinner together.