Chapter 5
Silas didn't sleep.
Not really.
He just lay there, eyes fixed on the ceiling, unmoving, unblinking. Hours passed. The night gave way to dawn. The sun crawled slowly across the windowpane, casting golden lines across the floor. But Silas didn't move.
There was no need to.
Sleep felt... unnecessary now.
Whatever had happened to him in that cocoon, whatever the spider had done, had altered more than his body. It had touched something deeper—his sense of time, his need for rest, even the rhythm of his breath.
The alarm on his phone eventually went off, a soft trill cutting through the silence.
He reached out and turned it off gently.
Then sat up.
---
He stood, bones cracking faintly as he stretched. His movements were calm, deliberate.
He went to the dresser and opened a drawer. His clothes didn't fit anymore.
The jeans clung too tight around his legs. The shirts stopped above his wrists. Everything looked like it had shrunk—except it hadn't.
He had grown.
His body was taller, his shoulders broader. Muscle had carved itself into his frame like he'd spent years training in secret. His arms, once lean, were now strong. His back wide and powerful.
Silas rummaged until he found a loose t-shirt and baggy pants he had bought a year ago. They were too big back then. He used to laugh at himself in the mirror for even trying them on.
Now they fit perfectly.
No money for new clothes. No family to ask for help. No one to notice, anyway.
He threw on the shirt, pulled the pants on, and slipped into his old shoes—tight, but wearable. Then he grabbed a worn-out hoodie, slid it over his head, and slung a bag over his shoulder.
He walked out of his small house and shut the door behind him.
---
The morning air hit his face like a whisper.
It was the first time he'd stepped outside in two months.
Well… for everyone else, it was two months.
For Silas, it felt like a lifetime
The cocoon hadn't followed time the way the world did. Inside it, everything slowed—became weightless. There was no hunger. No sound. No fear. Just stillness. Just change.
But in his heart… it felt like years.
Because what came out of that cocoon wasn't the same boy that went in.
Silas had promised himself he'd do good.
He still wanted to.
But he wasn't the same.
Not anymore.
---
The city moved around him as he walked. People glanced his way, then looked again.
There was something about him now.
Something different.
He didn't look back. He didn't meet their eyes. His hoodie was pulled over his head, casting a shadow over his face. But people still noticed. Something in the way he moved—too steady, too quiet. Like a predator in disguise.
Cars passed. Buses rumbled. The smell of food and street fumes mixed in the air.
But Silas barely felt any of it.
He just walked.
Until the school gates rose in front of him.
Same old school.
Same cracked sidewalk. Same chipped paint. Same buzz of early-morning chatter.
He stood outside the gate for a moment, just looking.
It hadn't changed.
Not even a little.
---
Silas sighed and stepped through the gates.
Students walked past him without recognizing him at first. But then the murmurs began.
"Who's that?"
"Is he new?"
"He looks… hot."
Whispers followed him down the hall like shadows.
He didn't react.
Just kept walking.
The hallways felt familiar but distant—like remembering a dream you didn't want to return to. He passed lockers, classrooms, old posters still taped to walls. Everything the same.
Everything but him.
He found his class. The door was open. The teacher hadn't arrived yet.
He stepped inside.
---
The chatter inside the room dulled as people noticed him.
He didn't say a word. Just scanned the classroom and saw his old seat—right next to Peter.
He walked over and sat down.
No smile.
No nod.
Just silence.
He wasn't angry.
He wasn't the type to throw tantrums or hold grudges like a child.
But he wasn't going to pretend, either.
Not anymore.
The weight inside his chest wasn't rage. It wasn't sadness.
It was something worse.
Emptiness.
Like all the feelings he used to cover with a smile were still hiding there—just quieter now.
Peter turned to him, confused. His eyes scanned Silas's face, his hair, his shoulders… then widened.
"...Silas?"
Silas turned his head, met his friend's gaze. He forced a small smile.
Not the bright, charming one he used to wear.
This one was different.
Subdued. Hollow. Practiced.
"It's been a while, Peter."
Peter's mouth fell open. "Dude—where have you been?"
Silas could have said it.
He could've said, You didn't even try to call me.
He could've asked, Did you care at all?
But instead, he just nodded softly. "I was a little sick. Stayed home."
Peter blinked. "For two months?"
Silas shrugged. "Yeah."
Behind him, MJ sat a row back. She looked up from her notebook and saw his back for the first time.
The size of it.
The broadness of his shoulders.
The way his hoodie clung to a frame that definitely hadn't been there before.
She raised an eyebrow. "Wow…"
Others began to notice too.
Whispers rose again—this time louder.
"Wait… is that Silas?"
"He looks different."
"Did he hit the gym every day for two months or something?"
"Dude's jacked."
Silas didn't react.
He didn't care about the attention.
It meant nothing.
If all it took for them to notice him again was muscles and height, then they had never seen him in the first place.
---
The teacher entered a minute later, silencing the class with a wave.
But even as the lesson began, Silas felt eyes on him.
Peter leaned over slightly. "I seriously thought you moved or something. We didn't hear anything from you."
Silas didn't look at him. "Yeah… I figured."
Peter hesitated. "Well, hey. It's good to have you back, man."
Silas nodded. "Thanks."
But the words felt like smoke.
They disappeared the moment they were spoken.
---
He stared ahead as the teacher began talking about the topic on the board. But his mind drifted.
Two months.
Nobody noticed.
Now they did—because he looked different.
Because he seemed different.
But inside, he'd always been this version of himself.
Quiet. Questioning. Alone.
He had just buried it under a good boy's smile.
The silence.
The absence.
The disappointment.
Now it was all out in the open.
And he wasn't hiding anymore.
---
You can contact me through my official page on the following Accounts:
telegram:
miraclenarrator
tiktok:
miracle_narrator
instagram:
miracle_narrator