The bell rang. Lily's pen stopped just a second before the sound reached her ears. She closed the notebook, straightened her posture, and covered her ears.
A quiet exhale. Controlled and calculated. Nothing happened. Just some noise.
Chairs scraped back, someone groaned and the backrow threw a joke only they laughed about.
"Alright, alright, settle down, everyone" Mister Garcia clapped his hands, trying to regain attention.
He answered questions about next weeks drills and answered questions about assigned homework. Not the kind regular students expected.
Weak point diagrams, analysis, risk assessments.
Lily packed her bag as the classroom slowly emptied out.
Then he came to her desk.
"So, I guess you're getting used to it now."
Lily turned around.
"You know," he motioned toward the bell.
Lily looked back at him searching his gaze for something that wasn't there.
"Hello Mister Garcia." Her voice even and polite. "Yeah, it doesn't startle me as much anymore."
Garcia stood near the desk, one hand resting on the edge of it, the other loosely holding his marker. He wasn't blocking her path but wasn't smiling too much either.
He glanced around the emptying classroom.
The noise slowly faded. Footsteps moved further down the hallway.
For a second, there was only the hum of lights.
—
"You seem focused lately."
Lily adjusted the strap on her shoulder.
"I'm fine."
"Good."
He didn't argue.
"Just make sure you don't burn yourself out. It's the weekend. Even the best students need some rest."
Rest.
Lily's fingers tightened around the strap.
"I'll manage."
Garcia studied her for a moment longer. Not her face. Her posture. The way she stood like she was bracing against something invisible.
He wanted to bring it up but didn't follow through with his thought.
"Well," he said eventually, stepping aside, clearing the doorway without making a point of it. "Have a good afternoon, Lily."
She stood still a moment longer.
"You too, Mister Garcia."
Lily walked past him without hesitation. No looking back.
Garcia remained where he was for a moment, watching her disappear into the hallway. The echo of her footsteps slowly faded away now too.
Garcia was alone.
He frowned.
Not out of concern.
Out of thought.
Three seconds.
The bus ride home was as dry as usual.
Lilys forehead rested slightly against a cold window, watching the dull colors the city lay in slide past. Same buildings, same colors, same patterns.
People moved through their lives with intent, destinations waiting for them. They all had somewhere to return to.
Lily didn't.
She tucked the handle once and unlocked the door.
The lock clicked two times after she went in.
The bathroom light flickered when she switched it on.
She washed her hands.
Once.
Twice.
Again.
She scrubbed her hands until the water ran lukewarm. Then hotter. The skin along her knuckles tightened, reddened. She stopped only when the sting became sharp enough to feel real.
She looked in the mirror.
The same black hair.
The same ordinary face.
Good.
The light stayed on.
She crossed the apartment without sitting down, not slowing. Her bag hit the floor near the desk.
Some papers slid out. Training notes and schedules she knew by heart. She picked them up anyway and lined the pages neatly. Counted the margins. Straightened one stack that didn't need it.
When her hands started to shake, she reached into the drawer and pulled out a can. The first one was empty before she even noticed the taste. The second burned.
An alarm went off on her phone.
She silenced it immediately and reset it. Two minutes. Again.
She stood up, paced once across the room, then twice. The movement helped. It kept her present. Kept her here.
When the alarm buzzed again, she shut it off without looking. Set the next one. Two minutes.
Again.
Again.
Again.
And again.
…
The morning sun felt warmer than usual. A soft breeze drifted through her window, swift and unbothered.
Lily didn't like it. It reminded her of something she couldn't quite reach, like a memory without shape and words. She closed the window. Her reflection stared back at her from the glass.
Her phone vibrated.
Leon.
She didn't open the message. Instead, she checked the time. Lily moved through the apartment with quiet efficiency.
She changed into something more comfortable, neutral. Nothing that restricted movement. Nothing that drew attention. Her shoes worn, flexible.
She checked her bag.
Phone. Wallet. Keys.
Something was missing.
She quickly added a small first-aid kit, bandages and disinfectant wipes. Then she checked it again.
She paused at the sink before she went out.
Once.
Twice.
The water ran clear.
Good.
Lily leaned against the counter for a moment, letting the cool surface ground her. She counted her breaths.
The outside sounded normal.
Cars.
People.
Footsteps.
She grabbed her things and opened the door, locking it twice behind her. She tugged the handle once, and left.
The street greeted her with muted sunlight and a wind that cut just a little too sharp. It was cold today. She adjusted her jacket without breaking stride.
She didn't take the shortest route to the store. She never did anymore.
Instead, she walked the longer path. Wider streets. Clear sightlines. She avoided narrow alleys and crowded crossings, adjusting instinctively when a group of people blocked the sidewalk.
The supermarket came into view. It was the closest one. It looked run-down. Brittle concrete. Cracks creeping along the facade. A flickering sign that hadn't been fixed in years. But it did the job.
Her reflection followed her in a shop window. Alert and upright. She looked at it.
'Still here,' she told herself without breaking stride.
Lily stepped inside. Cool air washed over her. Fluorescent lights hummed overhead. Shelves stretched out in neat rows.
She grabbed a basket.
Drinks were first.
She grabbed can after can until the basket was almost half full.
Protein bars.
Bottled Water.
Alcohol Wipes.
Batteries.
Necessities. Things that lasted. She moved fast but didn't rush.
At the checkout rack, something caught her eye.
A knockoff wristwatch. It was cheap with a plastic casing. The glass was scratched and the second hand ticked way too loud.
It was perfect.
She checked the backside, paid for it and put it on.
She liked it.
Coins clinked. A receipt was printed and the automatic doors slid open again.
She went outside.
The wind had picked up
Lilys groceries were already wet, soaking on the ground. Cans rolled across the pavement. One burst open with a dull pop, another bloated up dangerously.
She was already moving.
Something rustled
She stood still and listened.
Her wrist ticked.
The street hadn't stopped yet.
Cars still passed. Someone laughed behind her back. A window slammed shut somewhere.
Her heart slowed by force.
The automatic doors behind her shut again. A couple approached the store, arguing about something trivial. Neither of them noticed the mess on the ground.
A shopping cart rattled by.
Suddenly, a vibration. Just enough to feel through the soles of her shoes.
Lily froze. It came again.
A low tremor, like something heavy shifting far beneath the street. Too deep to be sound. Too steady to be traffic.
The cans near her feet rattled softly.
No one else noticed it.
She checked the reflections in the store's glass.
People moved.
Talked.
Brows furrowed at prices and receipts.
Her fingers curled.
The ticking of the cheap wristwatch cut through the noise.
Only five seconds had passed.
Another tremor passed through the ground. Stronger this time. A hairline crack in the concrete stretched, barely visible, but growing.
Someone noticed.
"Did you feel that?" a man asked, laughing nervously.
"Probably construction," someone else replied.
Lily's jaw tightened.
Construction didn't breathe.
The asphalt swelled upward, like something pushed against the inside. A hairline-crack split the street with a loud, tearing sound. Concrete broke inward as black water surged up. It splashed across the street, thick and foul, carrying fragments of stone with it.
Something reached out of the rupture.
People scattered with screams of panic. Vehicles were abandoned.
Lily started counting.
Four.
The ticking on her wrist synced with her heartbeat.
It was time.
Slender arms emerged first. Fingers splaying against the edge of the rupture, clawing for leverage. Asphalt melted as the shape pulled itself free, joint by joint.
She grabbed the wrist of the nearest person, yanking them out of immediate danger.
Someone else fell, not far away. Lily picked them up by the shoulder as they screamed.
"Get out of here!" she shouted, shoving them away from the rupture.
They ran.
Good.
She exhaled.
The creature rose higher. Frame no higher than 3 meters, human. Its muddy skin was stretched tight over a frame that looked starved. Its rib cage belonged to a mummy, black mud clung to it, dripping in slow strands.
An unearthly scream. The creature moved with sudden speed. Its palms slammed into the street as it vaulted itself forward in jerky, uncontrolled leaps.
Lily reached the next person.
She lifted her, arms straining, legs already burning.
"What are you doing?" the woman cried, voice breaking, trying to break free. "Leave me! Run!"
Lily didn't answer and clutched the woman to her chest.
One more.
A child.
The kid stood frozen near the edge of the rupture, eyes wide, hands clenched into the straps of a yellow backpack too big for their shoulders.
Lily adjusted her footing.
"DUCK," the woman in her arms screamed.
She felt the pressure rush past her head. Lily barely dodged under the swing of a claw that tore through a parked car door like wet paper.
She twisted, shielding the woman as she moved, boots slipping on wet concrete. Her balance faltered for half a second.
The creature flew past her like a train. It crashed into a car behind her. Metal screamed, glass burst outward.
One inch closer and…
Lily exhaled. The creature was faster than she liked.
Her gaze snapped back to the child. They hadn't moved.
"HEY," Lily shouted. "Run away!"
The creature shifted. It vaulted itself off the car, ripping the air apart with an eardrum-bursting screech.
It extended an arm sideways, tearing through a parked car door with a shriek of metal.
The distance closed fast.
Lily leapt forward, legs burning already. She gave it her all. She was close.
The child looked as she sprinted toward him.
Lily met its gaze.
The kid had shifted its expression. It didn't look scared.
With one of its front row teeth missing, it smiled.
Not in confusion.
In Understanding.
Lily felt it in her teeth before a rush of foul air washed behind her back. She leaped backward, gaze shifting to the floor.
It hadn't left it once. Not even for a second.
The woman clinging to her screamed as she looked ahead.
A wet impact traveled through the street. Not loud, just a dull, final sound, like something heavy being dropped where it shouldn't have been.
The ticking of her wristwatch was deafening.
Lilys chest tightened.
Her arms were trembling.
Failure
The woman screamed again.
Lily staggered, setting her down behind an overturned car without thinking.
"Stay," she said. It came out flat. Not comforting. Not kind.
"The child—" The woman clutched her sleeve.
Lily pulled free.
There was a smear of dark red blood and cracked asphalt where a small backpack lay twisted near the edge, straps torn, one side crushed flat. Something dark pooled beneath it, spreading into the cracks. The creature loomed above it, calm.
Her wrist ticked.
One second.
Two seconds.
She clenched her arms until the tremors stopped.
The creature turned toward her, head tilting as if curious.
Lily exhaled.
She felt it then.
This one is mine.