Morning came like it always does.
Sunlight came with birds chirping
It was strange.. It ws too normal like nothing happened..
Mom was in the kitchen flipping pancakes.
Dad reading the newspaper.
Ivy kicking her feet under the table.
Everything… perfect.
"Sleep well, champ?" Dad asked.
He smiled.
Too wide.
I looked at Mom's hands.
It was clean.
No blood.
No cuts.
No stains under her nails.
You want me to say something, don't you?
To confront them?
To scream?
But you're not the one who has to live here.
"I'm fine," I said.
And that's when Dad's fork froze
Not metaphorically.
Literally froze.
Like someone paused him.
Mom froze too.
Ivy mid-laugh.
The sunlight stopped moving.
The steam from the pancakes hung still.
Only I could move.
Only me.
And then—
A shadow stretched across the kitchen floor.
Long.
Thin.
Reaching from behind me.
Climbing the wall.
It bent wrong.
Like it had too many joints.
And a voice filled the room.
From everywhere.
"You are becoming aware."
It wasn't talking to me.
It was talking to you.
"You are influencing him."
The shadow twitched.
"And that is not allowed."
You feel that chill?..
That's not part of the story.