Three days had passed since the attack on East Gate High.
For Allan, they had been the longest three days of his life.
He sat on the edge of his bed, staring at his phone without really seeing the screen. Afternoon light slipped through the curtains and stretched across the floor. His room was quiet, almost unnaturally so. His school uniform remained hanging over the back of his chair.
School had been canceled.
The announcement had come shortly after the attack, while Allan was still uncounscious at the hospital. East Gate High had been closed indefinitely while the authorities secured the campus and investigated what had happened. The other schools in the district had also been placed under increased security, and students had been ordered to remain home until officials determined it was safe to return.
The news had not stopped talking about it.
The deaths of the two principals had been announced on the first day.
Both men had been killed in separate assassination attacks, and authorities were treating the incidents as connected to the violence at East Gate High. Military and civilian investigators had been assigned to the case, while officials repeatedly assured the public that they were doing everything possible to identify those responsible.
They had released very little else as there were no names of suspects, and no explanation for why the principals had been targeted.
Only investigations, security measures, and promises that more information would be released when it became available. Allan had stopped watching the news after the second day. He couldn't keep listening to people discuss the attack like it was something happening somewhere far away.
He had been there, he had seen the creature, and he had almost died. His fingers tightened around his phone as the memory came back without warning.
Crimson eyes.
Allan's breathing slowed. The Voranth's eyes had been the first thing he remembered whenever he thought about the attack. Not its claws. Not its strange body. Not even the violence that had unfolded around him.
Those eyes.
He could still remember the way they had looked at him. It had not felt like being watched; it had felt like being examined. As though the creature had been looking through him and searching for something buried beneath his flesh.
Allan shook his head. He didn't know why that thought kept returning. Maybe it was because he had been terrified, or maybe his mind was simply trying to make sense of something it couldn't understand.
He leaned backward until his head touched the wall.
Three days. He had spent all three of them inside the apartment.
His mother had tried to convince him to go outside for some fresh air. His father had checked on him several times, pretending not to worry. Maya had asked him whether he wanted to play a game or watch something with her.
Allan had refused every time. He wasn't injured anymore; physically, the doctors had said he was recovering well, but every time he considered leaving the apartment, he remembered the courtyard. The sound of destruction, the helplessness, the realization that nothing he could do would have stopped the creature from killing him; he was at its mercy, and he hated it.
As those thoughts consumed his mind, his phone started vibrating.
A text message from Jonah.
Jonah: You awake?
Allan stared at it before replying.
Allan: Yeah.
The response came almost immediately.
Jonah: How are you feeling?
Allan: I'm fine.
Three dots appeared.
Jonah: You always say that.
Allan smiled faintly, but before he could answer, another message arrived.
Jonah: Matthias says I should ask if you're actually fine.
Allan: Tell Matthias I'm fine.
Allan raised an eyebrow; they were texting in the same group chat, and Matthias was also there. A second later, Matthias sent a message directly.
Matthias: Jonah says you're fine.
Matthias: I don't believe him.
Allan let out a quiet laugh. 'Why are they pretending not to see each other's texts?'
Matthias: Seriously, though. You good?
Allan looked at the question for several seconds.
He could have told them the truth; that he was scared, that he couldn't stop thinking about the Voranth, that every time he closed his eyes, he saw those crimson eyes staring into him.
Instead, he typed:
Allan: I'll get there.
The reply from Matthias came quickly.
Matthias: That's better.
Jonah: Just don't disappear on us again.
Allan: I won't.
Jonah: Good. Because school is probably going to reopen eventually, and I'm not sitting through that place without you.
Matthias: Also, you still owe me lunch.
Allan laughed again.
For a brief moment, everything felt normal. Then his smile faded, and he looked toward his window.
Outside, the city continued moving. Cars passed along the street. People walked beneath the afternoon sun. Somewhere in the distance, construction machinery rumbled between the buildings. Everything looked ordinary, but Allan knew it wasn't.
The attack had changed something; maybe not the city, maybe not even his family, but him.
Three days ago, he had believed that the greatest danger in his life was failing a test or getting into trouble at school. Now he knew there were creatures capable of attacking him in his own city.
Creatures that could kill people without hesitation, and somewhere beyond the safety of his apartment, the authorities were still searching for answers.
Allan looked down at his phone again; Jonah had sent another message.
Jonah: We're here if you need us.
Matthias: Seriously.
Allan stared at the words. He didn't know what the next few days would bring, he didn't know when school would reopen. He didn't know who had ordered the assassinations, or why the Voranth had appeared at East Gate High, and most of all, he didn't know why that creature had looked at him the way it did, but for now, he would stop thinking about it and rest.
Allan placed the phone beside him and looked out the window again. For the first time since the attack, he allowed himself to breathe without forcing it.
Tomorrow could wait; for tonight, he just wanted to feel normal again.