Okay, so as I was saying, I headed home.
I was still thinking about that weird guy.
"The last Nature Breathing user."
Yeah, right.
It sounded like something straight out of a fantasy manga.
But I couldn't ignore what had happened at the tennis tournament.
That wasn't normal.
Not even close.
Snow crunched beneath my boots as I walked.
The cold air stung my face.
Everything around me was silent.
No birds.
No cars.
No people.
Nothing.
Just the sound of my own footsteps.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Then—
Something happened.
My vision flickered.
For a split second, everything went black.
I stopped walking.
"What the...?"
Then I saw them.
Six eyes.
Bright yellow.
Floating in the darkness.
They weren't normal eyes.
They were sharp.
Glowing.
And somehow, they felt...
evil.
They stared directly at me.
Not at my body.
At me.
It felt like they could see straight through my eyes and into my mind.
I couldn't move.
My heart began pounding so loudly that I could hear it in my ears.
Then—
Gone.
The darkness vanished.
The snow-covered street returned.
I stumbled forward and nearly fell.
"What... was that?"
My head throbbed.
It felt like something had suddenly forced its way into my mind.
I grabbed my forehead and took a deep breath.
"Okay..."
I looked around.
Nothing.
No eyes.
No monster.
Nothing.
I wasn't sticking around to find out if they'd come back.
I started walking faster.
By the time I reached home, I was practically running.
I stepped inside—
Well...
I stepped through the space where the door used to be.
The living room was still a disaster.
Snow had melted everywhere, leaving puddles across the floor.
The carpet looked ruined.
I barely had time to take off my shoes before I heard a voice.
"Tom."
Uh-oh.
I slowly turned around.
My dad was standing there.
Arms crossed.
He didn't look happy.
Not happy at all.
"Care to explain," he said slowly, "why our door is missing?"
I stayed silent.
"And why there is snow inside the house?"
I opened my mouth.
Closed it.
Opened it again.
"Okay, so..."
I smiled nervously.
"Funny story."
"This better be good."
"Well, the door was stuck..."
He waited.
"...and I was late..."
He continued waiting.
"...so I kind of..."
I paused.
"...removed it."
"You removed the door."
"Yes."
"With a screwdriver."
"...Yes."
There was a long silence.
My dad rubbed his forehead.
"Tom..."
He sighed.
"Normal people knock when a door doesn't open."
"Yeah, but I'm not normal."
The moment the words left my mouth, I realized that was probably the worst possible response.
My dad stared at me.
I stared back.
"...You're cleaning this entire mess."
"Got it."
"Every single bit of it."
"Got it."
"And no dinner until it's finished."
I froze.
"...Got it."
I grabbed a mop and started cleaning.
The snow was already turning into a huge watery mess, and I had absolutely no idea how I was going to explain the carpet.
But strangely...
I wasn't really thinking about the door anymore.
Or the snow.
Or even dinner.
My mind was stuck on two things.
The strange man shouting my name.
And those six yellow eyes.
I didn't know what I'd seen.
I didn't know who—or what—those eyes belonged to.
But something inside me was telling me one thing.
Something was coming.
And for the first time in my life...
I wasn't sure I was ready for it.