Chapter 14 - We went home before sunrise.Neither of us slept.
The entire house felt different.
Too quiet.
Too ordinary.
That was the problem.
Ordinary things suddenly looked suspicious.
The ceiling fan.
The hallway.
The bathroom mirror.
Every dark corner.
At 6:12 AM, Silly made coffee.
She looked exhausted.
I sat across from her.
“So where is it?”
“What?”
“The tree.”
She stared into her cup.
“I don't know.”
“You said we moved it.”
“I said I think we did.”
“Where?”
She didn't answer.
Then the kitchen light flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The refrigerator stopped humming.
The clock stopped.
6:13.
Silly stood.
“Don't move.”
A sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Bare feet.
Slow.
I looked.
A wet footprint appeared on the floor.
Then another.
Then another.
They came toward us.
Silly grabbed the yellow talisman.
The footprints stopped.
A child's voice whispered:
“Brother.”
I stood.
“Silly.”
She shook her head.
“Don't answer.”
The voice came again.
“Brother.”
This time it was Elias.
I stepped forward.
“Elias?”
Silly shouted:
“No!”
The kitchen window shattered.
A black branch crashed through.
We ran.
The branch twisted across the ceiling.
Another smashed through the wall.
The entire house was being invaded by roots.
Silly grabbed the mirror.
I remembered.
The mirror had shattered.
Yet now she was holding it.
“How?”
“I found it under my bed.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It wasn't under my bed yesterday.”
The mirror vibrated.
Inside its reflection was our street.
But it was empty.
Every house was open.
Every door.
Every window.
Then a shadow walked down the road.
A giant figure.
Tall enough to reach the rooftops.
Its body was made of branches.
Its face changed constantly.
Mom.
Dad.
Mai.
Grandmother.
Elias.
Then me.
Silly whispered:
“It's learned.”
“Learned what?”
“How to leave.”
The mirror cracked.
One line.
Then another.
A hand pressed against the glass.
From the inside.
I dropped it.
The mirror fell.
Nothing happened.
Then a tiny voice whispered from beneath the kitchen table.
“I know where you hid him.”
Silly froze.
“Who?”
The voice laughed.
“Your brother.”
I looked at her.
“What does that mean?”
She didn't answer.
The voice continued.
“The other one.”
I felt my blood freeze.
“What other one?”
Silly backed away.
“No.”
“You said Elias was my only twin.”
“I was wrong.”
The voice under the table giggled.
“There were three.”
My stomach dropped.
“No.”
Silly's face had gone completely white.
I crouched slowly.
“Who is under there?”
A small hand extended from the darkness.
Holding a photograph.
I took it.
The photograph showed our family.
Mom.
Dad.
Silly.
Me.
Elias.
And one final child.
A girl.
I looked at Silly.
“Who is she?”
Silly began crying.
“I don't know.”
The child under the table whispered:
“She does.”
Silly covered her ears.
“No.”
I pulled her hands away.
“Tell me.”
“She was supposed to be born after Elias.”
“After?”
“She wasn't human.”
“What was she?”
Silly stared at the photograph.
“A memory.”
“A memory of what?”
“My mother.”
I looked at the little girl.
Her hand was still holding mine.
Her skin was freezing.
She looked up.
Her face was completely blank.
Then she smiled.
And whispered:
“Grandmother wants her tree back.”
Behind us, the front door opened by itself.
Outside stood dozens of people.
All wearing white.
All staring at our house.
May you like
All waiting.
And every single one of them had my face.
