Despite Torren's seemingly trustworthy nature, Aurex wasn't ready to put everything on the line, not yet. He met Torren's gaze, his voice low. "We need to start moving tonight."
Torren's brow furrowed. "No, it's too risky. We still don't know what's out there after dark. We haven't tested anything."
Aurex clenched his jaw. "If we wait too long, we might end up just like them. What if tomorrow one of us just… snaps back? We wouldn't even notice. We'd just smile, nod, and forget everything."
Torren fell silent, then sighed. "Okay, but not tonight. Tomorrow, after school. In daylight. Controlled. We explore slowly. We don't have to be reckless."
Aurex hesitated, then gave a reluctant nod. "Fine. Tomorrow. Deal." He turned away. "I need to go."
The rest of the day unfolded in its usual, painfully familiar rhythm: smiling faces, recycled words, lifeless routines. Yet, beneath it all, Aurex's thoughts remained sharp, focused. Every tick of the clock brought him closer to something real.
By the time he was back in his room, night had fallen.
6:00 p.m.
Then 7:00.
8:00.
He paced in quiet circles, careful not to make the floorboards creak. How would he leave tomorrow? Any noise, and his family might notice. And if they noticed…
No. He couldn't afford to guess.
He ran through ideas: loosening the window frame, sneaking down the stairs, hiding in the closet until they left. But every plan had its flaws. Every thought led back to the same truth: he needed to talk to Torren first.
So, he did nothing, at least for tonight.
Instead, he returned to the sealed window and peered through the crack. His family moved as they always did, silent, smooth, and smiling. But their smiles never quite reached their eyes. Their movements weren't tired or lazy; they were practiced. Robotic.
He watched for an hour. Then another. The same paths, the same steps. He didn't know what was worse: seeing them like this or not seeing them at all.
By 10:00 p.m., he was in bed.
Eyes wide open.
Smiling.
But I'm afraid.
He wasn't sure he wanted to sleep anymore.
Because when he did, it came.
And just like that, it reappeared.
An eye. Massive. Red. No eyelid, just the glistening wetness of its exposed iris. It hovered inches from his face. Silent. Heavy. Crushing.
Aurex couldn't move. He couldn't breathe.
But he remembered Torren's warning:
Keep your eyes open. Don't speak.
So he stared. And stared.
His vision blurred. His eyes burned. His whole body screamed for relief.
But he didn't blink.
He held on. Until, finally....
The eye closed.
And the pressure vanished like air rushing back into his lungs.
Still, he didn't dare sleep. Not right away.
He kept staring at the ceiling, half-expecting it to appear again.
But it didn't.
Eventually, exhaustion pulled him under.
The bells rang.
6:00 a.m.
Aurex's eyes snapped open. He was lying on his bed, fully clothed. His heart was calm, but his thoughts raced.
"What is that thing?" he whispered to himself.
"It just appears… like it's watching me. Testing me."
He sat up, rubbed his burning eyes, and smiled.
Fake.
Like always.
But this smile hid something new.
Determination.
Because today, for the first time, he would try to escape.
The clock's steady march usually dictated Aurex's every move, a familiar rhythm he followed without thought. But today, a quiet rebellion stirred within him. The practiced smiles and automatic gestures felt like a thin mask, barely concealing the wild anticipation thrumming beneath. Today wasn't just another day; today, he was breaking free.
He'd meticulously plotted every detail. After classes, he and Torren would say they want to go to the bathroom before the final class, this will give them extra minutes to explore the nearby area. Then, under the cloak of night, around 6 p.m., they'd embark on a more audacious, riskier venture: sneaking into the city itself.
The key was maintaining the illusion of normalcy until then. During break, he found Torren in their usual corner, a quiet island in the bustling schoolyard. Aurex approached, his voice a low murmur, the forced smile fixed on his face.
"We're doing it today," he said, the words barely audible. "Are you ready?"
Torren's smile remained unchanged, but a tell-tale twitch in his fingers betrayed his excitement. "Yeah, I am."
"We stick together. Don't let anyone see us. If they do… we don't react. We just walk away and try again tonight."
"Got it," Torren replied, a hint of apprehension in his voice. "I'm just a little scared."
"I know the feeling. But we need to stay focused."
"I am focused."
"Good. Keep it that way."
They separated before the next lesson, the remaining hours dragging by with agonizing slowness. The classroom felt unnaturally cold, the teacher's monotone recitation of the Ten Rules a droning echo. Aurex kept his smile in place, but his hands trembled beneath the desk.
He replayed the escape plan in his mind: a few minutes before the final bell, he and Torren would excuse themselves, slip into a seldom-used side hallway, and take a secluded path. It would give them enough time to vanish without a trace.
Finally, before the last class ended.
Aurex moved.
Torren was already waiting by the hallway door, his eyes darting nervously. A quick nod passed between them, and they were out.
The street beyond the school gates was eerily pristine, unnervingly silent. Identical square buildings lined the road, their curtains drawn, offering no hint of life within. They hugged the edges of the street, their gazes fixed on the windows above, their footsteps muffled, barely disturbing the quiet. They moved like shadows, like strangers in their own city.
After ten minutes of hushed walking, they reached a narrow, uphill path. Beyond this point, there were no houses, just grass and ancient cobblestones leading to a tall, imposing black fence. Rusted and unsettling, it had no gate, just thick, unyielding bars gazing out into the unknown.
They drew closer.
What they saw brought them to an abrupt halt.
Beyond the fence, the city vanished. The land plummeted into a sheer cliff, jagged rocks far below. But in the hazy distance, past the precipice, an endless ocean shimmered under dull gray clouds. And on its shores, small ships bobbed gently, their sails catching the wind. Figures moved among them, people talking, laughing, coiling ropes, lifting crates.
Color. Life.
It felt like a mirage, something that shouldn't exist here.
Torren broke the silence, his breath catching. "We're on a mountain…"
Aurex remained speechless, leaning against the cold metal, struggling to comprehend. A desperate part of him wanted to believe this was it, the outside, freedom. But a knot of unease tightened in his gut.
"No," he murmured, the word almost a whisper. "It's wrong."
Torren turned to him, confusion clouding his face. "What do you mean?"
"I don't know. It's too easy. Too fast. And then..." He gestured towards the figures on the shore. "They're smiling too."
Aurex found this situation unbelievable because of the monsters he had seen.
Torren followed his gaze. "Do you think… it's just another part of this place?"
Aurex didn't answer. The more he stared at the scene below, the more it felt like a meticulously crafted illusion,a moving painting. His stomach churned. The ocean, the ships, the people,it all looked too perfect. Impossibly perfect like this place is inviting them.
A deep, unseen pressure settled over him. His limbs ached, his chest felt heavy.
Torren reached out, his hand resting on the fence. "Should we try? Should we jump?"
"No." Aurex recoiled. "We're not ready. Not yet. I feel… weird."
Torren studied him for a long moment, then nodded. "Let's go back. We'll come back when it's darker."
The walk back was far more difficult.
Every step away from the cliff intensified the sickness in Aurex's stomach. His vision blurred, the oppressive weight on his shoulders growing heavier. His smile remained frozen, a grotesque mask, even as sweat trickled down his back. Torren wasn't faring any better, stumbling once, barely catching himself.
By the time they reached the school, the final bell had rung. Aurex lingered just outside the gate, watching as his brother emerged, as if nothing had happened. He fell into step beside him, his heart still thrumming a frantic rhythm.
"Big brother," his brother said, a wide smile on his face, "you look tired."
"Just tired," Aurex replied, returning the smile.
The moment they stepped inside their home, everything snapped back into place.
His mother greeted him at the door, a glass of orange juice in her hand. His sister was already at the dining table, brushing crumbs from her skirt. His father sat in his usual chair, sipping from the same coffee mug, flipping through a newspaper, the same page, the same expression.
Same everything.
And yet, everything had changed.