"...Argh. What's with the headache early in the morning..."
A groan came from Dane as he woke up with an extreme headache. Clutching his head, he got up with unsteady steps and went straight to the kitchen. There, he saw Chloe cooking for breakfast. She greeted him without turning around while putting the cooked egg from the pan to a plate, after she turned the stove off.
"Oh, you're up. Good morning."
"Yeah... Do you know where the medicine are?"
"Hmm... It's in the cabinet up there. Something's wrong?"
Chloe turned around to face his brother and saw him with a pained face. Dane just gave her a weak smile and went straight for the cabinet. Chloe picked up the plates near her and placed it on the table, and asked.
"Headache?"
"Yeah, but it happened so suddenly."
Dane replied as he rummaged around the cabinet looking for the medicine for his headache. He found what he needed and he headed straight to the table and sat down.
"In your situation, it'll be better for you to stay here for now. It's best that you don't push yourself and get some rest."
Chloe, looking concerned, said. Dane just replied with a casual tone but there's still slight grimace in his face.
"It's just a small headache, nothing to worry about."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, of course. It's nothing."
He nodded and then picked his utensils, ready to start eating. Chloe still has a worried face but she decided to just listen to his brother.
"Well, if you say so."
She murmured.
"Alright then, time to dig in. We still have to walk to school anyway."
The two siblings ate their breakfast and prepared for school. After a while, they set off for another day of learning.
The time passed by in a blink of an eye. Morning became noon, and then afternoon. And now, the day has ended for the students and it's now time for them to go home.
Dane's headache subsided after a few hours. He was relieved, but he still can't forget the familiar voice that called out to him in his mind. Standing by the school gate, and deep in his thoughts, a voice suddenly interrupted him.
"Brother!"
He turned towards to the direction where the voice came from and saw his little sister, Chloe, walking towards him.
"Well, how have you been? Are you fine now?"
"Yeah. I didn't go to clinic because I felr that the pain was fading as time passed by. It was completely gone by lunch."
"That's good to hear."
Chloe sighed in relief.
"But next time, just go straight to the clinic if you're feeling bad, it might get worse."
"Alright, I'll keep that in mind. Anyway, let's go."
Dane lead the way as Chloe followed him just a step behind. They took their usual route back to their house while the setting sun painted the sky red, until they walked into a particular area. Usually, there are also people returning to their homes at this time of the day. But this place is strangely empty. No other humans in sight except the two siblings.
It was quiet. Too quiet.
"Brother, this place seems a bit off. There's usually people around here right?
"I guess so? Well maybe they're gonna be late or something? It's nothing new, the people around here are usually office workers so, maybe they're currently in overtime?"
"No, brother. This area feels strange. This is the first time I felt goosebumps in this place. We go through this area everyday, you know. There's definitely something weird happening here."
Uneasiness can be seen in Chloe's face. Chills run down her spine. Despite that, she is still unsure of what's going on.
Meanwhile Dane just sighed and continued walking.
"Come on, Chloe. You're just imagining things. We also have to buy some ingredients from the store near our house for din-"
Dane's voice was suddenly cut off. He tried to move forward but to no avail. He can't move his body.
Suddenly, he heard a thud behind him. He used every ounce of his will to turn his head around. And on the cold stone road, he saw the body of his unconscious sister at the edge of his sight. And then he saw a silhouette of a young man, similar to his stature, standing beside her sister.
He felt the air around him get colder. A moment later, he gasped for air. It was becoming harder for him to breathe. It's like he was getting choked. The mere presence of the creature in his sight brought him to his current condition. It was suffocating.
His vision is getting blurry from the loss of oxygen. It's only a matter of seconds before he loses consciousness.
The mysterious figure walked towards him and murmured.
"I don't have time to waste to wait for the ritual to succeed."
Confusion and questions filled his weakened mind. But all of that disappeared when his vision turned dark and lost his remaining consciousness.