It was night; everything was silent and dark. In Bob's house, throughout all the rooms that had their lights off, there was still one with lights on. The room was situated in the cellar, a place which nobody checked at night.
Bob was right there. It looked like he was talking with someone. Rose heard him and decided to eavesdrop. She was in her white pyjamas.
"It's time to answer my questions, Shadow," Bob said. Rose began to get agitated and lay on the floor to stay comfortable; it looked like she was about to pass a very long night.
"First free me," Shadow replied. His voice elicited his intentions to escape and to possibly make a massacre; however, he couldn't do much as he was stuck in a syringe.
Bob turned upset and yelled at him.
"TELL ME EVERYTHING YOU KNOW!" he yelled angrily. Shadow stayed silent for a while, before bursting out a laughter.
"Kill that kid," Shadow replied. Bob was confused about that request and tilted his head.
"Uhhh, what?" Bob asked while raising an eyebrow.
"You haven't read the diary yet?" Shadow inquired. Bob shook his head slowly in negation.
"A guy with red hair took it," Bob answered. Shadow remained silent for some seconds before speaking up.
"You met him?" Shadow questioned. Bob nodded while crossing his arms. Shadow laughed again.
"He didn't want you to know about the kid?" he then asked. Bob was still confused.
"What kid..?" Bob questioned as he was starting to feel anxious. Rose decided to make some steps forward—an instinctive action for her to calm Bob down. Bob took the syringe and stared at it angrily.
"So?" Bob asked with blank eyes.
"His name is—" Shadow was about to answer, but was interrupted as one of Rose's steps made noise, scaring the agitated Bob who let the syringe go. It fell on the table and, as it was fragile, broke. The darkness that was in it merged with other liquids that were on the table. Said liquids came from Shadow's lab, which Bob had taken after finding the diary.
"Shit!" Bob shouted as he realised Shadow was technically dead. Rose stood there while trembling.
"Honey…" Rose said in a really sorry voice.
"My father is ok, right?" She then asked as she laid her hand on Bob's shoulder.
"He is… dead," Bob answered, avoiding eye contact with her. Rose froze. Her eyes wanted to meet Bob's, but she knew that he was too uncomfortable at the moment.
"Bob… why were you doing this in secret?" Rose asked. Bob froze for some seconds before staring at Rose blankly.
"You wouldn't have understood… sorry…" Bob said as he stared back at the mess on the table and began to clean it.
"It mixed with code…" he added while cleaning.
"Code?" Rose asked.
"A substance which, if used well, can edit the whole universe," Bob explained as he then cut the mixed part from Shadow's only intact part.
"Listen, I'm sorry I scared you… but… SORRY!" Rose shouted as she began crying while hugging Bob. He stared at her, not blankly anymore and with very affective eyes as he began to pet her head.
"It's ok… it was an accident…" Bob said in a reassuring way as he then kissed her forehead. Rose closed her tired eyes. However, the bottle, precisely where the mixed part of Shadow was, suddenly began to shake and to make noises.
"What the…" Bob said as smoke came out of the bottle, reducing the sight of both Rose and Dr. Bob.
"What's going on?" Rose asked, worriedly. Bob took her out of the room as the smoke didn't fully reach the hallway yet. Rayan, Vincent, Lara, and Tamara came out from their rooms while coughing.
"Too much smoke…" Tamara remarked while coughing. Tamara was a slim, one metre and five centimetres tall girl. Her face was oval, her skin was fair and soft, her nose little and straight, her lips were little and thin, her cheeks were soft and cute, her jawline was definied, her mouth was little and adorable and her posture was perfect. She had long, blond banged butterfly hair, round red eyes, long black eyelashs and yellow eyebrows. Her chest was flat while her hips were curved. She wore white wool pyjamas: a white, long-sleeved shirt, white shorts with an elastic waist, and black socks. Her voice was sweet and shy, even in this situation, agitating her a bit. Rose picked up Tamara and then stared at Bob, who was walking inside the room again.
"Show yourself up," Bob said while trying to remove the smoke from the room with his hands. Suddenly, a figure grabbed his neck and slammed him on the desk, which broke. The syringe containing Shadow fell on the ground and broke completely as two other figures came out from it.
"We got someone strong here, uh?" Bob added as he adjusted his jacket and raised an eyebrow. The figure was a physical, three-dimensional version of a shadow―typical characteristics which the three of them had. However, he was the melting shadow of a man.
"What should I call you?" Bob asked with a smirk. The figure stared at him in silence while the other two figures were still shaping their forms.
"What about Entity?" Bob added as the figure kept staring at him. Bob took a step forward as the figure made one backward. Meanwhile, the two other figures had completely formed: the first one was a male shadow with white eyes, which had black crosses as pupils; thr other one was a female shadow with white eyes, a white tongue and two black horns that were around seven centimetres long and looked like the half of a heart.
"I like it…" Entity replied as he kept making steps backward. The two other figures simply watched the scene in a disinterested way. Rose entered the room with her children as she opened the window in order to fade away some smoke.
"Excuse me, but… where are we?" the male shadow asked while looking around the room. The female shadow was hugging him, scared.
"I don't like this place… it gives me negative feelings…" the female shadow said while hiding her face on the male's chest, who petted her head. Rose went closer to them and caressed the male's head.
"What's your name?" Rose asked the two shadows, who stared at her without giving an answer for some seconds.
"We haven't got a name yet," the male shadow spoke up. Rose tilted her head and smiled at them.
"What about… Shadow and Hana?" Rose proposed with such a soft smile it could have warmed the heart of a stone.
"I guess you are using your parents' names, right?" Bob asked as he stared at Rose, who nodded happily.
"That's right! Well, what do you think?" Rose questioned the two shadows which stared at each other for some seconds.
"I like it!" the female shadow exclaimed. The male one simply petted her hair while smiling creepily, showcasing millions of teeth. Hana stared at her brother and froze for a few seconds. Shadow stopped smiling as he hadn't realised he was scary.
"Whoops… do I really look so ugly when I smile?" Shadow asked while raising an eyebrow. Hana hugged him and shook her head in negation.
"No no! I was just surprised!" Hana apologised. Meanwhile, Entity kept staring at Bob. However, he then stared at Rose, who was still holding Tamara in her arms. Lara, Rayan, and Vincent were really confused and were trying to understand what was going on.
"Those little humans look so innocent…" Entity said calmly. Bob walked towards him to try to study his body.
"What are you anyway?" Bob asked while touching Entity's arm which was liquid.
"A shadow," Entity answered as he somehow managed to sit on a chair next to the destroyed table.
"And why are you liquid?" Bob questioned while tilting his head. Entity pointed the broken bottle of code with his finger.
"Oh yeah… makes sense," Bob replied as he then stared at the ground.
"My head hurts…" he thought. Suddenly, he heard a whisper behind his head, "hey". He whirled around with his eyes widely open; however, there was nothing.
"Are you ok, dear?" Rose asked while grabbing Bob's shoulder. He froze for a second.
"Y–yes…" Bob answered with an unstable smile. Rose caressed his cheek and looked worried.
"What's wrong..? My little bear is feeling sick..?" Rose questioned. Bob smiled at her genuinely, feeling loved.
"Dad sick? HUG!" Tamara shouted as she wrapped her arms around Bob, who hugged her back.
"This situation looks so calm… I mean there are literally three Shadows out there that can speak and you guys act lovey-dovey?" Shadow pointed out. Hana simply covered his mouth and smiled at him.
"They are cute though!" Hana shouted happily.
"Do you know that I am not showing my mouth? How do you think covering where it should usually be will help—" Shadow said, but Hana stared at him deadly, freezing Shadow.
Why are you doing this?
"Uh?" Bob said while looking around.
Why don't you just end everyone?
"Who is there..?" Bob asked while starting to sweat. Rose tilted her head and started to feel worried.
"Honey…" Rose said as she then kissed Bob's cheek. Bob gave Tamara back to Rose and made some steps backwards as he stared at anyone he could stare at.
"Dad, what are you doing?" Rayan asked while raising an eyebrow.
You can start with her!
Who? Bob asked as a communication was getting formed between him and the voices he was hearing.
Your wife!
"What?! I would never!" Bob shouted. Rose tried to get closer to him but Bob made a sign affirming she must not.
"Dear! Calm down!" Rose shouted, worried as tears began drooling out of her eyes.
Kill her, kill her, kill her! the voices kept screaming in Bob's mind. He was shaking; he didn't want to hurt his wife; he loved her and she loved him. However… his hands were moving by themselves.
"Rose… I love you!" Bob shouted, crying as he was fighting against the voices.
"I love you too! That's why you have to let me help you! What's going on?!" Rose shouted as she ran towards Bob while still holding Tamara in her arms.
"Rose… wait!" Bob shouted as he suddenly grabbed Rose by the chin and pushed Tamara away from her arms, making her fall on the floor.
"Ouch… why did dad… hurt me…?" Tamara asked while sulking. When she stared at her parents again, she saw Bob ripping off Rose's heart, squeezing it as blood dirtied his hand, while he kissed his wife one last time. Tamara stared at her father in shock as she ran behind Rayan.
"Mom ok?!" Tamara asked in panic. Vincent simply covered her eyes.
"She is ok," Vincent lied as he shook too. Vincent was a slim, one metre and nine centimeters tall boy. He had an oval face, fair and smooth skin, teal disheveled hair with round teal eyes; his eyebrows were teal, his nose was little and straight, his mouth was average and his lips were full; his cheeks were soft and smooth and his jawline was well-defined. His hands were small and with short nails; he had a flat chest. He wore a black and white wool university hoodie, slim denim jeans and teal wool slippers.
"Lara…" Rayan said as he grabbed Lara's shoulder. She was trembling, and when she stared at him, she hugged him. Rayan hugged her back and stared at his father.
"What have you done...?" Vincent asked as he made a step forward.
"Vincent… don't do it…" Rayan replied as he understood his brother's intentions. However, Vincent didn't listen to him and ran towards his father, who kicked his head, knocking him off.
"Stupid brat…" Bob said as he then threw away Rose's body and adjusted his jacket.
"Wow… just… wow," Shadow replied while staring at Bob. Hana and Entity simply stared in horror at the scene.
"Lara, run!" Rayan shouted as he picked up Tamara and ran away towards the exit door with Lara. Bob walked towards them. The door was locked so they couldn't escape.
"Dad…" Rayan said while trembling. Bob knocked him off. He then took Tamara and Lara by their hair and forced them to sit on the lawson blue cotton couch.
"Hey! Stop it!" Hana shouted worriedly as she picked up Vincent. Shadow grabbed Bob's shoulders while Entity went to the couch too.
"Comfy…" Entity said as he wasn't interested in the situation. Suddenly, Christopher appeared behind Bob and clapped his hands. He was only visible to Bob.
"Good job!" Christopher shouted with a genuine smile. Bob threw a broken bottle at him, but it went through him. Bob picked up Rose's body and took her in their room to rest. Hana laid Vincent and Rayan on the couch next to Tamara, Lara, and Entity. She hugged Rayan and held him close to her.
"Rest… I promise I will protect you, ok?" Hana reassured with a soft smile as she hugged the two little girls.
The next day, Bob was preparing suitcases to go to Japan with his family.
"Is it necessary?" Entity asked as he was put into a bottle, like Shadow and Hana.
"We can't let people see you, idiots!" Bob snapped as he would then hide Rose in a suitcase to make sure he'd not be caught.
After this, Bob and his family moved to Japan.