"This place... heh..." Arian's voice trailed off as he shook his head, a bitter smile forming on his lips. His expression was tinged with a deep melancholy, and for a moment, he closed his eyes as if to shut out the memories. When he reopened them, the weight of years reflected in his gaze. "As you've already seen, this place is shrouded in darkness."
He paused, the silence hanging heavily in the air, before continuing with a low, somber tone. "When it first happened, people thought it was just a celestial phenomenon, like an eclipse. But when the communications went down, panic set in. Some tried to leave the town, walking in what they thought was a straight line. But no matter which direction they went, they always ended up back in the center of the city."
Arian took a deep breath, his hand trembling slightly as he ran it through his graying hair. The years had worn him down, and it showed in the way his shoulders slumped as if carrying an invisible burden. "The situation only got worse from there. Forty years ago, we discovered that the buildings in the town were shifting, constantly changing positions. It rendered maps completely useless and made survival even harder. If it weren't for this diner, a safe haven amidst the chaos… well, let's just say we wouldn't be here today." His voice broke slightly, the memories too painful to dwell on, and he quickly shook his head as if to clear it of the haunting images.
Eldric, who had been silently absorbing every word, finally spoke, his voice hesitant. "How many people are left?" His mind was reeling, trying to piece together the fragments of horror that Arian had shared. Since waking up, he had only seen four people—Arian, Reona, Sarah, and an unseen figure, Reona's second son, whose complete appearance he hadn't witnessed. The town seemed eerily deserted as if the shadows had swallowed up the remaining survivors.
Arian sighed deeply, the sound heavy with despair. He looked down at the table, his eyes tracing the grain of the wood as if it held the answers he sought. "It's hard to say... If you had asked me this question forty years ago, I would have said around two hundred. But now..." His voice trailed off, the unspoken truth hanging in the air like a death sentence.
Eldric felt a cold sweat break out on his forehead. The situation was far more dire than he had imagined. He had assumed that with unlimited food, water, and electricity, there would be more survivors and that somehow this town had managed to escape the worst of it. But now, he was faced with the grim reality.
"How many people are here?" Eldric repeated, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Other than you... there are five more people." Arian's tone was matter-of-fact, almost resigned. There was no point in hiding the truth. Sooner or later, Eldric would find out. Better to tell him now than let him discover it on his own.
"Only five?" Eldric's voice cracked with disbelief. He had expected at least twenty, maybe more. The thought of there being only five people left in the entire town sent a shiver down his spine. A sudden, irrational fear gripped him—what if these five were the last humans left in this cursed place? The idea lodged itself in his mind, festering like a wound, and he couldn't shake it off.
Arian watched Eldric's growing distress with a mixture of sympathy and helplessness. There was no easy way to soften the blow. "The only person you haven't met yet is Ellic, Sarah's younger brother."
Eldric barely registered the name, his mind still reeling from the implications of what Arian had told him. The room felt suddenly claustrophobic, the walls closing in on him as his thoughts spiraled out of control.
"Hey... I have an idea." Arian's sudden clap startled Eldric out of his reverie. There was a forced brightness in Arian's tone, a desperate attempt to inject some semblance of normalcy into the bleakness of their reality. "How about we all get together for a family dinner? What do you say? Care to join us? This way, you can meet everyone."
"Hmm..." Eldric mumbled, still half-lost in his thoughts. By the time he realized what Arian had asked, it was too late.
"Great, then it's settled. Sarah will pick you up later." Arian's hand came down on Eldric's shoulder in a reassuring pat, the kind that said everything would be okay even when it clearly wouldn't. With that, he turned and walked away, leaving Eldric standing there, still processing what had just happened.
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"Hmmm, hmmm..." Arian hummed softly to himself as he walked through the narrow, dimly lit corridor. Despite the ever-present gloom, there was a bounce in his step, a rare lightness that hadn't been there for years. Living in this town, the only people he had interacted with were his family members. But now, with Eldric, there was someone new, someone who had memories of the world before it all went dark. The excitement was a foreign feeling, one that he hadn't allowed himself to experience in a long time. It was fleeting, he knew that, but for now, he was willing to savor it.
After navigating the winding corridors, Arian finally reached a dimly lit room. The space was filled with shelves overflowing with books, their spines worn and pages yellowed with age. In the corner, a small table lamp cast a soft glow, illuminating the figure of Reona, his mother, who sat peacefully, her attention absorbed by the book in her hands.
"Mom..." Arian began, but his voice faltered as his eyes fell on the figure curled up on Reona's lap. His daughter, Sarah, lay there with her eyes closed, her breathing slow and even, lost in the innocence of sleep.
Arian's heart softened at the sight, and he swallowed the words he had been about to say. A gentle smile tugged at the corners of his mouth as he quietly made his way over to them, careful not to disturb the peaceful scene.
"When did she fall asleep?" he asked in a soft whisper, his eyes lingering on Sarah's serene face. She was covered with a quilt, her small hands clutching the edge of it like a lifeline.
"Just a while ago," Reona replied just as softly, her voice a gentle murmur as she placed the book down. She motioned for Arian to sit beside her on the floor, her gaze filled with curiosity. "What happened? You look happy."
Arian hesitated, a mix of emotions flashing across his face. It wasn't often that he let himself feel hope, "I... I was thinking about the family dinner. I've already invited Eldric."
The change in Reona was immediate. Her hand, which had been resting lightly on the book, twitched involuntarily, and her breath caught in her throat. She shot a quick glance at Sarah, praying she hadn't heard. But it was too late. The moment the words "family dinner" left Arian's mouth, Sarah's eyes fluttered open.
For a long moment, she said nothing, simply sitting up from her grandmother's lap with a slow, deliberate motion. Her expression was unreadable, her eyes cold and distant as she turned her gaze toward her father.
"What do you think, Sarah?" Arian asked, his voice betraying a hint of uncertainty as he tried to maintain his earlier enthusiasm.
"Are you seriously asking me that?" Sarah's tone was flat, almost bored, but there was a sharp edge to it, a hint of the storm brewing beneath her calm exterior. The fake smile on her father's face made her stomach churn with disgust. If he weren't her father, she would have taught him a painful lesson long ago.
"Why not?" Arian shrugged, attempting to brush off her coldness as if it were of no consequence. "I think it's a good idea to have a family meal once in a while. This way, you can all get to know each other better."
His suggestion was sincere, coming from a place of concern and a desire to mend the rifts that had formed over the years.
"No." The word was final, her tone brooking no argument. "Never in a hundred years." The very idea of sitting down to a meal with those people, pretending to be a part of their family, made her skin crawl. It was never going to happen, not as long as she had a say in it.
"Oh, come on," Arian urged, his voice taking on a pleading note. "Don't you think it's a good idea to get to know him?"
Sarah stared at him as if he were speaking a foreign language. "Why?" Her voice rose, a rare display of emotion that she quickly reined in. "Why would I care to know him?"
A bitter laugh escaped her lips as she sneered, "Do you want me to marry him too?"
The room fell silent, the air thick with tension as father and daughter locked eyes. The question hung between them, heavy with unspoken accusations. Reona watched the scene unfold, her heart pounding in her chest. She sat rigidly, her gaze flickering between Arian and Sarah. She could feel the heat of the argument building, a storm ready to break. Her hands clenched tightly in her lap, knuckles white as she fought to remain calm.
"It's not a bad idea," Arian said, forcing a tight smile as he tried to regain control of the situation. His voice was steady, though it carried a strained edge. "He's a good choice. Even though he's young, he's the best option we have right now. Wouldn't it make sense to get to know him better?"
Sarah's expression turned colder, her face a mask of disdain. She shook her head slowly, as if unable to comprehend the absurdity of her father's suggestion. "Yeah, why not?" she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Maybe I should just marry Ellic too, just like you suggested. That way, both of them can pass me around, LIKE YOU USED TO PASS MY MOTHER."
The room erupted with the force of her words. The silence that followed was deafening, punctuated only by the echo of Sarah's cruel laughter. Arian's face turned a deep crimson, his eyes wide with shock and anger. The room seemed to contract around them, the walls closing in as the argument reached its climax.
"SARAH!"
Arian's roar shattered the silence, his voice a thunderous, almost inhuman growl. The sound of his fury was like a physical force, slamming into Reona and Sarah with an almost tangible impact.
Without warning, Arian's hand shot out, striking Sarah with a force that sent her sprawling. The slap echoed through the room, a sharp, painful sound that seemed to linger in the air long after the impact.
Sarah's head snapped to the side, her face flushed with the sting of the blow. Her eyes widened in shock and hurt, but before she could react, a mournful, haunting laughter filled the room. It was a sound of despair and madness, a chilling echo of the darkness that had seeped into their lives.
"Ha... haha.... hahahahahahaha...." Sarah's laughter was tinged with sadness and derision as she clutched her face, her left cheek now marked with a red imprint of her father's hand. She turned away from them, her laughter growing louder and more unsettling as she stormed out of the room, leaving a trail of chaos in her wake.
Arian stood there, his breath coming in ragged gasps, his face a mask of shock and regret. Reona's anger had turned into a deep, seething rage, her eyes blazing with fury. She rose from her seat, her movements quick and jerky as she moved to follow Sarah, but something held her back. She paused, her hands trembling at her sides, and the room seemed to spin with the weight of what had just happened.
The silence that followed Sarah's departure was heavy with unresolved emotions, each person caught in their own storm of feelings.
Arian sank into a nearby chair, his shoulders slumping as if the weight of the world had suddenly been thrust upon him. He stared at the floor, his hands clasped tightly together as if trying to hold onto whatever fragments of composure he had left.
Reona stood beside him, her expression a turbulent mix of anger, sadness, and frustration. The room was a battleground of emotions, each person grappling with their own demons. The family dinner that had seemed like such a simple, hopeful idea now felt like a distant, unreachable dream, swallowed up by the darkness that surrounded them all.