After leaving the room, Sarah walked through the dim corridor, her footsteps echoing softly. She spotted her father coming toward her. He gave her only a cursory glance before continuing to the room without a word.
She had a million things she wanted to say, but her pride held her tongue. She had made up her mind—until her father spoke to her first, she wouldn't initiate the conversation.
And so... they passed each other, both weighed down by pride and self-righteousness. Neither spoke, walking past one another like strangers.
Sarah's steps faltered. Her fingers twitched as if she wanted to turn around, to look back at him, but the moment the thought crossed her mind, she clenched her jaw, gritted her teeth, and kept on walking... pretending she hadn't seen him at all.
Minutes later, her father's thunderous shout echoed through the halls, nearly causing her to stumble. She had never heard such rage from him before. Her lips curled into a bitter sneer, but she didn't stop. She had a task to complete, and as her grandmother had asked, she was going to fetch her brother.
Fortunately, Sarah didn't have to walk far. The commotion seemed to have reached Ellic, who was wandering in the dark corridors, looking distracted.
"There you are," she spoke softly, grabbing his hand without slowing down, and dragging him toward the meeting room.
"What... What's going on? Where are we going?" Ellic stammered, startled by Sarah's sudden urgency. Before he had imagined the worst-case scenario, but looking at Sarah's reaction; thankfully, the situation doesn't seem bad.
"..." Sarah didn't reply but kept on walking while holding his hand.
In moments, they reached the meeting room. And to Ellic's surprise, Eldric was already there, sitting at the table in silence with his eyes closed.
"Hmph." Sarah snorted coldly as her face was filled with displeasure while her gaze was stuck on Eldric. She never liked him, and today's events had done nothing to change that.
Eldric, however, seemed oblivious. His left hand rested on the table, while his right hand was hidden beneath it, tightly gripping a knife. His mind was still trapped in the horrific scenes from the expedition. Before they left, he thought it was going to be a relatively safe expedition. After all, he had drawn a rough map, and with Reona and Jeron's experience, it should've been easy. But who would have thought their expedition would fail so miserably? They hadn't even walked for two hours before being forced to flee, and worst of all, he had witnessed Jeron turning into one of those grotesque creatures.
The memory made him shiver, his skin crawling with fear. He couldn't help but wonder—were the people he lived with truly human?
The sound of approaching footsteps snapped him out of his thoughts. His eyes cracked open slightly, just enough to see Sarah arriving there with her brother. Her face was twisted with anger and her eyes were constantly looking at him.
Eldric didn't dare to keep his eyes open. Immediately, he shut them quickly, tightening his grip on the knife. He didn't want to argue with her. Getting into a pointless bickering was the last thing he needed right now. But deep down, a darker thought gnawed at him. If one of them could change into an abomination, couldn't they all? As this thought overwhelmed his mind, he tightened his grip on the knife.
"Eldric? What happened?" Ellic's voice broke the uneasy silence. He looked at Eldric in confusion. Didn't he go on the expedition with his father and grandmother? How could he be back already?
"Sit down," Sarah's cold voice cut in before Ellic could ask any more questions.
"Huh?" Ellic turned to her, only to meet her icy glare. He wanted to retort, but looking at her cold gaze, shrank his neck. One look was enough to silence him.
He gulped and swallowed whatever words he had left, pulling out a chair and sitting opposite Eldric, while Sarah took a seat beside him. Silence settled in the room as the three of them sat waiting, tension thickening the air.
Finally, Reona arrived.
"Good, you're all here," she said, nodding at the three of them.
Eldric opened his eyes, but his calm expression betrayed the anxiety bubbling beneath. His hand remained clenched around the knife under the table, a lifeline he desperately held in this increasingly strange and dangerous world.
"You must have questions," Reona began, her voice weary but still carrying a solemn weight. "Go on... ask."
The room descended into an uncomfortable stillness. Eldric's mind buzzed with countless questions, yet none made it past his lips. Sarah, meanwhile, stared at him, her gaze sharp and scrutinizing. Ellic was simply lost, still unsure why they were even gathered there.
After what felt like an eternity, Eldric finally broke the silence with a question that made them all frown.
"Are you all... human?" His brow furrowed as he spoke. After witnessing Jeron's transformation, trust had become a luxury he couldn't afford. What if the people around him weren't truly human either? What if they could change into monsters at any moment?
Reona didn't answer right away. She let out a heavy sigh. Beside her, Sarah's ears perked up, her curiosity piqued. Though she had lived in this town all her life, doubts had gnawed at her as well, but she had never voiced them. Now that Eldric had asked, she found herself eager to hear the answer.
"Yes... and no," Reona finally replied, her voice hoarse as if uttering those words drained her of all her strength. She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath before continuing.
"When the darkness first fell over Aernos, there were survivors—plenty of them. After the initial panic and chaos, order returned, though it was rough and messy. But it calmed the unrest."
Her eyes glazed over as if she were watching the events unfold all over again.
"People adapted, as they always do. But they never gave up hope. They still wanted to escape this hell. At first, everything seemed to be going well....."
Sarah and Ellic looked indifferent; they had heard this story many times before. But Eldric hung on every word, absorbing the tale as if it were his only chance to know more about this place.
"People banded together, regardless of their differences—ideology, religion, race—it didn't matter. Everyone wanted the same thing: to escape. But then... the Stalkers appeared from the darkness."
She paused, closing her eyes again as though the memories weighed her down.
"The town fell into chaos again, worse than before. Everyone ran in fear, desperate to escape the Stalkers—those monstrous beings that seemed to emerge from nightmares."
"The order people fought to build crumbled in a single day. And then, it became every man for himself," Reona chuckled bitterly, the sound hollow.
"And then came the massacre... The Stalkers killed indiscriminately—men, women, children, the elderly. No one was spared."
After a moment, Reona continued, her voice quieter. "But eventually, people fought back. They had no choice. Even a rabbit would bear its teeth when cornered, much less humans. And after many sacrifices, they finally succeed."
"Someone finally managed to kill one of the Stalkers, and that's when they made a discovery..."
Her gaze landed on Eldric, her eyes heavy with meaning.
"If you kill a Stalker, you can absorb its power and you can use its abilities."
"Holy..."
"Shit..."
"Wow..." The three youngsters exclaimed in unison.
Eldric's mind raced. He had expected many things, but this... this was something else entirely. He glanced at Sarah and Ellic, who seemed equally shocked by the revelation.
"Excited?" Reona's voice cut through their thoughts, and she gave a knowing smile. She had seen that look on many faces before.
"Everyone was excited back then too," she said dryly. "It felt like a divine intervention—a way out. But then... came the consequences."
Her voice grew softer, laced with regret.
"At first, everything seemed fine. But the more people used the Stalker's powers, the more they changed. Slowly, their humanity slipped away, until they became Stalkers themselves—mindless, grotesque abominations driven only by instinct."
Reona's words hung in the air, chilling them all. Eldric's hand tightened around the knife, his knuckles turning white. Sarah and Ellic stared at their grandmother, wide-eyed and shaken. Even Sarah, who had suspected something, was rattled by this sudden revelation. Ellic, on the other hand, sat in stunned silence, his lips trembling as if he wanted to speak but couldn't find the words.
Reona's voice wavered as she continued, her eyes heavy with memories of the past. "Even after knowing the risks, people still sought this power. They believed they could resist the changes, that they were different, stronger than those who failed before them." She shook her head, her lips pressing into a thin line as if laughing at them.
"But one by one, they all fell... They became the very creatures they sought to destroy. The hunters became the hunted, and the cycle of death only deepened."
Eldric felt a cold sweat bead on his forehead as he listened. It was hard to imagine the desperation that had driven people to such lengths, and even harder to fathom the sacrifices that had been made.
"After years of this..." Reona's voice broke, her shoulders slumping. "After countless mistakes and endless suffering, they learned something else. They concluded that the younger you are when you absorb the powers of the Stalkers, the faster you turn into one of them."
The moment she finished speaking, the air seemed heavy. Sarah gritted her teeth, her fists clenching tightly in her lap. Ellic, on the other hand, sat frozen, unable to process the implications of what he was hearing. His world, the world he thought he knew, was crumbling before him.
Reona took a deep breath, steadying herself before delivering the final blow. "We realized that waiting is the only way to minimize the risk. If someone is truly desperate and wishes to take on these abilities, they should be no younger than thirty." She paused, her gaze shifting to the floor, her voice growing softer. "But even then, the danger remains."
"Just like Jeron... My son... He has already used these abilities many times... Too many times..."
Though she didn't speak further, the implications behind her words were obvious.
While Eldric and Sarah sat there in silence, processing everything they heard, Ellic on the other hand felt like his heart was about to jump out of his throat. He couldn't believe that his father was in such a dangerous situation. For a moment, the figure of a middle-aged man who usually kept quiet and always had a serious expression flashed in front of his eyes as he turned around and rushed out of the meeting hall, leaving behind the figure of Eldric, Sarah, and Reona..... each lost in their train of thoughts.