Aurex didn't go after him.
He couldn't.
His legs wouldn't move, his breath was shallow, and his chest felt like something had tightened around it. All he could do was turn and walk back the way he came. Every step echoed in the silence. Not a single light flickered in the windows. Not a voice, not a breeze. Just the click of his shoes and the pounding in his ears.
He rounded the corner near his house, head down, thoughts spiraling. That's when he bumped into something,someone.
A figure.
Old. Frail. A woman in a shawl with the same smiling expression as everyone else.
> "You should be getting back home, sweetie," she said, her voice warm but empty.
Aurex just nodded and stepped around her without a word. His hands were shaking again.
He reached the wall of his house, looked up, and saw the rope still dangling from his window. He grabbed it, gave it a few solid tugs. It didn't budge. The knot had tightened too much, or maybe it had fused somehow,either way, it was stuck.
Panic flared.
He tried climbing, jumping,but each time he barely made it off the ground. Until the fourth jump...
He soared.
It felt like flying. He landed on the second-floor ledge, hands gripping the windowsill like it was nothing.
> "How…?"
No time to think. He climbed in, locked the window, and collapsed into the darkness of his room. He didn't know how to feel ,relieved, scared, guilty. Everything was too much.
And he couldn't stop thinking about Torren. About the fence. About that memory,written in blood, telling him not to cross.
None of it made sense.the guilt and fear were killing him.
The next day came like a hammer blow.
He woke up at exactly 6 a.m. to his mother's soft knock. Her voice was calm. Her face, smiling.
Everything was the same.
Too much the same.
He ate breakfast, watching them, wondering if they somehow knew. But nothing in their expressions changed. No glint of suspicion. No hint of concern. It was like yesterday had never happened.
He followed the routine. Went to school with his brother. Sat through the same classes. Nodded, smiled, obeyed.
Then came the break.
And that's when he saw Torren.
Torren. Sitting at the table. Casually eating. Laughing to himself.
Alive.
Aurex froze. His heart skipped. Fear and confusion locked his legs in place. He stared at him. It wasn't possible. He'd seen Torren fall over the fence. He'd heard the wind rush as he was pulled away.
But now,here he was, waving.
Like nothing had happened.
Aurex didn't wave back.
After class, he waited in their usual meeting spot. If Torren showed up and acted strange… it meant something had changed. If he didn't come at all, it meant he was like them now.
But Torren came.
Smiling. Just like always. But his smile didn't feel fake.
> "Dude," Torren said, leaning on the wall. "You left me there. That wasn't very nice."
Aurex didn't answer right away.
> "I saw you," he said, voice low. "You got pulled over. I saw it."
> "And I'm standing right here, aren't I?" Torren shrugged. "I went over. Nothing happened. I even walked around down there a bit. There's a path. There are boats. People."
Aurex narrowed his eyes. "But I remembered something. A memory. Someone wrote in blood not to cross the fence. 'Do not cross the black fence.' I saw it. I remembered it."
Torren waved him off. "Yeah. That's what this place wants you to think. That you can't leave. That you'll die or disappear. But I did it. I left. I came back. And I'm fine. Look at me."
Aurex didn't respond.
> "Even though you ditched me, I forgive you," Torren went on. "I came back because I don't want to leave you behind. So, tonight, same time. We go again. And this time, we leave for real."
> "Let me think about it," Aurex said quietly.
> "What's there to think about?" Torren stepped forward. "This could be our last chance."
> "I said I'll think about it."
Torren held his gaze for a second longer, then sighed.
> "Fine. But if you're not there, I go alone."
And just like that, he walked away.
Aurex didn't follow.
He stood there, heart pounding, head full of noise. He didn't know what scared him more,Torren being gone or Torren being back.
Something wasn't right.
He felt it.
He just didn't know if it was the town... or Torren himself.