Jim stood beside his wife. The engineer's eyes darted in every direction, assessing every person with near-paranoid suspicion. In his mind, anyone could turn into a monster.
The creak of the exam room handle snapped him out of that heightened state.
Daniel stepped out first, adjusting the sleeve of his leather jacket over the clean bandage wrapped around his left forearm.
Julie followed right behind him, with Kristi coming after, tossing a pair of latex gloves into a small trash bin.
"We're going straight home," Jim declared, his tone leaving no room for argument.
"I don't see a problem with that. The dressings are done. Tabitha and Ethan only got a few scratches from the branches," Kristi said.
Daniel assessed Jim's rigid posture and gave a small nod of agreement.
Tabitha, who kept Ethan pressed against her waist in a protective embrace, nodded repeatedly.
The boy hid his face in his mother's shirt, still shaken by the revolver that had been pressed against his head.
"Thank you for everything, Kristi," Tabitha whispered, guiding her family quickly toward the exit.
The doctor simply agreed, her gaze still heavy with suspicion about what she had just learned.
As soon as the group pushed open the clinic door and stepped onto the uneven asphalt, the rush of cold air brought no relief.
Mainly because Jade's chaotic, disheveled figure crossed their path with long strides.
"Good, you're out," Jade said, not even glancing at the bandages. "Can we go check those batteries now?"
Jim's indignation was immediate. Blood rushed up his neck, staining his face red.
"Have you lost your mind? My son was kidnapped less than an hour ago! How do you expect me to focus on that right now?!"
Jade didn't back down. If anything, he crossed his arms, impatience radiating from him.
"Exactly because of that! Because of the horror show that just happened. Every second we waste in this town, the chances of one of us becoming monster food—or the neighbor, apparently—increase. We need to focus on the tower. It's our only way out."
Jim froze, fists clenched at his sides. The instinct to tell Jade to go to hell clashed with the cold logic that he was right.
"If you want to go, I'll keep an eye on them," Daniel cut in, slipping his hands into his jacket pockets. "I've got nothing else to do at the moment."
Jim hesitated, torn between the need to protect his son and the urgency of the plan.
And despite his doubts about the young man, he knew they would be safe with him.
Tabitha gently touched her husband's shoulder.
"Go with him, Jim," she murmured, her voice exhausted but firm. "We'll be fine at home."
Defeated by his own reason, Jim let out a heavy sigh, watched his son for a moment longer, and followed Jade down the street.
Daniel, taking the lead, guided Tabitha, Julie, and Ethan back toward the vehicle.
…
As they approached the house, the sheriff stood in the middle of the street, surrounded by a small group of onlookers.
Donna and Father Khatri stood beside him, their expressions grim.
The moment Boyd's eyes landed on the motorhome, he dismissed the people around him and walked over.
When he saw Daniel stepping down, the sheriff looked at him with surprise. How could someone change so much from morning to afternoon?
"We need to talk," Boyd said after collecting himself.
"Let's go inside," Tabitha intervened, heading toward the house.
The moment they crossed the threshold, she asked Julie to take Ethan upstairs. The boy, still pale, clung to the hem of his mother's shirt.
With only Boyd, Khatri, Tabitha, and Daniel left in the living room, the questioning began.
The sheriff fired direct questions about what had happened. Daniel, with a bored posture, repeated exactly the same version he had given to Kristi and Donna.
As he listened, a storm of thoughts ran through Boyd's mind. Even after hearing Donna's account, listening to it from someone who had been there felt surreal.
He didn't doubt it. He had already heard Kenny's report and had seen, at least briefly, the condition of the body.
The sheriff noticed the blond's calm, exactly as Kenny had described. He spoke about killing someone with the same ease as someone describing the weather.
Boyd swallowed the urge to question that coldness. There were bigger problems right now.
"Who else knows about what happened in the forest?"
"The people in this house," Daniel listed, counting on his fingers. "Kenny, Jade, Kristi, Donna… and the three she sent after us."
Father Khatri, who had been silent until now, spoke up.
"We need to make sure no one else talks about this. The residents are already on edge. If the idea that any of them could turn into a monster in broad daylight spreads, panic will take over."
"And what are you going to do about it, Sheriff?" Tabitha cut in, her voice rising. "I almost lost my son today!"
"This has never happened before, Tabitha," Boyd replied, his tone conciliatory. "Do you know why Rick would be so interested in Ethan?"
"I don't know!" she exclaimed.
"We're going to investigate," the sheriff promised. "But right now, I need to hold a town meeting before the funeral. I need to calm people down."
Boyd's gaze locked onto Daniel. "Can I count on your silence about the… transformation?"
"Fine by me," Daniel shrugged, indifferent. "Even if I think it's a bit late to try and hide it."
"I'll talk to Julie and Ethan," Tabitha agreed, knowing that spreading it wouldn't bring anything good.
Boyd nodded, seeming relieved, but bracing himself to bring up one of the points that bothered him.
"Just one more thing. What happened to you? All that physical change?"
A cynical smile appeared on Daniel's lips.
"You know how it is, Sheriff. I'm a very disciplined guy. I do a hundred push-ups and drink plenty of water first thing in the morning. The fresh air of this welcoming town helps with hypertrophy too."
[You're an incredible clown. The audacity of that answer almost deserves a reward,] the System mocked.
"And how did you pull that weapon out of nowhere? Don't you think we need an explanation for that?" Boyd pressed. That was what he really wanted to know.
When he first heard the murmurs about it, he hadn't paid much attention, but he ended up asking Donna just to be sure.
She said she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, but three people claimed they had seen him pull a shotgun out of thin air. To make things worse, Kenny reported the same thing today.
The sheriff's question caught the priest and Tabitha off guard, as they hadn't known about this, and they waited for Daniel's answer.
"Honestly, I don't think I owe you any explanation," Daniel said, clearly displeased with Boyd's tone.
The sheriff's face darkened. He stared at the young man intensely, but Daniel didn't look away, keeping that faint smirk at the corner of his lips.
"Boyd just wants information so he can help," the priest tried to ease the tension.
"It's not something relevant."
"I hope that doesn't put the residents in danger," Boyd sighed, giving up for now. "Let's go, Khatri."
As soon as the two of them left, Tabitha turned to Daniel. "What was he talking about, you making a weapon appear like magic?"
"You can ask Julie later." Just like he did with Jim, he let his girlfriend handle that explanation.
Once silence returned to the house, Julie and Ethan came downstairs. Tabitha explained the cover-up situation to them.
Noticing that the three Matthews still had distant looks and exhausted expressions, Daniel took the lead.
"What do you say we watch a movie? Julie and I were watching The Avengers earlier," Daniel suggested, sparking a glimmer in Ethan's eyes.
The three agreed, and they headed back to the motorhome.
—
Far from the comfort of the Matthews' house, in the cold basement of the church, Boyd stared at the shriveled corpse lying on the metal table. Kenny leaned against the wall, still disgusted by the smell.
Boyd grabbed Rick's decayed wrist, revealing the blackened mark, identical to a trident, embedded in the skin. The same place he had claimed was burned.
"What does this mean, Khatri?" Boyd whispered, his voice tense.
The priest stepped closer, his face grim. "It means things are changing."
The sheriff released the corpse's arm. After what he had just witnessed, a realization struck him.
He was now more inclined to believe the voices Sara heard. They had warned him to keep an eye on Rick.
"We need to talk to her."
Minutes later, he and Khatri stood in the living room, facing Sara and Nathan, both visibly uncomfortable.
The priest briefly explained what had happened to Rick. The two widened their eyes.
"They warned me," Sara whispered.
"Yes," Boyd confirmed, stepping closer. "And now we need you to ask them. Find out what else they know about whatever used Rick."
"I'll try."
After the disturbing conversation, the sheriff and the priest found Jade and Jim, asking them not to spread what had happened, since they had already spoken with Donna and the three men.
With both agreeing, they finally met with Kristi and Kenny at the clinic to align the story they would tell the town.
—
Hours later, the improvised cemetery was crowded. The atmosphere was suffocating.
Daniel stood at the edge of the crowd, his left arm casually draped over Julie's shoulders.
They stood near the Colony House group, who were receiving hostile looks from the town's residents.
Tabitha and Jim didn't attend. They had stayed home with Ethan, who flatly refused to leave. And for good reason.
Some of the townsfolk might have ignored the funeral of the Colony House residents, but the promise of a meeting led by Boyd had drawn them in.
The sound of whispers filled the air like the buzzing of angry bees.
"Word is Daniel found Rick in the forest and decided to finish the job," a young woman whispered to her friend not far away.
"Don't be stupid. I heard he kidnapped the kid and Kenny shot him," the other shot back.
"You're both wrong. The Colony House guys said that he turned into some horrible monster out in the woods," an older man murmured.
Not far from there, Dilan, who already held a grudge against Daniel, stared at the couple with an expression full of hatred.
"Do you see the change in him?" he muttered to his friend Marcos. "From morning to afternoon. I'm telling you, there's something weird going on with that guy."
Marcos tilted his head, assessing Daniel. "Yeah… he looks a lot stronger. And better-looking. Could he actually be a—"
The sentence died the moment he noticed the murderous look on Dilan's face. "Finish that sentence and I'll break your teeth."
The tension was cut the instant Boyd arrived, accompanied by Khatri, Kristi, and Kenny. The sheriff raised his hands, asking for silence.
The meeting unfolded exactly as rehearsed. He came up with the excuse that Rick had suffered a severe mental breakdown, a sudden episode of acute paranoia that led him to kidnap the boy in a moment of madness.
"I saw him this morning and he looked perfectly fine!" a resident protested from the back.
Kristi stepped in, her voice calm and clinical. "Psychotic breaks can happen silently and erupt without warning. There were no physical signs."
"And how did he die?" someone else shouted. "We saw Kenny carrying a covered body!"
"Rick was armed," Boyd replied curtly. "He fired at people during the rescue. He was killed. End of story." Without giving anyone a chance to argue, the sheriff shifted the focus. "Now, let's begin the funeral for those we lost yesterday."
Leaning against Daniel's chest, Julie let out a long sigh. "Good thing the sheriff didn't say it was you who shot him," she said quietly.
"I don't care if he says it," Daniel replied just as quietly. His face relaxed. "It was self-defense. And he fired first."
She looked up at him, her expression serious. "Even so. You have to be careful. We don't know if anyone else could turn into that… thing." The fear in her words was palpable.
Daniel lowered his head, his lips brushing against her ear. "Don't worry, shorty. I won't let anything happen to you."
A shiver ran down her spine, heat rising to her cheeks. Aware of the dozens of people around them, she nudged him with her elbow. "Stop calling me that."
"It suits you," he smirked. "How tall are you again? One meter and sixty?"
The young woman clenched her teeth. "It's one meter and sixty-two."
"Right," Daniel replied, his voice laced with irony and unmistakable flirtation. "That's one of the things that attracted me to you."
Julie's heart skipped a beat. She was secretly happy with the comment, but she shook her head, trying to hide the silly grin forming on her lips. "Be quiet, Donna's about to speak."
The funeral began. The leader of Colony House was visibly emotional, her voice thick as she spoke about the lives that had been taken. Donna began listing each victim.
As soon as Trudy's name was spoken, a knot formed in Julie's throat. She hadn't particularly liked the girl, but knowing that someone you shared a roof with hours ago had been torn apart brought a crushing sense of reality.
Tears slipped down her face. Daniel simply tightened his arm around her, offering silent comfort.
After Father Khatri's prayers, Boyd took the floor again. He knew grief needed to be countered with purpose.
The sheriff revealed Jim and Jade's plan: building a radio tower on the roof of Colony House. He asked for everyone's cooperation, strong hands, and any useful materials.
Donna immediately offered her entire workforce.
"Great. A magic tower. Exactly what we needed," Dale commented loudly from the back, receiving simultaneous death glares from Donna and Julie.
Boyd called Jade forward. The businessman, ignoring the mourning around him, began listing an urgent set of requirements: wires, cables, and especially every car battery available in town.
Once the ceremony finally broke up and people began to disperse, Daniel saw Sara and her brother Nathan approaching.
The young woman stopped about a meter away. Her gaze dropped over Daniel's muscular frame, surprised by the drastic physical change, but she kept quiet about it.
Sara's attention shifted to the intimate closeness between Daniel and Julie. A sudden and strange feeling of regret and envy struck her, catching her off guard.
"I heard what happened," Sara murmured. "Are you… are you okay?"
"I'm great. Just a light injury," Daniel replied with a casual smile. "By the way, thanks for the information."
"It was nothing. I wish it had helped more."
She hesitated, wanting to ask if they were dating, but swallowed the question and gave a nervous wave, pulling Nathan along with her.
Julie watched the girl walk away. "She seems to like you."
"Yeah," Daniel said, watching Sara's figure as she moved across the grass. "She didn't seem interested before. But apparently, realizing I'm already taken and completely unavailable just doubled my natural charm. It's a heavy burden being this irresistible."
[Your humility truly moves me. Are you sure you don't want me to unlock an official fan club option in the main menu?]
Only if the premium subscription is paid in silver coins, he shot back mentally, the corner of his lips curling into a restrained smile.
Julie sighed and rolled her eyes, choosing not to feed his ego with a verbal response. Instead, she shifted focus to what actually mattered.
"And what kind of information did she give you?" she asked in a low, cautious tone, watching the residents still lingering around the cemetery.
Daniel tilted his head slightly, leaning closer to her ear. "I'll tell you later, in private."
The conversation was interrupted by Fatima approaching. "Hey. We're heading back to the house now. Do you want to come with us to get the rest of your things?"
Julie turned to Daniel, a silent request for his opinion written on her face.
"Let's go," he agreed.
They joined the group. Walking on foot, a party of fourteen people with Donna leading the way headed toward the imposing, and now blood-stained, Colony House.
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