Chapitre 7: Empty Eyes
The Confrontation and Aftermath
Tom and Finn tried to escape, but Aren was too fast. He grabbed them both by their hair and slammed their heads together with a brutal "Thud!" The sickening sound echoed through the room, and the boys crumpled to the ground, blood seeping from their noses.
Ethan's eyes widened in horror. His heart raced as if it might explode from his chest. He couldn't look away, forced to witness the brutal scene. Aren crouched down in front of him, his eyes shining with a predatory gleam. In that moment, Ethan felt true terror—a cold dread that made his blood run icy.
A twisted smile spread across Aren's face, but his empty, black eyes seemed to stare straight through Ethan's soul. It wasn't just a smile—it was something monstrous. Ethan's body froze, drenched in sweat, as if all the strength had drained out of him in a single heartbeat.
Every part of him felt consumed by the darkness in Aren's gaze, like he was staring into an abyss. Aren loomed over him, that awful smile never wavering, and Ethan felt trapped, as though his courage had been stripped away. Even if he wanted to run, his legs refused to move.
Then, as quickly as it had come, the smile disappeared. Aren stood up, his face returning to a blank mask, and without a word, he turned and walked out of the classroom. The bloody mess he left behind and Ethan's wide-eyed terror hung in the air, heavy and suffocating.
Ethan's body felt like lead as he forced himself to walk home, every step slow and unsteady. The chilly evening breeze did nothing to cool the heat of his fear. Aren's face, that terrifying smile, stayed with him, repeating in his mind like a broken record.
When he finally made it home, his sister Lina greeted him at the door, her expression twisted with concern. "Ethan, you're late. What happened to you?" she asked, her voice shaky.
Ethan forced a weak smile. "I was just studying," he lied, his voice still trembling slightly. He was trying to keep his composure, to hide the fear from her, but he knew he wasn't convincing. Inside, Aren's haunting smile continued to echo in his thoughts, unsettling his every breath.
That night, sleep came in restless fits. In his dreams, Aren's smile twisted into something even more nightmarish. Ethan found himself alone in a dark forest, the shadows shifting around him. He could hear Aren's voice in the wind, whispering, "Ethan... where are you going?" The fear wrapped around him like cold chains, binding him to the ground.
When Ethan turned, Aren was there—his face inches away, his eyes empty and dark. Ethan's scream got stuck in his throat as he jolted awake, drenched in sweat. He sat up in bed, gasping for breath, the room's darkness closing in on him. Even in the silence, he couldn't shake the memory of Aren's stare.
"It's just a dream," Ethan whispered to himself, but the fear felt too real to dismiss. The memory of Aren's twisted grin and the violence he'd witnessed still lingered, like shadows that refused to fade.
The next morning, Ethan felt the weight of his fear pressing down even harder. He had spent the night haunted by nightmares of Aren's eyes, those black voids that seemed to see through him. His body moved on autopilot as he got ready and made his way to the kitchen, where Lina's worried gaze followed his every move.
"What happened, Ethan? Why do you look so tired?" Lina asked gently, her concern evident.
"Nothing's wrong," he replied quickly. "Just didn't sleep well." He tried to brush it off, forcing a smile, but he could tell Lina wasn't convinced.
As he headed out the door, the unease in his chest tightened like a fist. Every step toward school felt heavier, like he was marching back into a nightmare. Whispers of yesterday's events buzzed through the hallways when he arrived. "Did you hear what happened to Leo and his friends?" a student murmured. "They got destroyed yesterday."
Ethan kept his head down, trying to block out the chatter, but the words echoed in his mind, each one tightening the knot of fear in his stomach. He slipped into his seat, eyes darting nervously to the door, expecting Aren to walk in at any second.
But Aren didn't show up that day. The empty chair where he should have been both calmed and unnerved Ethan. He wasn't sure if he felt relieved or if the fear had simply found a darker corner to hide in.
Cadeaux
-- Cadeau
reçu État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone