Monstrosity

Episode 2 (part 2)

Tossing and turning in bed, your eyes were wide open in shock. You wanted to believe that what you saw was fake, a sick prank that could cost people their lives, but your gut told you otherwise. It kept reminding you of the instance when you 'read Hyun-Su's mind.' How was that possible? But you saw the monster destroy the speaker with your own eyes, and that was real, so there was a big possibility that you were able to read the minds of people now, wasn't it? Sitting up, no matter how much you tried to distract yourself, even when you closed your eyes to just blink, flashes of terror would appear before you. You picked up the water bottle that stood on the study table, adjacent to your bed, to gulp the fear down. You thought maybe the fresh and cool liquid would help, but behold your luck, the water bottle was empty. You were too scared to put your feet down on the ground. What if someone was under your bed, waiting for the perfect opportunity? Your throat ached from the cold, dry air, so you mustered up some courage and jumped a little far away from the bed, paranoid.

"I might as well kill myself now," you heard the faint voice of Hyun-Su from the living room. Your door made a creaking noise every time you opened it, so you looked at and listened to him from a slender aperture made by the door and its frame. He continued talking to himself, looking blankly at something on his phone.

"At least then I can... I can die a human being," he said, shifting himself towards the window and opening it. Thinking about the worst, you dropped your steel bottle and opened the door with a thud. Hyun-Su had a jump scare and turned around, his fist in the air, ready to fight monsters with his bare hands which he thought the noise indicated.

"Don't!" you shouted. "Don't do it, Hyun-Su. We can fight this. It's... It'll end soon. It must be a prank, don't you think?" You grabbed him by his arms, looking up at him with worry. If the situation had not been straight out of a horror movie, Hyun-Su would've kissed you then and there. In all these years, he had never seen someone worry about him like you are right a stranger he met mere hours prior. He stared at you blankly for a moment and noticed you. You were way prettier than the image his head formed of you yesterday morning when he arrived at Green Home. His eyes were always away from people, never meeting theirs when taking part in a conversation; he never initiated them anyway.

"Hyun-Su?" you asked, breaking him out of the zone. He blinked a couple of times and turned away, missing the warmth of your touch instantly.

"Look," he pointed down at the apartment right below yours. A man had been descending from the window, assuring his children that he'd be coming back. You took a minute to look around neighboring buildings, the sky, and the street. It was apocalyptic. Numerous kinds of monsters walked around on the earth, some fast, some slow, and some not moving at all. You also saw dead humans lying on the ground who failed to survive.

"Dad, don't go. It's too dangerous," a girl wept for the man.

"Don't cry, Su-Yeong. You're in charge now, so take good care of Yeong-Su while I'm away, alright?" He assured the girl, knowing it was an ultimatum.

"Dad..."

"Don't cry, Su-Yeong. Monsters might come if they hear us. Shh!" The man said, trying to keep an act of bravery in front of his kids, but you could sense how terrifying it must be.

"You know I was in the special forces, right? I'll come back with food. Yeong-Su, listen to your sister, okay?" For the father, that was goodbye.

Yours and Hyun-Su's eyes widened. You saw a creature with large eyes come towards the father. Instinctively, you gripped the sleeves of Hyun-Su's t-shirt, your heart pounding rapidly in both of your chests when the creature continued to move near the man.

"Get out of there," Hyun-Su mumbled. "Come on."

"Watch out!" you both yelled to the man. The creature, coming closer and closer, pushed the man, and he nearly lost his balance. Su-Yeong cried for her father, and the rope the man was holding on to came loose. He fell to the ground with a loud thud. He was dead. Hyun-Su dove and hid himself under his arms. You backed away into the living room. Shakily, you drank out of a glass that already had some water in it; your brain had stopped functioning to care enough about it. Hyun-Su closed the window and scrunched up near the wall, shaking. You sat down, trembling as well, in case you lost your balance. Both of you heard the girl call for help. Hyun-Su, still shaking, sprinted towards his computer set-up to grab the desktop screen. You were quick to catch on to the plan brewing inside his head and open the window. Without thinking much, he aimed the screen at the monster, which was slowly gliding inside the kids' apartment. Annoyed by the force, the creature dashed towards your apartment. You closed the window and ran away from it. Hyun-Su got a hold of the blue plastic stick to defend the two of you, and you grabbed yesterday's knife as well. The monster rushed towards you both. Hyun-Su jabbed the stick into one of its eyes as you slashed its skin. A loud snarl was made, and it wrapped itself around Hyun-Su, squeezing him tightly. Hyun-Su started to turn blue, and veins popped up from every part of his body.