Bayfront Coast (4)

Mrs. Smithson was clueless, and she shouted for her husband and Mr. Om. Following her shout, footsteps sound, which was getting louder with each step, soon arrived near the room.

"What's happening?"

"Who's hurt?"

Both Mr. Om and her husband arrived within seconds of each other.

Mrs. Smithson then explained what had happened, but both men did not understand her.They then looked under the bed. After they failed to coax him out, they stood near the bed with a perplexed expression, wondering what had happened to young David.

"I'll call for the doctor," Mr. Om offered before stepping outside to make a call. As he was making a call outside, he then recalled something and went away for a while. A minute later, he rushed back to David's room. When the Smithsons looked at him, Mr. Om said nervously, "Master, Young Master Juin and Young Master Ashton are not in their beds."

"What?" Mr. Smithson gasped upon hearing that. He pinched his glabella and asked, "Where are they? They are old enough to know not to wander around at this hour!"

Even though they weren't his real sons, as their fostered father, he had a responsibility toward their safety.

"I'm not sure, sir. I checked their beds, and both beds were cold. I think they left their beds a long time ago…" Mr. Om said worriedly. And from how Ashton's comforter was thrown on the ground while Juin was neatly pushed aside, Mr. Om had a feeling that Juin was the one who left first, and Ashton followed suit not long after. "Shall I call for the cops?"

"Look around the house first… Check all the rooms and the yards, and the neighbors' houses as well. If you can't find them, then call the cops," Mr. Smithson ordered.

Mr. Om nodded. "Yes, sir!"

The butler then proceeded to start searching the entire house for the boys.

As for Mr. Smithson, after he failed to coax his son out from under the bed, he reached down and tried to pull his son out forcefully. When he caught his son's arm, he suddenly cursed, "F*ck!"

"Hubby!" His wife frowned at him. "Language!"

"He bit me!" Mr. Smithson explained as he pulled his hand out and looked at the bite mark on his right arm. "David, what is wrong with you?!" he snapped as he tried to drag his son out again. This time, he reached down and grabbed onto his son's left leg before pulling him out from under the bed, kicking and fighting. "Stop this instance! This is getting ridiculous!"

"He's going to get me! He's going to get me!" David cried as he tried to climb back under the bed, but his father stopped him by grabbing onto his wet pajamas.

"You're soaked! Did you go out in the rain? What is wrong with you?!" Mr. Smithson scolded his son. He then looked at his wife and said, "What are you waiting for? Go get him another set of pajamas! And a dry towel!"

His wife nodded and quickly went to David's cupboard to look for the pajamas and dry towel.

Meanwhile, Mr. Smithson tried to calm his son down by hugging him, despite his son's wet condition. "It's alright, David. Dad's here, you can tell me everything," he murmured while gently patting David's back.

David calmed down when he felt his father's gentle touch, and he looked up with teary eyes. "Dad, don't let him get me… He's a monster…"

"Who, David? Tell me. Did someone hurt you?" Mr. Smithson asked in a worried tone.

David opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, a bright red flash from outside the window startled him, and he winced, clutching onto his father's black silk pajamas for dear life.

Following the uncanny flash, Mr. Smithson's head turned quickly, and when he looked out the window, the loudest thunder that he had ever heard in his life happened, scaring the soul out of him, and he quickly closed his eyes as he hugged his son tighter than he ever did before.

The thunder was like nothing he had ever heard before, and it was as if it came from the very depths of hell, like the Lord of the Underworld was furious at something.

Mrs. Smithson, who was holding a set of pajamas and a towel, dropped them as she looked out the window with her eyes wide open. It was as if she had seen something extremely terrifying.

And she did.

Outside, at a distance away, when the red flash of lightning occurred, she saw a humongous head, or rather, a shadow with tiny bolts of red lightning that moved around its silhouette. The shadow appeared to have two horns on the side of its head…

It was only for an instant, and when she blinked, the shadow was gone. "The devil…" she muttered before shaking her head to get rid of the ridiculous thought. "It must have been the lighting…"

…

Back to the present, Mrs. Smithson told herself that what she saw back then was just a figment of her imagination; that the shadow could be explained by science. It was probably a mirage… or she was probably too tired and thus affected by her son's rambling.

But… a part of her knew that it was not. She wasn't the only one who saw it. She heard that a few people from the city saw it as well, and they started to behave weirdly since then… like her son.

"Mrs. Smithson?" Juin called out when he saw the frown on her face.

"You need to leave…" Mrs. Smithson suddenly stood up and said brusquely. "You can't be here. You would only make David worse, and he has just gotten better!"

"Honey, don't… It's not his fault…" A tired voice sounded from the entrance to the living room.

They looked toward the person who had just spoken.

"Mr. Smithson..." Juin asked in concern, "How's David?"

Mr. Smithson looked at him, and after a few seconds, he sighed and replied, "I gave him some medicines, so he's asleep now. He would be fine after he wakes up."

"I'm sorry… I didn't know that I would have such an effect on him."

"It's not your fault," Mr. Smithson said as he walked toward his wife. He helped his wife up before saying to Juin in a cold voice, "But I have to say that I really regret taking you and Ashton into my house four years ago."

"Take her to her room," Mr. Smithson said to Mr. Om. He then sat down on the rocking chair and sighed with a tired voice. The last three years had been hell…

All he wanted was to provide his son with friends that were closer to his age, but what he got in return was not what he expected. His son became more withdrawn and was afraid of even his own shadows now, and his wife… She was never completely there since that day.

"I'm… sorry," Juin mumbled as he kept his eyes down and his fists clenched.