What was a walk turned into a jog. What was a jog turned into a run. What was a run turned into a full-fledged sprint out of Aemon’s neighborhood. Each step that Aemon took made the tears jerk out of his eyes. This was it; the home he lived in for 17 years was officially out of sight. He was quickly out of breath and stopped running. He used the downtime to think of somewhere to go.

  Where can I go? It’s not like I have travelled far from my home before.

  Aemon usually spent all his time in his room and only occasionally walked around his neighborhood. The farthest place that Aemon knew was the city that surrounded his hometown, Albiant. That would probably be the best place that he could find a shelter. Unfortunately for him, with his zombie-like appearance, it was almost impossible for him to interact with anyone, so working for money was out of the picture.

  If I go into the city, I will be spotted in no time.

  Aemon remembered that he had packed a dark blue zip-up sweatshirt in his bag. He quickly swapped the checkered flannel out for it so he could utilize the hood as a disguise.

  Aemon decided that he would begin his march to the border of Albiant. He would linger on the outskirts of the city until dawn rolled around. This would allow his appearance to be flushed out by the golden shine of the sun, making his appearance unrecognizable. He knew a neighborhood, not too deep into the housing district of the city, that had many abandoned houses. His father would sometimes bring it up because of the high crime rate in the area. This was the best thing that Aemon could think of. Homelessness was going to be extremely rough.

  …

  “Beep! Beep! Beep!”

  The alarm clock screeched without halt for many minutes. Eventually, a hand slammed down onto the nightstand and turned off the boisterous machine. The man threw his feet off the bed and, while half asleep, kept his body upright. He hurriedly laid out his clothes for the day and made his way to the bathroom, knowing that he had to be out the door in 40 minutes.

  While brushing his teeth, he noticed something in the corner of his eye. A grim red color entered his vision. He turned and focused his vision under the toilet. There were three small droplets of blood.

  In a panic, the man rushed to his son’s room to make sure he wasn’t hurt. Nobody was in there, just piles of clothes and knocked over shelves. It looked like the space had gone through a burglary.

  He ran into the kitchen. Nothing.

  “Aemon? Aemon!”

  It was obvious to this man, Aemon’s father, that Aemon was gone. An intense wave of terror went over his body.

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  How could this happen? What curse has been put on my family? Why does this continue to happen to the people I love the most?

  Aemon’s father had a rough idea about what had happened to Aemon, but he did not want to think about it. The disease that forever haunted him, Resonance had gripped the heart of another person close to him.

  …

  “Bzzzz. Bzzzz.”

  Aemon dug into his pocket to retrieve his phone that was buried in his pocket.

  “Bzzzz. Bzzzz.”

  Aemon looked down at his phone and was startled to see who was calling him.

  [Dad]

  He wished he could answer so badly, but he knew he couldn’t. He wouldn’t know what to do or what to say if he picked up the phone. He didn’t press the decline button, though; he sat there watching his father’s contact flash onto his screen for every ring that went through the phone.

  …

  “Pick up, please!”

  Aemon’s father gripped his phone, praying that he wasn’t met with the voicemail tone.

  [Call Declined]

  He called three more times, and there was no answer each time. He furiously threw his phone to the ground and stomped on it until the screen refused to emit any light. Without calling in sick, he crawled back into his bed and did not show up to work that day.

  …

  Aemon was approaching the city slowly. He was exceptionally tired since he barely got any sleep the night before. He knew that no matter where he chose to rest on the streets, it was going to be very uncomfortable.

  Aemon made sure to keep the hood of his sweatshirt up and to always keep his head low so nobody could see the unusual coloring that made up his body. He became extra weary once the cars became more abundant as he entered the city. Every crosswalk, all the wandering eyes in the stopped cars made it feel like Aemon had one hundred sniper rifles pointed at him, ready to shoot at any moment. It was almost noon, so the sun beat heavily onto his skin, making even the littlest detail noticeable.

  Aemon stumbled through back roads and alleys just to avoid people from seeing him. His appearance was so gross that even the stray cats and scraggy raccoons avoided going near him.

  As Aemon struggled to walk over loose trash at the exit of one of the alleys, he picked his head up and saw the array of battered houses he was looking for. He could not believe that this was where he would be living for now on.

  Aemon scanned the boarded-up houses as someone would window shop for clothes. He was looking for one with an easy entry.

  After prowling the area for several minutes, he saw a building that piqued his interest. It seemed the boards had been reapplied to the front door many times, so he assumed that the entry would be easy. He approached the wooden boards that secured the entrance and pried them off with all his force. Some of the firmer-placed planks caused him to fall back slightly when he removed them.

  Once he was inside, he took a few laps around the dusty and worn-down house. There was no furniture and all the previous wooden floors were torn up, leaving only a few scraps that were piled up in the corners of some of the rooms.

  The small size of the rooms left no room for an echo. It was quiet. Aemon liked that. It reminded him of how peaceful his room at home was. It was also dark within the building. There was no running electricity, so the only lighting that managed to find its way into the house was from the sun, which squeezed through the cracks of the boarded-up windows.

  Aemon was starting to somewhat enjoy the dull and quiet atmosphere of the abandoned house.

  “Tss. Tss. Tss.”

  What the hell is that noise? Do wild animals hang around a big city like this?

  Aemon stood frozen in the middle of the dark room as the thick, sliding noises grew louder.

  “Tss. Tss. Tss.”

  Aemon’s heartbeat became unsteady, and sweat began to form on his head. Aemon was sure the sounds had made it to the same room he was in. He carefully turned around, unsure of what he would face. With what little light that poured into the room, Aemon could make out a clear silhouette of a male human.

  “Who do you think you are breaking into my house?”

  This unknown man had an eerie glow that beamed from his hand.