Michael didn’t ask Aunt Mia any complicated questions—just if she herself had also been injured anywhere.
Thankfully, she wasn’t, aside from being exhausted, which she didn’t say, though Michael didn’t need to hear it to know.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t much he could do about that.
After saying a few more words to both his cousin and aunt and repeating his last command from before, Michael made his way outside of the apartment.
It was finally time to deal with the issue his aunt had pointed out.
The scream.
As he made his way through the apartment building at a moderate pace, Michael’s footsteps created faint echoes.
With his sharp senses, he could feel the presence of people in some of the apartments.
However, what they all had in common was the silence coming from the other side.
The residents couldn’t escape Michael’s heightened senses, but from the way they all tried to suppress their presence as much as possible, Michael wondered for a moment if it had been like this when the Cracks first appeared in Aurora.
The apocalypse.
To ordinary people, from their perspective, it truly felt like the end of the world at that moment.
As Michael continued moving forward, he couldn’t help but wonder what the future of the city would look like.
How would the world react to this?
Surely, the Federation couldn’t keep such a massive incident hidden, right?
If Michael had known that Woodstone City wasn’t the only one under attack, he would have realized the true gravity of the current situation.
Even if the government wanted to keep things under wraps, they wouldn’t be able to.
Even now, the news was already spreading.
Soon, Michael reached the third floor of the apartment building.
A moment later, he stood before a door.
“It’s heavy,” Michael muttered, frowning slightly. Experience new tales on My Virtual Library Empire
Beyond the door, the scent of blood was stronger than it had been downstairs.
Not only was it easier to sense, but there also seemed to be a lot of it.
However, through his senses, he could detect something odd.
Though he couldn’t see through the door, he could tell there was a living being on the other side.
The issue, however, was…
“There’s no monster.”
There wasn’t a monster beyond the door.
It was amazing what heightened senses could achieve when pushed to a terrifying degree.
At some point, one no longer needed eyes to see.
Though he wouldn’t call himself a master, Michael’s days spent surrounded by monsters had subconsciously sharpened his ability to distinguish between monsters and humans based on their scents and breathing alone at close range.
Humans gave off a unique scent, and so did monsters.
Michael could hear the breathing of the other party behind the door.
For one thing, a monster—at least a normal one—wouldn’t suppress its breathing to avoid detection by a human, especially if it came from a Crack.
Such creatures were consumed by madness.
It could only mean one thing.
There was a human beyond the closed door.
And it was someone who clearly didn’t want to be discovered.
Unfortunately for them, Michael was curious about the situation.
Not only that, but he also needed to ensure that nothing strange was happening in the apartment building while his family was still inside.
Knock knock.
Michael rapped on the door, the sound echoing loudly through the quiet building.
Beyond the door, he could sense the breathing of the person inside.
Suppressed yet quickened.
But no response came.
Silence reigned once again.
Knock knock.
He knocked a second time, and like before, no answer came.
Knock knock.
Michael knocked a third time.
Still, nothing.
However, the other person’s breathing seemed to steady slightly, as if they had calmed down.
A faint smile tugged at the corners of Michael’s lips.
He felt a twinge of mischief after being ignored twice.
Though he didn’t know exactly what was happening beyond the door, he had a good idea based on the clues so far.
Something bad had occurred, and it didn’t seem to have an external cause.
“You can hear me, right?” Michael finally spoke, his voice cutting through the stillness.
Instantly, the person’s breathing quickened again.
“It’s me, Michael. Your neighbor’s nephew from downstairs,” he introduced himself casually.
The breathing on the other side of the door steadied slightly, but still, no words were exchanged.
Michael’s smile widened as his earlier suspicions solidified.
“We heard screaming from here. Did something happen?”
Bang.
A loud noise, like something breaking, echoed from inside.
“So, you’re definitely in there,” Michael said, his tone calm. “Can you please open the door so we can talk?”
No response came, despite the obvious noise from within.
That was the final straw for Michael.
Something was definitely wrong.
He could understand if someone was cautious.
However with the blood of scent coming from beyond the door when there was no apparent monster anywhere, something wasn’t normal.
If he was mistaken, he’d apologize and pay for any damages—but he couldn’t ignore this any longer.
He pressed his hand against the doorknob and pushed.
A strained creak echoed as the lock resisted, but it didn’t stand a chance against Michael, who barely used his strength.
However, just as he was about to open the door, he felt another force pressing against it.
“What are you doing?! Is something the matter? I know you, boy! Are you trying to steal from me because I didn’t answer?!”
Michael paused, his movements halting as the voice barked from the other side.
The speaker’s voice was loud, almost deliberately so.
Michael’s slight smile lingered as he replied calmly, “I’m sorry, sir. I was just concerned that something had happened.”
The voice belonged to a man, and his raised tone seemed like a signal.
Sure enough, Michael’s sharp senses picked up movement all around the floor.
Moments later, a few doors creaked open, and several pairs of eyes fixed on him.
Some were curious.
Some were filled with fear.
Some were wary.
Some were cautious.
And some were surprised.
*****
A/N: Next two chapters are quite dark. However these will be rare occurrences in the novel.
