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Chapter 3: Not Yet

Kori's POV
I was sitting with my Mom and sister in the living room watching TV. Looking at the clock, I saw it was already past ten thirty. My Mom got up from the couch, stretching as she turned to us.

"Are you guys gonna stay up and watch TV? I'm gonna head to bed."

"I will. I'm not tired." I said.

"Me too." Akane said.

"Okay. Good night, then." My Mom replied, reaching down and kissing my forehead, then Akane's. After straightening herself up, she turned around and walked down the hall to her room.

"Big brother, why was that mythical creature you and Yuki were talking about make Mom nervous earlier?" Akane turned away from the TV and focused on my face. I turned my head back to the TV.

"I don't know, Akane, but I don't think she was nervous. There's something she doesn't want to tell us yet." I responded, rubbing her head while still looking at the TV.

"It has to do with that mythical creature, doesn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Ugh. Now I wanna know what Mom knows about it." Akane responded, leaning her head back on the couch as she draped her right arm on the back of it.

"It's not just you. Hang on, Akane. Let me see if I can do anything about this." I said, starting to get up from the couch, but stopped when Akane quickly leaned away from the couch and grasped my hand with her right.

"Are you sure it's a good idea?"

"If it's just one of us, maybe Mom'll be more comfortable with it. I don't know. It's just a guess."

"I want to come with you." Akane said, getting up from the couch, still holding my hand, but now with a slight shake.

"Okay. Go to your room and hang out there. I'll tell you what I know when I get back." I said, looking at her hand in mine. Looking up, I saw her smile as she let it go, and then walked past me and down the hall to her room. Once I saw her in her room, she poked her head out and gave me a thumbs up. I nodded and watched as she gently closed her door.

I looked at the hand she held. I knew she was scared, or at least nervous. She used to hold my hands a lot when we were younger, and stopped once we got older. Her trembling hand told me all I needed to know.

I walked down the hall to my room. I opened her door and walked inside. My Mom was laying on her bed and reaching to turn off her lamp light. She stopped once she saw me.

"Kori? Is something the matter?"

"Do you know something about it?"

"Oh, not this again!" My Mom said, running her hands through her hair and hunching over on her bed.

"So you do know something." I sat down next to her on her bed.

"Yes! Yes, okay, I do! Please, Kori, PLEASE don't make me tell you yet....I don't know if you'll be able to take it." She responded, taking her hands off her head. She placed them on her knees, then crossed her arms, then her knees again.

"Huh? Why can't you tell me yet?"

"Because I need to be ready to tell you." Mom said, raising her hands from her knees, beginning to run them through her hair.

"Your hands are sh-"

"I KNOW! I know....just...go to your room, okay? I don't want....I don't want to think about it. I'm not over it. After all these years, it still runs through my head....just when I think I've gotten over it, it runs through my head once more.....I can't forget about that incident no matter what I do. I want to, but it will never leave me."

My Mom looked at me again, resting one hand on her right temple as the left hand fell onto the bed.

"Kori....I'll tell you about this one day, okay? I promise. I don't know when or how. Maybe it'll be sooner than you think, or maybe it'll be later. Just give me time to think this over."

"Okay. I understand. I'll see you in the morning, Mom." I responded, getting up from the bed. I wanted to say more, but decided it was best not to. I headed for the door.

"Good night." Mom said, turning off her lamp light.

"'Night, Mom." I said, closing her door behind me. I walked into Akane's room.

"What'd she tell you?" Akane asked, getting off her bed and walking towards me.

"She definitely knows something. She's not going to tell me yet, but I think she encountered one of them. She said she'll tell me one day."

"Really? Did she say when?"

"No, but she said it could be sooner or later than I think."

"Well, I hope it's sooner because I really wanna know what you guys are talking about."

"Me too. Get some rest, little sis." I responded, smiling and rubbing her head.

"I will. Good night, Kori."

"Yeah. You too." I said, then turned around and walked out of her room. I walked into my own and picked my phone off my desk. I looked through my contacts. There was a group chat with me and my friends, but I also talked to them individually. I clicked on Yuki's contact.

"Yuki, my Mom knows something about it. She said she'll tell me when she's ready and that it could be sooner or later." I sent the text. He responded nearly right away.

"Tell me about it once she tells you, alright? Something weird is going on ever since what happened last night. I keep feeling like I'm being watched, and when I left Kira's house earlier I smelled something weird."

"I will. I haven't smelled anything weird. You've been hanging out with Kira a lot more than usual, so it might be her smell on you."

"It's not her at all. This is different." He said.

It was perfect timing. My phone buzzed, and I saw a notification from our group chat. When I clicked on it, I saw Kira had typed in a message.

"Yo, did anyone else smell something weird earlier this morning? It was very quick, and I'm pretty sure it was when Kori and Yuki walked out of the front door of my house. I didn't smell it again, but it was really strong."

"I didn't smell anything."

"I did. It was after stepping onto your front porch and when I was about to walk down your driveway. Kori was closing the door behind me."

No response from Neon. She must've already been asleep. Kira's the type who usually responds right away when she gets a text, so maybe she's already asleep, too.

That's weird. I didn't smell anything, but Kira and Yuki did.

Is it already here?

End chapter