Every world has a heart.
But when that heart stops beating,
the silence left behind becomes a prayer no one hears.

Nuelle sat on the rocking chair in the garden,
thread slipping between her fingers.

The sun poured softly over the grass.
The only sounds were the whisper of the wind and the song of birds.

She thought of her children—
wondering which of the three would catch the biggest fish.

Jeremi had promised a double portion of ice cream for the winner,
and she had already baked a blueberry pie to console the other two.

A perfect day.
Or so it seemed.

Then a scream cut through the air—sharp as a blade.
It came from the Sullivan’s house.

Nuelle dropped her needle and thread, hand rising to her throat,
and rushed toward the gate.

“Rosemary?” she called, seeing her neighbor staggering toward her.

The woman moved with effort—ashen-faced, hollow-eyed.
Only when she got closer did Nuelle see the red stain spreading across her belly.

“Rosemary! Oh God…”

Before she could move another step,
something appeared behind the woman.

A shadow.
An abomination.

The creature grabbed Rosemary by the hair,
tilted her head sideways,
and sank its jaws into her neck.

Blood sprayed like a crimson fountain.
The thing lifted her body, bathing its face in blood,
laughing in a voice that didn’t belong to this world.

Nuelle screamed—
a sound that split the air.

“Jeremi!”

Her husband came running.

“Oh no… no, no, no! Inside, Nuelle!”

But she didn’t move.
Frozen in place.

Jeremi grabbed her by the arms and dragged her toward the house,
the guttural sounds behind them echoing like curses from hell.

“Jeremi…” Nuelle gasped, clinging to his sleeve. “What are they doing here?”

He hesitated—just for a heartbeat. His eyes darkened.

“Now’s not the time,” he said quietly.

He set her down, seized a poker and a knife.

“You lock yourself in. I’ll distract them, lead them away. Then I’ll come back.”

“Jeremi, no…” she sobbed, clutching at his shirt.

He took her hands and looked into her eyes.

“The kids need us. I need you too.”

Two monsters pushed through the gate.
Jeremi straightened his back,
poker raised like a blade of fire.

“If one of them comes for you—lock the door. Promise me.”

She nodded faintly.

And then, from the distance—

“Mom! Dad!”

Finde was running.
Heart hammering in his chest.

The house was in sight.
They had crossed the Sullivan fields—
and there it was.
Home.
Their refuge.

But in front of the porch, in the garden—
two monsters.
And between them—Jeremi.

“Dad!!” Miky shouted.

Jeremi turned.
For an instant, relief flickered in his eyes.

“Kids! Inside! Now!”

Nuelle flung open the door.

“Hurry, come on!”

Finde had never seen his father move like that.
Swift. Precise. A storm of motion.

He lunged between the two creatures, poker spinning like fire,
forcing them apart.

“NOW! RUN!”

The three children reached their mother and threw themselves into her arms.
The door slammed behind them—
but not before Finde heard a cry.

He turned.

Jeremi staggered,
a deep wound cutting through his thigh,
blood soaking the grass.

“Dad!”

Jeremi raised a trembling hand, shaking his head.

“Son… promise me you’ll be strong. Protect your mother. Protect them all.”

The door shut.
The screams stayed outside.

But not for long.

BOOM.

Something slammed against the door.
Then again.
Each hit shook the walls.

They tried to push the table against the entrance,
but it was too heavy, sliding inch by inch.

“Hurry!” Nuelle cried.

Finde’s heart pounded like a drum.

Then—another sound.
A grunt. A growl.
And a silence that lasted too long..

“Dad?”

The door burst open.
The monsters stormed in.

Finde saw it all as if in a dream.

His father’s body lying in the garden.
The wound in his abdomen.
The blood.

Then—
the monster’s fist smashed into his face.

A blinding flash.

When he came to,
the world had turned into a nightmare without sound.

Only images

Miky trying to shield their mother
and being pierced through.

Lisey paralyzed,
their mother screaming,
a knife pinning her shoulder to the table.

Finde tried to move,
but his body wouldn’t respond.

He saw the blade dripping with his mother’s blood.
Lisey’s throat, cut open.

The air grew thick,
unbreathable,
as if pain itself were choking the house.

And then something inside him broke.

A scream rose from his chest,
feral and inhuman.

He hurled himself at the monster
that had slit Lisey’s throat,
driving a knife between its neck and shoulder.

The creature’s black blood splashed across his face.
He grabbed his mother’s cleaver
and split the monster’s skull.

It staggered,
grabbed his neck,
but before it could crush him,
its grip loosened—
and the body collapsed, lifeless.

Finde fell to the floor beside it,
coughing, gasping.
His eyes searched for his siblings.

Only blood.
Only silence.

Then—a scream.
His mother.

He turned.
The second monster was digging its claws
into Nuelle’s abdomen.

No.
No.
NO.

He grabbed the meat mallet
and struck with all his remaining strength.

The monster’s skull split halfway,
it staggered back, growling.

Finde looked at his mother.
She was dying.

She smiled faintly.
Her lips moved—
I love you.

And then… nothing.

The light in her eyes faded.

The monster recovered,
grabbed Finde,
lifting him off the ground.

The knife traced a burning line across his face,
from his forehead to his cheek.

Blood dripped into his right eye.

The creature licked the wound,
murmuring in that impossible tongue.

Finde understood.
It was over.
He was going to die.

But fate decided otherwise.

The monster stiffened.
Its pupils widened.
Then its head slid from its shoulders,
a burst of black liquid taking its place.

The lifeless body released him.

Finde collapsed to the floor,
panting, trembling, eyes unfocused.

Then he saw a silhouette.

A figure kneeling beside Lisey’s body.

Not a monster.

Someone.

A presence that didn’t belong
to his world—nor to the one that had just invaded his home.

And in that moment,
as blood and silence merged into darkness,
a single ray of hope appeared.

[Next: Episode 4 – The Keepers of Light]