Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

Mom, Dad, Zenyla, and I have always been super close. We weren't the most social family on the planet, but what should that matter if we had each other, right?

I'm sure my death affected them in all sorts of hellish ways.

I can't imagine what it must be like to go out with the knowledge of someone's absence looming over your shoulders. For me, being away from them wasn't too devastating since I knew they were fine and healthy and alive. On their end, I was rotting six feet under.

For the past year, I could check up on them from afar if we happened to cross paths and if they ever came to my grave, I'd be able to hear their one-sided conversations with me. They'd leave behind small trinkets and flowers and some of my favorite foods. I couldn't take them of course, but it was nice to hear from them every now and then. Sometimes they'd bring along Toni and Olly to come say hi. Neither of them would say much of anything, but I could still feel their presence awkwardly hovering around.

My family stopped visiting, though.

Must be because of that earthquake that apparently destroyed this house.

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

There's not much time left to get lost in my own thoughts again.

I sat cross-legged in the middle of the living room. The blood soaked carpet squished uncomfortably beneath me. I'll have to scrub that out later.

As I focused my magic on the task at hand, I could envision my mother's bright smile. Her safe arms. Her honest eyes. It felt cold and empty without her secure arms draped over my shoulders.

Her voice sounded like a repressed thought in my own head.

"...I know...I know...I'm sorry...We'll get that rent to you tomorrow..."

She must be on the phone.

"I told you, Ms. Smith, my husband and I are trying. All we ask is just another extension on the deadline...No, I won't take out another loan. I'm drowning in enough debt already..."

Suddenly, my chest began to painfully eat away at itself, freezing my entire body in place. No matter how much I willed it, my body wouldn't budge. My fangs pierced through my tongue to hold in a scream. The iron taste of the blood made me want to gag. Forcing my eyes downward, the orchid tattoos wrapped around my arms started to glow, but unlike that first night in the city, the scaly skin around the area began to peel back like an old paint job. The flesh beneath the scales was the same orchid color of my tattoos.

Images of a different living room flashed in and out of my vision.

TickTickTickTickTickTickTickTickTickTick

BWOOSH!!! (There's no other way to describe that noise, man.)

Everything stopped.

After taking a second to reorient myself, I wasn't in my own decaying house. I was in an apartment. A really, really tiny apartment. Probably about the size of my kitchen plus my bathroom, which, lemme tell 'ya, is teenie weenie. It was scarcely decorated with only one or two indoor plants and unframed family photos. Photos of Mom, Dad, Zenyla, and...me.

I was only able to take a few steps back before I tripped over my own feet, landing myself onto a rather uncomfortable couch.

Mom was right next to me.

Oh God.

All I could do was gasp and slap my claws over my mouth.

She stared through me, the phone still held up to her ear.

Then she reached out towards me...

...and grabbed a pillow across my lap.

"Yeah, Mama, I just talked to the landlord...Nah, she ain't budgin'...I'm okay, Mama, really. Look, if I knew I couldn't take care of my family, I'd'a already moved back in with you months ago. We're holdin' up, I promise..."

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

She can't see me.

A heavy sigh escaped my lips.

Mom suddenly shot her eyes over to my exact position again.

"Hey, Mama, I'll have to call you back, okay?...Yeah, I'll see you Sunday...Love you too, Mama. Bye." She tossed her phone on the coffee table in front of her and reached out towards me again, her hand swiping through the air right in front of my line of vision. "What the hell..."

"Honey," Dad swooped in from around the corner. "What did you want for dinner tonight? I was thinking — Honey? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I just," She swiped her hand through the air again, barely missing the tip of my nose. "Just thought I heard something."

Again, she stared right through me. From Dad's perspective, she probably looks like she's seeing a ghost. I pushed myself off the couch, quietly backing up into a plain wall. Dad knelt down in front of Mom, holding her shaking hands steadily.

"Are you sure you're okay? Ever since that encounter you had at the old house, you haven't been yourself," He set his glasses aside, meeting Mom's gaze heavily. "You don't have to keep hustling for all of us. You can lean on me when you need me, Kamali."

"I know, baby, I know."

As much as watching Mom pitifully lean into Dad broke my heart, I knew I had to keep pushing my luck. If I didn't reach out now, I'd never know what would've happened.

Maybe I was better off keeping it that way.

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

"M...Mom? Dad?"

Only Mom snapped back to attention. Shoot, she's the only one my voice is connected to.

"John, did you hear that?"

Dad scanned the room in silence. The only sounds that could be heard were Zenyla's faint chatter in the distance and the infuriating ticking that persisted in the back of my own mind. A loud, throbbing sensation pounded in my temples with each new imaginary tick. I didn't have much time.

"Mom, please don't freak out. I need you to listen to me."

She screamed, holding her head in her hands.

My fangs clenched, biting through any flesh it could sink into. "Don't scream, don't scream! Please stop screaming!"

"Get out! Get out of my head!"

"Honey, what's happening!"

tIcK TiCk tIcK TiCk

Zenyla had come speeding out of her room, a look of complete concern plastered across her little face. She landed herself right next to Mom on the couch and threw her arms around her.

"Mommy, what's wrong?"

Mom could only sob in response.

TICK TICK TICK TICK

I never realized how hard my fists were balled up until I saw my own blood dripping down onto the floor. Screaming, crying, ticking. That goddamn ticking!

"Mom, please! I need your help! I need you to calm down and listen!"

"Stop it! Stop it! Stop yelling!"

"Zypher!" A faint voice in the back of my mind intruded my thoughts. "You have to get out of there! I never had the time to explain, but any failed attempts at finding your human contact will result in a temporary loss of control!"

"Eliza? How are you-"

"If you want to save your family, you have to go now!"

Eliza's voice was sucked away from me. My whole being felt as if it had just fallen fifty stories flat onto pavement. There was no way out as far as I knew. I didn't even know how I got in! Scrambling around their tiny apartment, I tugged at every window and doorknob I could get my hands on. Nothing would budge. Even when I tried to activate teleportation, I would only end up back in the middle of the room, standing with my feet planted right behind my father. I can't leave. I'm doomed. No...I'm not the one who's doomed.

They are.

Has...

TICK TICK TICK TICK

Has their front door always looked this red?

TICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICKTICK

"Why isn't it you?"