Anomaly

(POV - Laura Cavendish)

Laura had faced all kinds of situations throughout her life. In short, her experience was vast, though marked by highly unconventional events. Still, she could pride herself on having escaped all those situations alive, thanks to one crucial factor: luck. In the field Laura worked in, luck was almost like an indispensable ally, so valuable it could be worn like a merit medal.

However, Laura honestly couldn’t say if her luck was still on her side. All she had to do was look at the sky: a black hole occupied the place of the moon. While the situation was far from ideal, she had to admit it could be worse. The simple fact that the black hole wasn’t behaving exactly as it should was already a kind of victory.

After all, if that were truly the case, Earth would probably already be getting swallowed by it. Of course, Laura couldn’t recall the exact details about black holes off the top of her head to state this for sure.

Also, many other phenomena should be happening, like drastic changes in the tides, for example. Considering all that, it was clear that the black hole in the sky wasn’t a regular black hole. This fact became even more obvious when she remembered it had been created by the anomalous power of an anomaly.

Of course, none of Laura's ramblings provided a convincing explanation for why she was, at that moment, in the forest surrounding the village, trying to locate an anomaly that had already shown it possessed an anomalous teleportation power. In short, the simple fact that she could be anywhere made the search a real headache — like looking for a needle in a haystack.

While her thoughts unraveled, Laura kept her eyes alert to the surroundings. It was then that she approached Arthur and, with a suspicious glance, asked: "I don't even need to say that going out to look for it in the middle of the night, without a single clue where this anomaly might be, is pure madness, right?"

Laura was definitely not saying that just because the forest at night looked especially eerie and shrouded in an almost oppressive darkness. It was as if, at any moment, something could emerge from the shadows and attack them without warning. No, that was definitely not the real reason.

Victor, holding firmly onto a rifle-like weapon, kept his eyes scanning the area as he responded to Laura's comment: "I can't disagree with that. Honestly, I still think there are better ways to get ourselves killed. But, like Arthur mentioned, I also have this feeling that the anomaly is still nearby"

Unfortunately for Laura, the odds were stacked against her: two to one. Arthur, who had suggested the idea, and Victor, who, for some reason, seemed determined to search for the anomaly in the forest, guided by some inexplicable feeling. Of course, if someone else were in Victor's place, Laura could’ve simply ignored the argument without a second thought.

As they walked, Laura glanced sideways at Arthur, who seemed lost in thought, staring into the darkness of the forest ahead. His fingers lightly drummed against his cane, and his eyes seemed to wander off, as if they were trapped somewhere else. At least until something caught his attention, making him shift his gaze up to a tree branch.

Laura briefly followed Arthur’s gaze, fixing on a pair of glowing eyes, gleaming like lanterns in the dark, high up on a tree branch. It was the anomaly known as [Angel of Death], a name that, from Laura’s perspective, made absolutely no sense in relation to the creature. Still, she had to admit that the "Angel" part did seem quite fitting to describe it.

"By the way, what’s the deal with this anomaly? It’s definitely different from anything I’ve seen" Arthur commented, while staring directly at the creature, a glimmer of interest shining in his eyes.

Laura blinked briefly before refocusing her gaze on the anomaly high on the tree branch. The creature was now sitting, gently swinging its feet back and forth. While this wasn’t exactly relevant, Laura couldn’t help but find the gesture incredibly cute.

Maybe it was because the anomaly resembled a child, or maybe it was actually a child. Every now and then, its behavior had a genuinely childish touch... Not that Laura cared, after all, it was adorable anyway.

“Ahem!” Laura cleared her throat lightly, trying to get Arthur's attention, who seemed focused on the anomaly again.

As soon as she noticed Arthur's gaze fixed on her, Laura began explaining in a calm and clarifying tone: "We discovered this anomaly in a forest with unusual properties. Some anomalies tend to appear there, but we've never seen anything like this little one. Even by my standards as a scientist, it's incredibly fascinating. Unlike most anomalies, it doesn't show hostility toward humans; in fact, in certain situations, it even seems to help them. Of course, it could just be a coincidence, but I'd rather believe that's not the case. Not all anomalies have to want to kill us for no reason, right? Besides, as you may have already noticed, it seems to understand human language to some extent"

Though Laura wasn’t sure if Arthur understood the full significance of the little anomaly, it was clear that it had sparked his curiosity even more. For some reason, this made Laura feel excited, like she had done something good or something along those lines. Also, a peculiar feeling came over her: an unexpected desire to be recognized and thanked by the little anomaly for that.

***

(POV - Victor Hale)

As usual, Victor’s job was to stay alert and prepared for any situation, ensuring the safety of his companions and preventing anything fatal from happening. However, this simple task had become increasingly challenging since the appearance of the [Angel of Death]

As they moved through the forest of dead trees, Victor’s eyes instinctively lifted to the sky. It didn’t take long for him to notice something strange — an irregularity that was impossible to ignore. In the place where the moon should have been, with its silver glow lighting up the night, there was a colossal black hole, a menacing presence that seemed capable of swallowing Earth at any moment.

This fact simply wouldn’t let Victor calm down. Normally, such a sight would be enough to paralyze anyone with fear, making it hard to walk. Although he didn’t know exactly how it affected Arthur and Laura, in his case, the power seemed to flood his body with adrenaline, almost like an anesthetic effect. Irony of fate: it was in desperate situations like these that Victor felt most prepared to face anomalies.

Victor took a deep breath, lost in his thoughts. Though he always said he wanted to quit his job, his two only friends, Laura and Emily, always treated the matter as a joke. Of course, Victor didn’t blame them; he knew deep down he wouldn’t leave the job, but not because he didn’t want to — rather, because he simply couldn’t.

(Tsk, this is bullshit... the silence of this forest is making me dive into depressive thoughts again) Victor thought, closing his eyes for a moment.

Luckily, Victor’s moment of solitude didn’t last long. Feeling light taps on his arm, he turned to see Laura’s eyes. With a worried expression, she asked: “Don’t you think the forest is way too quiet? It might just be me, but for some reason, I feel like something's been watching us, lurking in the dark”

Victor raised an eyebrow at Laura’s words. His gaze was then drawn to the top of a tree where, despite the thick darkness making it hard to see, two golden glows, like candle flames, still stood out clearly.

His eyes then shifted to the abyss of darkness ahead. As Laura had said, Victor felt the strange sensation too, staring into that emptiness. Something crossed his mind at that moment, but he quickly pushed the thought aside, as if it was irrelevant.

Victor scanned the area quickly. Just as Laura had said, the place was immersed in complete silence — a silence so deep it was unsettling. For some reason, the signals on his device started beeping, increasing his discomfort.

A bad feeling took hold of him, and, to his unease, it wasn’t the first time he had felt it. The déjà-vu only made the weight in the air grow heavier, leaving Victor more and more uneasy.

Victor kept his eyes fixed on the golden glows that seemed to float in the darkness. Every now and then, he felt as though those same eyes were watching him back. Despite his many reservations about trusting an anomaly, he couldn’t ignore the fact that it had saved him many times before.

However, for someone in Victor’s line of work, survival relied on one simple rule: adapt quickly or die when you least expect it.

For all these reasons, Victor froze when he noticed a change in the behavior of the anomaly on the tree branch. The anomaly’s golden eyes were fixed on something ahead, as if watching something invisible to him.

Although Victor trusted his ability to see in the dark, it became clear that what the anomaly was seeing was far beyond his reach, lost somewhere distant and hidden by the impenetrable darkness.

“Don’t just stop like that! It’s really dark here” Laura said, stepping closer to Victor: “And why did you stop so suddenly?”

Ignoring Laura’s question, Victor narrowed his eyes, concentrating as hard as he could to try to see something ahead. But no matter how much he strained his vision, he couldn’t see a thing.

Confusion took over him. Even with the darkness around him, it felt like the range of his sight was gradually shrinking, as if an invisible curtain was swallowing everything as the seconds passed.

Victor squinted as he finally realized what was happening. His gaze slowly wandered around, but everything seemed unchanged. Still, there was something odd, almost imperceptible, as if an invisible force was compressing the visible space, making it more and more restricted.

Just when he began to wonder what exactly was happening, a sound interrupted his thoughts — footsteps, light, but clear enough to grab his attention.@@novelbin@@

The footsteps were extremely slow and almost imperceptible. Victor could easily have believed it was just a noise caused by the wind or something like that, but his intuition told him otherwise.

This didn’t feel like a mere coincidence. A chill ran down his spine, making the hairs stand up. Without hesitation, in a swift motion, he pointed his weapon toward the sound, even though the darkness ahead revealed absolutely nothing.

“Wow!” Laura exclaimed, surprised, standing beside Victor: “Why did you do that so suddenly? You scared me!”

Instead of answering Laura, it was Arthur who replied, slowly moving his monocle to his eye: “Hmm... seems like something’s moving in the dark, but I can’t see clearly what it is... it’s amazing you noticed that even though it’s so dark. Honestly, I can barely see my own feet in this darkness”

Although Victor felt a momentary curiosity about Arthur’s monocle, he chose to set that aside, at least for now. There was something more urgent demanding his full attention.

However, he was unsure how to proceed from that point. He had no idea what was hiding in the darkness, but one thing was certain: whatever it was, it seemed to have retreated, at least for now.

Still, the darkness was too dense for them to turn back, and Victor seriously doubted they could. The forest no longer felt like an ordinary place. It was as if something had changed irreversibly. With that thought still in his mind, footsteps were heard again. This time, however, they grew progressively louder, as if something was getting closer.

Whatever was hiding in the darkness was clearly ready to reveal itself. In the dead of night, a figure emerged from the shadows. Victor, surprised to see the being suddenly appear, even in the total darkness, was even more stunned by the creature’s appearance. It was something completely unexpected and defied any rational explanation.

No matter how Victor looked, it was clearly a deer, but what caught his attention was the grotesque state it was in. The animal’s body seemed to be in an advanced stage of decomposition.

One of its eyes dangled out, completely displaced, while the other... was no longer there. In its place, there was a deep, dark hole from which a thin, purple flame emanated, flickering as if it were about to disappear at any moment.

The deer’s mouth was grotesquely open, with a liquid constantly dripping from it. Though it would be easy to assume it was saliva, Victor had a feeling that wasn’t it. The deer’s body was also in a deplorable state.

It was as if a corpse had suddenly come to life and started crawling, aimlessly wandering. As he stared at the creature before him, one thought crossed Victor’s mind.

(When did the suspense turn into terror?) A nervous smile formed on his lips, reflecting the chaos inside his mind.