A strange quiet clung to the shadowed corner of the school. Wind-blown leaves skittered across the empty playground. Ethan picked up his pace, moving quickly through the corridors, his eyes scanning window after window. Finally, he saw him. Samuel, leaning against the railing, his gaze lost in the emptiness below, hadn't noticed Ethan drawing near.

Seeing Samuel like this ignited a fire in Ethan’s chest. His fists clenched at his sides as he suppressed the urge to rush over and confront him. I can’t just rely on violence to solve this. That’ll only make things worse. He understood now—if Samuel could stab him without asking questions once, there was no reason he wouldn’t do it again if he needed to.

The fact that his life was in someone else’s hands filled Ethan with a deep unease. He swallowed down his anger, forcing himself to stay calm. He needed to figure this out before confronting Samuel.

Ethan wasn’t sure if Samuel knew about his Death Reset ability yet. But as long as he hadn’t told Samuel, he still had the upper hand. He glanced at his phone—April 29th. Good. The last time he had talked to Samuel was on April 30th, which meant Samuel didn’t know anything yet. He could still control the situation.

Taking a deep breath, Ethan quickly formulated a plan. He would use this chance to tell a small lie about his ability. Fate had given him another opportunity, and he couldn’t waste it.

Ethan approached Samuel, his heart racing but his expression steady. His voice was quiet but firm. "Samuel, I need to talk to you. It’s about Emily."

Samuel stiffened but didn’t turn. "What about her?"

Ethan bit his lip, as if carefully choosing his words. He spoke slowly, deliberately, as though weighing the consequences of each sentence. "I’ve been having dreams—visions about death. In my last one, you were there. We were at my house, talking about Emily. You told me that she had been replaced by a monster. And then... my ‘parents’ barged in and confronted us, asking if we had figured anything out. And then... they killed us."

Samuel’s body tensed visibly, his fists clenching as he turned to face Ethan. His eyes bore into him, sharp and intense. "You saw that?"

Ethan, doing his best to appear unsettled, swallowed hard. "Yes. But the details were unclear. "

Samuel’s face darkened, panic flashing in his eyes as he interrupted Ethan. "Did you see when Emily was taken? Any clue at all?"

Startled by Samuel’s sudden reaction, Ethan forced himself to stay calm. He shook his head. "I can only dream about the moment I die. Based on the light in the room, it happened in the evening."

Samuel cursed under his breath, clearly frustrated. He glanced at his watch, his movements agitated. "Damn it... We don’t have much time."

Samuel cursed under his breath, He checked his watch and then muttered, "Damn it... we don’t have much time." Grabbing Ethan by the wrist, Samuel pulled him toward the school’s exit, "We have to find Emily."

He fumbled with his phone, dialing numbers furiously, but every call went unanswered. Each failed attempt darkened his expression further, the weight of something terrible hanging between them.

Ethan followed closely, his heart pounding in rhythm with Samuel’s increasing desperation. Despite everything, Ethan felt a brief sense of relief. Samuel’s panic had diverted suspicion, leaving no room for him to question Ethan’s fabricated story.

As they hurried across the school grounds, Ethan glanced around, his eyes scanning the quiet campus to ensure no one was eavesdropping on their conversation. He lowered his voice. "Samuel, what exactly are these creatures? Why did they take Emily and replace her? Why did my ‘parents’ try to kill us? And why wasn’t I surprised by any of it in my dream?"

Samuel didn’t slow down, his gaze locked ahead. His voice was tight with tension. "Most of the people around us aren’t real. They’re not human. They... eat people, and after they do, they take over their lives."

Ethan’s mind raced as Samuel continued, "As for why you weren’t surprised in your vision... Something must have happened between now and your death that made you fully aware of them."

The words hit Ethan like a blow. He struggled to keep his voice from shaking. "But how do you know that? How can you tell the difference between them and real people?"

Samuel turned his face slightly, a flicker of pain crossing his eyes. "I grew up in an orphanage. To them, orphanages are like grocery stores. They come and ‘adopt’ kids. After a while, I noticed something was wrong. When I awakened my ability, I saw the truth."

Ethan’s mind raced. "What truth?"

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"The kids that got adopted either disappeared, or they changed." Samuel’s voice was hollow. "I realized the ones adopting them weren’t human. They weren’t taking kids to raise them. They were picking their meals."

A shudder ran through Ethan, the weight of Samuel’s words sinking in. They walked under the late afternoon sun, but Ethan felt as though a shadow clung to them, one that no amount of light could dispel.

He tried to keep up with Samuel’s pace, his thoughts still a jumbled mess. Ethan pressed further. "How do you know who’s one of them? How do you tell them apart?"

Samuel paused for a brief second, then spoke with cold clarity. "Heartbeat."

"Heartbeat?" Ethan repeated, confused.

Samuel nodded, his gaze fixed ahead. "Their heartbeat is different from a human's. My Sensory Amplification lets me hear it. That’s how I know who’s real... and who’s not."

Ethan’s thoughts swirled, unease spreading through him. He hadn’t known Samuel’s ability was Sensory Amplification. If there had been any monsters nearby during their conversation, Samuel would have known instantly.

Ethan had lied about his Premonition Dream, saying they were killed because the monsters overheard them talking. Now, he realized that was a flaw. Samuel would have known if any monsters were listening. But luckily, Samuel seemed too focused on Emily to notice the inconsistency, giving Ethan a brief moment of relief.

But Ethan knew this reprieve was temporary. He had to tread carefully.

As they reached the edge of the campus, Ethan’s mind flashed back to his last death. That had happened on the evening of the 30th, but now it was the afternoon of the 29th. Logically, Samuel should still be able to see Emily tonight, and at least for today, nothing should happen to her. They still had time, and maybe saving Emily could further strengthen their cooperation.

But Samuel’s next words made Ethan’s heart drop.

"Tonight, they’re coming to the orphanage to adopt more kids," Samuel said, his voice tense. "I told Emily to stay with her friend tonight, to hide from them."

A chill ran down Ethan’s spine. He almost shouted, "So you’re not seeing her tonight? You won’t meet her until tomorrow?"

Samuel’s face darkened, and he nodded grimly, worry etched deep in his features.

Ethan’s heart sank. He had thought Emily’s death was scheduled for the 30th, but if Samuel hadn’t seen her since today, that meant things were already moving faster than he had anticipated. The time he thought they had might have already slipped away.

"You’ve been hiding from these... things for all this time?" Ethan asked, his voice barely steady.

Samuel nodded grimly. "Every time they come to the orphanage to 'adopt' kids, I’d steal mine and Emily’s files. Once they left, I’d return the records and pretend nothing happened."

Ethan stared at him in disbelief. "You’ve been living like this for years?"

Samuel let out a bitter laugh. "It’s not as hard as it sounds, not when you can hear their every move. But... it’s getting harder. They’ve been showing up more often, and it’s only a matter of time before they realize what I’ve been doing."

Ethan struggled to wrap his mind around the horror of it all. "Why haven’t you done anything sooner? Why didn’t you try to fight back?"

Samuel’s eyes darkened. "Fight back?" His voice was filled with quiet anger. "Do you have any idea how many of them there are? In our class alone, besides you and me, the rest are all monsters. In the whole town? It’s even worse."

Ethan’s pulse quickened. He had always suspected that many of the townspeople were monsters in disguise, but Samuel's confirmation sent a chill through him.

"They eat people and take their places. But some... they just disappear, like they never existed. No one remembers them, like they were erased from the world," Samuel continued, his expression hardening.

"Wait a minute," Ethan interrupted, his brows furrowed in confusion. "In our class... there’s one more person who isn’t a monster. Luke. I’m sure of it."

Samuel’s cold expression turned into a cynical smile. "Luke? He’s one of them. I’ve heard his heartbeat—it’s exactly like theirs."

Ethan froze, stunned by Samuel’s certainty. Luke couldn’t be one of them... could he? He remembered from a previous Death Reset how he had tried to expose the monsters by stabbing Luke in the neck, choosing that spot to reveal the Black Carapace beneath. But instead of the monstrous shell, there had been normal, red human blood. But if Samuel was this confident...

"Your ability... is there any chance it could be wrong?" Ethan asked cautiously, testing the waters.

Samuel shot him a sharp look. "No. I know what I heard. But that doesn’t matter right now. The important thing is finding Emily before it’s too late."

Ethan bit his lip, unsure of how to respond. He didn’t want to antagonize Samuel further, especially with everything so precariously balanced.

"What did I tell you in the dream?" Samuel asked, his voice tense. "Did you mention when or where Emily was going to be killed?"

Ethan tried to piece together what little he could recall from his last death. Samuel had stabbed him in the stomach, and he had bled out slowly. Maybe Samuel had said something—maybe there had been clues—but Ethan couldn’t remember. The shock of the attack, followed by the overwhelming blood loss, had left his mind foggy. By the time he’d realized what was happening, he was already slipping into unconsciousness, unable to make out any of Samuel’s words.

Ethan shook his head, pretending to be more confused than he was. "The dream was too unclear. I don’t remember the exact details," he said, his voice tinged with frustration.

Samuel’s frustration broke through again. "I thought if I could just get us out of the orphanage, if I could keep Emily safe until I was strong enough, we could escape all of this. But it’s more complicated than I thought..."

"Enough," Ethan interrupted, trying to cut through the anxiety that was clouding Samuel’s focus. "We need to stay focused on what we can do right now. Are we going to Emily’s school or her friend’s house? How do you even know she’ll be safe at her friend’s?"

Samuel hesitated for a moment before replying softly, "Her friend Olivia is also from the orphanage. It just so happens her foster parents are out of town, so Emily's staying with her for the night."

Ethan asked anxiously, "So, where do we look for Emily?"

After a brief pause, Samuel answered, "Let's start with the school. Even though they might've gone home by now, I can't imagine what kind of danger they'd face there. After all, they can’t just go around eating others' food whenever they want."