Nosferatu: Ruler of the Night [TAEKOOK] Reality or imagination

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Tae held up the lantern in front of his and moved forward. The unbearable silence made it hard for him to breathe. In the empty corridor, only the sound of his own breathing could be heard. As he crossed the corridor and reached the stairs, he suddenly froze at the sound of a whisper. The sound was coming from his parents' room!

Since Ivan’s death, Iliana could no longer sleep in that room. Every time she entered, she would break down in tears, remembering him. To control herself, she had completely stopped going inside. Occasionally, Tae would go in just to clean it. But in reality, he too would cling to his father's memories and cry while cleaning—something no one else knew.

Tae turned the lantern toward his parents' room. The door was slightly ajar, meaning someone was inside! It had to be Iliana! Without wasting a moment, Tae pushed the door open and stepped in. What he saw froze his in place.

On the neatly made bed, Iliana lay flat on her back. And looming over her was a dark, shadowy figure. Was it a person or an animal!? A wave of terror gripped Tae's heart. He gasped and shouted,

Taehyung

Mom!

At that very moment, the figure straightened up in a swift, unnatural motion. It turned its gaze toward Tae. It was human, but Tae had never seen a face so terrifying. The skin was as pale as a corpse, drained of all color, and its eyes gleamed like two burning rubies!

The man stared at Tae for a moment, completely still. Then, in the blink of an eye, he transformed into a massive bat and flew out through the open window into the night sky.

A chilling fear ran down Tae's spine. His heart almost stopped. For a brief moment, he thought,

Taehyung

Did I just imagine that?

But there was no time to think. He rushed to the bed and started shaking Iliana.

Taehyung

Mom! Mom!

After a long time, Iliana slowly opened her eyes. She glanced at Tae once, then closed them again. Tae pulled her up from the bed, helping her stand. Even though Iliana kept her eyes shut, she didn’t completely collapse into Tae's arms. It was as if she was sleeping while still awake.

Back in their room, Tae carefully laid his mother down on the bed. The moment Iliana's head touched the pillow, she fell into a deep sleep.

But Tae couldn’t sleep. He kept staring out of the eastern window, replaying the scene he had just witnessed. Would anyone believe what he had seen? If he told Grandpa, he would probably come up with a logical explanation. If he told Jhope, he would dismiss it as his imagination. And as for Jimin, he was an even bigger coward.

Tae decided he wouldn’t tell anyone. No one would believe him anyway. They would only think he was crazy.

Suddenly, he noticed something—the moonlight was fading, turning pale. Dawn was approaching.

To be continued