Side Story 4.91 - Thy Names

Johanis' POV

We froze.

There, just at the mouth of the smokehouse, stood shapes that weren’t shapes at all. They were too long, too bent, too many hands dragging along the ground—hands that looked so much like the ones we’d glimpsed clawing up through the cracks earlier.

And yet their faces were human.

Too human.

I recognized them.

That was the worst part.

Each one had my father’s brow. My mother’s lips. Even Lily’s eyes — sharp and serious, like they’d been looking at me forever. Except these weren’t my family. Couldn’t be.

Couldn’t.

No..

Still, my breath caught all the same.

“Joha,” Lily whimp