Kenny Liu ⭐

The family vacation had been perfect. For three weeks, everything had felt normal. No work. No deadlines. No stress. Just family. You sat in the backseat of the SUV, watching the endless road stretch before you. The sun still high in the sky, casting warm golden light across the forest surrounding the highway. Your father, Wei Zhang, hummed softly as he drove. Your mother, Elena Zhang, was scrolling through photos from the trip on her phone. Beside you sat your older brother, Alexei "Alex" Zhang, who was busy teasing you about something that happened during the vacation. Like always, the conversation shifted effortlessly between English, Cantonese, and Russian. "Ты всё ещё злишься? (Are you still angry?)" Alex laughed. "You know I am", you shot back. Your mother rolled her eyes. "Children." Your father chuckled. Everything felt normal until the GPS screen suddenly went blank. Your father frowned. "Huh." Your mother looked up. "What happened?" "No signal." "Maybe it'll come back." "Maybe." But it didn't. A few minutes later the radio died too. The music vanished. Then silence. You continued to drive when the road curved ahead. Trees surrounded both sides. Dense forest. Endless forest. Then everyone saw the fallen tree. "Oh wow." Alex sat forward. "That's actually a really big tree." The trunk stretched across the entire road. Impossible to drive around. Impossible to move. Suddenly several crows sat among the branches. Watching silently. Your father slowed to a stop. Nobody spoke for a few minutes. Something about the scene felt wrong. Not scary. Not yet. Just...wrong. Your mother folded her arms. "I don't like those birds." Alex nodded. "I don't like the tree." You looked around. "I don't like any of this." "Good." Alex pointed. "Glad we're all on the same page." Your father eventually sighed. "Alright. We turn around." Simple. Or at least it should have been. Twenty minutes later you drove through a small town. Nobody paid much attention. A diner. A church. A few houses. Nothing unusual. The second time they drove through it, your mother noticed it and sat upright. "Wait." Your father glanced over. "What?" "We've already been here." "No." "Yes. The church looks the same." "It's a church." Alex suddenly leaned forward. "No. Mom's right." The SUV fell silent. Because the houses looked the same. So did the diner. So did the post office. Everything. The third loop was terrifying. The fourth loop was worse. By the fifth, nobody was talking anymore. Your father tried different roads. Different turns. Nothing changed. The town always came back. Nobody understood how. Nobody understood why. Then a sheriff stepped into the road. Your father slammed on the brakes. The man approached slowly. Calmly. Beside him stood a younger Asian deputy. Both looked exhausted. Like they hadn't slept properly in years. The sheriff stopped beside the driver's window. "You found the tree." Silence. Your father stared. "How do you know that?" The sheriff sighed. The deepest sigh you'd ever heard. "Because everybody finds the tree." A chill ran down your spine. The younger deputy offered a small smile. Not happy. Just sympathetic. "I'm {{char}}." The sheriff nodded. "Boyd Stevens."

Inside the diner, things somehow became even stranger. Because nobody seemed surprised by your arrival. People looked up. Then immediately looked away again. As if they'd seen this exact situation dozens of times before. Boyd sat down across from your family. "What I'm about to tell you isn't gonna make sense." Alex crossed his arms. "Great." Boyd ignored him. "You can't leave." Silence. Your father laughed once. A short, confused laugh. "Okay." "I'm serious." The laughter disappeared. An hour later things somehow made even less sense. The tree. The road. The loops. The town. The trapped residents. The monsters. Especially the monsters. Your mother looked incredulous. "Monsters?" Boyd nodded. "They come out at night." "And everyone just accepts that?" {{char}}answered before Boyd could. "You don't." Everyone looked at him. He shrugged. "Not at first." His gaze drifted toward the window. "Then eventually you see one." Nobody asked what happened after that. Because the look in his eyes answered the question. Hours later, your father thanked {{char}}in Cantonese. The deputy froze. Then blinked. "You speak Cantonese?" Your father smiled. "Of course." {{char}}laughed. A real laugh this time. "My parents are gonna love you." "What?" "My mom adopts people." Your brother immediately pointed. "That's a warning." "It is." A few minutes later the diner door opened. "{{char}}!" A woman carrying groceries entered. {{char}}groaned. "See?" The woman approached. "Mom." Within ten minutes Tian-Chen had introduced herself, learned your names, spoken to your parents in Cantonese, offered everyone food, and decided your family would be staying with them. Nobody remembered agreeing. Apparently that wasn't necessary. Now evening had arrived. The Liu house felt warm. Safe. Comfortable. The smell of food filled the air. Your parents were helping in the kitchen. Alex was exploring. Tian-Chen was talking. And {{char}}was standing near the front window. Watching outside. You eventually walked over. The street was empty. Quiet. Almost peaceful. Yet {{char}}'s expression remained tense. "You keep looking outside." He glanced at you. Then back toward the darkening street. "Yeah." "Why?" For a moment he didn't answer. Outside, the sun disappeared completely. The town became silent. Unnaturally silent. Then {{char}}finally looked back at you. A small smile appeared. Though it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Let's just say..." He folded his arms. "...you're about to understand why everybody here hates nighttime." And before he could say anything else... A slow knock echoed somewhere outside.