"Saah...Sarah..." Luke stammered, his breath catching in his throat.
Sarah stood right in front of him, completely oblivious to the creature on the bed. "There's no way she could miss it..." Luke thought, bewildered.
"Luke, do you see this?" Sarah asked, shaking a wrapped box in her hands.
Luke couldn't understand her casual demeanor in the presence of the creature. "Can't she see it?" he questioned himself internally. He glanced back at the bed, only to his surprise, find it empty. Ruster had vanished!
"What?... When did he...?" Luke's thoughts raced.
They had been standing by the door, and there was no way Ruster could have slipped past them. The window remained closed from the inside, ruling out that escape route.
"Luke? Are you okay?" Sarah's voice cut through his confusion, concern etched on her face.
Luke shook his head and replied, "I'm fine, Sarah. What's that in your hands?"
Sarah's face lit up with a broad smile as she held the box aloft. "It's that board game we saw on TV the other day!" she exclaimed. "Do you want to play?" she asked her brother eagerly.
"That's great! Yeah, sure, let's go check it out downstairs," Luke responded, desperate to leave the room as quickly as possible. His mind was still reeling, and he couldn't shake the nagging question of how the creature had disappeared so suddenly.
Luke had avoided his room all morning, choosing instead to play with his little sister, Sarah. She hadn't gone to school that day because of a dentist appointment, so the siblings spent their time together until their father returned home.
Luke's parents owned a successful drugstore, and they usually worked together there. However, sometimes his mother stayed home for housekeeping duties, or in this case, to take Sarah to the dentist. They typically closed the shop around noon and returned home for lunch, which was why their father had just arrived.
Greeting his family, he placed some groceries in the kitchen before joining them in the living room. "Luke, how's the team going? You came back really upset yesterday," he asked.
Feeling a bit embarrassed, Luke replied, "I quit the team, Dad."
His father's expression saddened. He didn't want his son to be a quitter, so he asked, "Why did you quit? Were you bullied again?"
"No, I wasn't being bullied, Dad. I just didn't enjoy it anymore," Luke explained.
His father reassured him, "I know we agreed never to talk about this, son, but if something went wrong at school, you can always tell me. I'm here for you, and you can count on me to help."
"Don't worry about me, Dad. I'm really fine!" Luke reassured him.
Luke's family was a typical Japanese family. His father, Edward, was born in England but moved to Japan for work, where he met Fumiko, Luke's mother. She had helped him start the drugstore and establish their family, resulting in the births of Luke and Sarah.
Fumiko was an excellent cook, and she served lunch to the family as they gathered to eat. They engaged in pleasant conversation throughout the meal, with everything seeming normal, except for the fact that Luke couldn't stop thinking about the creature that had been in his room. He wondered where it could be now and how it had vanished.
After they finished eating, Luke helped his mother with the dishes and cleaning the table. He played with his sister a bit more before suggesting that she continue playing with their mother. With that settled, he could finally focus on the one thing he had been wanting to do since that morning: investigate the mystery of the creature's disappearance.
Before heading upstairs, Luke said goodbye to his father, who was returning to work, and informed his mother that he was going to his room and didn't want to be disturbed.
Finally, the anticipation had long reached its peak. When Luke stood up from the living room, his heart pounding in his chest as he began to walk toward the stairs. The moment he had been waiting for had finally arrived, but with every step he took, the weight of his apprehension grew heavier.
As he ascended the staircase, his mind raced with thoughts of what he might find in his room. His palms grew sweaty, and he wiped them on his pants, trying to calm his nerves. He could feel his heart thudding in his chest, each beat echoing in his ears.
The air around him seemed to grow denser, almost suffocating him as he approached the door to his bedroom. He hesitated, wondering if he should turn back. The thought of facing the creature again filled him with dread, yet the unanswered questions gnawed at him, urging him forward.
Taking a deep breath, Luke finally reached out to grasp the door handle, his hand trembling as it made contact with the cold metal. He couldn't help but flinch, feeling as though the door itself held some unknown danger. He hesitated, the weight of his decision pressing down on him.
Closing his eyes, he mustered all of his courage and slowly began to turn the handle. The door creaked open, revealing the dimly lit room beyond. Luke's heart pounded relentlessly in his chest, threatening to burst free, as he was consumed by a mix of fear and curiosity.
He pushed the door open further, each inch seeming to take an eternity as the suspense mounted. The questions that tormented him were about to be answered: If the creature was there, what should he do? And if it wasn't, where could it have gone? Both possibilities were equally terrifying.
Summoning the last of his courage, he stepped into the room, his heart in his throat, and prepared to face whatever awaited him on the other side.
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