In a blink, the world corrected itself.
Rain whispered against the windows. The bus vibrated softly beneath him.Ezra blinked once, twice. He wasn't alone anymore.
The family was back.
Eilen sat beside the aisle, watching the rain. Ziya's reflection in the window didn't quite match her movements.And Niya sat opposite him, hugging her teddy like it was something breathing.
"Finally awake," Eilen said. Not friendly. Just stated.
Ziya's tone carried a smile that never reached her face. "You've been out for a while. Slept through most of the forest."
Ezra rubbed his eyes, trying to ground himself. "How long was I out?"
The driver's voice drifted from the front — low, calm, but too even."Long enough. Road's quiet out here. Best not to sleep too deep."
Outside, the fog moved like muscle. The trees leaned in. Every shape blurred into something that almost resembled a face.
Ezra cleared his throat. "This route… takes long?"
Eilen folded his hands. "Depends."
Ezra frowned. "On what?"
"On whether you're leaving," Eilen said, "or arriving."
Niya giggled — short, sharp, wrong.
Ziya's gaze met his through the window's reflection. "You don't look well."
Ezra forced his voice steady. "I'm fine."
Her eyes didn't move. "Then why's your neck bleeding?"
He froze.Hand to throat. Damp. Tender. The same place.
Eilen tilted his head, studying him. "That's a bite."
Ezra swallowed. "Probably an insect. I get reactions sometimes."
Niya leaned forward. Her voice was syrup and static."Do you have one too?"
He blinked. "What?"
The driver's face caught briefly in the rearview mirror, a smile too wide, teeth pale against shadow.
The air thinned.
Niya's smile didn't reach her eyes."My brother bit your throat."
Ezra stared. "What—"
Her teddy twitched in her hands. The head turned just a fraction, like it was listening.
The driver laughed once, short and empty. "Funny kid."
No one else laughed.
The fog thickened, pressed against the windows, smothering the outside world.
Ezra's reflection in the glass doubled, eyes hollow, throat red.
Then—
The bus screeched.Brakes. Metal. Silence.
It stopped.
No headlights. No engine hum.Only the forest breathing.
And in the sudden quiet, Niya whispered, almost tender:"We're here."