Daniel, Sam, and Neil were panting hard, their chests heaving as they crouched behind a low brick wall a few streets over from the basketball court.

For the most part, they were far away from the monster, or whatever Ms. Rita had become.

The morning air was crisp, biting at their skin, but the adrenaline pumping through their veins kept them warm.

Daniel's hands shook as he gripped the edge of the wall, his mind racing.

"It has to be a Flux."

Daniel said, his voice low but frantic, his eyes darting between his friends.

"There is no way that was normal. Those tentacles, that… that thing coming out of her? She has gotta be one of them right?!"

Sam said in fear.

Neil, still catching his breath, shook his head, his chubby cheeks flushed red.

"Let's not get too ahead of ourselves guys, for all we know, Ms. Rita Could be a Hesta, man. I mean, we don't know for sure, but their is a high possibility. After all, Fluxes are rare in Sector-07, right? And Hestas… they can hide better. Maybe she is been playing human this whole time. Trying to keep her Hesta status under the wraps."

Daniel's eyes narrowed, his panic making his words sharp.

"A Hesta? Neil, come on, that is so unlikely. I've known Ms. Rita since I was a kid. She has been cutting hair at her salon for years, and she has never shown a single sign of being a Hesta. Even then, Hestas are only a decade old. And let's not forget that is she was one, she would be loaded by now, right? Hestas always end up rich, the government basically worship them. Ms. Rita even with her husband mechanic shop, and her own Salon is just… upper middle class, at best. She is not rolling paper at all.”

He swallowed hard, his voice dropping.

"But… man, what we saw through the drone? That wasn't human. Not even close."

Sam, who had been staring at his phone, finally snapped out of his daze, his face a mix of determination and fear.

"Hesta, Flux dudes none of that matters right now."

He said, cutting through their argument.

"I need to get my drone back, or my dad is gonna kill me. You know he got it for me under the table. That thing is not just some toy, it's a military-grade weapon, and if I lose it, I am done for."

Neil turned to Sam, his eyes wide with disbelief, causing Neil to respond to Sam craziness as such.

"Are you fucking crazy, man? Did you see what just happened? Ms. Rita, or whatever that thing is knocked it out of the sky! You think she is just gonna let you waltz in and grab it? You're lucky she didn't even saw us, still the way she behaves towards it is clear sign she didn't wanted anyone to see that."

Daniel nodded, his voice shaky but firm.

"He is right, Sam. We are so lucky she doesn't know it was us flying that thing. If she figures it out, we're screwed. Just… leave it, man. It is not worth it, what if she is looking for it." Thɪs chapter is updated by n̷o̷v̷e̷l̷f̷i̷r̷e̷.net

Sam's jaw tightened, his dark eyes flashing with defiance.

"No way. I am not leaving it. If I get that drone back, I can pull the footage from the hard drive. You saw what she turned into! If I show that to my dad, the military will be on her ass in a heartbeat. And If she really is a Flux, that puts the whole neighborhood on red alert. What if she is out here eating people or… or something much worse than that? Nobody is safe if she is one of them."

Neil threw his hands up, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Oh, great plan, Sam. Go poke the monster and hope it doesn't eat you then. I'm not going. No way in hell."

Daniel stayed silent, his eyes flickering with doubt. He was with Neil on this one, every instinct screamed to stay far away from Ms. Rita and whatever nightmare she was hiding.

But Sam wasn't budging.

He squared his shoulders, gripping his phone tightly.

"I don't have a choice, guys. I am going for it, whether you come or not. I don't blame you for staying behind, but I need that drone."

Daniel tried one last time, his voice desperate.

"Sam, how do you even expect to find it? It dropped out of the sky! It could be anywhere in the neighborhood by now."

Sam's lips curled into a small, determined smile as he tapped his phone screen. A map popped up, a blinking red dot pulsing on it.

"It's not just some cheap toy, Dan. Again for eight time today, it is a Military-grade drone for Christ sake. So it is only natrual that it got a tracker built in. And according to my screen it says it is exactly 3338 meters from your house, right in the center of the neighborhood."

He held the phone up for them to see, the red dot glowing like a beacon.

"See, if we follow this, we can find it. Beside it crash quite far from Ms. Rita house, I doubt she would know where it was."

Daniel and Neil exchanged a glance, their shoulders slumping as they sighed in unison. They knew Sam wasn't going to let this go.

Against their better judgment, they nodded, resigned to follow him.

"Fine."

Daniel muttered.

"But if we die, I am haunting you first."

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Twenty minutes had passed since the three boys decided to fetch the drone.

The three of them trudged through the quiet streets, the morning sun now fully up but doing little to warm the chill in their bones.

They kept their voices low, tossing around theories about where the drone might have landed.

"Maybe it is in a tree or something."

Neil suggested, kicking a pebble as they walked.

"Or, maybe in a dumpster. Or worst case scenario it broken into tiny pieces, and only the tracker survived... That would suck not gonna lie."

Daniel said, as he walk behind Sam, both hands behind his head as he threads along.

"Nah."

Sam said, his eyes glued to the tracker on his phone.

"It is rather precise. Also it has a feature to tell you if it's airborne, like in a tree, and currently speaking it's red meaning it's on the ground somewhere."

"Sigh, let's just hurry it up, I am starting to get hungry."

Neil said holding his stomach.

"Your always hungry dude."

Same teasingly said.

But the soon shit up, as the continued their search.

After about another five minutes of walking, the red dot on Sam's phone grew closer, the distance ticking down to double digits at last.

They stopped dead in their tracks when they realized where the signal was coming from.

Looming ahead was the biggest house in the entire neighborhood, a sprawling, gated estate that looked more like a fortress than a home.

The property was surrounded by high stone walls, topped with wrought-iron spikes, and the massive oak trees inside cast eerie shadows across the perfectly manicured lawn.

It was the most infamous place in this part of the Sector atleast Mr. Augustus home, and his family estate.

Daniel's stomach dropped.

He felt his knees tremble as memories flooded back.

He and his sister Marcy had snuck onto the property a lot before, exploring the old mansion grounds on a dare, or just for fun, cool things inside that place after all.

It was supposed to be a quick adventure most of the time, but sadly their luck ran out one day when Mr. Augustus caught them.

The man had roared at them, his deep voice like thunder, before dragging them back to their parents.

Daniel could still hear his mom's lecture ringing in his ears, and the way Mr. Augustus’s cold, piercing eyes seemed to see right through him.

The man was rumored to be recluse, richer than anyone in the neighborhood, and about as friendly as a rabid dog.

"Oh, shit."

Daniel whispered, his voice barely audible.

"Why did it, had to be this place of all places?"

Neil's eyes widened, his face paling.

"Mr. Augustus property really? The creepy man who never leaves his house? Dude, we're so screwed. That guy is like a vampire or something, I mean have you ever seen anyone with red eyes like his before?"

Sam frowned, glancing between the phone and the imposing gates.

This was the last place he wanted to come, well second to last after what they saw, but something was his was inside this place, a s he wasn't leaving until he gets it back.

"Doesn't matter....The drone is in there, and I am getting it back. You guys can stay out here if you want, but I'm going in."

Daniel grabbed Sam's arm, his voice urgent.

"Sam, you don't get it. That guy is not just some grumpy rich dude. He is… weird. Nobody knows what he does in there, and I mean he is the only person that seems to work normally, ten years ago stuff like that was normal but after the cleave like 75% of the population mostly work at home, if that isn't a red flag on its own I don't know what is. And besides what if he got, like, security systems or guard dogs in their, I wouldn't be surprised since me and Marcy kind of left a bad impression on him."

Sam however just shook him off, his expression stubborn.

"I don't care man, we are so close, I'm not losing that drone. You saw what Ms. Rita turned into. If we get that footage, we can prove it. We can protect the neighborhood. You really wanna sit back and do nothing while a monster is living close to us."

Neil groaned, rubbing his face.

"This is such a bad idea. Like, horror-movie-level bad. But…

He sighed, glancing at Daniel.

"If we don't go with him, he is gonna do something stupid and get in trouble, or worst case scenario get himself killed. You know he will."

Daniel clenched his fists, his heart pounding. He hated this. Every fiber of his being screamed to run home, lock the door, and pretend none of this ever happened.

But Sam was right about one thing, if Ms. Rita was a Flux, nobody in the neighborhood was safe.

And if the drone's footage could prove it, maybe it was worth the risk.

"Fine."

Daniel said, his voice barely above a whisper.

But we're not just charging in there like idiots.

"We need a plan."

Sam nodded, a glint of determination in his eyes.

"Alright... Let's just scope it out first. The tracker says the drone is near the back of the property... So by the looks of it, somewhere in the oak forest he has growing in his hard. So we just need climb the walls, sneak in, grab it, and get out before Mr. Augustus even knows we're there."