October Sons

Chapter Six: The Voice Beneath His Skin

Caleb didn’t remember the night before.

That’s what he said, anyway.

He sat at the kitchen table, shirtless, staring at the bowl of cereal Jesse had placed in front of him. The milk was untouched. The spoon still dry. His fingers traced the edge of the table like he was reading something only he could see.

Jesse watched him from across the room.

The symbol carved into Caleb’s chest—three concentric circles—was still fresh. The skin around it was red, swollen, but not infected. It looked intentional. Like it belonged there.

“You sleep okay?” Jesse asked.

Caleb blinked. “I don’t think I slept.”

“You were out cold.”

“I was somewhere,” Caleb said. “But not asleep.”

Jesse didn’t respond. He just slid the note across the table. The one their father left. Caleb didn’t touch it.

“I think it’s real,” Jesse said. “Whatever he saw. Whatever chose her.”

Caleb looked up. His eyes were glassy. Not tired—fractured. Like something inside him was watching through the wrong lens.

“I think it’s inside you now.”

Caleb smiled. Just slightly. Just enough.

“I think it likes me.”

Jesse’s stomach turned.

Caleb stood, walked to the sink, and stared out the window. The woods behind the house were still. No wind. No birds. Just silence.

“I heard it,” Caleb said. “Last night. In the walls. In my blood.”

“What did it say?”

Caleb turned slowly.

“It said I’m the first.”

Jesse stepped back. “First what?”

Caleb’s smile widened.

“First to remember.”

Then he started laughing. Not loud. Not manic. Just… wrong. Like he was laughing at a joke only he could hear. Then mid-laugh, he stopped. Froze. Tilted his head like someone had whispered in his ear.

“Don’t let them in,” he said suddenly.

“Who?”

Caleb blinked. “The ones with no mouths.”

Jesse stared.

Caleb reached into his mouth and pulled something out.

A tooth.

Not his. Not fresh. Yellowed. Cracked. Wrapped in a strand of black hair.

He placed it on the table.

Then he whispered, “They’re coming through the walls.”

Jesse didn’t move.

Caleb walked away, mumbling to himself in a language Jesse didn’t recognize—half Latin, half static, all wrong.

And Jesse sat there, staring at the tooth, the note, and the empty bowl of cereal.

Something was inside his brother.

And it was starting to speak.