"He'll be alright, most probably a lack of sleep."
"Thank god, he's already missed too much school, we'll be sure to keep an eye on him when he gets home."
Voices in the blackness. Lex stirs.
His mind, only half awake, processes the conversations around him, yet none of the words that the people say stick. Like swimming up to the surface of a lake, Lex tries to grab onto what the people are saying, yet he ends up sinking back down.
And as time goes on and more people pass through, becoming more and more anxious.
"He's had a hard time, you see his..." The voices trail off as Lex awakens.
The cold glow of the school's lights has been replaced by similarly dull hospital lights. Lex is lying in the emergency ward, only a small wire monitors his pulse.
As Lex stands up, he feels something wrapping tightly around his bicep. He sighs and removes the arm band connecting him to the monitor, then takes a breath of the cold, stale hospital air. A faint glow comes from the window. Lex's heart begins to beat faster once again as he rushes to the window and slides open the curtains to see...
"Just street lights, thank god," Lex mutters. Outside the window, a couple are walking home on the opposite side of the road to the hospital. "What do I remember?" Lex thinks, looking down at his hands and returning to the bed. "There was the... Hall space and those monster's and then I went back to school." A sharp pang reverberates in his chest, remembering Everlyn. "I was so tired I must've been delirious," Lex says.
Outside the room, Lex can hear the clatter of a trolley and the quiet whispers of doctors and nurses. Their words aren't loud enough to make out, and soon they pass by. "Maybe I won't be seeing any more of that world?" Lex thinks as he sits down. "Is my phone around here somewhere?"
As Lex is rummaging around near his bed, the door creaks open.
"Goodness, are you up already?" A tired, but soothing voice echoes from the door.
Lex turns to see a nurse, seemingly in her early 20s with long black hair and half vacant eyes, standing in the doorway.
"Yeah, I just woke up," Lex says, sitting back down into the bed and waiting for a response.
"Well, that's good, I'll go and get the doctor, and you can be discharged in no time! You were just tired, though it is a miracle you made it through that much of school." She says, looking at Lex with a small smile. "Just don't stay up too late playing games anymore, it is very bad for your health."
"Yes," Lex says, letting a curt grin appear on his mouth as if in reply to her own.
"Good, I hope we don't see you here again." With that, she shuts the door, leaving Lex once again in the dark.
"Parents probably took my phone back home, I know how they get with property. They don't trust anyone." Lex lies back and slowly drifts off while his thoughts fade.
Then, as he is floating through the darkness, the lights flick on.
"Good evening... Lex is it?" A gruff voice comes from the door.
"Yes, yes, sorry for causing you so much trouble," Lex says, the sudden rush of adrenaline enough to jolt him awake.
"No problem at all. I just have a few questions before we let you go. Are you feeling alright?" The doctor walks up to Lex and notices the vital monitor. He stoops down to pick up the discarded band and hands it to Lex.
"Yeah, feeling better than ever. I don't really know what happened, but I had a normal night's sleep the night before." Lex says, putting on the band.
"Good, good, so we just want you to come back if anything else happens, but for now, there doesn't seem to be any problems we could detect." The doctor jots down a few numbers from the screen before getting up. "You can rest here for a while, or you can head back to your home; it's up to you. Your school clothes are hanging there." He points to the back of the door.
"Thanks very much, sir," Lex replies, sitting up and removing the armband.
"No problem, and just call me Henry.
"Ok, thanks, Henry," Lex says.
"Good, hopefully won't see you again." He gives a kindly chuckle and exits the room.
Deciding to walk back home, Lex begins slipping on his school shirt and trousers and shoving his tie and jacket into his backpack. Lex reaches into his pocket, "Good, keys." He thinks as he opens the door to the rest of the hospital.
Directly outside the room is a mirror, the face that stares at Lex seems dishevelled, slightly sweaty and definitely out of it. "How long have I been here for? Better ask the receptionist." Lex thinks, regretting not asking the doctor when he had the chance.
Lex walks for what seems like hours trying to find the entrance, not just because he has absolutely no idea where he is going, but also the clanging of trollies and the occasional rushed patient in a stretcher make it exceedingly hard to navigate the corridors.
However, once Lex makes it out of the convoluted maze of corridors and windows, he gets to a lone desk and a pair of sliding doors.
"Hi- urmm, sir, can I ask? How long have I been here for?" Lex stutters through his words as he looks at the man, in his thirties and clearly overworked, sitting on an office chair in front of a computer.
"Name?" He asks bored.
"Lex."
"Only this evening. Seems you got here today, or yesterday..." He trails off, looking at the clock. "Sorry, son, I need to get going. If you are leaving, just sign that page there." He brings up some paper from the desk, and Lex begins filling it out. "I've got to get home."
As the man leaves, Lex finishes the form and walks out of the room, the door shutting behind him and exposing him to the cold.
After deliberating on whether to get a rental scooter or not, Lex decides to walk. "Only about a twenty-minute walk anyways." He thinks moving out of the hospital.
Just as Lex walks out of the grounds, he hears a beep and someone retracts something from above his head.
"Interesting." A familiar voice says behind him.
"Lilly?" Lex asks in surprise, whipping round. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, after Everlyn completely did a one-eighty on you, I thought I'd check up to see how you're doing. But looks like apart from this, I shouldn't have worried." She asks smiling, then mutters, "Did you change too, I wonder?"
Looking at Lex with a smile is a woman about the same height as Lex with grey eyes and cropped brown hair. Her face is well defined, and her skin blemish-free, apart from one scar running slanted across one cheek. She is the elder sister of Everlyn, though Lex only saw her when she came back from university.
"Thanks for worrying, but the doctors said it's just fatigue... and not going to die from the heartbreak. It was kinda my fault after all." Lex says, looking down, attempting not to set off landmines.
"Well, I'm sure you tried your best, nothing ever works out first time around." Lilly's demeanour changes into a more relaxed position. "Why don't I walk you home?"
"Thanks," Lex replies.
"Blunt as ever, why don't you try starting a conversation for once? You are quite interesting." Lilly complains, "though that is one of the things Everlyn found endearing about you." She looks at Lex, attempting to see some change in his demeanour, yet he continues walking.
"Well, it feels like new opportunities have appeared in my life now... What is that anyway?" Lex points to the device in Lilly's hand.
"That is for me to know..." She smiles, putting a finger to her lips. "I've got a couple of things to ask you about Everlyn. I've noticed some changes... So if we could meet this weekend, then we can talk. I'll get your number from her, ok?" She smiles and pats Lex's head. "Well, I'll be off Just remember to talk to people around you if anything happens!" And with that, she skips off.
"So suspicious, she might as well tell me she knows about the hall spaces," Lex mutters, but lets out a small smile. "I guess it might be nice to have someone to share in the nightmare. But why did she just appear out of the blue? Maybe the changes in her sister clued her in? But then why wouldn't she go to see Jack?" Lex is stuck with too many questions and no answers, so, shrugging it off, he continues walking, speeding up slightly.
While Lex was with Everlyn, he had seen a little bit of Lilly, but he thought he had become acquainted with her quite well. Yet this shows that he doesn't know her as well as he thought. This impromptu meeting, however, is stirring up something in Lex: jealousy? Or is it anxiety that someone will push him out of his own story? He doesn't want this problem to be fixed just like that, not yet.
It's not long before Lex gets back to his home. Though it is dark, he can still see the well-done brickwork on the outside of the house and the neatly paved path up towards the door. If he is honest with himself, he knows that this place is more of a hideaway than a home.
Reaching for his keys, Lex turns the handle and lets himself inside.
In front of him, a small wooden table stands, like a person trying to squeeze by someone else in a tight hallway. On it, a single ceramic vase sits precariously. Lex takes off his shoes and lies on the carpeted steps. On this right, a single door to the kitchen lies closed and without sound, and in front of him, the door to a small TV room.
The semidetached house is all Lex had ever known; he had never moved, but often his parents would go to flats in different cities for work. Though, of course, they are both here now.
"Best not disturb them," Lex murmurs, moving up the stairs towards his room.
The house, though insulated, still feels cold as Lex moves, attempting not to step on a creaky floorboard. As soon as he makes it to his room, he sees his phone charging on the bedside.
The room is full of random things; things from his childhood, like little figures or cards and things from more recently, like miniatures and band posters. His walls are covered with posters or art and the occasional note (which he never reads). On the shelves, there are many books and small rocks or trinkets that Lex has found over the years. Compared to the rest of the house, neat and sterile, Lex's room is a mess.
"Gotta check up on everyone," Lex says, looking at his notifications whilst sitting on the side of the bed.
Lilly: Heyyy, Lex, don't forget: meet Saturday at 10:00 in Café Neti.
Sure thing, I'm not paying though. Lex replies.
Eren: Dude, Hope your feeling slightly better BTW me Maddie James and Zen are going out on Saturday usual time 12:30 you wanna come along?"
Perfect, I have to talk to someone at 10:00 at Café Neti so should we meet somewhere around there? Lex sends.
"Urg still another day of school. Maybe my parents will- Nah, who am I kidding?" Lex sets an alarm for the next day.
The drift off to sleep is surprisingly easy considering how much Lex slept in the hospital, but as he does, his mind still can't stop juggling all of the events that led up to where he is now.
*
The morning arrives with an earsplitting ring for Lex's alarm, despite being well rested, Lex turns it off and rolls over, trying to get even a second more sleep. The second alarm goes off, and Lex finally gets up rubbing his messy hair.
Lex checks his phone:
One notification, Eren, group chat.
"Jeez, how early does this guy get up?" Lex yawns. Eren doesn't live too far away from Lex but likes to go on early morning runs, perhaps the only healthy habit he has picked up. Eren, throughout the first month of high school, attempted to get Lex to join him, but he never got up consistently enough to make it a habit.
Lex opens the message to see confirmation for the meeting and a news article.
Eren: "Great cu there. Also, guys, check out this article its pretty crazy:"
The link sent to a page on a billionaire epidemic in the area.
"God, Eren needs to stop reading these dumb articles," Lex mutters, reading the rest.
Around Hemted recently, there have been many unexplained increases in wealth. The government is suggesting a large inheritance or a foreign business. However, most do not own stocks in any public..." The article continues on and on until Lex hones in on a part that catches his eye. "Local fortune tellers state a karmic rebalance or genie, and though many are sceptical, the local council has no other explanation. Due to a loophole in the law, the six new billionaires don't owe any..."
"Such garbage, how's that even possible?" Lex wonders, "Maybe they stole it? A cyber attack? Are they even related to each other?" He laughs, "Fine, I guess it was a fun article, gotta give it to Eren."
"Come down, Lex, time for school!" A voice shouts from downstairs.
"Coming," Lex says back.
Quickly putting on fresh uniform and taking the clothes he wore yesterday to the washing basket, Lex makes it downstairs quickly.
Whilst he is making breakfast, Lex's mother enters the room.
"Hey, what happened yesterday?" She asks, looking worried but annoyed.
She has the same black hair as Lex, down to the length, yet her face is alot more angular and eyes more fatigued.
"They said that it was an anomalous event, something about a lack of water." Trying not to make her too worried, Lex deflects the issue and poignantly drinks a glass.
"She'd get so mad if she knew it was from sleep deprivation." Lex thinks, looking down at a hurriedly sliced boiled egg and toast.
"Don't lye, they said it was from staying up too late. Me and your father are going to be away for two weeks ok? I don't have time to punish you so don't do anything stupid." She says turning around. "Love you and have a good day at school."
Lex nods, then quickly wolfing down the rest of the food, he grabs his bag and leaves.
"Bye." He says as the door slams behind him.
Lex takes a bike to school, it is only about fifteen minutes but if it was any longer Lex wouldn't be sure if he would be able to make it. However with the chirping of birds and the rush of the wind, the world feels more real than ever and Lex begins to find it hard to even believe that yesterday happened.
As he approaches his destination, Lex dismounts his bike. He spots Joey trailing behind a group of students and walks up to him.
"Hey Lex, how's it going?" Joey asks, noticing him.
"Much better after yesterday, yeah," Lex says, a grin forming on his face. Somehow, he feels much lighter, almost like he lost the feelings of grief and anxiety entirely.
"Great. Did you see what Eren sent on the gc? That is pretty crazy." Joey says, looking down at his phone and changing the song playing in his one earbud.
"Yeah, what's crazier is all the lessons they're making us do today," Lex complains.
Joey seems to remember something. "Hey, sorry, about..."
"Yeah, don't worry about it, I'm sure it was inevitable," Lex says. "But do you know if those guys are related?"
"Yeah, apparently they've only got to know each other because of the interviews," Joey says.
"Interesting..." The conversation trails off.
As Lex enters the school building, he shivers. The windows somehow look dark in the golden sun. The students look uncanny even when they are just walking past. Lex's heart quickens, yet nothing.
By the time they reach the classrooms, Lex has cautiously accepted that the world won't turn inside out again.
"By the way, Zen helped you yesterday." Joey tips before quickly sliding through the door.
Lex moves into the class, half expecting to see the same deranged creatures, but again, nothing.
Zen walks up to Lex an unreadable look on his face.
Lex nods and says "Hey, thanks a ton, apparently it was just sleep deprivation, so it wasn't serious."
"Thank god. Try not to stay up late in the future though." Zen smiles and lays a strong hand on Lex's shoulder. His dirty blonde hair cut short makes him an imposing figure even to Lex who considers him a friend. "Don't want to see you hurt."
"Of course." Lex smiles, yet it doesn't quite reach his eyes.
"Ok, everyone, settle down please." Mr Grey says, "Home room will begin with..."
The day continues without excitement. Anyone looking on at Lex's life would think it is just one of a regular teenager. Meeting friends at break, avoiding his ex and complaining about lessons. The evening is just as boring, if not more empty, with his parents not home Lex makes a microwavable macaroni and cheese and plays video games.
The night goes on, and he eventually drifts off.
9:30.
Lex is staring at the clock, trying to remember where he is meant to be at 10.
A ping.
Lilly: Hope you're almost ready, remember Café Neti at 10.
"Oh, damn I got to hurry," Lex says rushing to get ready.
After a quick shower and throwing on some clothes he is out of the house by 9:50. The 10 minute bike ride gives him some reprieve yet as Lex chains his bike up outside the cafe, he can already see the irked face of Lilly staring at him from the window.
"Hey, it's been a day, how are you doing?" Lex asks politely.
Ignoring his question Lilly says, "Your 5 minutes late, would it kill you to be early?"
"Sorry," Lex says.
"Urg, don't worry about it. But you'll need to be sharper if you want to make things easier for yourself." She says. "I'm going to get straight to the point, and i'm sure you already know this, i know you have entered that... space."
Lex's smile widens, even he isn't sure if it is fake or real. "How many others are there? Oh and i've taken to calling them hall spaces."
"Cool, I'll put that through to all of them." She mutters, "So far, we have eight people. If you want protection, you can join our little group, We just need to know what power and what wish you gain?" Lilly asks, dropping all acts of formality and kindness and staring directly at Lex as if trying to read his very soul.
"What?"
"Was that gadget defective?" She mutters, "Lex, are these hall spaces you described almost twisted versions of reality?"
"Yes"
"Did you gain the ability to stand up to your fears?" Lilly asks, her voice gaining an edge of fear.
"Hello, would you two like a drink?" A waiter asks, coming to our table.
Lilly lets out a sigh and says, "Yes, two black coffees please, no milk or sugar."
"How'd you know what coffee I like?" Lex asks, surprised.
"Asked Everlyn a lot about you yesterday. Didn't really say anything useful though." Lilly replies.
"Anything else?" The waiter asks.
"No thanks," Lilly says.
As the waiter leaves, she nods at Lex to continue.
"Well, I saw your sister and Jack... talking and i sat in that space for days. I gained no "powers" and almost died to a strange creature, then they came into the real world and i fainted." Lex says.
"You lost control without a power to rely on? How did you escape?" Lilly asks, looking nervously at her phone.
"I jumped into the void."
"You did what? So perhaps that brought the fears from the space..." Lilly mutters
"What are you talking about?" Lex asks.
"Let me explain this clearly." She says her tone serious, "The one pattern everyone who has gone into these spaces, 'Hall spaces' as you call them, have had, is strange powers that allow them to fight, it could be telekinesis, manipulation of fire or extreme strength. Really, superpowers, like out of a comic book, but all of them are based on manipulation. Then we all had to face something we feared, for me it was the loss of my future as a doctor, for others it was different, but we all faced it, none of us ran. Then we all got a wish, and for all of us, it was the power to stop that undesired future from occurring. Or I suppose it would be more accurate to say that we willed it, it wasn't a conscious choice."
Lex looks at his hands, "No magic superpowers here."
"That's not what i'm worried about, your little escape seems to have the same effect on reality as our wishes. Though this time it seems that you caused the future you didn't want to occur. Unless..." Lilly shakes her head as if dispelling a thought. "We have no idea how many people this could effect." Lilly states trying to make Lex gauge the severity of the situation.
"We'll it's only Everlyn and Jack so it shouldn't be that big of a deal..." Lex tries.
"No, no, no, you don't understand. You can go back, the average time is a week, but you can also drag others into the hall spaces if you are near them. Those spaces seem to react to emotions, Lex, and you don't have yours under control, not in the least. I'll need to talk to Runin, but this has never happened before..." As Lilly continues muttering, Lex shifts in his seat.
"So what do I do now?" Lex asks.
"Thank God, by some stroke of luck we have someone at your school, you know Zen well right? He will be your lifeline, the group meets tomorrow so i'll tell Zen to be outside your house and pick you up." Lilly seems to reconsider something and sighs "Sorry for worrying you, I dropped my older sister persona for awhile." She smiles and places her fingers on the bridge of her nose.
The waiter comes back.
"Hi, I brought your drinks, enjoy." He says.
He walks away.
"Drink up, you've got to meet your friends in a moment." Lilly says taking a sip of her coffee.
"Yeah, thanks," Lex says, drinking as quickly as possible.
When he is finished he gets up, "this is for the coffee, i'll see you tomorrow then?"
"What happened to not paying?" Lilly asks but takes the money. "Thanks for coming."
Walking away, Lex can already hear her furiously typing on her phone.
Despite now knowing there are others he just feels, worried and exposed. Moving towards his friends usual meeting spot he dispels the thoughts of the supernatural from his mind.
As he walks along the street a familiar yellow taints the edge of his vision. Zen is wearing a strange yellow hoodie again. It looks awful and despite telling him that multiple times, Lex hasn't seen him without it. Noticing the rest of the group are there Lex runs over shouting, "Hey guys!"
They turn.
A cold sweat runs over Lex, it's not just Zen's hardened face as he puts his phone in his pocket or the smiles on Eren, Joey and Maddies face. It feels like he is being watched.