The lights cast a clean white glow as Cassian made his way down the familiar hallway, his footsteps echoing off the polished floor. The normalcy of it all felt surreal after what he'd went through in Philadelphia. He paused outside Tommy's office, gathering himself before raising his knuckles to the frosted glass door.
"Come in," came the gravelly voice from within.
Cassian pushed open the door to find Thomas hunched over his desk, reading glasses perched on the tip of his nose as he squinted at emails on his laptop. The older man looked up, and his weathered face immediately creased with concern.
"Jesus, Cass. You look like hell warmed over." Thomas set down his papers and leaned back in his chair. "What happened out there?"
"Apparently just a dramatic breaking and entering with a homeless person. Guess he attacked me while we were on the phone."
Thomas studied him with concerned eyes. "That's what you're saying, but I'm an older guy Cassian. I can tell when something more is going on."
"Really, I'm—"
"Fine, yeah, I know." Thomas waved a dismissive hand. "Look, here's what's going to happen. I want you to take a few days off. Paid leave, and don't worry about your PTO balance. Consider it a mental health investment on the company's dime."
Cassian blinked, caught off guard by the unexpected generosity. "Tommy, that's... thank you. I mean it. That's really generous of you."
"Don't mention it. Just get your head straight and come back when you're ready to be the focused engineer I know you are." Thomas's expression softened slightly. "We need you at your best, not running on empty."
A thought nagged at Cassian, and he shifted in his chair. "Speaking of which, do you remember that phone call? When I was in Philly?"
Thomas tilted his head, a slight frown creasing his brow. "Phone call? Oh, right, yeah. We had a nice chat. You filled me in on the site progress, asked about the weather back home, mentioned Matt was late as always. Pretty standard check-in. You were polite as always, thanked me before hanging up."
Something cold settled in Cassian's stomach. "A nice chat?"
"Sure. You were telling me about Matt being late again, and you were pretty frustrated about it. Like I said, you were polite as always and thanked me before the line went quiet." Thomas dryly chuckled and returned his attention to his laptop. "I figured you'd call back when you sorted things out, until the site supervisor mentioned his security guards and police had to get involved. I figured you'd be okay though."
Cassian's mind raced. There had been nothing polite about how that call ended. There was fragments of memory surfacing like debris from a shipwreck. They had been talking about Matt being late, that part was right. But he definitely hadn't thanked Thomas and politely hung up. The call had ended abruptly when ... Oh god, what had happened again?Screaming?
Cassian looked curiously at Tommy.
"No, nothing happened," Cassian said slowly, his voice sounding distant to his own ears. "I just... wanted to make sure I hadn't said anything unprofessional. You know how it is when you're tired."
"You're always professional, Cass. That's why you're one of my best." Thomas glanced up again, his smile warm but somehow not quite reaching his eyes. "Now go home. Get some rest. I'll see you next week."
"Right. Thanks again, Tommy." Cassian stood, his legs feeling unsteady beneath him. "I really appreciate this."
He made his way out of the office room and down the hall to where his desk is, his mind churning. The familiar workspace with cluttered technical manuals that don't belong to him, and a small plastic cactus that somehow made it's way to his desk, all of it felt like an anchor to reality. He sank into his chair and stared at his computer screen without really seeing it.
Working remotely, he's used to his desk being shared with the rest of the office, but right now the eerie displacements and unrelated documents makes everything feel wrong.
The discrepancy bothered him more than he wanted to admit, and he immediately thought about what Thomas said. Thomas remembered a polite conversation that ended with Cassian thanking him, but that wasn't how it had happened at all. Either Cassian was losing his mind, or something was very, very wrong. And right now, Cassian was no longer juggling his sanity.
Something is very wrong.
He rubbed his temples, feeling a headache building behind his eyes. After everything that had happened, all of his questions that had no rational answers. Maybe his mind was just playing tricks on him. Maybe the stress was making him paranoid, reading sinister meaning into innocent conversations. Maybe this mornings nightmare and the displaced necklace are throwing things out of proportion.
Just let it go, he told himself. You've been through enough for one day. Tommy's offering you time off to recover. Take it and stop looking for problems where there aren't any. Go home.
But even as he tried to convince himself, Cassian couldn't shake the feeling that something fundamental had shifted. The world felt different now, like he was seeing it through a cracked and cloudy lens that revealed hidden dimensions lurking just beneath the surface of ordinary life.
He gathered his things slowly, his movements mechanical, and tried to focus on the simple task of going home. Rest would help. Rest would make everything clearer.
At least, he hoped it would.
The late afternoon sun slanted through his windshield as Cassian pulled out of the office parking garage, casting long shadows across the familiar streets. He'd driven this route home plenty of times, but without his phone's GPS guiding him, he found himself second-guessing turns he'd make automatically.
He took the first exit off the highway, then immediately realized it was too early. The landmarks looked wrong, a gas station where he expected a strip mall, a billboard advertising a mattress store instead of the usual insurance company ad. As he drove by, he saw things out of the usual order. Had they changed things, or was his mind still foggy from everything that had happened?
Just drive, Cassian.
Cursing under his breath, he took the next on-ramp to get back on the highway, adding ten minutes to what should have been a straightforward drive. The traffic was heavier than usual for this time of day, red brake lights stretching ahead of him in an endless chain. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, trying to push away the nagging thoughts about the day, the nightmare, the necklace, and especially Thomas and the phone call.
The radio played soft jazz, and he found himself listening more intently than usual. He'd never really noticed how much he liked the way the saxophone weaved through the melody, or how the piano seemed to fill the spaces between his thoughts. It was oddly calming.
He reached over and changed the station to something more familiar, a pop station playing the latest hits. The upbeat tempo felt jarring against his mood, so he switched again to classic rock. The driving guitar riffs were better, but still not quite right. After a moment, he turned it back to the jazz station, letting the smooth instrumentals wash over him as traffic crawled forward.
When he finally reached the area the local Chinese takeout was at, he made another wrong turn, ending up in a cul-de-sac he'd never seen before. He sat there for a moment, checking the street signs before backing out to find the right route.
Sheesh, I'm useless without a GPS. This is pathetic. Cassian thought to himself.
A second and then third attempt got him to the main strip where Golden Dragon sat between a dry cleaner and a used bookstore. He pulled into the small parking lot and headed inside.
The warm, spicy aroma hit him as soon as he opened the door. Steam rose from metal containers behind the glass display, and the sound of sizzling woks echoed from the kitchen. The place buzzed with activity. Servers weaving between tables, phones ringing with takeout orders, and the constant chatter of the cooks and few diners sitting down and eating. A small television in the corner played a Chinese drama with subtitles, mostly ignored by the busy staff.
He approached the counter and ordered sweet and sour pork, beef and broccoli, and spring rolls for two. While he waited, he watched the organized chaos of the kitchen. The cooks moved with practiced efficiency, flames shooting up from woks, orders being called out in rapid Cantonese. At least, he thought they were speaking Cantonese.
"Number forty-seven!" called the woman behind the counter, sliding two white bags across to him.
As he headed toward the door, the takeout lady rushed after him. "Thank you, thank you! Have good night!" she called out with a quick bow before hurrying back to the next customer.
The drive home from the restaurant was mercifully straightforward, muscle memory finally kicking in as he navigated the familiar turns. The white bags of food sat in the passenger seat, filling the car with the comforting scent of ginger and garlic. For the first time all day, something felt genuinely normal.
He pulled into his driveway just as the sun was beginning to set, painting the sky in shades of orange and pink. Their small ranch house looked exactly as he'd left it that morning, Selene's flower boxes bright with late-season blooms, the porch light already glowing in anticipation of evening. Home. Finally.
Inside, the house felt quiet. Selene wouldn't be back for another hour or so, leaving him alone with his thoughts and two servings of Chinese food.
"I probably should have waited to buy the food," Cassian said to himself.
He set the containers on the kitchen counter and looked around the space they'd created together. Color coordinated furniture, photos from their travels, a half-finished puzzle they'd left on the dining table.
He was home, and for the first time all day, and that felt like enough.
Cassian sat down on the couch and turned the TV on, wondering if he should play a videogame. His buddies wouldn't be getting on until much later in the day... With everyone being working men and women after all.
He laid back and stretched, feeling his muscles finally begin to unwind. The familiar weight of the couch cushions, the soft glow of the television, the distant hum of the refrigerator, all of it wrapped around him like a blanket of normalcy. He flipped through the different streaming options absently, not really watching anything, just letting the sounds of previews and images wash over him.
His eyelids grew heavy. The exhaustion that had been building all day finally caught up with him, and he didn't fight it. The remote slipped from his fingers as he drifted off, the TV still murmuring softly in the background.
Time etched on, and
Cassian woke with a start, disoriented for a moment about where he was. The living room had grown a bit dim, shadows stretching across the walls as evening began settling in. The TV was still on, now showing some cooking show he'd never seen before. He checked his watch, he'd been asleep for about hour.
As he sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, the memory hit him like a cold splash of water. The necklace. Selene's silver pendant necklace, the one he'd found on the bedroom floor that morning after his nightmare. And then the chaos of Philadelphia, and the strange conversation with Thomas.
A tremor ran through his hands as he remembered the terror of that the vivid nightmare, waking up in a cold sweat, and then finding the necklace gleaming on the hardwood floor. The same necklace that should have been safely tucked away in Selene's jewelry box. Instinctively, Cassian grabbed his neck.
After a moment, he stood on unsteady legs, his heart beginning to race again. The fear from earlier in the day came rushing back, mixing with the lingering unease from everything that had happened. He needed to see it again, needed to confirm it was real and not just another piece of his increasingly fractured day.
The cool evening air hit him as he stepped outside to his car. His hands shook slightly as he opened the passenger door and retrieved the necklace from where he'd left it in the glove compartment. It was there this time, unlike earlier in the day. The silver was still warm from sitting in the car all day, and it caught the sun light as he carried it inside.
He placed it carefully on the dining table, the pendant making a soft clink against the wood. There it was. Selene's necklace, simple and elegant, with its delicate chain and small heart pendant. She'd worn it often when they first got it, but he couldn't remember seeing it on her in months, maybe even years.
Cassian pulled out a chair and sat down, staring at the piece of jewelry as if it might provide answers. How had it ended up on their living room floor? Selene was meticulous about things. She would never just drop something like this and leave it there.
Questions swirled in his mind. Should he ask her directly about it? Would that sound accusatory? She is a feisty one, and he wasn't in the mood for attitude. Maybe there was a simple explanation? Perhaps she'd gotten in the mood to organize and relocate things and it had fallen without her noticing. But deep down, that didn't feel right. He knew she hadn't been in one of those moods in awhile. And besides... The timing, the placement, the way it had been sitting there waiting to be found? It all felt too deliberate.
My doppelganger was looking for something... Could this had been it?Cassian thought to himself.
Cassian began rummaging in the couch much like in this morning dreams, "What were you looking for, you weird enigma," Cassian softly mumbled, tossing the pillows around.
The soft rumble of a car engine pulled him from his thoughts. Headlights swept across the living room window as a familiar SUV turned into their driveway.
Selene was home.