CHAPTER 2_THE PERFORMANCE BEGINS
"Ethan are you okay there?" Morgana's voice is loud and clear on the side of the bathroom door. I don't say anything. I just can't. My lungs feel like they're filled with glass and every breath I take is a real struggle. I look in the mirror. I don't see my face. I see her face. I see her crying while she stabs me with a six-inch steel knife.
I pour some water on my skin. It doesn't help. My hands are shaking hard. They make a sound when they hit the sink.
Vital Signs Are Okay. Origin Protocol Started. You Are the Anchor.
The words appear in front of my eyes in a soft blue light that only I can see.
"Ethan answer me. You're making me nervous " Morgana says.
I grab a towel. Rub my face until it hurts. I have to pull myself. I have to act normal. If I don't she'll know something is wrong. If she knows then Marcus knows.
"I'm fine babe " I say,. My voice sounds like it belongs to someone else. "Just a bit of a stomach problem."
I open the door. There she is. She looks really young. Her skin is warm and pink not grey and blue like it was in the warehouse. Shes wearing her big sweater and holding a spatula like everything is normal. She reaches out to touch my forehead. I flinch. I just can't help it. My body remembers the knife even if my mind is trying to forget.
Her hand stops moving. Her smile looks a bit off. "Wow, okay someones jumpy this morning " she says.
"Sorry " I mutter while I walk past her into the kitchen. "Just didn't sleep well."
"Maybe it's the stress " she says while she turns back to the stove. "Anyway I have some exciting news. Remember that job opening in the physics department I told you about?"
I freeze with my hand on the back of a chair. My heart starts beating fast.
"Yeah " I say.
"Well I got an email last night " she says while she flips a pancake. "Dr. Marcus Vance wants to meet me today. Hes looking for a research assistant for his project on dimensional theory. Isn't that amazing?"
The coffee mug in my hand tilts and a dark drop hits the floor. Its happening already. In the life this didn't happen for another month. Hes moving faster. Hes already circling her like a shark that smells blood.
"Ethan " she asks while she turns around. "You're staring at the floor like its a portal to hell. Aren't you happy for me?"
"It's a deal " I manage to say. "Marcus is a name."
"He's brilliant " she. Theres a spark in her eyes that makes my stomach turn. "He's the one doing real work on the barrier theories. If I get this job Ethan, our lives could change."
I swallow the lump in my throat. Our lives did change, Morgana. You killed me.
"Just be careful " I say while I take a seat. "Some of these types can be... Manipulative."
She. It sounds so innocent it hurts. "It's a research job, Ethan, not a cult. You're being weird."
I spend the rest of breakfast watching her. Every time she smiles I see the betrayal. Every time she laughs I hear her scream in the warehouse. I leave for my insurance job early just to get away from the smell of her perfume. Its suffocating.
At the office the blue screen keeps flickering.
Tutorial Quest: Get 100 Pounds of Non-Perishable Food. Reward: Unlock Basic Storage.
I sit at my desk. Pretend to look at claims but all I see are numbers. Calories. Days of shelf life. Gallons of water. During my lunch break I don't eat. I drive to the bulk supply store on the edge of town.
My heart is racing while I load bags of rice into the cart. Fifty pounds. Then canned beans. Then water purification tablets. The cashier looks at me like I'm a freak while I haul the bags to my trunk. I don't care. I need the storage. I need the power. If I can't hide things in the air then Marcus will find them.
When I get home that evening the air in the apartment feels heavy. Morgana is sitting at the dining table and she isn't cooking. Shes staring at a pile of receipts I left on the counter by mistake.
"Fifty pounds of rice Ethan " she says without looking up. Her voice has an edge I haven't heard before. ". Three cases of canned tuna.. Five boxes of medical gauze."
"It was a sale " I lie while I put my keys down. My palms are sweating.
"A sale " she repeats while she stands up. She holds up a receipt for a stove. "Since when do you care about sales on camping gear? We don't even like hiking."
"Prices are going up " I say while I try to keep my voice steady. "The economy is shaky. I just thought we should be prepared."
She walks over to me. Peers into my eyes. Shes looking for the man she knows. I'm not him anymore. I'm a ghost in a living body.
"You're acting like one of those prepper types " she whispers. "Its starting to scare me a little. First the bathroom this morning. Now this."
"I'm just taking care of us Morgana " I say while I reach out and take her shoulders.
She pulls away. Not much,. Enough. "I'm going to bed. I have that meeting with Dr. Vance tomorrow. I need to be sharp."
I watch her walk down the hall. My chest feels like someone is tightening a belt around it. I wait until I hear the bedroom door click shut then I go back into the bathroom. I lock the door. Sit on the floor.
I hold out my hand. Focus on the space between my thumb and forefinger.
The air ripples. It looks like heat rising off a highway. A small bottle of aspirin on the counter flickers then vanishes. A later it thuds back onto the marble.
A sharp pain stabs through my temple. It feels like a hot needle being driven into my brain. I. Clutch my head while blood starts to leak from my left nostril.
WARNING: Excessive Ability Use Detected. Current Stability: 73%. Recommendation: Develop Powers Gradually to Avoid Detection.
"Shut up " I whisper to the screen.
I wipe the blood on a piece of toilet paper. I'm not strong enough yet. Not even close. If the ice fell tonight I'd be just as dead as time.
I crawl out of the bathroom. Grab my phone from the charger. There's a notification on the screen. A text from a number I don't recognize.
I know what you are.
My heart stops. I stare at the words until they blur.
I've been waiting for someone like you for six years. Tomorrow, 2 PM, Riverside Books, occult section. Come alone. We're running out of time. -E
The blue screen pulses.
POTENTIAL ALLY DETECTED. Quest Update: Locate Elena Rodriguez.
I look at the bedroom door where Morgana is sleeping and then back at the phone. Someone else knows. Someone who isn't Marcus. I don't know if I can trust a stranger. I know I can't trust the woman in the other room.
I lay down on the couch of going to bed. I don't want to be near her. I close my eyes. The blue light is still there.
Stability: 72%.
I wake up to the sound of my phone buzzing again. It's 2:00 AM. I pick it up. See another message from the same number. It's one sentence but it makes the hair on my arms stand up.
"Don't drink the tea she made you, Ethan. She already started the transition."
I sit up. Look at the cold mug sitting on the coffee table. The one Morgana set out for me before she went to bed. I haven't touched it. I pick it up. Sniff it. It smells like peppermint. Normal. Innocent.
When I tilt the mug I see a tiny bit of white residue at the bottom that hasn't fully dissolved.
My hands start to shake. Shes already doing it. Shes already helping him.
The blue screen flickers one time before I drop the mug.
New Quest: Survive the Night. Objective: Do not fall asleep.
I back away from the table while I stare at the bedroom door. The handle is turning. Slow. Silent.
"Ethan " Morganas voice comes through the crack. It's low and flat. "Why aren't you, in bed?"
"I'm just getting some water " I say while I grab a kitchen knife from the block.
The door opens all the way. Shes standing there in the dark. Her eyes aren't brown anymore. They're glowing with a sickly yellow light.
"You really didn't need to come Ethan " she says as she walks into the living room. "It makes killing you much tougher the second time around."
I squeeze the knife tightly until it hurts my palm. "Who told you I was back Morgana?"
She smiles,. Its not really her smile. It looks like Marcuss.
"He did " she says, pointing to the corner of the room.
I turn around. My heart freezes. Marcus is standing by the window. He shouldn't be here. He doesn't have a key.. He's there holding a device thats making a weird humming noise that seems to be warping the air around him.
"You're not very good, at acting Ethan " Marcus says, adjusting his glasses. "Now hand over the Anchor. I'll let her finish what she started."