Chapter Ten: Changing Tides

For the next two weeks, I did everything with my family. I couldn’t stand to be apart from them even for a short while, and even though it must have been a gross inconvenience, they took it in good fun.


Of course, bathing and private time were an exception. But everything else that could be done by a family, we did. We played board games, went to amusement parks, and did things we didn’t usually do. Mother even took a leave from work to take care of me, and Grace was on holiday. So, it was the perfect time.


But I couldn’t sit still. Everything spooked me; everything made me worry. I was losing sleep, and I was losing myself too. My paranoia became an all-time high, and if anybody wanted to leave the house, no matter the time, I kept watch like a hawk and didn’t budge.


“Okay, this has gone on long enough. Can you tell me what happened? What’s gotten you out of sorts? You’re acting so unlike yourself, and I thought it’d be different after a week, but nothing has changed. You used to be all nonchalant about everything. But now...” she trailed off, and I knew exactly what she meant. I hadn’t been myself for a while, and I wasn’t sure when it’d pass.


I missed Rebecca and Elijah terribly, but if I talked about them, I’d only be whisked to a psychiatric institution. I didn’t want to be seen as crazy, even though everything I was about to say to my mother would be downright insane.


“Okay, I’ll tell you. Do you promise not to look at me weird when I’m done?” I asked, merely for formality. It was clear that nobody would believe such an outlandish story. But she nodded in the affirmative.


So, I told my story. I didn’t leave anything out, even if my whole body was trying to clam up after a while. I regretted not talking to the people who cared about me. I regretted not being someone who formed bonds.


I didn’t plan to make those mistakes again. Not while I still drew breath.


“That is a lot. You’ve never been one to tell tall tales, so I can’t dismiss this. Do you know what this means?” She asked. Grace wasn’t around, thankfully. She didn’t get to know the names of her children from me.


“I don’t,” I replied honestly.


“It means Anukai—did I get his name right?—would come for you again. I don’t know if it means people will die; I have no idea what’s truly going on. But you’ve given me something to think about. The way you changed was too abrupt. I knew something had happened, but I didn’t know what. Thank you for trusting me and telling me your secret. I’ll hold it to my heart.”


I hugged her, for lack of words. I expected scorn, ridicule, and laughter at my overactive imagination. I didn’t expect my mother to take me seriously, and I didn’t expect anybody else to. For two weeks, it sat inside of me, twirling like a vortex, expanding by the day.


For two weeks, I struggled against myself and the words that I couldn’t dare speak. A weight fell off my shoulders, and when my mother ruffled my hair, I knew I was home in all the right ways.


“We’re going to figure this out together, I promise. All you have to do is sit tight and believe in your mother.” She puffed up her chest proudly, and I smiled, the uneasiness seeping out of me. I wasn’t alone like I used to be; I had a family who loved and cared for me.


What else was more important than that?


~~


There was one day left to complete one month. I wasn’t dead, nor did the accident happen. Which meant that Anukai was going to return, and I needed to be ready for him. I didn’t want more deaths on my hands; I didn’t want to be someone who couldn’t do the littlest of things himself. I was strong; I was someone who faced a being like Anukai without peeing myself.


That had to count for something, right? I hoped it did.


I waited that whole day, seated on the porch. But Anukai didn’t come, and neither did anything happen to my mother or Grace. I waited for two days after that, but nothing happened.


Maybe I’d hallucinated the whole thing?


[DO YOU WANT THE TRUTH?]


It was that voice again, the one I heard when I was dying the first time. I recognize that baritone and the sheer power emanating from just a voice.


“Who are you? What are you?” I asked out loud, turning around in circles to see if I could catch wind of whatever it was. No such luck. The voice was transmitted directly into my head, and I didn’t know of any technology in 2025 that was able to do such.


Maybe in the future, there will be something like that. But 2025? We didn’t even have sentient AI yet.


[ALL SHALL BE MADE CLEAR. REMEMBER THIS RULE: DO NOT KILL YOURSELF]


And just like that, the voice was gone. I sighed in annoyance and walked back into the house, only to see bloodstains on the carpet.


My heart stopped. My vision blurred.


Not again. Please, not again.


“Is that you, Warner? Grace cut herself with a knife and grabbed a tourniquet and some bandages.” Mother called out, and I went weak-kneed with relief. The sight of blood still made me dizzy, but I was able to push it aside.


I grabbed a washcloth and found Mother seated with Grace, cleaning up her hand.


“I’m just glad it didn’t get deeper than this. We might have to use hot water on it,” she kept talking, and I watched, my heart warming considerably.


This was my family. And I was going to protect them.


“If you can.”


A voice said.


I never got to find out who it was that day.