This story features James and a bit of my Freshman/Sophomore MC named Evie. Takes place during an unspecified school break. This is my first Choices fanfiction, and I hope you like it! Happy Halloween!
Evie had been laying still for so long that James couldn’t be sure she was even awake. She looks almost comatose in her beach chair, but he knows better.
His eyes linger on her relaxed form. It’s nice seeing her like this. Normally when they’re together, her hair is up in a messy bun as she types at a maddening speed on her laptop. Or they’re in the coffee shop brainstorming ideas for the newspaper, or they’re in her room almost passed out while marathoning old game shows after a long day. Sure, any time together is wonderful, but seeing her in these quiet, peaceful moments means the world.
That doesn’t mean he can rest, though. He has a manuscript he needs finished in two week’s time. Evie didn’t want him working, but he snuck his laptop in the beach bag just in case an opportunity like this reared its head.
Under the impression that his darling Evie was asleep, James reaches between them to pull out his laptop. Without even turning her head, Evie snaps, “What do you think you’re doing, mister?”
“I…I’m sorry, Evie. I just really need to get this done.”
Evie sits up and frowns. “I know you’ve got a lot on your plate, James, but wasn’t the whole point of coming here to escape everything?” In truth, Evie didn’t even want him to bring the damned laptop on their trip.
He nods solemnly. “How about I work on this for fifteen minutes, then I promise to put it away for the rest of the day.” James extends his hand, which Evie takes without missing a beat.
“Deal,” she replies with that award-winning smile that never ceases to stir his affections.
Twenty minutes pass before he puts away his computer. In the meantime, Evie had decided to take a dip in the ocean. He closes his laptop and watches her get carried in by the waves only to swim out again.
James’ vision blurs momentarily as his stomach lurches. Bile quickly swims up his throat, but he pushes it down with a hard swallow. Turning away from the water, he rises from the chair with a hand clamped over his mouth.
“Hey!” Evie calls out. James takes a quick peek over his shoulder and finds her swimming back into shore. “What’s the matter?”
He takes a couple of deep breaths before replying. “I just felt really sick for a moment there. I feel better now, but I think I should go lay down.”
She approaches him and takes his hand in her own. “Is there anything I can do? Want me to make you some tea?”
Just the thought of it turns his stomach. “No! I mean, no, you stay here. I’ll try to sleep.”
“That should do the trick,” she replies with a wink.
As soon as he gets to the cottage, he stumbles to the bedroom and slumps onto the bed. The nausea is gone, but what replaces it is a pounding headache. Whatever’s wrong with me is moving quickly, at least, he considers. Laying back against the pillows, he stares at the ceiling. Just as his eyes begin to drift shut in an attempt to sleep, he notices a distortion in his vision.
“…The hell?” he murmurs. For a second, it looked like the ceiling was swirling. James rubs his eyes. When he sits up and reopens them, the room appears to be shifting. The end table swells and shrinks, and so do other objects close to the bed. The windows widen and retract like an accordion made of jelly.
Something must have been put in my coffee this morning, James thinks. It’s the only explanation. This…this doesn’t make any sense. In an attempt to wait it out, James tries to focus on the wall in front of him, but it bubbles like water starting to boil. The entire room resembles the inside of a lava lamp, and as the colours in the room start to change, murmurs seem to slither in through the walls.
“This is a violation,” an echoey voice says behind him. James swings his head around. A dark grey, monstrous shadow lingers stark against a wall of blue checker ribbon morphing into flowing, deep green silk.
Another voice, pleading, reverberates from one end of the room to the other. “We can’t change it now, what will people think? It’s been too long!” The last word crashes into him, turning the room a hot, angry red.
“Let me out, let me out,” James pleads softly, covering his eyes with the palms of his hands. For a moment, the room seems to quieten, but when he looks up, the walls are now cracked mirrors, each shard with him at the centre.
A heavy sigh comes from the ceiling and the weight of it pushes his chest against his knees.“All right, do the redesign.”
The room goes pitch black. There’s a silence so thick that James can’t even hear his own laboured breathing. He sits on the edge of the bed, holding his face in his hands…when sharp pains dig into his bones like needles piercing flesh. With his hands pressed to his face, he groans in pain. “Ugghh…make it stop. God, anybody, make it stop!!”
He continues begging…until he notices a hard lump on his cheek. No, not just a lump. He can feel his bones shifting under his skin.
“What the hell?!” he screams, rising from the bed with his face still in his hands. He runs to the bathroom, and grips the edge of the vanity as he gapes at the mirror.
His forehead is moving. He can see it, can feel it happening overtop of his wide-eyed, jaw-dropped expression. His bones and skin are bending and molding right before his eyes, like some kind of horrifying puzzle. His cheekbone juts out with a sharp crack, his jaw widens. Tears are streaming down his face, their paths diverging and converging as the bones shift their directions. The agony finally breaks him, and he passes out on the floor.
When he wakes up, he’s tucked in bed, and Evie has placed a cold cloth on his forehead.
“Oh, honey,” she sighs. She’s seated on a chair next to the bed, worry etched into her delicate features. He wishes he could wipe it all away.
He groans as he slowly sits up in bed. The only source of light is from a lamp next to him on the end table. It’s nighttime, and he can hear the rolling waves outside. It’s soothing, and nearly convinces him that what happened was just a sickness-induced nightmare.
“Wh…what happened?” he asks.
Evie shakes her head, her brow furrowing. “Well, we were just relaxing on the beach. You said you weren’t feeling too good, so you came back here to lay down.”
“How’d I get into bed? You didn’t carry me, did you?”
She pauses and arches an eyebrow, contemplating her response. “Baby, you were sound asleep when I came in. Tucked and everything,” she answers with a sympathetic smile.
“You had me worried at first!” Evie interjects sharply. “If you were puking I would’ve called a doctor.”
He leans forward to press a kiss on Evie’s forehead. “Well, I feel much better now. I’m sorry I worried you. Is there any way I can make it up to you?”
Evie pauses for a moment. “Trip to the bookstore tomorrow morning?”
“Sounds perfect.” Standing up, he looks back at Evie tenderly. “If you want to get into bed, I’ll be back in ten. Just going to take a shower, I feel pretty sweaty.”
With a smirk, Evie stands up, too. “I’ll join you in a minute, I need to wash my face.”
Grabbing a towel from the linen closet, he walks into the bathroom and flips the light switch on. The first thing he notices is that his hands look…different. Darker but…he doesn’t normally spend enough time in the sun to get dark like this. Not to mention that he’s always careful to wear sunscreen on vacation to tropical places.
When he looks up, he drops the towel and stares. “No. No way. This isn’t possible,” he whispers. He waves a hand and his reflection does the same. Except, there’s no way it could be his. No way…
His cheekbones are higher. His mouth is a different shape, and so are his eyes. He looks like a different person. An imposter.
Evie slinks into the bathroom and lingers beside him. “Admiring ourselves, are we?” She settles in front of him and stretches up on her tiptoes to give him a peck on the lips. It feels wrong; he can feel her lips against his, but they aren’t my lips. “You have to admit, we’re a good-looking couple,” she purrs against his throat, lacing her arms around his neck.
He mechanically places his hands at her hips, still staring at himself in the mirror. She whispers into his ear, “I’m glad you’re feeling better, Jomes.”
He can feel his eyes go wide, but it’s not reflected in the mirror. The reflection’s face contorts into a devilish grin.
