A/N: I haven't felt so sad that this story is ending in years. I had so much fun writing this story, and I hope you guys enjoyed reading it. Also, surprise, I did record a reading of the story and will post the video in about an hour.
“What the hell is going on now?”
“I don’t [crackle] know!”
“What does it feel like?”
“Like… like when I was moved here, I guess.”
“Do you think maybe it’s happening again?”
“I… guess. I don’t know.”
——
The phasing had started again, and Anton shivered as the strange feeling washed over him once more. He had crossed the room in a flash, and was holding Marvin by his shirt to glare at him.
“What have you done?” The magician shook his head, clawing at Anton’s hand in an attempt to get free.
“I didn’t do anything! I’m not doing anything! Let me go!” Anton gripped the shirt tighter, pulling Marvin further into his personal space.
“You’re doing something! Stop it now, or I’ll kill your brother!”
Schneep was pulling at Marvin, eyes narrowed at Anton.
“He’s not doing anything! You can’t kill an innocent man for nothing!” He paused, stepping forward to look the guest in his eyes.
“It looks like what happened when you arrived. Maybe this is timed-” his guess was cut off as Anton pushed him aside, shaking the magician.
“Figure out how to stop it! I won’t go back!”
The magician dropped to the floor, hand against his chest, when Anton disappeared. Beside him, another body fell, cursing as his arms buckled. He shook his head, static crackling around him as he moved to stand up, and Marvin caught a glimpse of a scarred neck.
“Anti…?” For the first time in years, the magician was glad to see the glitch. Anti looked down at him, offering a hand before flopping onto the couch.
“You will not believe where the fuck I was,” he stated, looking each ego in the eye before promptly falling asleep.
JJ watched the glitch sleep, reaching over to pull a blanket over his shoulders. Robbie gently tugged his arm as he noticed the dapper man silently chuckling.
“What’s… so funny… Jamie…?” JJ looked at the zombie, then raised his hands to sign his answer so the others could see.
I think the demon is relieved to see us.
The others laughed, stopping when they heard groans from the wall, and turned to see Chase and Jackie waking up. Chase was rubbing at his neck, wincing at the numb pain he still felt. Jackie was holding his head and fixing his hearing aid in with his free hand. He looked to the couch, and a look of relief crossed his face as he recognised Anti.
“We got him back,” he said, smiling before standing beside his brother, patting his belt as Marvin looked at him questioningly.
“I thought the device might short circuit if I touched Anton with it in, so I had it in my pocket this whole time,” he explained, laughing as the magician wrapped him in a tight embrace.
——
“Oh. It’s you.”
“And who else would I be, Anton?”
“I thought maybe you’d have given up.”
“On you? Never.”
A snort.
“Now, Anton. Tell me what happened to you.”
“You wouldn’t believe me.”
“I spent the whole day with some strange creature named Anti. I think I can take it.”
“I spent the day with Anti’s family.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Would you like to tell me about it?”
“It won’t do anything for the power out case.”
“I know. But it will fill out Anti’s case file.”
“You’re an idiot.”
“How?”
“You made a case file for a person from another timeline.”
“At least people will know about him if… whatever happened happens again.”
“Good point.”
“Tell me about your day, and then we’ll go back to the case.”
As the clock strikes midnight on Halloween night, the egos witness a phenomenon unlike any they’d seen before.
Their found family member, the glitch demon Anti, phases out before their eyes, and when the area clears, a new person stands where he was. This man is different to Anti, and through conversation with him, the egos are led to believe he came from a parallel universe. But what happened to Anti?
Anti finds himself cuffed to a table in an interrogation room, sitting across from a concerned and tired detective, who is more than willing to hold his case in favour of helping Anti find his way home. But who was he investigating before Anti showed up, and why would cuffs be needed?
Can these worlds work together to bring peace back to their lives before the clock strikes midnight again, or will the egos have to deal with a mysterious man forever? How did this phasing occur, and how can they make it happen again?
And why did it happen?
Onism begins October 26 at 3pm Australian time, and new chapters will be posted every day at the same time!
A/N: Here's chapter 2! Hope you've been enjoying!! Slight warning: there is a description of sensation as well as just a feeling of suspense in this chapter, so tread carefully.
“Let me get this right. Your name is Antisepticeye.”
“Yes.”
“You live with a group of ‘found friends’.”
“You don’t have to say it like I’m lying.”
“I’m just trying to get the facts straight.”
“Keep trying.”
“Can you… try not glitching like that? It’s interfering with the recording.”
“Why the [crackle] are you even recording?”
A sigh.
“Look, there was a massive power surge that led to an entire quarter of this city losing power for a month. I’m investigating why.”
“I think you’re investigation’s a piece of [crackle].”
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.”
“Are you going to help me get back to my family?”
“I don’t even know how you got here.”
——
“Circuit Breaker? What sort of name is that?” Jackie nudged Chase gently, fighting back a laugh. The egos had all sat down, Chase and Jackie on the sofa, and Robbie and JJ on the ground opposite them. Marvin had left to find Henrik.
“It’s some kind of villain code name or something, Chase. He’s obviously trying to sound dangerous.”
The lights flickered as Anton clenched his fists, and Robbie crept closer to JJ in fear. The dapper man wrapped an arm around the zombie to comfort him, looking at the flickering lightbulb with caution.
Anton had sat himself in the armchair near the kitchen, legs hanging off an armrest, with his back against the opposite armrest, and was picking at his bandages before looking up at the egos through his fringe.
“It is some kind of code name. The cops gave it to me.” He snorted, shaking his head.
“It was stupid, but now I kind of like it.” He scratched at the scars on his neck, and Chase instinctively reached forward to stop him before pausing. Anton stared at the father, a smirk on his face.
“You want me to stop scratching? Fuck that.” He swung his legs off the armrest, leaning forward and into Chase’s space.
“It feels like something’s crawling all over my skin, prickling every cell in my body. It feels like there’s something pulling on every inch of skin, stabbing electric nodes into my arms and body. It burns, like I stood too close to a fire, but it’s also fuckin’ cold. And it itches. I scratch, and it does nothing. I want to tear my skin off, but I can’t feel my own skin anymore. All the nerve endings got burned off in the accident.” He leaned back, returning to resting sideways in the chair.
“Do you know how that feels?” When Chase shook his head, Anton smiled again.
“It feels powerful. Nothing can hurt me, because I’ve already been hurt.”
Jackie leaned forward, clearing his throat.
“You mentioned an accident…?” Anton frowned, leaning back and returning to scratching his arms.
“I worked as a janitor at our local surveillance company. One night, during a storm, the circuit room down the hall short-circuited, and of course, I decided to check it out. I don’t remember much, but when I woke up, I was in a hospital and the nurses had told me my brother brought me here, wrapped in burning wires.” He shrugged.
“Something in those wires gave me… power. I can do whatever I want.” A pause.
“Maybe I did cause the power outage.”
Henrik walked into the room, pausing as he noticed the newcomer, and frowning as he realised Anti was missing.
“What did I miss?” Chase caught him up, and the doctor quietly moved to Anton, crouching beside him and looking curiously at the bandages on his arms.
“My name is Doctor Henrik von Schneeplestein. May I look at your arms?” Anton looked at the doctor, then sighed and began to unwrap his arms.
“My cousin Henry wrapped them. He’s… a good doctor,” he stated, and presented his burned arms for Henrik to see. Schneep examined the arms, jumping as small pulses of static zapped him.
“Your cousin treated these wounds?” Anton looked uncomfortable, turning away.
“Henry was busy with… other stuff… when this happened. Some nurses at the hospital treated them. I think something went wrong,” he replied, motioning to the haphazard stitching scars and strangely healed skin on his arms.
Schneep frowned again, running experienced fingers along the scars. Anton watched him, furrowing his brows as if in concentration.
“Was there something that went inside your arms?”
“Wires. Cables.” Henrik hummed, leaning back.
“They tried to cut them out, but I think the electricity of the wires may have reacted to the scalpels. Hence the stitching,” he concluded, motioning to the scars.
“Hen, we were wondering how Anton got here. Do you have any ideas?” Chase asked, directing the doctor’s attention back to the absence of Anti. The good doctor nodded, standing and addressing the occupants of the room.
“I may have a theory as to why Anti disappeared, and Anton appeared here.” As he spoke, the lights in the entire house flickered, then the lightbulbs all blew, plunging the house into darkness.
——
“So you’re an inspector.”
“Yes.”
“Investigating a power outage.”
“More or less.”
“And suddenly, your prime suspect disappears.”
“Correct.”
“Replaced with me. Mentally unstable, glitchy demon.”
“I assume so.”
The creaking of a chair, and of a table as someone leans forward.
A/N: here we are, halfway through the series. I hope you've enjoyed it so far. Also, there's a reference to CHASE in this chapter, as well as a reference to another series I wrote, Undead Silence. If you'd like to see more of that series (where JJ became a zombie), go check it out here.
“So you’re saying that some form of… phasing swapped me with your friend?” Anton’s voice was heavy with disbelief, and he stood from his chair to walk to a window, looking outside before closing the curtains.
“Yes, Anton. We’ve been investigating quantum technologies since the day Chase found himself on the roof of a hospital. It’s not a senseless theory, but it fits what you described to us,” Schneep replied, resting his elbows on his knees as he sat beside Chase, small notebook in his hands.
“Now, is it possible to turn the lights back on?” The living room was illuminated by candlelight, and Chase leaned forward to relight one of the candles that had gone out when Anton got up.
The guest huffed, crossing his arms against his chest.
“This… thing I do, it isn’t on command. I can’t just make the lights turn back on. And it’ll be dawn in another hour.” As he spoke, waving an arm, the kitchen lights turned on.
“See? Not on command. I don’t even know what makes it happen.”
“I might.” Everyone turned, seeing Marvin’s silhouette in the doorway. The white of his mask reflected the candlelight, and he walked into the room, sitting in Anton’s now deserted chair.
“Anton, right? I’m Marvin. I deal a little in magic, but I’ve never dealt in magic like yours.” Anton’s eyes were wide as he looked at the magician, who had offered his hand to shake.
“My cousin’s name is Marvin. He thinks he’s a good magician, but his attempt in necromancy brought two people into our lives from the past,” he whispered, reaching forward and taking Marvin’s hand in his own.
“Nice to meet you, Anton. I stay away from necromancy. Especially after the… incident,” he muttered, looking over at JJ momentarily before shaking his head and looking back at Anton.
“I think it’s magnetics, specifically electromagnetic energy, that makes your powers work.”
——
“I can’t let you speak to the other suspects, Anti. …do you have any other name besides Anti?”
“Anti’s been a nickname for years. I can barely remember my name anymore.”
“Why are you not in our records?”
“My family talks about parallel universes. Maybe I’m from a different universe.”
“Look, for the records, I need to have solid, sensible information.”
“Hey, this is [crackle] sensible information! Don’t you [crackle] tell me that Marvin and Schneep’s theories are fake!”
“Alright, calm down, please. I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“Like hell you didn’t.”
“Just cooperate with me. The sooner we figure things out…”
“The sooner I can get home, I know. You keep saying that.”
——
The egos had started to make breakfast, watching the sun rise over the horizon.
“So you can’t speak? At all?” JJ shook his head, signing to Robbie, who translated to Anton.
“He says… his… voice didn’t… come with him… here…” Anton chuckled at the translation, causing the coffee machine to stop and restart, which made Marvin and Jackie yell in frustration.
“You know voices aren’t sentient, right? It was probably some mispronunciation in the spell that brought you here. Mar- my cousin was big on pronouncing his spells right.” JJ paused, then signed to Robbie again.
“He… doesn’t think… a spell… brought him here…” Anton frowned, raising an eyebrow.
“Then what do you think brought you here?” JJ shrugged, and Anton left him alone, lost in his own thoughts.
“Anton, we think we might know how to send you back.” The guest looked up, staring at the magician.
“Really?” Marvin nodded, moving to sit opposite Anton.
“I could cast a spell to make a sort of portal, and hopefully that will switch you with our Anti,” he stated, eyes shining with excitement. Anton nodded, then tilted his head, leaning back in his chair.
A/N: Here's the first chapter of Onism, and I'm so excited about it! I hope you all enjoy it, and I'll be back tomorrow with the next chapter!
The clock struck midnight.
It was Halloween night, and the egos were clustered in the living room, wondering what sort of antics would happen this year.
“Maybe nothing will happen,” Jackie suggested, shrugging as six pairs of eyes glared at him.
“What? Just saying.”
It was Robbie who noticed it first. A slight distortion in the air around Anti, causing the glitch’s static to buzz more. The zombie tugged on JJ’s arm, slowly pointing out the distortion to his friend.
JJ watched the air for a few seconds, then clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention.
The air around Anti looks a little… strange, he signed, a little awkwardly because Robbie was still holding his sleeve.
The group turned to the glitch, questions in their gazes. Anti shrugged, causing the distortion to warp the area around him, and he froze in place.
“Anti, stay still. We’ll… we’ll figure something out,” Chase said, looking at Marvin, who bit his lip and looked away.
“I’ve never seen this happen before, I… I don’t know what to do,” the magician stated, fiddling with the hem of his shirt.
Henrik nudged the magician, irritation on his face.
“You must know something about space dispersion, Marvin. Teleportation, quantum phasing? Did you study nothing after the Mayhem of a few years ago?” He turned to the group, still frowning.
“I’ll do some reading. I’ll let you know what I find.” With that, the doctor turned and left the room.
Anti looked at his found family through what seemed like a film. It was like standing inside a lighthouse light and looking out; everything beyond was distorted and unfocused.
Every so often, the background changed from the sitting room to some form of… interrogation room? Anti couldn’t tell behind the film, and he could barely hear anymore.
He lifted a hand to reach for the egos, then felt something cold and metallic press against his wrist, and with a blink, the egos were gone, replaced by the interrogation room.
——
“Anton, I need answers here.”
“What answers? I can’t see!”
“What are you doing? Stop that!”
“I’m not doing anything! This is happening on its own!”
“If I find out one of your brothers did this-”
“Like my brothers would help me.”
“Anton, stop what you’re doing, or I’ll arrest you for… for… failing to cooperate!”
“Who’s Anton?”
“Wha-? Who are you? What have you done to Anton?”
“Look, I don’t know any more than you. One minute I’m in the living room with the others, and the next…”
“Others?”
——
The egos stared at the man standing before them, confusion clear on his face. The man stood slightly taller than Anti, with bandages wrapped around both forearms, covering what appeared to be burn scars. He wore a dark blue shirt, black slacks, and dark green Converse shoes. His green-brown hair hung in a shaggy mop atop his head, some strands falling over dark green eyes.
He also had burn scars across his neck and creeping up his jaws, stopping just halfway up his cheeks.
The intruder stared at the others, then cleared his throat and looked around the house.
“Nice place. Beats a prison cell.” His voice was hoarse, sounding like he had eaten several buckets of coarse rocks, and the lights seemed to flicker with every blink.
Chase was the first to speak.
“Who are you? Where’s Anti?”
The man looked at Chase, seeming to be sizing him up, before smirking.
“You remind me of my brother.” He paused, seeming to consider the term, before sneering. “Caregiver.”
Chase straightened up, squaring his shoulders before asking the question again. The intruder turned to the rest of the group, observing each one before clearing his throat and smiling, an evil glint in his eye.
“My family call me Anton. You… you can call me Circuit Breaker.”
A/N: Sorry this is late, I got distracted. Also this one is a short chapter, and everything will (maybe) be resolved tomorrow in the finale!
There was a clear division in the living room. Anton stood near the window, occasionally glancing outside to peer through the night, and the egos gathered around Chase and Jackie’s unconscious bodies, forming a human shield in defence.
“What have you done?” Schneep held his fingers against Chase’s neck, trying his hardest to find a pulse.
“They’re not dead. There’s no heavy burns,” Anton replied calmly, absently scratching at his arms.
“I’ll tell you when they’re safe, thank you,” Schneep replied, looking to Marvin for assistance. The magician shook his head, unable to rouse his brother, and returned the doctor’s helpless gaze. With a deep breath, Marvin stood and glared at Anton.
“If you’ve killed my brother, I’ll kill you,” he stated, wind picking up around him from seemingly nowhere, and hands beginning to glow green.
Anton smiled at the show, tilting his head in amusement.
“And how do you propose to kill me? Circuits couldn’t kill me.” Marvin stepped forward, eyes glowing green as balls of green fire hovered above his hands.
“You don’t want to know. But I will destroy you, Circuit Breaker,” he responded, holding a ball of fire dangerously close to Anton, the cold burn of the flames making the guest’s eyes widen.
“Fire won’t hurt me,” Anton attempted, voice wavering slightly as Marvin held the ball closer.
“Marvin, killing him won’t help your brother.” The doctor’s voice cut through the tension, and the magician closed his hands, extinguishing the flames and halting the wind. He turned and headed back to his brother, holding his hand tightly.
Anton glanced outside again, watching the moon rise in the sky. It was almost midnight.
“Looks like we missed Halloween,” he chuckled, frowning when nobody reacted.
A/N: Why doesn't Anton want to return home? Be warned, there is some violence in this chapter, but it's not graphic.
“What did that… Marvin say about this case?”
“That’s classified.”
“It’s not like I’ll tell anyone.”
“Still. It isn’t your case.”
“Well, how am I supposed to get back home if you won’t even let me know if the magician of this world could send me back?”
“I never told you that he’d send you back.”
“But he could.”
“I… I don’t know, Anti. The Jones and Bradless families are quite private about their habits.”
“But Marvin can bring people from different points in time.”
“I guess, I’m really not sure… wait, how do you know that?”
“I checked the digital files on this case when you left for coffee.”
“How did you do that?”
“I’m a glitch. I travel by technology.”
“So couldn’t you just send yourself back?”
“Different universe. Different technology.”
“Huh.”
“Yeah. It’s actually quite a pain to get through your files.”
——
“What do you mean, you don’t want to go back?” Anton was reclining sideways in his chair again, staring lazily at the ceiling.
“I mean, they’ve got me in an interrogation room for causing a power outage I don’t even remember. Why would I want to go back?” He looked down as Robbie gently took his hand.
“They… are your family… Anton… Don’t you… want to go back… to your family…?”
The guest scoffed, pulling his hand away.
“My brothers literally have a custody arrangement for me. They have designated weeks to have me at their house because they can’t stand me. I barely talk to Chase, and Jackie only copes with me because he’s out of the house half the time. Trust me, nobody would miss me over there.”
“But… we’d miss… Anti…” He looked at the zombie, biting his lip at the lonely expression on his face. Anton looked around at the similarly lonely looks of the egos, and his face softened.
“You guys actually care about Anti, don’t you?” Chase nodded, holding his signature cap in his hands.
“He may be a demon, and he may have tried to kill us on several occasions,” he started, motioning to Schneep and JJ, “but he’s family. He’s our demon to deal with. We can’t let him just disappear.”
“He’s like a pet that’s dangerous in the wrong hands,” Marvin continued, looking down at his own hands with a small smile.
“We’re the right hands to look after him.”
Anton considered the statement for a while, occasionally glancing at the worried faces of his hosts. Eventually, he swung his legs back over the couch, sitting facing the others.
“Marvin, what sort of magic would switch us back?”
——
“I need to take this call. Don’t… go anywhere.”
“I won’t.”
[crackle]
“Alright, Anti. Turns out the call was… Anti?”
——
As sunset crept across the house, the egos surrounded Anton.
“So you know the deal, right?” The guest rolled his eyes, crossing his arms as he nodded.
“Sure. Help you get your friend back, and you’ll try to keep me here.” Chase frowned, shaking his head.
“We didn’t say we’ll keep you here,” he started, gasping as Anton’s hand grabbed his neck, pushing him against the wall with eyes alight in rage.
“You will keep me here, or I won’t help you!”
Schneep rushed forward, reaching to stop Anton, then jumping back as static electricity shocked him.
“Let him go, Anton,” he ordered, watching as small electric currents ran from Anton’s hand to Chase’s neck, slightly shocking the father.
“Not until you promise to keep me. I won’t go back!” Jackie moved forward, keeping his eye on Chase, who was shaking slightly from the shocks.
“Let Chase go, and we’ll figure something out-” his compromise was cut off as the lamp beside him blew its bulb, pushing the hero back with a force so strong, he was knocked unconscious.
“I won’t… go back…” Anton panted, the force of his power draining his energy. The remaining egos watched in horror as Chase stopped shaking, skin going pale as his eyes rolled back in his head. Anton dropped Chase, and the lights went out for the second time.
——
“You need to get me back home.”
“Why? Why is it so urgent now?”
“Something feels wrong. Can’t you feel it? Something’s… gone wrong.”
“I don’t feel anything.”
“You [crackle] need to [crackle] back!”
“Anti, I can’t do anything! In a few hours, you can go free.”
A/N: welcome to the beginning of Oblivion! I hope you’ve read the blurb, because a context on this story is essential! This is just as much a new chapter in my own writing life as it is a new leaf of my blog. I’ll be trialling new formats and structures in this work, and applying things I’ve learnt from uni. Hope you all enjoy.
Warnings: electrocution
Characters: Anton Brodes, Chase Brodes, Jackie Brodes (calling them the Brodes family), Detective Inspector George Wallace, Dr. Henry Schneep
Word count: 1305 words (I’ve split the introductions into two parts so you have time to digest this first batch)
“Name?”
“Septicie.”
“Real name.”
“Anton… Anton Brodes.”
“Age?”
“Don’t know.”
“Do you know why you’re here?”
“Something about the power outage in the town, probably.”
“Anton, I just need to know what happened. Can you do that for me?”
A sigh.
Anton Brodes was working his usual late night shift at the surveillance company downtown during the worst rainstorm recorded in the town ever. Earbuds in, he was whistling to the music pounding in his ears as he ran the mop down the corridor.
He looked up as a flicker of sparks flew into the hall from a room.
“Anybody out there?” No answer. Concerned about the possibility of a humanitarian crisis, he crept to the room to make sure nobody was inside.
The room was an array of brightly-coloured sparks and fizzing wires. As his eyes travelled around the room, Anton realised one of the large circuit boxes had short-circuited and was breaking apart the rest of the room.
“Damn it, why my shift?” Taking a deep breath, he reached out to begin repairing the wires.
As his hand touched the box, a bright flash blinded him temporarily. He vaguely registered falling forwards, and a cold chill running up his arms. As his body fell to the floor, the sparks and wires from the circuit boxes began to seep into his pores, manipulating his DNA and causing him to yell in pain. Then he passed out.
***
“Name?”
“You know my name, Inspector.”
“This is protocol, Jackie. Just say your name for the record.”
“You just said my name.”
“Full name.”
“Jackie Brodes.”
“Age?”
“Twenty-five. Look, if you want me to tell you what I saw, just say. Don’t go through this ‘protocol’ stuff. We’ve been through this a dozen times.”
“Tell me what you saw.”
“With pleasure.”
Jackie was sitting on the roof of the police station, surveying the area the same way he did every night. A flashing to his left alerted his attention.
“What the hell?” He squinted at the bright light emanating from downtown, trying to place its exact location.
“Anton!” Unwinding his rope, he began to swing across the city, Spider-man style. His heart pounded in his chest, worry clouding his face.
Arriving at the company, Jackie used his patented electronic lockpick to get inside, following the sounds of yells to find Anton’s cleaning equipment abandoned.
“Strange. He never leaves that alone,” Jackie commented to himself as he looked down the corridor. Flickering lights impaired his vision, and he put on some night-vision goggles to see better.
Heading down the hall to the room with sparks, he saw an amalgamation of wires covering a moving figure. Upon further inspection, Jackie realised it was his estranged brother, wrapped in cables and unconscious.
“Anton, hold on, I’ll help you. Power switch, power switch…” he spun in a circle, finding the master switch for power, and flicking it off. As soon as the cables had stopped fizzing and writhing, he began to disentangle his brother.
“Are you alright? Anton, talk to me.” He held the janitor, feeling static electricity prick his skin with every movement. Tilting his head, the hero activated the communications device sewn into his hood.
“We have a code yellow in the surveillance company downtown. Power surge or short circuit. There’s been a casualty. Please hurry.” He held Anton close, ignoring the pricks of static as he tried to make the man open his eyes.
Anton woke up in the darkness, a heavy weight on his chest. Opening his eyes, the lights of the room flickered, then shone brightly.
He raised his arm to shield his eyes, then held it back to look at the bandages wrapped around it. Curious, he lifted his other arm, seeing the same thing. What happened?
“Oh, you’re awake. How are you feeling?” A nurse walked into the room, clipboard in her hands and warm smile on her face.
“I feel…” he drifted off as his voice crackled. He tried clearing his throat, only for the lights to flicker. He looked at the nurse, who shrugged.
“There’s a thunderstorm outside. The lights flicker whenever that happens.” Anton nodded, slowly, not telling the nurse that the room was dark before he opened his eyes.
“I’ll call your brother in. He’s been sitting outside for hours.” She left, leaving the door open before leading a man in a red hoodie inside.
“Hey, Anton. How are you feeling?” Instead of speaking, Anton raised his hands and began to sign to the hero. The Brodes family had learnt sign due to their father going deaf in their early years.
Something weird is happening to me. Jackie read the signs, then nodded, turning to the nurse and asking to be left alone. She left the room, giving Anton a wary glance.
“What do you mean by weird? Are you sick?”
When I opened my eyes, it was like I turned the lights on. Then my voice…
“My voice crackles, Jackie.” The hero started at the sound of the janitor’s once smooth voice. He sat down, lifting Anton’s arms to inspect the bandages.
“Do your arms hurt? I found you wrapped up in sparking wires. I can call Schneeple if you want-” Anton shook his head furiously, grabbing the hero’s wrists.
I just want to get out of here. Take me home. Jackie nodded slowly, thinking.
“It’s Chase’s week with you. I’ll give him a call.”
***
“Mr. Brodes, I understand your concern about your wife and family, but your brother-”
“He’s not my brother.”
“-Anton has been through and done something terrible to the city. I need to know everything you know.”
“You know, it’s only been two months since he was found at the surveillance company. My family’s been missing for two years.”
“As soon as you tell us your story, we’ll go back to the investigation on your wife.”
“Fine.”
Chase was sitting at the police station, discussing a missing persons’ report for the eighth time in two months.
“They’ve been missing for a year and a half, sir. There must be a priority for that.” The officer sighed, running a hand through his hair.
“Mr. Brodes, we’ve been looking for years, and gotten nothing. They disappeared. Maybe it’s time to-”
“No, I refuse to believe they’re… that word. If they were, you would have found a record of that, wouldn’t you?”
“True, sir. Look, the man in charge of your case will be back tomorrow, why don’t you come back then?” Chase sighed in frustration, then nodded.
As he left the station, his phone began to play the tune of ‘Bad Case of Loving You’, signalling Henry was calling.
“What’s up, Hen?” The voice on the other end was shaky, a little confused, and strongly laced with German roots.
“You need to come back home. I think you should call Marvin on your way.”
When Chase arrived home, he saw Henry standing in the doorway to the kitchen, eyes trained on a person at the table.
“Who’s this?” Chase took his hat off and hung his wet coat on the coat hanger by the door.
“Did you not call Marvin?” Chase shook his head, trying to get the water off his hair.
“No reply. Where did Charlie Chaplin come from?”
“That’s the weird thing. He just appeared on the stairs when I came home. I thought maybe Marvin had something to do with it.” The doctor paused to consider something, then chuckled to himself.
“Actually, the weird thing is over here.” He led Chase to the foyer, turning on the light and pointing to the stairs. About halfway up, the pastel green paint had faded to monochrome, looking like a broken television set.
“Great, our newcomer drained the colours from our stairs.” Chase looked back at the kitchen, watching the visitor sip on tea.
