Page 70 of Changeling
“I’m not hungry. Don’t wait up. I’ll be late,” Sasha called back.
Jim didn’t speak further, but Nathan heard the door gently close.
“Nathan? You can come out of hiding. He’s gone now,” Jim called at the bathroom.
Nathan emerged, at least not having actually thrown up again, and saw that Sasha had taken his coat and the guitar. “Shit. He thinks it’s his fault. I’m afraid of what he’s gonna do,” Nathan said as he sat at the table. He looked disinterestedly at the food Jim set down.
“Great idea getting in his face about it, then,” Jim said with a crooked smile, though his eyes softened the moment Nathan deflated. “We’ll talk to him tomorrow, Nate. Both of us. Now come on, you have to eat something. I brought you some soup and toast.”
Nathan managed a smile, looking gratefully up at his brother. “Thanks, Jim.”
After devouring most of his food, Nathan turned in fairly early and fell into a restless sleep.
Nathanopenedhiseyesto a reddish haze that covered everything. He saw a world barren and black with red dripping along the horizon. There was no sun, no point of light, and yet something was glowing enough to illuminate the land, land that was so hot, heat waves radiated up from it. Trees that should be filled with leaves were burnt away. Husks of ash stood lining empty, broken streets, and Nathan knew those husks had once been people. He alone walked untouched along the middle of some unknown, unimportant road in a town that no longer existed. He trembled as the concrete cracked and melted beneath his feet where he walked.
“Jim! Sasha!” Nathan called out, because what other names could be important in an empty world.
“Nathan…” came a whisper.
Nathan turned quickly to stare down the road behind him. The land was so flat, he could see for miles in every direction and everything looked like the surroundings beside him—black, barren,dead.
There was a hill not far away that might have had grass once. Sasha and Jim were at its peak looking down at him. But Sasha was changed, his incubus self, with black wings out and ready for flight even though he was crouched by Jim’s feet. His fangs glistened within a sickly smile.
Jim radiated power, his eyes glowing amber with prominent slits, as his hand reached out to beckon Nathan forward.
Then Nathan’s view changed, and he was suddenly looking down at himself as he walked toward the hill. His heart clenched tight at the sight of himself. His figure appeared to be just him at first, in jeans and a black T-shirt. His boots were clean somehow of all the dirt and ash of the land. He smiled up at Sasha and Jim, and that’s when Nathan realized that the light, the meager light keeping the world from being utterly consumed by darkness was coming fromhim. But it was flickering, fading away…
What was worse was that Nathan’s eyes flickered too, changed shape until they were slit.
“Come on,” Nathan said with a voice that hissed and roared. “We have work to do.”
His eyes flickered again, no longer their soft, natural green…butred on black.
“Nathan!Wakeup!It’sjust a nightmare!” Jim’s raised voice came out of seemingly nowhere, and while Nathan was conscious of it, recognized it, he still woke up swinging.
The next thing Nathan knew, he was sat up in bed, having narrowly missed clocking Jim in the nose, and only because his brother had weaved back to get out of the way and ended up on his ass on the floor for his troubles.
“Dude, what the hell?” Nathan blinked blearily around him, groaning softly at his sudden rousing. He was sweating and shaking—but he couldn’t remember why.
“You were having a nightmare. You okay now?” Jim’s concerned face hovered over him as he stood up to smooth the covers back around Nathan.
“I’m fine, Jim. Just a dream. Go way.” Nathan swatted Jim’s hands, embarrassed by the attention, and shut his eyes again.
“Fine,” Jim huffed and moved to the other bed.
Nathan stirred restlessly in attempt to fall back asleep, but eventually gave up and went to the bathroom. He leaned against the door as vague flashes of red on black eyes and feelings of dread came over him, pulling him back to the nightmare.
“I’d rathernotremember, thanks…” Nathan grumbled, closing his eyes tight to banish the renewed images.
“Nathan…” came a faint voice, barely recognizable as Walter.
Nathan opened his eyes, glancing about the bathroom until he spotted Walter flickering in and out of visibility beside the shower. “Dude, don’t strain yourself. Jim’s just on the other side of the door.”
“I know, Nathan, but I wanted you to know that Sasha…hasn’t returned yet.”
Straining to hear Walter’s crackling words as he continued to flicker like television static, Nathan frowned when he registered what had been said. He hadn’t realized Sasha was still out when he rushed for the bathroom. “I should have sent you after him…” Nathan shook his head.
“I did follow him, for a time, but could only go so far,” Walter said.
