The streets were clearer of the snow, sure, but even though it was still cold, with the sun out, the leftover snow had melted some, so there was actually a fair amount of ice around. Because of that, as soon as they started walking in the direction of the diner, Iris grabbed Jude’s arm and said, “I don’t want to fall.”

Jude felt the heat in his body rise, but he did not push her away. In fact, he became even more aware of where he was stepping, trying to avoid the ice as much as possible.

“So, there’s nobody around anymore, and I’m a medical intern. Do you want to talk about what happened last night? Your pallor betrayed some trauma, in my medical opinion.”

Jude thought for a second before answering, “I’ll tell you everything when we sit down to eat. I hope it doesn’t spoil your appetite though.”

“Don’t worry. I have an iron stomach!” she said as she patted her belly. “As an intern, you don’t get a lot of time to do much of anything, and that includes eating. I’m off for two days right now, but I’ll have to work three when I get back. Then, it’s off for New Years. Don’t ask me how I managed to get the holidays off. I don’t know that myself.”

“Lucky for me,” he said quietly, almost under his breath, but Iris heard him, and for the first time that night, she blushed too.

Iris grabbed his arm tighter and said, “That’s enough chit-chat! I’m starving! Let’s hurry!”

They could see the diner off in the distance now. They were just one block away.

The diner wasn’t very busy. There were empty seats everywhere and spots open by the counter. A waitress picked a booth for them, brought them the menu and wished them Merry Christmas before leaving to bring them water.

“So, what do you want to eat?” Iris asked.

“I like eggs and bacon in the morning. You?”

“Something sweeter, waffles and maple syrup.”

“Do you want coffee?”

“Orange juice for me, please.”

When the waitress came back, Jude ordered everything while Iris watched him. She seemed to be contemplating something when he said, “So, you want the story?” startling her.

“What?! Oh! Yes! Tell me everything.”

Iris’ face turned serious, and as Jude recounted his experience the night before, a range of emotions could be seen passing through her face: surprise, confusion, shock, worry, doubt and revelation.

“Did you say you stayed with Mr. Lee?”

“Yeah, he owns a grocery store near my place. We got to talking earlier in the night when I went out to see the city and feel the air. He’s a very nice man. He used to be a doctor, y’know, but not anymore. I feel like I imposed a lot on him last night.”

“He’s my dad.”

“What?!”

“Yeah, he’s my dad. It’s so weird.”

“You’re telling me?!”

“And there was no indication of the woman’s presence? No disturbed snow? Blood? Anything?”

“Nope. I probably just hallucinated everything like the paramedics said.

“Well, we can find that out!”

“We can?”

“Yes. When I was in high school, that area wasn’t the safest. There were people dealing out of that very alley, and sometimes they would break into my dad’s store and steal money. It was scary, so I set up a hidden security camera there, and I would send the footage to the police anonymously when something happened. After a while, people stopped coming to that alley.”

“The camera is still there?”

“Yeah, I keep it recording just in case. I wipe the footage manually every couple of days. I could set it up so it would do it automatically, but my dad is very proud, so it takes him a while to tell me when something happens. I can pull up the footage from last night on my phone. What time did you say it was?”

“Probably around 1 a.m. I’m not too sure to be honest.”

“I’ll pull it from midnight, and we’ll just fast forward until we see you.”

She moved over to his side of the booth and sat next to him. They were side-by-side, their shoulders pressed against each other. Iris held her phone in front of the two of them, and when Jude turned to look, he caught a whiff of the scent of her hair. His heartbeat quickened, and only one word came to his mind: delicious.

When Jude appeared in the alley on the footage on the screen, Iris paused and said, “Here we go,” before pressing play.

The entire alley was visible when he walked through it. He looked around it and kneeled by a wall. Then, he jolted straight and collapsed.

“I guess I really was hallucinating,” Jude said, shocked and saddened by what he was seeing.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Let’s just watch until the paramedics get there.”

They kept watching, but up until the minute the paramedics got there, it was just Jude passed out on the snow. However, when the paramedics rushed over to him, Iris noticed something weird. They were avoiding the area by Jude’s head, the area he had been talking to before he collapsed.

“That’s odd…” she said.

“I think the correct term is: I’m crazy.”

“No, I’m not talking about that. Look, the paramedics never walked over this patch of snow.”

“Hmm… Now that you say that, why are they walking around my body like that?”

“It’s like there’s something there.”

“But we can see there’s nothing.”

“... I guess we can,” she said somewhat unconvinced.

“It’s fine. It took all night, but I’ve come to terms with it. There’s a history of dementia in my family, maybe my time is just earlier than everybody else’s.”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions. The paramedics were right, though, you should’ve gone to the hospital.”

“No job, no insurance, remember?”

“Hmm… My hospital has a pro-bono emergency system. You have to give us a current bank statement and some other documents, but we should be able to help.”

“Yeah… Maybe…”

Jude was reticent about going to the hospital. He had seen some of his family members disappear to dementia, replaced by shells of their former selves, and he didn’t want to know just yet if he was already going through it. He didn’t want to make it real.

“It’s just a thought,” Iris said, noticing the sullen expression on Jude’s face, “It could be stress. You’re new to town; you’re alone. There’s a lot going on.”

“Stress… Yeah, I guess I’ve been stressed lately.”

“See. Could be just that,” she reiterated. “Let’s talk about something else. Any ideas?”

After thinking for a while, Jude said, “Tell me about yourself,” and so she did.

Jude didn’t have the will to talk, but he wanted to listen. Iris talked about moving from China, about not being able to speak English, about meeting Angela, and the things they got up to together. She talked about how her dad didn’t want her to go to medical school, but that eventually he told her he was proud of her. She talked for a good hour, and in that hour, Jude forgot everything about the night before, about his family history and about being scared. He listened, and her words took him away from his worries.

After they had eaten and had been sitting there for a while, Iris looked at her phone for the time. It was time to leave.

“I have to go meet my dad.”

“Oh, right! It’s Christmas! I’m sure Mr. Lee is waiting for you.”

“Hm… Do you want to come over for dinner tonight? Angela and Nathan will be there too.”

“I… I would love to, but I don’t think so. I have some stuff to think about. I’ve been going nonstop since last night, so maybe I should get some sleep too.”

“I understand.”

“But… I would love to see you again some other time.”

“Oh! That would… I would like that.” Jude gave Iris his number, and she added, “I won’t have time until New Years, so you should come to the party. I’ll be there too.”

“Sure! I’ll ask Nathan for the details later.”

They stood up and walked out the door, where they stood looking at each other.

“Well… It was really nice meeting you,” Iris said.

“You too. I mean it.”

Unable to decide on how he should part from her, Jude simply hugged Iris good-bye. It wasn’t too forward of him, but it also wasn’t offstandish.

After a second longer than he had expected, Iris stepped back and turned around with a simple, “Bye!”

“Bye!” he said and headed back home.

When he walked into his apartment, all of the fatigue of the previous night washed over him. Suddenly, he had never been as tired as he was at that moment, so he removed his clothes and fell on the bed, pulling the covers over himself and crashing almost immediately.

He dreamed again.

The streets were empty once more, and the pulsating red light could be seen in the distance. Jude tried going into buildings this time, but they were all locked. He tried to move away from the light, but somehow he always wound up heading in its direction. The red glow beckoned him, and eventually he relented and followed it.

There was something hypnotizing about the red glow. It made him lose track of time and space. It is true that he was dreaming, but the walk to the towering structure felt like it was taking days. He didn’t feel hunger or thirst, and his body did not ache, but still it felt like forever.

When he finally got to the tower, he felt like his entire body was vibrating from the inside, like his blood was flowing with each pulse of the red light.

Jude approached the tower until he could almost touch it. He wasn’t sure if he should, but the urge to do it was stronger. He raised his hand, and as soon as his fingers touched the structure, he felt a powerful, sharp pain in his head.

It hurt so much it woke him up, but when Jude opened his eyes, he noticed he was unable to move his body. Jude would sometimes suffer from sleep paralysis, and though this felt a lot like it, he knew he was awake. He could see every detail of his room. It wasn’t foggy, and there were no shadows. Everything was sharp and clear.

Suddenly, he heard a mechanical voice in his mind.

[Assimilation Complete]

[Trigger Event Not Found]

[Standby Until Trigger Event]

[Starting System Hibernation]

At the end of the last sentence, Jude was able to move again. He picked up his phone and looked at the time. To his surprise, he had slept for nearly a full day. His phone had messages from his family wishing him Merry Christmas, from Nathan and Iris inviting him for dinner the previous night, and it also had a reply to a job application he had sent in. The reply had come that morning, and they were requesting an interview for the second of January.

Looking at the messages from his family, Jude felt crazy. He had hallucinated already, and now, he was hearing voices. Jude had seen what disease had done to his parents and grandparents, and he did not want to go through that. He decided then that instead of focusing on what was happening to him, he would prepare for the interview. It was some days away, but he needed something to keep him busy.

Jude also replied to Nathan and Iris, explaining that he had slept the entire day and just woken up. Iris was back at the hospital, and she urged him again to go over there to get checked out, while Nathan sent him the details for the New Year’s party.

It was a new day. Christmas was over, and he was hungry, so Jude brushed his teeth, got dressed and went out, locking the door behind him.