Joyce stands outside of the hospital’s temporary main entrance, leaning against the grimy brick wall in a fur coat as she lights her fifth cigarette of the day. Beside her Veronica who is wearing a black leather coat over her uniform extends a cigarette of her own towards the lighter. “Thank goodness today isn’t too busy.”

“Tell me about it!” Joyce laughs. “The past few days have been especially awful. Last night I had to deal with so many loud and ignorant parents. It’s like they think we’re personally responsible for the crash.”

“I know right, you’re way too much of a bimbo to plan a terrorist attack.”

“Shut the fuck up.” Joyce pouts and punches Veronica’s arm playfully.

After her cigarette is lit, Veronica takes a puff and says. “Speaking of the crash, that damn driver is an absolute unit. According to John he’s currently in a stable condition despite both of his legs being pulverised and suffering severe internal bleeding.”

“Do you think he’ll make it?”

“It’s hard to say.”

The evening air was chilly despite the blue sky. The sun had already began to set causing the few clouds present to have orange underbellies.

“It’s a little strange don’t you think?”Joyce says. “I don’t understand why a terrorist organisation would target a random hospital like ours.”

“Well you never know, there’s all kinds of bizarre people in the world who do terrible things for all kinds of reasons, especially in this day and age.” Veronica says frowning as she shakes her head. “You were there when the security guards took the letter from Christopher Marcus weren’t you?”

“I didn’t get the chance to see it for myself.”

Veronica laughs and responds. “It’s probably for the best anyway. I’d rather not stick my nose in things like this. Keep to yourself and keep yourself alive.”

As the two women make small talk a black SUV opens up its doors not too far away. Several pairs of shoes scurry behind a pair of marching brown boots.

The group passes by the two nurses who both immediately freeze when they see the woman walking in front.

She is of African decent with an angular face that resembles a lioness. Her eyes are sharp, her cheek bones high and defined as if carved from ivory. Dawning a grey blazer, a pink blouse and a dress skirt, Julia Marcus resembled a lawyer more than a celebrity.

Without a trace of emotion she enters into the hospital with her Entourage of bodyguards.

After witnessing them disappear into the hospital, both Joyce and Veronica are silent as they stare at each other.

Christopher watches as red strings flicker in and out of visibility in the streets far below. He had figured out that he can switch off the ability to see the red strings and turn it back on if he repeats the poem he had mysteriously heard.

“The child of fate has yet to see, has yet to know and yet still dreams,

Through countless threads he’ll come to see, that rainbow eyes tame crimson steeds”

Half sitting in the open hospital window, Christopher repeats the poem in order to switch on the ability once again.

The red strings reappear as Christopher sighs and checks the time on his phone. He no longer wears his hospital gown and instead wears a pair clothes that Okimoto quickly fetched for him. His old clothes from a year ago were still in good condition but didn’t fit him anymore.

“They’re late…” Okimoto says as he sits on the bed playing on the Switch.

Christopher doesn’t know how to feel about his mother. She could walk through his hospital room door at any time and he’d have no idea how to react. Had he been a normal child he’d surely feel anger or hurt. He’d probably cuss her out and spit in her face. He’d certainly demand that she explain herself to him. That’s what an ordinary child would do. But Christopher Marcus is no ordinary boy and his mother is far from an ordinary woman. He remembers overhearing a conversation his mother had with his grandparents. As a child his mother had been diagnosed with psychopathy. Apparently it meant that she couldn’t feel empathy or something like that.

The door to the hospital room swings open and a woman whose face strongly resembles Christopher’s enters the room.

She looks around, her eyes void of emotion. They lock with Okimoto’s for a second or two before moving on to Christopher who is silhouetted by the sunlight entering through the window behind him.

Christopher is expressionless. His mother looks… shorter. He had only recently turned thirteen when he last saw her, back then he was five eight, now he towers over her at six three.

“You’ve grown…” She says expressionlessly.

Her body guards loom at the door while staring at absolutely nothing. Christopher isn’t surprised to see no familiar faces among them as she had a habit of firing people on a whim. They perhaps like him and all others were disposable to her.

After a short pause Christopher responds in a deadpan tone. “You’ve shrunk.”

“Very funny.” His mother says with a humourless sigh. “I’m assuming you’ve already spoken to ‘him’ so I’ll cut things shor-“

“So you are working with the hook nosed man then.” Christopher says bluntly cutting his mother off. “I’m assuming you knew about me being cured too then? About the cancer actually being a curse? About my apparent true identity? About the diary?”

“I know much more than you can imagine.” His mother says with a slight smile, her eyes still dead and lifeless. “but it’s not my place to explain everything to you. You will come with me back to the house to collect whatever belongings you wish to keep with you. You will then be transferred to your new home by ‘him’. There you will meet a woman called Adaolisa. She will tell you everything you need to know.”

Christopher doesn’t respond and simply starts to collect his things.

Okimoto who was silently observing the entire time lets out a sigh before looking at Christopher and saying. “I’ll see you later I guess…”

Christopher’s mother snickers in a mocking manner and responds. “Boy… from this day onward you and him live in different worlds. Remember the times you had with him fondly and be grateful for whatever lessons you might have learned.”

“You say that as if you’re still his mother.” Okimoto speaks in a poisonous manner, his eyes squint and his pupils narrow like a cat’s.

Christopher pauses and glances over at his friend, giving him a look that says; calm down and think before you speak.

Okimoto continues despite Christopher’s wary gaze. “He called you so many times yet you never picked up once. I get that sometimes you’re busy, but you must have seen the hundreds of missed calls from him eventually right? You were actively neglecting your own child while he was dying in the hospital.”

“He was never truly sick, You don’t seem to understand.” Julia Marcus replies. “But then again I can’t blame you, you’re just an Adamite after all.”

“Adamite?” Okimoto repeats not hiding his confusion.

Christopher is puzzled as well but ultimately continues to pack his things.

Regaining his composure Okimoto goes on to say. “I’m going to be honest, I don’t understand the relationship you have with your son and won’t pretend to. But considering that you clearly don’t care about the compassion side of being a mother, why bother with speaking as if you have the authority of one?”

“This isn’t a matter of morals.” Julia bats her eyes and continues to say. “I am just telling you the reality of what will happen. The people… no, the entities he’s about to start living with don’t particularly care for…‘humans’ like yourself. You will be separated from him by the natural order of things, not by any desire of my own.”

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

“What the hell does that even mean?”

“I guess you’ll have to see for yourself.” Julia says, her lips curl into a smile, her tone remains dead pan.

Christopher who had finished packing up looks at Okimoto and says. “Just in case this really is the end, it’s been fun Okimoto. Thanks for keeping me company all this time. I still have your number so I’ll try to call you when I’m at my new home. Oh, and thanks for the clothes!”

“You’re welcome…” Okimoto responds with a frown. He wonders if this is really the end. He wonders if his best friend could really walk out of his life so casually. “I’ll see you later I guess…”

Christopher smiles at his friend as he finishes packing up. He goes all stone faced again before nodding at his mother who turns to nod back at the body guards.

They all leave with Christopher shooting him one final glance before saying. “We met for a reason. You and me both witnessed the diary’s power for a reason. I will call you as soon as I get a solid understanding of what’s happening. That’s a promise, so forget what I said a few seconds ago. This is not the end.”

After they all left, Okimoto himself leaves the hospital room not too long after in a daze. On his way out he passes by nurse Joyce who was returning from her break.

“Hey!” Joyce yells out. “I saw Christopher leave with his mother minutes ago, I bet you’re as happy as ever right! You can finally hang out and go skateboarding and to the arcade. You can do all of the things ordinary friends do.”

Okimoto briefly snaps back to reality and responds. “Yeah… totally.”

Joyce smiles at him before skipping away blissfully unaware of the truth.

Okimoto quickly falls back into his detached state wandering what the hell will happen from this point onward. Everything he had seen. The super natural events he had witnessed. If Christopher would cut him off just like that then what was the point of it all?

He looks at his phone and thinks about Christopher’s parting words. He would definitely wait for his friend to call him. The diary, the strings, the monsters and the hook nosed man. This was a side to reality that he was completely oblivious to, that most people were completely oblivious to. How the hell could he be expected to just live a mundane life after seeing such things? The mere idea of him just forgetting it all was utter madness.

His phone buzzes as he receives yet another notification from his school’s principal.

Christopher sat in the back seat as the SUV struggled up the narrow roads leading up to his old secluded home in the Hollywood Hills. Familiar scenery passes him by, yet he feels only slightly nostalgic. It wasn’t that he had no emotions, there just wasn’t much about his old life to be emotional about. He can only replay his mother’s words and ponder over what they truly mean. If he is going to live with non human entities then just what kind of life is in store for him?

Christopher can’t help but scowl in frustration, feeling he’s being dragged down a rabbit hole by a rope tied to his ankles. He needs to gain knowledge, and bit by bit he’d gain more control over things.

It isn’t long before the car stops and he finds himself walking through the elegant front yard of his mother’s mansion. In the past he was interviewed by countless news anchors and reality television hosts right here, he never really went outside much when the cameras were off though.

They approach the front doors with two body guards breaking off from the main group to guard the entrance, each one standing at one side of the mansion’s ornate arching entrance.

They enter and Christopher smells the potent scent of bleach. Looking around the familiar main hall, he sees several housemaids cleaning attentively. still no familiar faces.

Feeling no real nostalgia he follows his mother’s lead and heads up to his room. It’s just the two of them now and Christopher scoffs when the random thought of hugging her crosses his mind.

His old bedroom is exactly how he left it: perfectly tidy without a single speck of dust. The place had obviously been cleaned regularly when he was gone.

Looking around he finds little to be attached to. Generic posters line the walls, all of them mere props for reality television.

He hears the door close behind him followed by the sound of footsteps going back down the staircase.

With his mother gone Christopher lets out a sigh before thinking about Okimoto and checking his phone. The time to call his only friend wasn’t now. Not yet as he still needed to see what his new living arrangement will be.

He hears two sets of footsteps ascend up the staircase before the door to his room swings open again.

Christopher’s eyes almost pop out of his face when he sees what’s standing next to his mother. It’s this… thing. It looks like a pale featureless person made from beige wax. It’s chest moved as if it was breathing even though it’s pale face had no mouth, no nose, along with no other things a face should have. It was like an imitation of a human being, this creature must have been a skin walker or some other nasty thing that needed to be rebuked in the name of Christ.

Christopher immediately gasps, failing to hide his obvious shock at what he’s seeing. He sneers. “What is that thing? It’s a fucking monster.”

“You shouldn’t be surprised by things like this anymore…” his mother says with a light chuckle.

She steps forward while spreading out her arms.

This utterly alien gesture catches Christopher off guard causing him to shift down the bed.

“Calm down…” his mother says. There’s something off about her. Her voice isn’t flat like it usually is but like it is in his dreams of her.

It’s like the voices of the other mothers that he saw in the hospital. It’s like nurse Joyce’s voice...

She wraps her arms around him and just like that he’s swept away by her. Taken by her embrace to a place far removed from all of the world’s troubles. This feeling it was as if she’d protect him from everything evil out there. Christopher wanted this feeling to last. Even if it was untrue. Even if it was just the inner child inside of him lying to him to keep him safe from the truth.

She was soft… yet powerful. He had never truly hated her… she wasn’t cruel but strong, at least that’s what she’d always tell him.

She runs her hand through his hair and he feels himself almost fall asleep in her embrace.

He tenses up when he feels a hair get plucked from his head. This pain is nothing compared to the pain when he feels her soft embrace leave him seconds later.

He watches as she walks over to the creature that stands motionlessly.

She places the strand of hair gently on the top of its featureless head.

Christopher gets up to examine the creature himself. He watches as its waxy skin begins to ripple around the hair before sucking it in and absorbing it.

The creature then begins to contort and grow rapidly until its height is increased by several inches.

Christopher watches as its waxy skin gradually morphs into a milk chocolate colour with a smooth and flawless texture.

Its face also changes, gaining high and pronounced cheek bones, a defined jaw and almond shaped eyes that were slightly slanted with distinct puffy bags.

At the same time, black curly hair explodes out from its scalp, forming into an Afro that droops slightly.

“What the…” Christopher is speechless.

Standing face to face with him is an identical copy of himself.

His mother looks the copy up and down before nodding in satisfaction. “This is what you call a homunculus. It has no feelings, desires and thoughts of its own. It only knows how to follow orders and mimic human behaviour. It will be presented to the world after you leave. It will assume your identity and continue to function as ‘Christopher Marcus’ in the public eye.”

The light fades in Christopher’s eyes… In other words it was his replacement…

“I will leave now.” Christopher says, no longer able to stand the sight of this woman.

“Goodbye Christopher, I’m no longer your mother. From now on, consider me a stranger.”

She didn’t have to tell him twice…

He walks past her and picks up his luggage from the hospital. He opens the door to the corridor and sees the hook nosed man waiting for him.

“You didn’t take any of your old belongings with you, is there a reason for this?” The man asks.

“There’s nothing here that’s of use to me, so I’ll be leaving now.”

“Understood.”

Christopher doesn’t even bother looking back as he closes his bedroom door behind him.

The hook nosed man walks over to an adjacent door and opens it, revealing an ornate corridor with a completely different architectural style to the mansion beyond.

Numerous golden lamps hung from the turquoise curved ceiling in a long line that continues on until the corridor curves off to the right.

Multiple patterned carpets line the polished wooden floor and candles mount many arching beige pillars. It was as if Christopher was staring down the corridor of a Victorian hotel. The door opposite his room is supposed to lead to one of the bathrooms, so right now what he was witnessing made absolutely no sense at all. But whatever… what did it matter anyway.

Completely unfazed, Christopher looks at the hook nosed man and gestures for him to lead the way.

With a slight smile, the man enters the corridor with Christopher following closely behind him not even bothering to take one last look at his childhood home. The door slams shut and this chapter of Christopher Marcus’s life comes to an emotionless end.

Okimoto watches on in silence as the sun sets over Venice Beach.

Children ran around blissfully as they played under the pink and amber sky, their ecstatic laughter forming a natural melody amongst the crashing waves.

Couples, both old and young, both black and white and gay and straight lie bathing in the last vestiges of the setting sun. An entire family chases after their family dog as it chases a harbour seal into the water. Off the side several teenagers point and laugh and gossip.

It’s as if all of humanity is in display before his very eyes. Okimoto who leans against his motorcycle alone across the road from this scenery sighs as countless tourists pass him by.

“Hey.” A voice calls out.

Turning to his left, Okimoto sees a rather plain looking brunette in her late thirties. She’s wearing the typical frumpy amalgamation of casual clothing that she usually wears.

The principal of Middlecrest high, Mrs. Tanya Johnson is grinning from ear to ear as she embraces Okimoto tightly.

“Where have you been these past few days?” She asks with a hint of worry. “I haven’t seen you since you won the tournament…”

She smells like expensive perfume mixed with alcohol… a closer sniff reveals it to be corn vodka. Okimoto wonders if she still has some left for him. Her face is covered in hastily applied makeup that leaves many obvious imperfections. She always tried to doll herself up for these meetings as if she’s on a date and not taking advantage of a kid.

“I’ve been attending to some personal issues.” Okimoto responds.

The embrace ends as the principal takes a step back before looking Okimoto up and down. Her green eyes dilate slightly as she says. “Seriously though, where have you been? You’re not avoiding me right?”

Okimoto’s mouth twitches, this woman is way too clingy for her age, but maybe that’s to expected from a deeply unsatisfied woman that runs to young boys for gratification. Middlecrest’s principal Tanya Johnson was a pitiful creature.

“At least dine me before asking questions.” Okimoto says, shaking his head while humouring her with a slight smile.

“Seriously.” The woman pouts before retrieving something from her purse and showing it to him.

Resting in the palm of her hand is an edible.

Satisfied with what he sees, Okimoto smiles before saying. “Let’s get this party started then.”