CHAPTER EIGHT

MAGIC TOUCH

Countless humans walk indistinguishably from one another like swarms of ants amid the great towers of concrete and light under the veil of night. But despite it being night the city doesn't sleep. It never sleeps. It sings. Sings a never-ending song of cacophony; sings of traffic, police and firemen sirens, live performances both big and small, construction work, ringtones, and many more.

In one of these towers, somewhere up high, a woman sleeps on a spacious dark wood king-sized bed covered by white satin sheets.

She sleeps on the right side. The left is empty.

There are no rooms inside the apartment; everything is in one giant open space.

One giant well-decorated , fashionable space.

The smartphone near the bed rings.

"Hello," Olivia wearily answers as she wakes up.

"Hey. Did I wake you?" a feminine voice on the other side asks.

"Hey, Sasha. What's the time?" Olivia asks as she rubs her eyes.

"It's only 9... PM," Sasha says as she emphasizes the after midday part.

"I was planning to take a nap but I guess I overslept. It was a busy day yesterday," Olivia explains.

They stop talking for a brief moment.

"Look, I'm sorry but I won't be able to get back for at least a few days. I know you are leaving for Alaska tomorrow but... I'll make it up to you when you get back," Sasha says. Olivia sighs. She glances at the vacant side of the bed.

"Yeah, I've figured as much," Olivia remarks.

"Look, you knew that..." Sasha says as she gets cut off.

"Did you talk to the Doctor?" Olivia asks but Sasha doesn't respond for a couple of seconds, "Look, I know you are scared but we can fight this," she adds.

"I don't need a Doctor. You'll be my Doctor," Sasha jests.

"I'm not that kind of Doctor and you know it," Olivia says.

Sometimes I wish I was, Olivia says in her quiet voice.

Another pause ensues, almost half a minute.

If not for the breathing on both sides of the phone there would be nothing but silence.

"Look I have to go. Let's talk about this when you get back. Okay?" Sasha says.

"Yeah sure," Olivia responds.

"Okay... love you," Sasha says.

"Love you too," Olivia responds before ending the call.

She gets up from bed and walks to the apartment window.

The city seems so peaceful from way up here, Olivia thinks. But it's far from peaceful.

Somewhere in a distance, something catches her eye. A white light!

The light grows and grows as it devours everything before it like a all-consuming tide.

Olivia, eyes, and jaw open wide; she turns away and runs.

Suddenly, the ravenous light covers her.

She wakes up with a scream.

"Keep it down," Yui says, shaking her head in slight annoyance.

The deep sleep fogs her vision and her mind. But the fog dissipates.

She remembers that she didn't dream of a nightmare, she woke into one. A cold shiver across her spine works as a quick reminder.

"Who are you?" Olivia asks, keeping calm and assessing her current situation. Best not to panic. Though that is easier said than done.

"I'm Yui, and you are?" Yui says, inspecting Olivia as if she was the first human she ever saw.

"Olivia. Doctor Olivia Newton," Olivia says as she stands and extends her hand in greetings. Yui doesn't reciprocate.

"Like the singer Olivia-Newton John?" Yui says as she smiles.

"Who?" Olivia asks, unsure.

"The singer from the 1980s? She was also in the musical Grease," Yui explains. Olivia blankly stares.

"The 1980s? I'm sorry but I'm not really into the classics," Olivia says still holding out her hand.

Yui looks down.

"Sorry, I'm not a fan of physical contact. He-he, physical," Yui walks back to the altar as she quietly sings "physical, physical".

Olivia looks around trying to piece together what she knows to make sense of her current situation.

I was with Captain Rayne and then I woke up here, Olivia thinks as she looks around. Rayne?

"Did you see a soldier here? Captain Rayne?" Olivia asks as she turns to Yui who sits, and playfully sways her legs.

Yui doesn't answer instead she looks around daydreaming.

"Hey? Excuse me..." Olivia asks as she gets cut off.

"They went... away," Yui answers.

Olivia pauses for a moment.

"Away?" Olivia blurts out, "Do you know if they will be back?" she asks.

"Maybe. If they survive," Yui says as she jumps down from the altar and playfully runs to Olivia, "Do you feel... different?" she asks gazing at an uncomfortably close distance.

"I thought you didn't like physical contact," Olivia remarks.

"We are not touching. Do you feel different?" Yui asks again, still intensely gazing.

"Different? How?" Olivia asks.

She asks but she does feel it. It feels like someone opened her up and put something inside her. What exactly? She doesn't know. But there is something there. A strange feeling.

"Yes," she answers.

"Is it like a small flame is burning inside your stomach?" Yui asks. Olivia nods.

"What is it? Do you know?" Olivia asks as she nods in confirmation.

"You've "awakened". Just like me! What can you do?" Yui asks, enthusiastically.

Olivia looks at her confused.

Just as she is about to open her mouth the chapel door loudly creeks.

Something is slowly pushing it. As the door opens ajar a talon wrapped in dark red meat with swollen white tumors creeps inside.

Sickly breathing and moaning echo behind. Only a thin layer of wood stands between them and the horror behind.

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Olivia's mind goes blank; she stares, motionless.

Yui hesitates to grab Olivia but she does.

"Hide," Yui whispers, her carefree expression transformed into a dreaded pale.

Yui and Olivia hide behind the chapel benches.

Olivia draws her pistol. She aims it at the door.

A patient finger caresses the cold trigger. Ready to kill.

The door slowly opens followed by the eerie melody of creeks and sickly breathing. Deep, coarse breathing as a human struggling with blocked airways. Shoot or hide? There isn't much time. She needs to decide now. Her mind races as she thinks about her options.

What if there are more of them outside? What if the gunfire draws unwanted attention? What if by shooting she dooms both of them? But what if it's her reluctance that dooms them? Her finger moves closer to the trigger.

As Olivia is about to shoot Yui reluctantly places her hand on Olivia's. She shakes her head.

The previously ditzy and absent-minded girl now bares an expression of absolute clarity. Her eyes are wide open and sharp as knives.

Olivia lowers her weapon and hides beside Yui behind the chapel bench.

She doesn't understand why but she decided to place her trust in Yui.

Olivia glances once more at her. Yui attentively and emotionlessly listens to the rumbling coming from the door as she waits patiently like a chess grand master planning few moves ahead.

The creature enters!

Its sickly noise betrays its location. The creature coughs a few times trying to get the vile clumps of slime out of its esophagus.

They can't see it but they can hear it.

Its ghatly sounds gradually become louder and louder.

Yui signals Olivia with a nod. She turns and crawls from one chapel bench to another as she peeks to check if the coast is clear. There is just enough room to cover her body as she positions herself against the wood.

Yui moves to another one and checks like before. She signals Olivia to follow. They repeat this process four times as the sickly noises gasp Ready for another move Yui peaks but this time the coast isn't clear. The source of the sickly noise stands just a few steps away as it limps toward the altar.

Its visage, like the sounds, is just as vile.

The creature appears as a distorted and deformed human.

Its body is covered in dark decaying flesh; half of it bloated and covered in tumors. There is a semblance of a man inside the rotten meat coat.

Its head tilted to the side and looking up, unable to turn due to the oversized mass around its neck. One long arm drags on the floor, wobbly and useless while the other is the red talon. The "sick man" continues forward, looking with dead white eyes.

Yui's composure slightly wavers as a minuscule exclamation escapes.

The Sickman turns. It coughs three times, slowly.

Yui presses hard against the bench, trying to make herself as small as possible. The Sickman waits for a moment. Then, it moves toward Yui. Its large clumsy frame hits the church benches as its talon accidentally scars the wood.

Yui hears the creature approaching. Olivia hears it. The previously calm expression turn to panic.

It won't be long until the creature reaches her, Olivia concludes.

At the minute moment, Olivia thinks of something.

She pulls out the army knife and throws it as hard and as far as she can.

The sharp steel falls to the ground. It doesn't make a lot of sound but it does make a sound.

The Sickman turns to it and changes direction.

Yui seizes the opportunity. She runs to the chapel door.

Olivia quickly follows. But just as she is about to exit the chapel Yui appears in front of her.

"It's alone," Yui says as she smirks.

"What?" Olivia blurts out.

Weren't they supposed to escape, Olivia wonders?

Yui casually walks past Olivia and heads toward the Sickman. This time she doesn't take precautions to soften her steps.

The Sickman turns to the two women.

It stands motionless, coughing.

Then, without warning, it rushes at them.

Olivia draws her pistol and aims at the creature. Her heart pounds like a drum, her eyes dilate wide like ink spots, her aim steadies like calm water.

She is ready. Her mind is clear.

Then, as she is about to shoot, Yui casually strolls in front of her.

Olivia, caught by surprise, unknowingly lowers her weapon in response to this unexplainable action. Her lips murmur a short, voiceless word. Why?

Yui draws the two army knives. Olivia tries to get a clear shot at the Sickman but Yui is in the way.

"Get out of the way!" Olivia yells.

Then, her jaw opes wide. It opens like never before.

In front of her very eyes, the two knives float in mid-air.

Yui clasps her hands together as the knives come flying through the air at the Sickman. They stab him. Deep enough to draw blood.

The Sickman unleashes a cry as it loses balance. Black blood drips from the vile meat and tumors. It drips slowly and thickly not fluid like human blood but more like glue sticking to itself. The knives pull themselves out of the creature but only to continue their onslaught. They dance as they cut and cut as they dance around the monstrosity. Each cut renders the bloated flesh one piece at a time like a kebab.

"How?" Olivia blurts out as she watches the supernatural occur before her eyes.

She rubs her eyes as if that would make a difference. It doesn't.

With one last cry, the blood-covered creature falls to its knees. It coughs three more times before it dies. Yui smirks one more time before she falls to the ground, shaking.

Olivia rushes to her. Just as she is about to touch Yui she yells

"DON'T TOUCH ME!"

"Is everything alright?" Olivia asks, unsure what transpired.

"I told you I'm not a fan of physical contact," Yui explains as she holds her shivering body.

I don't understand, Olivia thinks as she tries to figure out why Yui is shaking. She remembers Yui touched her before.

Could that be the reason?

"Okay," Olivia says as she sits a small distance away from Yui, "I'll be here. No touching," she says, smiling.

The fleeting moment of peace breaks with a loud bang. Olivia and Yui turn to the chapel door. Davenport rushes inside. Panic adorns his face.

Behind him, Big George and Akira are carrying Rayne.

And Rayne's face is like a black and white movie.

But only his face. His fatigues are red. Blood red.

"Shit! We need help, man. We need help," Davenport blurts out in visible panic. Big George and Akira try to stop the bleeding but nothing they do produces any result. They try to remain steadfast but quick, interchangeable muscle movements on the face betray them.

"It's okay. It's okay." Rayne says understanding the situation, "George, listen to me. It's up to you now. You got to keep everyone safe," he says.

"What are you talking about, Captain? It's just a flesh wound," Big George jests.

"Don't make me laugh," Rayne says as brief laughter is obstructed by pain.

Olivia hears something. Sounds of distant and indistinguishable voices talking. They are trying to say something but she cannot understand them. She approaches Rayne like mesmerized.

What is calling me, Olivia wonders as she looks around. The soldiers wound draws her. Then, she puts her hands on it.

"What are you doing, Doctor?" Davenport asks, confused.

Olivia's hands start glowing in white light.

"What the hell?" Akira and Big George blurt out in unison.

The light intensifies. And then it vanishes.

Rayne's wound is closed. Some color returns to his face.

Akira, Big George, and Davenport turn to Olivia with a dumbfounded look and dropped jaws.