It was Friday, and I was planning for the next assault. One of Enemy’s most dangerous weapons it had shown by far was its telepathic assault. In a physical fight, all it needed to do was make eye contact before the battle was over. It also had a large amount of strength, given it pounded a hole in the wall with just its fists in a few seconds. Excluding the coloring, Ally and Enemy looked almost identical in form.

The attack had happened too fast, but based on my interactions with Ally it wasn't overly so. Assuming they were similar, I was fairly confident in being able to outrun Enemy if need be. But a telepathic assault would mean as soon as it spotted me it was over. I would be essentially paralyzed while it seemed to be able to move as well during the telepathic battle.

So even if I could somehow win the telepathic battle it could catch up to me even with its slowest pace and crush me into paste anyway. The last time Enemy attacked I had fallen unconscious before it reached me, but presumably Ally had fought it off before it could attack me physically and crush me.

I took out several recently bought handheld mirrors and placed them on the table in front of me. I already knew that once the mental bridge was formed the eldritch didn’t need eye contact to keep the connection active. Whenever I interacted with Ally, the bond had been cut as soon as either of us broke eye contact.

I wasn't sure why Enemy would be able to maintain the connection while Ally could not. Or maybe Ally could? Now that I think of it, it always tried to communicate with me for short bursts only so I wouldn't be hurt too much. Maybe Ally was just being polite and manually cut the connection each time? But I do remember the connection weakening when I broke eye contact with Enemy, even if it wasn't completely severed.

Hmmmm.

So clearly eye contact was important to the telepathic connection in some way? I sat down and reevaluated, shocked at the revelation. In the back of my mind, a distant feeling wafted to the surface. I had telepathically with something else too... Through a series of images with little backlash... I thought for a moment trying to place what it could have been. Ally, Enemy, and... Oh! From that strange dream with the shadows! It was just a dream, it wasn't real. What a strange thought to have. I sighed in relief as the answer came to me.

I shook my head and returned back to my planning. I turned back to the table and looked at the mirrors again. I wasn’t sure if the mirrors would protect me from that initial eye contact to form the bridge initially, as I apparently didn't know as much about it as I thought I did. I wasn't sure what limitations I knew were real or simply Ally being considerate of my health.

It was possible the connection could be established through reflections just as easily as direct eye contact. But tomorrow night when I entered Serenity I could test it on Ally, as it had arrived earlier than Enemy both times so far. That was assuming I was attacked again, which seemed reasonable given it had attacked again outside in the hospital parking lot last weekend.

I went out front to unload several coils of steel cable, long nails, and supplies I had just bought and lugged them into the house where I dropped them to the side in the main room. When I drove out to shop, the town had seemed strangely empty.

There were few cars on the road and not many people walking around. A few seemed drunk, stumbling side to side as they walked. I didn't often go out into town without going directly to the highway on Friday mornings though, so maybe it was always like that and I just never noticed. Maybe. People getting drunk in broad daylight was definitely odd though. Some kind of party last night?

But anyway, I already knew that mobility was probably Enemy's greatest weakness. Ally hadn't arrived until I was already nearly unconscious in the initial attack. So my best bet would be to delay Enemy's approach and trip it where possible. This afternoon I would fix the steel cable to the walls with the nails and stretch them from wall to wall to impede its path.

The freezing effect of Serenity would assist me here too. If I stayed back, Enemy would be forced to wait a moment to unfreeze each cable rather than just barreling through. I had spent all of yesterday marking the spots for the nails with tape and planning out how to cover all the routes. I had scanned the wall with my stud finder to make sure the nails I would put in the walls would remain secure.

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I had to do all the heavy lifting at the last moment though in its construction, as I couldn't risk the police coming back for questioning and seeing my insane setup. I didn't have a good explanation for it, so I was worried it would make me look even more suspicious than I do now for their investigation. I don't think I would last long if I entered Serenity and was attacked while trapped in a prison cell.

Based on their questions so far, they seemed to think that I was somehow involved with whatever criminal conspiracy that broke into the hospital. So I thought once they got more information, they probably would return to ask me more questions about it.

I didn't know when that could be, but it seemed a pretty important case given the fallout from all those people's medical records being deleted. So I thought they probably would come back sooner rather than later. But I gave myself an extra day leeway in case something happened and I needed more time.

I went back outside to get the axe from the tool bin from behind the house. I walked over and grabbed the plastic lid and flipped it upward. As I opened the lid, a squirrel burst from inside startling me.

I jumped back and fell on my butt in surprise, but the squirrel just jumped onto the rim of the open bin and stared at me without running for a moment. I looked with interest and surprise back at it. It had a gray fur coat, but on its back was a black diamond pattern. After we stared at each other for a few seconds, I started to get a faint headache.

I looked away and blinked. After a moment the squirrel scurried off into a tree, scrambling as if the last few moments never happened. I stared after it. Something about it seemed familiar… but it was just a squirrel, I had to get started on the cable setup soon if I wanted to get done today. I stood back up and brushed myself off before retrieving the long hafted fire axe from the bin.

I returned inside before considering what else I could use. A spear might be better than an axe to give me some extra reach. A gun? No, it would take too long to get for this weekend, and it wouldn’t even work in Serenity anyway.

The gunpowder was enclosed in the bullet casing so it wouldn’t ignite when the gun fired. I knew because when I tried to pour myself some salt, each grain was frozen individually. So I had to reach inside and slather my finger around inside to unfreeze them and grind them out onto my food. So the gunpowder inside the bullet likely would be frozen and not react in the same way as normal.

For complicated mechanisms I had to touch each component for it to unfreeze, so anything electronic like a Taser or cattle prod was out too. Not that I even knew where someone could buy a cattle prod. Could normal people even buy those? There was another concern too. What about the humans on earth that might be after me? I had to be ready in case they came to attack me too. I resolved to try to buy a gun next week just for my defense on Earth, even if it wouldn't be useful in Serenity. Oh, and learn how to shoot a gun and all that too.

Another thing I needed in combat was reach if I had to fight Enemy in the future. The axe was a good weapon, but given its strength I wanted to stay as far from its reach as possible. It would probably take one solid blow to take me out if I had to fight. I knew that the spear would probably be the best medieval weapon for me to use in this case. Not only would it be able to strike from farther away, but it also was apparently easier to learn than blades would be.

Maybe I could make a basic spear tomorrow. I could use it to strike through the cables I would set up. Maybe strap a kitchen knife to a sturdy stick to make the spear?

Something like that. I'd figure it out.

I thought for a moment, then pulled out my laptop to do some research on makeshift spears, only to frown when the screen stayed black when I pressed the power button. I pressed it again to no response and sat up as I realized something was wrong. I rushed to the door and flung it open and looked around wildly. Leaves were frozen in midair. The wind didn’t move the blades of grass around me. The windchimes of my alarm system were silent. No sounds from nature or the animals. Everything around me was silent as the grave. My heartbeat accelerated and my breathing grew heavier.

Panting and sweating, I rushed back inside and grabbed the axe as I reached one inescapable conclusion.

I was in Serenity.

My knuckles were white as I gripped the axe handle with all my strength and glanced around warily.

I was in Serenity.

Early.

There was no more time to prepare. The attack was coming now.