Chapter 84.

It didn’t take long before I realized she didn’t see what I saw. I came to the conclusion that it had to be another hallucination so I released her hand.

“What’s wrong with you? You look a bit pale.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Mr. Genovese, did you forget?”

“Forget what?”

“My ability. You’re hallucinating right now, right?”

“I’m not. Don’t worry about me, I’m fine. Go ahead.”

“Well, if that’s how you want to be, then fine.”

She walked out the door without any sign of hesitation and I followed behind her. I closed the door on the way out and didn’t forget to lock it this time. When I reached the edge of the rocky ledge, I stopped in my tracks. I watched helplessly when she stepped on the empty space in front of me. From my perspective she was levitating, or standing on an invisible platform; she seamlessly moved further into the void unimpeded by the laws of gravity. When she was five meters away from me, she completely disappeared into the void and I was left on my own, all alone in the darkness, amidst this never-ending void.

The fear of eternal isolation gradually crept into my mind.

A few seconds later, I heard her voice from a bit further ahead from the void where nothing existed.

“Dio, are you coming or not?”

“Yeah. I-I am.”

I gulped down a mouthful of saliva, laughed to myself awkwardly, and brace my heart as I positioned one foot over the chasm below. I felt a light floaty sensation like I was about to fall, but suddenly a small formation of fragmented rocks grouped together beneath my feet from the void below, it then connected to the ledge I stood on.

I was relieved that I didn’t fall, but my heart was still ready to leap through my chest at any moment. It was unbearably nerve-wracking when I thought about falling off the ledge.  I thought the hallucination would end when I overcame the fear of falling, but it didn’t.

After I took a few more steps forward, Boss reappeared when we were within five meters of each other. I continued forward until I reached her side; when I glanced back, I realized the original ledge in front of my apartment had crumbled away at some point and disappeared into nothing. It was now just the two of us standing on a rocky floating platform in space. It was terrifying, but I still kept quiet about it. I simply moved forward in sync with her and committed the exact path we took to memory.

When she came to a stop, I naturally followed her example. She extended her hand out in front of her and poked something in the air. A short moment later, I heard a ‘ding’ echo out from the void in front of me.

My boss still didn’t hesitate, she walked in nonchalantly without a care in the world while I prepared myself for a mental breakdown. My present state made me feel as though I were standing on countless upright pins and needles, one wrong step would lead to my demise. It was like I’d grown to understand the fear of one day losing my vision and being forced to live my life as a blind man.

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You really never knew how scary something was until you lost it.

As scared as I was about my situation, I was still hopeful. I still expected that it would eventually end. Surely things would eventually return to normal.

After following behind my boss, the rocky platform we were on top of descended lower into the endless abyss. The only reason I could tell we were moving down while amidst this dark void was due to the downwards acceleration I sensed acting on my body.

When another ‘ding’ rang out, I once again followed directly behind my boss. She took a few twists and turns and I was left with no choice but to cope and adapt to the dilemma I’d suddenly been presented with.

When she finally stopped, I pressed the unlock button on my key and heard the sound of my car door unlock beside us. I moved to the opposite side with respect to where my boss stood then extended my hand in the direction where I expected the handle was located. I felt the solid sensation of the handle on the tips of my fingers and I pulled it toward myself.

By feeling around, I somehow successfully seated myself down in the car that couldn’t be directly seen with my eyes.

Looking at my hands positioned on the wheels, they were visibly trembling.

“Mr. Genovese, are you really going to be okay like this?”

“O-o-of c-c-course.”

“Should I be concerned about my safety?”

“Probably.”

“Oh? I see. So you’re going to take me for a joy ride that will get our adrenaline pumping?”

“Maybe.”

I should really stop. This was a horrible idea. It would be best if she drove instead.

“Hurry up and reverse already. By the way, I don’t have my license on me. I didn’t remember to put it back in my wallet since I still haven’t gotten my car back yet and I forgot it in one of my other pants at home. It’s definitely not because a stupid dog ate it along with my wallet or anything…”

“I really don’t think it’s a good-”

“Just drive. If you get into an accident I’ve got your back.”

My ass you’ve got my back, I can’t even bloody see anything aside from you!

“I really don’t think you understand just how bad-”

“It’s because of how bad it is that it gets me a bit excited.”

She’s definitely crazy. Where is the boss I know?

“Look, maybe by driving a bit by yourself you’ll feel better.”

“It would be really nice if I do feel better.”

I took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled out. I pressed the button I couldn’t see on the hand rest beside me to lower the windows in the car. I then listened closely to the sounds outside to use them as an indicator.

I could hear the chattering of people and whizzing of cars in the distance. Judging by the sounds closest to us, there didn’t seem to be anyone around. It truly felt like I was learning how to drive all over again.

I changed the gear into reverse and backed up slowly out of my stall. I kept track of every single motion in my head down to the finest of details. With so much visual information lost, with no need to process all of it, it felt like my concentration was heightened more than it had ever been before.

It was scary, but I somehow found a way to calm down a little by focusing my attention on every individual sound in the vicinity.

Every second I was in motion I made sure to take internal mental notes. When I switched the transmission from park into drive, I visualized the parking lot in my head and imagined exactly where I was after I reversed out.

I cautiously moved forward until I miraculously arrived at the parking lot’s exit. I was at a critical juncture, merging into traffic. Good god, we’re really going to die. This was a horrible idea. I wanted to cry, the anxiety I felt was enough to crush me. Despite there being no sounds of cars directly in front of me, I could still hear them approaching in the distance from my left side. I also heard the sound of footsteps shuffling about in front of the car along with chatter, so I knew there were pedestrians around to be careful of.

When the pedestrians were out of the way, that was when it happened.

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