"The papers appear to be sticky," sighed Peter.

"Why is that?" asked Rowan. He was still recovering from what happened. Three days have passed since his hospital admission, and all he could do was rest until everything cleared up. As Peter read a manga he had found, rain fell and lightning lit up the clouds in the sky. He was using a paper towel that came with Rowan's lunch to turn the pages. Rowan's family stopped by a few hours ago. Maeve's raincoat concealed her expression. But his mother was nowhere in sight. Hanna stopped by for the fifth time. Peter had been sleeping on the chair when she walked in. She usually stayed for hours, but today she left within twenty minutes. The days were boring. All that was broadcast on the hospital TV was propaganda from the Safety Division. It felt as if we were residing in a dictatorship.

"I feel like someone spilled something on here," Peter said. "This paper towel has reached its limit."

Resting on the soft pillow, Rowan gazed out the raindrop-covered window. From his bed, he could see the large parking lot with trees surrounding it. He let out a soft exhale before turning back toward Peter, who was delicately turning the pages.

"How's school?" Rowan asked. "Still the same?"

"It's heated," Peter replied. Peter remained engrossed in the pages of the manga. "There's more patrol units."

"What for?" Rowan questioned.

"I don't know, but they even had the armored police," Peter replied. "There's also a ton of students signing up to be watchmen for the SESD."

Rowan didn't know what else to say. He rested back, facing the ceiling. The patting of the raindrops on the window caused the atmosphere to become calm. Peter's random hums would sync with the rain from time to time. There was nothing much to say about the slow afternoon. Rowan didn't have his phone or any form of modern technology that could cure his boredom. Peter gave Rowan a book that he carried with him. It was nothing special.

"A Way Out?" Rowan spoke softly.

"Mhm," Peter responded. "Sorry, that's all I had. Are you interested in reading this manga?

"Nah, I'm alright. Thanks though," Rowan said.

The first words he read in the book gave him chills.

"Don't you wish you could break free?"

These words circled in his brain as he continued reading. Every second, his eyes would dart back to the starting sentence. Every time he turned the page, he would begin each new sentence with the same words. His eyes would continuously dart back. He found himself in a perpetual state, unable to put the book down. Although he got all the information from every page he read, his mind would still keep flooding his brain with the same words.

"Hello?" said a feminine voice at the door. "Hello?"

Peter dropped the manga he was reading and slowly turned toward the door. His facial expression dropped immediately after seeing who it was at the door.

"You've got to leave," he spoke.

Dressed in private school attire was Meghan Windermere. She had a beanie covering her hair and her coat draped over her shoulder. She looked around the room and frowned. Her hands started moving, and her lips started moving as well. Neither Peter nor Rowan understood what she was trying to accomplish. It took them a while to suggest using Peter's phone to communicate.

"How is everything?" the AI voice called out from the phone.

"Great," Rowan sighed.

Peter was still unimpressed. He was irritated that Rowan was in this mess because of the people he wanted to see. Still, he let Meghan talk, as she seemed the most level-headed compared to the rest. Her fingers trembled, suggesting she was nervous. It caused her to press the wrong buttons numerous times, giving sentences like "Is herad hurt?" and "Cmback to see urchin."

Rowan still understood what she was trying to say. To stop her from typing again, he rose up from the bed.

"Sorry," Rowan sighed. "I can't trust people who tried to kill me."

"You heard the guy. Time to leave," Peter began pushing her out of the door. Another person met him at the door.

"Linus!" Meghan spurted out.

"What are you doing, kid?" Linus spoke. "Get your hands off her."

The commotion slowly returned to the room, just as Peter was about to make a fist. Rowan had to intervene, but he spoke softly. The room now had four people in it. Meghan stared out the window. Peter sat back in the chair he had initially sat in, while Linus stood at the end of the bed. Peter picked up the manga and started reading.

"What is it?" Rowan asked. "Can't you all just leave me alone?"

"You're awake now," Linus said. "Sorry, I don't have any gifts." His snarky tone pissed Rowan off. Rowan felt as though someone was testing him.

"Fuck you," Rowan muttered.

Linus rested on the bed's edge. He tightly gripped the top rail with both hands.

"What happened?" he asked. "Malcolm's actions shouldn't have led to your hospitalization."

"What are you even talking about?" Rowan asked. "You surely knew."

Linus' expression turned to a stare. He adjusted his hoodie collar and walked toward the window, leaning on the wall next to Meghan.

"Whatever happened to you was some sort of chain reaction," he stated. "What Malcolm was doing wasn't some sort of trick to kill you."

Linus pointed to his wrist, which had bruises on it.

"Usually, it should look like this," he continued. "But for some reason, your body started rejecting everything. See, Malcolm's ability is drug-related."

"Shh!" Peter shrieked. "You're crazy; there's cameras everywhere."

Meghan looked at Linus as she started smiling. She then turned her gaze to Peter and formed a rectangular shape with her fingers. She then signed the words, "Box."

"I'm an illusionist," he chuckled. "We're in what I call the Oculus."

Rowan looked outside and saw that everything was normal. He then told Peter to look out the door. Peter got up, manga still in his hand, and opened the door to see everything happening in an orderly fashion. A nurse walked up to him, asking if there was a problem. Peter shook his head violently side to side before slowly closing the door. He walked back toward his chair but didn't sit down.

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"Holy shit," Peter said. "This has to be fake."

Linus said this was one of the many things his ability let him do. He also stated that the longer he keeps someone in the oculus, his eyes would start to bleed. Malcolm intended his actions to confirm Rowan possessed some sort of ability. It was also intended to let his ability finally breathe.

"Stop!" Rowan shouted. He was on the brink of asking a question.

"Shh!" Peter reacted.

"Don't worry," Linus said. "Remember, no one can hear us. Even if someone walked in, everything would appear to be perfectly normal. Now, what specific question do you want to ask?"

"I did have some sort of awakening," Rowan said, sitting up further and clearing his throat. "It felt weird—like, very weird."

"Tell me more," Linus asked. He had a neutral expression. Meghan, to his left, was fully engaged in the conversation.

"I could only see pitch black for a few seconds," he continued. "But then I saw a light. It was also very weird. I may sound repetitive, but the experience was truly unique. This bright, crossed-shape object blinded me with how bright it was. But then it spoke to me."

Rowan stopped and stared at the TV. A small dot appeared, capturing Rowan's attention. It seemed as though Rowan was the only one who could see it.

"What did it say?" asked Peter.

"Shhh," Rowan whispered. "Linus, your eyes are bleeding."

Linus tapped his right eye as blood slipped down and plopped on the floor next to his black shoes. His right eye had been bloodshot red as blood streamed down. His left eye was also showing signs of stress. He quickly murmured words, causing the oculus to shatter. Although no one actually felt different, their whole interaction was now set in modern time.

"Can you at least tell me what it said?" Peter inquired. "Something out of context."

"Eve," Rowan responded. "Hungry and Safety Division."

Linus shook his head. He didn't understand.

"Is there a pen or pencil somewhere?" Linus asked.

Peter left the room, then came back with a piece of scrap paper and a pen. He gave it to Linus, who started writing things down. He folded it up and gave it to Rowan.

"Read it later," he said. He tore a bit of the paper off and used it as a tissue. He then put on steampunk goggles and left the room along with Meghan. She frantically waved before disappearing and shutting the door.

Peter sat in the chair. He felt mentally exhausted and wanted to sleep.

"It's getting late, man," Rowan said. "You should go."

"Yeah," Peter acknowledged. He raised his hand and glanced at his phone. He grabbed his stuff, gave Rowan a fist bump, and headed towards the door. Before exiting, he stopped himself and looked back at Rowan.

"What's up?" Rowan asked.

"I just have a question," he continued, pointing to his eye and then to the TV. "How'd you know?"

"The TV flickered," Rowan said.

"I didn't even notice that," Peter murmured as he waved goodbye and left the room.

The room was quiet. Rowan looked outside to see the world had gone dark. He lied back onto the bed as a nurse came in to check up on him. As the nurse served him dinner, he pulled out the paper. He also made sure to monitor the TV screen. The dot disappeared as the oculus disintegrated completely. As he ate his apple sauce and burger, he read the note.

"It's the same place as before, this time just me, you, and Mrs. Munster," it said. "Tell us more. Come by any time, and she will call me. Destroy this note if you can. Or hide it well."

"Why can't my life just be normal again?" he sighed. "I don't want to deal with all this stuff."

"Don't you wish you could break free?" said a feminine voice.

Rowan looked around the room. The same voice he heard before was now speaking to him again. He hid the note under his pillow and looked around. His attention darted toward the TV as a cross-shaped object slowly crept out of the screen.

"What the fuck," he mouthed.

[Chapter Eight: A Way Out]

A cold front was approaching, and the sky remained as gloomy as ever. Leaving the hospital was the best thing that ever happened to Rowan. The car ride home was uneventful, but the relief of leaving the hospital made him feel a bit better. Gazing out the window, he found the world's perspective intriguing. Everything he observed was gradually becoming more detailed. The more he focused on the people walking or the buildings, the more detail they revealed. He repeatedly blinked his eyes, giving the impression that he had switched filters. He could hear whispers and things he shouldn't be hearing. His head was swirling as he looked towards his grandmother, who was driving slowly on the road.

"Are you ok?" asked Maeve. "You're sweating."

*BmpBmp BmpBmp*

This sensation was unusual. He first experienced this sensation just two nights ago, when the cross appeared on the TV. The enhancement of every detail in the room defied logic. Every detail in the room—from the bugs making noise in the walls to the dust falling from the light and moving around the room—defied logic. The TV reflected his image clearly, and the nurses, who weren't even present in the room, released a scent of perfume. He could see every detail. He could detect sounds emanating from beyond the confines of the room. Smell things that lingered around the floor. It all scared Rowan. For a while, he walked around the room. A nurse walked in on him as he was wandering around. His right eye was bleeding badly as he made eye contact with the nurse. She looked mortified as she stood there with a clipboard in her hand. Rowan was unable to close his eyes, his horror heightened by the sight of the nurse's body. She stood before him, a ghostly presence hovering to her right. He could also hear her heart beating rapidly. The spirit was gray and clear.

"Are you alright?" she horrifyingly asked.

The spirit gazed solely at her chest. Directly at the heart. Rowan had no idea what to do. He was also stunned. The cross-shaped object that emerged from the TV vanished as soon as he began to move around. Eve was her name. The wandering voice did not speak. Blood spilled onto the floor from both eyes as the nurse inched closer and closer to Rowan.

"Get away from me!" he screamed. "What are you?"

Another nurse walked in. She too was horrified. It took four nurses to settle Rowan down. Once he was back in his bed, they gave him eye drops and worked around his eyes to stop the bleeding. Within an hour, the lights were off, and Rowan lay on the bed. He closed his eyes yet remained awake. Still horrified about what he witnessed, Rowan kept every inch of his body tucked under the covers.

Experiencing this sensation once more while he sat in the car on his way home made him tremble. His heart rapidly beating. It took every inch of his body to make it stop. His grandmother pulled over to check on him. She left the car and went into a sandwich shop in hopes of calming Rowan down.

He was alone in the car with Maeve. Rowan sat back, holding his head. His beloved sister hovered over him.

"Are you alright?" she asked. "You're sweating bullets."

"Just hungry," Rowan lied. "I'll be alright."

"Are you some sort of vampire?" she giggled. "Are you seriously alright?"

Rowan sighed and looked her in the eye. He flashed a cheesy smile, but it quickly transformed into another horrified expression.

"What's wrong with you?" he shouted.

Maeve looked concerned. She swiftly shook Rowan to jolt him out of his current state.

"Maeve, you have abilities?" he asked.

"Wh-what?" Maeve awkwardly said.

He could see in her eyes that she was looking at something far away. Her vision had been enhanced. But was that all?

"What are you looking at?" Rowan asked. "Who are you looking at?"

Maeve sat back in her seat. She sucked her teeth in and looked out the window.

"I don't know what happened, but it started in class a few days ago," she said. "Roughly the same time you were admitted into the hospital. The strangest thing happened to me. I was speaking with the teacher when I noticed something in the corner of my eye. Of course I had to check it out, but when I did, it slowly moved away. Turning back around, I saw everything in slow motion. As scary as it seemed, everyone was still moving the way they should. I became scared and didn't make any sudden moves, but the longer I stood, the more confused the teacher became as she slowly turned in my direction. Everyone else did the same. After five minutes of standing and being screamed at, my eyes started bleeding. My left eye, actually. I began to cry, which resulted in everyone returning to their usual behavior. I'm still unsure of how that occurred, but it happened again just now. Thanks to you, you snapped me out of it."

"Super speed?" Rowan asked.

"I don't know," she replied. "But ever since that day, I've been at home trying to replicate what I did. This is only the second time it's happened. The object I was examining was the same one that enabled it."

"Object?" Rowan faced forward.

Spshhh

"Freeze!" screamed a police officer. "Don't move a muscle!"