To say that life returned to normal after that would be an understatement. It was nothing hectic of the day before, but it was no fast-paced action movie too.
It was just going on and that continued on for a week of blessing. Mark himself was starting to forget what all the fuss had been about.
The first day had been difficult, to forget everything and getting used to a new mentality of vigilance had been a nightmare. Mark had slipped up too much to count.
But he had adopted just as he did for anything else. Liam had not made himself known for the following week too, perhaps too busy dealing with whatever he did. Nor had Mark been made acquaintance with the captain Mark had mentioned.
Now, Mark supposed he might have met the person in passing while going out but if he did, Mark did not recognise him at all.
That was another change in his routine. Mark liked to go out and socialize but for the last few days he could not make himself go out.
Everytime he tried, he felt like he would get attacked. His complexion was also beginning to suffer as a consequence too.
It was so bad that even his patients have begun to comment on it and that was not a good sign to have. Some of them have even become bolder in these times which he did not like at all.
A good example had been Mrs Mon, who had a Wednesday appointment with her dog. When Mark first saw the dog the reaction had been startling, but his senses had soon caught up with him.
"Oh dear, are you alright? Do you need water?" Mrs Mon had asked, her hand on his arm. He had shaken her off, admittedly a little rude in his attempt. But she was making him uncomfortable, even more so than the dog here.
It was perfectly normal for him to shake her off.
"I'm alright. Why don't you sit back and let me work on her?" That had been Mark's reply and he was still shocked that his voice had not betrayed his nervousness.
He had been scared to touch the dog after the incident before, the hands shaking too badly to keep a grip on things.
And Mark knew he was slipping up fast. But his hands had thankfully complied with him and he had been able to finish up the checkup.
That had not been the only time in the week he had slipped up but that had been one of the more memorable ones he had remembered. Since pets were a part of a good number of households here, he had built a steady supply of customers.
His reputation had been clean and of a hard working person, the people had been attracted to his aura and had trusted him to look after their pets.
But everytime he looked at an animal now, his mind flashed back to the monsters he had faced and it took a few precious seconds to shake the feeling off.
"Maybe I should take a walk outside today" Mark had not been able to convince himself to go out for a day now, but perhaps he should now. It had been a week of nothing but staying inside after all.
And he would have to face the world one day. Maybe even drive by the police station to see En? The police force had been awfully quiet the whole week too which was suspicious.
Mark shook his head to clear his thoughts as he picked up his shoes. Once he was ready he opened the door and stepped outside.
Mark had decided to go to the park to calm down but somehow his feet ended up dragging him all over the place. The walk took him from the local park to the local forest to even the supermarket where he was currently at.
Mark had honestly expected something to happen by now. All the other times he had been outside this long he had been attacked after all.
But it was quite peaceful here. The light chatter of people inside the supermarket was relaxing to his senses and while Mark was not a social person, he could appreciate the calming effect once in a while.
A few isles down he could see a commotion, but he chose to ignore it for it was not his problem.
Till the problem literally crashed into him. Mark felt himself fall as something crashed into his feet and disturb his balance. He wanted to grab the side stacks, anything but nothing seemed to be in the range of his hands.
The body that had crashed into him was still moving about that made his panic so much worse.
'Stay still. Please stay still' Mark chanted in his mind, maybe even mumbled it under his breath. His heart was beating fast, now panic surging through him.
It felt too much like being attacked by the monster and it was not right. His breath was not right and his vision was not alright.
"I'm so sorry he got off the leash. He's a wild cannon, this one. I'm sorry" the panic was still there but at a human voice it subdued much easier than on himself.
The lady whose dog, a small chihuahua breed had crashed into him, sat in front of him, not moving even an inch. It was a far cry from the hyperactive thing of before. It was far too calm now and even a little dazed?
"I'm alright. I was just startled" now that his heartbeat was calmer, Mark felt a little silly. Of course, if a wild monster would have attacked inside the supermarket then there would be a mass panic there. He was being silly thinking that he was being attacked out of nowhere.
He let out a sigh of relief at that as he looked around the store. Mark felt eyes focusing on him, but he was not sure.
For a second in the time frame, he could even have sworn that his eyes had met acidic green ones that contained an unnatural sheen to them but they were not there when he looked more carefully.
Mark just chalked it up like a fragment of his imagination, won't be the first time even something like that happened at all.
He allowed himself to breathe properly now that the danger was over.
"She's awfully well behaved today. Otherwise, she's super active all the time" Mark only caught the end part of the conversation that was going on around him. He was not very interested in it at all.
And the small dog was beginning to creep him out. It was looking at Mark with an uncanny focus, those beady black eyes not moving an inch from his face was beginning to creep Mark out a lot.
This was not the first time animals behaved like this in front of him, but this certainly was the first time he noticed to this degree.
"Perhaps, she's just hungry" Mark commented, not believing even himself. But evidently, the owner did, bringing a few snacks for the dog who eventually broke the stare as soon as Mark looked away.
Nothing major had happened today and yet it felt like something significant had happened. Perhaps the encounter had woken something inside Mark, or perhaps it made him realise that he had a bigger fear of the things that were happening.
But it prompted him to make a decision. His life was wasting away inside his home in this fear and he needed to control it if he needed to make something of himself. He refused to cower behind when there were animals that needed his help.
Besides, somewhere inside him, he was beginning to believe Liam's claims. He still did not believe that everything he knew was part of a program or that he was even in a video game world. That was a hard pill to swallow and one he would never be able to come to terms with.
But perhaps he could believe the other thing he was being told. The one about the monsters in this world that were out to get them. As a doctor, the theory of mutation of genes into something new was not a new concept to him.
So, now that he had a starting point, all he needed to do was to reach out. Maybe he would regret what he was doing in the future when he had a little more clearance on his actions.
But not for now.
Mark picked up the phone and dialled one number he was sure he never typed inside his phone. And if he didn't type it then the only person who could have left it inside would be the owner.
The other side picked up the call within two rings which made Mark suspicious about their intentions again. Were they waiting for him to call? How were they so sure that he would? Or was he getting too ahead of himself again and this was the norm for the other person?
"Hello? How can I help you?" Mark took in deep breaths and steadied himself. He was really going to do this and he could not break apart now.
"Liam? I need you to tell me everything about the situation you can" he had made his decision now.