Sebastian Vassinari
The three of us sat in silence after watching Isaac leave, his statement leaving a sense of dissociation from within me, my thoughts at war with each other on whether he was telling the truth or lying in an attempt to get me to follow him without questioning it. No matter what I thought, one thing was certain, Isaac believed those words without a shred of indecision, and that made me want to believe him. Backed by the events of the past few hours, those words came from a man who, at any other time, would've been placed under a scrutinous gaze by the world around him, but as the world stands now, he was the only man who knew the true horror of the current situation, and that gave those words a sense of understandable gravity. As I sat there, contemplating, the blue hue of the screen appeared in front of me once again, this time displaying a new message that took my attention away.
~~~~~
Congratulations
The total of your overall payment has now been deposited, if you would like to leave the changing room, please press the button marked exit. Please note that you are able to stay here for as long as you like, but in the event that the actor becomes unable to specify when they would like to leave, then they will be removed for their own safety.
EXIT
~~~~~
As I read through the new notice, I became acutely aware that it was only Henry and I remaining.
"I gave Harold my mobile number, if he needs someone to speak to, or something happens in regards to his parents, then he will call." Henry stated after seeing me look in his direction. "I, I really am sorry you know, I, I should've done something, anything, then maybe Jacob wouldn't have had to go through that."
"It's fine now, he's been healed, it's no use beating yourself up over it," I responded. "Not just anyone would have been able to fight those things, but one thing is for certain, we need to get stronger, our abilities need to be as easy to control as breathing." To accentuate this point, I conjured a small swirling orb of fire, no bigger than that of a glass marble and rolled it around in my hand. "And if that means keeping Isaac around, then so be it. If what he has said is true and I'm this supposed saviour, then I will ensure that none of you go through that again."
"I understand where he is coming from though," Henry laid back, placing his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling, "twenty years." He whistled, "if I had gone through that for twenty or so years, then, his abrasiveness makes sense. I believe it's for the best if we listen to him, only to gain the upper hand. If he starts to make us do things we don't want to do, then I think it's best if we walk away. He might not like it, but, you are the person Jacob and I would want to follow, not that callous prick."
"I appreciate the thought, but I'm not a leader, hell, I would prefer it if he would just consult me, and not try to make me abandon my humanity. At times, I think he sees the me from his past, and gets confused."
"Makes sense, you notice how he seems to know Jacob, but it seems like I'm some sort of enigma, that, doesn't make me feel all too good about myself."
"I haven't really noticed it to be completely honest."
"Really," he said with an obvious sense of skepticism in his tone. "I, believe that, and this is a guess, from piecing together various information, but I think I'm dead, back in the future, his past, yeah, he's not kidding, the use of tense here is weird." He laughed weakly to himself and I understood where he was coming from. I seemed to forget sometimes that Henry thought of us as more of a family, than as friends.
"You will be fine," I stated, more to convince myself than anything else, selfish, most definitely, but I was glad that Henry hadn't picked up on that.
"Thanks, but I think we should go back, see how Jacob is doing." With that, Henry vanished leaving me alone. I sighed aloud, and as I brought up the screen.
"What?" I said aloud as I found myself unable to move. I struggled against the invisible bonds, What is going on? I thought to myself, frightened at the sudden feeling of hopelessness. Ice ran through my veins as my body turned without my own command, the latter half of the room was now shrouded in darkness and a raspy voice emanated from it, old and commanding.
"I thought he would never leave."
Isaac Woodman
T2 2025 - I staggered as the view around me faded into existence, as if I had stepped into a photograph, becoming a part of it. I stuck my hand out, grabbing the railing of the staircase, righting my spinning head. Never gets easy, I thought as I slowly and methodically walked down the staircase, one step at a time. Jacob was still unconscious, his now healed body sprawled out on the floor, the mangled nature of his limbs, a mere memory. As I reached him, I grabbed his sweaty arms and dragged him onto the sofa. He was as heavy as he looked, and I would be lying if I said I found it easy. That's it, I'm going to remold this body, back to how it was, I sighed as I heard my exaggerated breathing. The TV that had undoubtedly turned on with the start of the trial was still on, showing the national news which was going haywire. I smiled to myself as I looked upon the face of the bewildered reporter, Samantha Kollin. I felt sorry for her as she reported news that was wrong, trying to calm people down, calling it a hoax, only to backtrack and to admit that the station knew nothing. Not this time, I thought to myself as I took out my mobile phone. Time for the first step of the plan, I recalled the conversation I had with Samantha in the past. She looked much younger now, which was weird to think about since she was in her fifties at this point, but the lack of white hair and wrinkles made me nervous about what I was about to do. She looked panic stricken as she was fed info after info, trying her hardest to relay the facts to the audience watching. I felt ashamed, but as I typed in her number, my attention was torn away from the tv as a pained scream tore over the confusion stemming from the news network. I turned to see Jacob bolt upright, he was breathing out heavily, as if he had just finished running a marathon that he wasn't in shape for. His eyes tracked over his hands, and his breathing slowed as he saw his hand, giving his fingers a flex just to make sure they were real.
"Thank god, that-"
"It wasn't a nightmare," I interrupted. Jacob looked at me with incredulity, his mind seemed to race with thousands of questions, and he chose the most obvious.
"How? But I, I'm fine?" he looked me over, noticing the flecks of dirt and oddly coloured grass on my trouser legs. "No, no, but, how?"
"It's because you survived to the end, congratulations are in order. But ask Henry when he gets back, he's only alive now because of you." I turned from him and could faintly hear Jacob talking to himself. I ignored him as I recalled the final conversation that I had with Samantha and the plan that we came up with. Just do it, I don't care how, but you need to relay the truth, every person we save from this, will be for the best, so use everything you can on me, she had said, her firm understanding and will, giving birth to this plan and she had then told me secrets about herself to blackmail herself with. It still made me feel nauseous to think about stooping this low, but it had to be done, even having Sam's permission to do this to her, didn't make it any easier. I sighed out, watching Sam's face on the tv. I blinked, seeing her older form looking back at me, as if reminding me once more that it was ok. I sighed and pressed the call button. I saw the phone on the tv vibrate, before the theme tune of an old 80's tv show blared out over the broadcast. Sam hastily hung up, surprised that she had forgotten to put the phone on silent, a rookie mistake, but I called again and again. Sam finally answered after stepping off camera with the instruction of the co-host.
"Who is this ?" Sam's voice sounded different over the phone, a pitch higher than the voice I was accustomed to.
"My name is Isaac Woodman, a survivor from the first trial."
"Excuse me, sir, I don't know how you got this number, but if you have any information then you should call our specified -"
"Look, this is important and trust me when I say I would rather not do this, but, I know that you have a birthmark on your thigh that looks like a turtle." I heard Sam's stifled gasp in confusion. She had always been self-conscious about that, and I had been told to use that little bit of information on her.
"How? How do you know that?" her voice trembled as she spoke.
"It doesn't matter how I know, but I need to say what I need to say, with as many eyes and ears to listen as possible, and I need you to do that for me."
"What do-"
"I need you to repeat what I am about to say," I interrupted, "I know better than anyone the truth of this issue, I assure you that this is no hoax. Ask one of your bosses, I am sure they would prefer to be the first news broadcaster to reveal the truth of the situation at hand." I put an annoyed tone on my voice, "I could simply go somewhere else, but I think your bosses won't like that another station got the truth before they do. I will wait for your answer," she didn't answer as she put the phone on hold.
"What are you doing?" Jacob asked, he looked much calmer than he had been, but he continuously shot glances at his hand, as he did so the temperature around him seemed to fluctuate.
"I'm making Sebastian famous." Jacob looked from me to the tv where some commotion was occurring.
"Are you being serious?"
"Why? You've seen what we've been through, this only gets worse. If I use Sebastian's name, I make him a saviour in a more efficient manner than the events of my past. And also, less people will die in the imminent future if I make this play."
"It sounds to me like you are making Sebastian a puppet, and I don't like that notion." With each of Jacob's words, the temperature in the room grew warmer, as his mood darkened.
"I'm not making him a puppet, I'm simply making use of this situation to pursue an altruistic goal. I'm here simply to make him more powerful and to do that, I need to capitalize on aspects of his character that are already present. If Sebastian doesn't like this plan, then I will come up with something else. But as he isn't here, I'm making a play and banking on his good nature." Jacob looked confused by my words, but he decided to stay quiet. A few moments of silence passed before Samantha's voice came over the phone.
"Okay, I've, uh, spoken with the boss, he, um, agrees. I will repeat what you say over the phone. Is this okay?" I nodded, then realising the fact that she couldn't see me, agreed with their response. "Give us a second to prep Alan." The tv suddenly went dark with a statement appearing shortly after mentioning speaking with a survivor of the trial and to stay tuned. When the screen returned to normal, Samantha and her co-host, who I presumed was this Alan, were sitting upright in their chairs, looking professional. Samantha had put an earphone in so she could still hear and talk to me.
"We are here with a survivor of the first Trial-"
"Say my name is Sebastian Vassinari," I stated quickly realising the natural progression of Alan's opening statement. Samantha looked confused, but interrupted her co-host with the change.
"We are here with Sebastian Vassinari, I have him on call at the moment, he is about to share some vital information with us, I hope you are paying attention," she nodded at the screen and I took that as my cue to begin.
"Hello everyone, I am Sebastian Vassinari and I am a survivor of the first trial." I paused, allowing Samantha to keep up, which she did dutifully. There was no longer a hesitation in her voice and I found myself smiling. "I would like to mention that this is not a hoax, or an alien invasion or the government, like many are already speculating. This is instead much worse. As the name, the first trial insinuates, we are being tested, by what or whom, I am not sure. But I can guarantee that this isn't the end. I know that people are skeptical, I would've been also if I hadn't woken up in a white room, being taken from my home and placed somewhere unknown. Believe me, what people saw on their tv is real. This wasn't a mass dream, but a real life event." As I said my piece, making my way through a bastardized version of the speech that I had prepped with Samantha herself all those years ago, she obediently repeated every single word. Henry faded into existence next to Jacob and I carried on speaking. "I would like to say my prayers to those that haven't returned yet from this ordeal, there is no real way to say it, but they are unfortunately no longer with us, their bodies will unfortunately never be buried. My thoughts go out to those who have died and to the people that they have left behind." I paused for an extended time, Samantha had also noticed what I was doing and dipped her head slightly, Alan following her lead. "And to those that have come back alive, I congratulate you and I take it that you have come back cured of all diseases, or perhaps are able to walk again, maybe you are richer now, and though these may feel like miracles, I cannot state enough that this is not over. Events such as what we have just been through will occur again in the imminent future. We need to protect those without the power to fight, band together so that we lose no more people. So to all of those still listening, if you are even the slightest bit intrigued or perhaps suspicious of me, then I invite you to an open house Q&A two weeks from now on the twenty fifth at my lovely home." I turned away from the tv, "Sorry Samantha, give me a brief second." I put the phone on mute as I directed my question to Henry and Jacob. "What is this address?"
"What are you planning?" Henry asked, "look, we believe you now but-" Sebastian's answer cut through Henry's words, causing the short man to spin around in confusion. I smirked as I repeated Sebastian's address.
"Thank you Samantha, that is everything I needed to say." I hung up the phone as Samantha and Alan discussed what I had just said between themselves.
"What was that Sebastian?" Henry muttered, "what was it about consulting me?" he mocked in a sniggering tone.
"I just wanted to give Isaac what he wanted." Sebastian shrugged, I raised an eyebrow, the reply sounded hollow, like he didn't believe what he was saying.
"Bullshit." Henry said under his breath.
"Isaac?"
"Yes Sebastian."
"I want to ask you something, Is this really as bad as you say it is?" I simply nodded. "Okay then." Sebastian turned, heading up the stairs. "I'm going to sleep, but in the morning, tell me everything." I didn't need to respond.
"What about the two of you?" I asked Henry and Jacob who turned to each other, seemingly having an entire conversation with only their facial expressions.
"Don't leave us out of it." Jacob responded bluntly. I smirked as I collapsed against the sofa, passing out instantly.