"Oh no, no, no! Mom!" Mike cried. "What have I done?"
He shook the lifeless body of his mother repeatedly. He clutched his eyes streaming with tears.
But as he opened them, he found himself lying in bed, with his mother, Mrs. Smith, sitting at his left, gently rubbing his hand.
"It's okay, my son," she consoled him, patting him reassuringly. "It was just a nightmare. You're alright, dear."
But Mike's tears continued to flow as he pulled his mother closer.
"Nothing bad is going to happen to you, mom," he said, his voice shaking with ragged breath and his sweat pouring unstoppably. "I'm going to protect you! I promise."
Mrs. Smith pulled back and looked at him with concern, her brow furrowed in confusion.
"What are you talking about, love?" she said. "That's supposed to be my line - what are you protecting me from?"
"Myself... I won't let any harm befall..." Mike's words trailed off as sadness overwhelmed him.
"It's alright, dear, everything is going to be just fine," Mrs. Smith assured.
She stood up and began to advance toward the table at the other side of Mike's bed to fetch a package.
As she walked, Mike's intense gaze followed her. "Are you leaving already?" he asked.
Mrs. Smith froze, her eyes wide with surprise—or shock, and her mouth agape as she stared eye to eye with Mike.
"What's wrong, Mom?" asked Mike. "Why are you staring at me like that? Have I done something wrong?"
"Yes... I mean... no, not that... Did you just... stare at me in the eyes, Mike?" she stammered, her face flushed.
Confusion crossed Mike's face.
"I just don't understand," she continued. "The nurses told me you're now sensitive to light, so I asked them to make this room dim. But… you can see me now? You even made eye contact with me. Oh my God!"
Mike didn't respond, but instead, he sighed and casted down his face.
"I can..." he started to say, but couldn't continue.
"Or was it because of the injection?" Mrs. Smith pondered, as she sat back down beside Mike on the bed.
"What injection?" Mike asked, his eyes widening.
And suddenly, his wide eyes went blank, and his body stiffened as a vision seized him.
He felt himself being pulled into a realm beyond his wildest dreams, a place that defied the laws of reality.
The air around him seemed to vibrate with an otherworldly energy, and his mind reeled as he struggled to comprehend the sheer scale of what he was witnessing.
Before him lay a kingdom of breathtaking beauty and structure, its enormous walls piercing the orange sky like shards of crystal.
The architecture was unlike anything Mike had ever seen, yet it stirred a deep sense of familiarity within him, as if he had stumbled upon a long-forgotten memory.
As he gazed upon the kingdom, Mike felt his consciousness expanding, his perception of time and space warping and bending.
At the heart of the kingdom, Mike beheld a palace of unparalleled majesty, its walls crafted from a material that seemed almost divine.
The palace pulsed with a gentle, golden light, as if it were alive, and Mike felt an overwhelming sense of longing, as though he were being summoned to enter its roofless chamber.
The name Perebia echoed through his mind, a whispered promise of secrets and mysteries waiting to be unlocked.
As the vision faded, Mike slumped back onto his bed, gasping for breath. His neck flushed, as he struggled to process the unbelievable scene he had just witnessed.
"Mike, are you okay?" a faint voice called out, jolting Mike back to reality.
The sudden return to consciousness brought with it a searing pain in his head, like a thousand wild horses running in his head.
Mike's eyes fluttered open, and he was met with the blurry, concerned gaze of his mother.
Mrs. Smith's face was filled with worry, her eyes scanning Mike's face as if searching for something.
He tried to speak, but the pain was just too much, and he winced, his eyes burning with an inexplicable energy.
The sudden glow sent his mother stumbling backward, her eyes wide with fear.
She hastily exited the room, calling out for the doctors. A few minutes passed before she returned, accompanied by two medical professionals.
They rushed to Mike's side, expecting to find him in distress, but instead, they found him lying peacefully on the bed, fast asleep.
The doctors shared a perplexed glance and began to examine Mike, searching for any signs of anomalies. However, his eyes, which had glowed just moments before, now appeared normal.
"There's nothing wrong with his..." one of the doctors started to say, but stopped when he noticed Mrs. Smith muttering to herself in the corner of the room.
"It's not real, I just saw it wrong," she whispered, trying to convince herself that what she just witnessed was just a product of her own imagination. "There's no way something like that could've happened. It's because of the injection."
The doctors stared at each other again, their faces reflecting their confusion. They knew Mrs. Smith had witnessed something unusual, but they couldn't quite put their finger on what it was.
As they left the room, they couldn't shake off the feeling that something extraordinary was unfolding, something that defied the laws of medicine and science.
*****
A wide smile crossed Jake's eyes as Tina approached him, the box held out in her hands.
"You found the box!?" he exclaimed.
Tina smiled, her eyes darting around the room before focusing on her father.
"I wasn't the one who found it, though. Someone found it and gave it to me," she replied.
Jake's face lit up with anticipation as he took the box from Tina, his hands shaking slightly as he examined it.
"What about the key?" he demanded urgently. "Where's the box's key?"
"I don't know, that's the only thing he gave me," Tina shrugged.
Jake shook the box several times, his expression darkening with each passing moment. Finally, he dropped the box and went upstairs.
He returned a few moments later with an almost rusty key. Heme grabbed the box and inserted the key.
Tina watched as the box clicked and flung open, revealing a hardcover book with no title. Jake's face flushed as he grabbed the book and opened it, flipping pages consistently.
The man's face fell as he discovered there was nothing in the book.
"The book is entirely empty!" he thundered. "Who gave you the box?"
Tina took a step back, fear gripping her.
"I don't understand, how's this possible?" she muttered under her breath. "That son of a bitch fooled me!"
Jake's gaze snapped back to Tina, his red-rimmed eyes locked onto hers.
"Who gave you the box?" he insisted. "Tell me now!"
Tina swallowed hard.
"It's Stefan, my schoolmate, the same grade," she replied.
"Did he look strange when you saw him?" Jake asked, tilting his head.
Tina shook her head. "Oh no, he looked completely normal," she replied. "But how would you tell if someone wields the power?"
"I don't, except the fact that they can't see during the day," Jake replied, his eyes clouding over with disappointment.
Tina's eyes dropped to the floor. "But something does feel strange about him," she muttered.
Jake's gaze regained life. "What's that?" he asked, his voice sharp.
Tina hesitated, but she replied. "He kept asking strange questions. Questions I hadn't anticipated."
"Like...?" he prompted.
"Or perhaps I was wrong. There's no way he would've known about the power in the book."
"What are you talking about, Tina?"
"Nothing... I mean... What could he possibly know apart from what I told him?" Tina said, her eyes downcast.
"Don't tell me…" Jake growled, horror filtering his gaze. "You told him everything I told you?"
Tina nodded meekly.
"I had no choice, that was his condition for giving me the box," she replied.
Jake's face quickly turned red with rage.
"I'm giving you till the weekend," he stated firmly. "You must find the boy and bring him to me. He definitely knows something about the book, understood!?"
Tina nodded hastily, fear visible on her face.
"Dammit! This is so messed up!" Jake grumbled, before storming out of his room.