Chapter 2
The First Sign
I woke to the raw and terrified screams of my sister. Rell.
I jumped out of bed, my bare feet slapping against cold tiles. My brain created a dozen different scenarios in the seconds it took for me to reach her door.
Rell was thrashing against her sheets. Her eyes were open but glassy and dead. Sweat plastered her red hair to her forehead, and her mouth stretched wide as she continued to scream.
I grabbed her shoulders.
"Rell! Wake up! It's just a—"
Her hand gripped my wrist with strength I didn't know she had. Her glassy eyes locked onto me. For a split second, her irises seemed to shimmer with a black, oily, metallic sheen. Then she blinked, and it was gone.
"...Fish—”
“—they're in my head. They're crawling inside me."
"Nothing's crawling anywhere… You had a nightmare."
"...Not a nightmare. It was real! Fish, I could feel them moving under my skin, trying to... trying to—"
She curled forward, shoulders shaking with silent sobs.
"You're okay, I'm right here."
"What happened?" Dad said from the door.
"I think she had a night terror… pretty bad one."
He sat on the other side of Rell’s bed and pressed his hand against her forehead, checking for fever or any signs of sickness. "How long has she been lucid?"
"Just now, but she was screaming about... things crawling inside her."
"Rell, look at me… can you tell me what you saw?"
"I was... somewhere dark. A hallway that kept breaking off. And I… I was being followed. …No, it was chasing me—" She swallowed.
"—It caught me, and then it was... inside. Like it felt like it was coring out my insides."
"Our subconscious loves to literalize our fears."
"This wasn't symbolic," Rell insisted. "It felt real… so real…."
"Let me get you some water, Fischer, stay with her."
After he left, Rell gripped my hand. "You believe me, right?"
"...I believe you experienced something terrible. Whether it was a dream or something else... I don't know."
Dad returned with water and two small pills. I'd taken them myself after particularly bad nightmares.
"Take these Rell, they will help you sleep."
◆◆◆
Dad and Rell sat at the breakfast table, his fingers gentle on her wrist as he checked her pulse. He looked into her eyes, asking her to follow his finger.
"Probably just stress; the academy puts too much pressure on grad students. And not to mention that garden project you've been obsessing over."
"...I'm not obsessing."
"It isn’t more important than your health, Rell. Take today off and get some rest."
"...I can't just—"
"I'll call in for you; I'm taking the day off too… If they can't handle a shipment without me for one day, Freetown has bigger problems… besides, I've got sick days saved up."
"That's thoughtful of you, Fischer. I have a few appointments, but I'll be back by evening. Call me if anything changes."
After he left, Rell slumped in her chair.
"...You didn't have to stay home."
"And miss a chance to slack off? Please. Besides, when was the last time we had a day to ourselves? No academy, no docks, no Dad lecturing us about the finer points of Origin theory?"
"Ha! Probably before you started working full-time."
"Exactly. So what's it going to be? Bad movies? Board games? I'll even let you beat me at chess."
"Let me?" She scoffed. "I've beaten you fair and square since we were ten."
"Yeah, Yeah."
We settled into a quiet day. I made her tea while she curled up with a book about some dense subject on botanical Regalia that would have put me to sleep in minutes.
Around noon, we switched to an ancient film about people living normal lives without dimensional horrors. Pure fantasy, but entertaining.
"Imagine what it was like before the Gates? Before Sacred?" Rell asked during a quiet moment.
"Not really. Seems pointless to fantasize about a world that's been gone for centuries."
"I do… I think about how simple it must have been. No beasts. Just... normal problems."
"They probably thought their problems were pretty serious at the time."
"Yeah, maybe." She rested her chin on her knees. "But at least they didn't have to worry about what would happen if they got infected."
"Is that what you're afraid of? Awakening?"
"...I had another dream last night. Before the night terror. I dreamed something was calling me. A voice from very far away, speaking through static."
"Oh, and what did it say?"
"I’m not sure… I couldn't make out the words. But I knew it was... offering something. A gift. A change." She shivered.
"What if I'm being infected, Fish? What if that's what these dreams are?"
"Then you'll go through the Trial like everyone else who gets infected. And you'll come out the other side with some kickass Origin that lets you grow man-eating tentacles from your fingers."
"Not funny."
"A little funny."
We fell silent, watching the characters deal with their simple problems. After a while, Rell dozed off, her head resting against my shoulder.
That's when I saw a subtle ripple, like a snake sliding under sand. I blinked, convinced I'd imagined it. But then it happened again.
I'd seen infected people before. Everyone in Freetown had. The early signs were usually subtle.
I gently let Rell's head down and laid it against a pillow instead of my shoulder. She murmured something in her sleep but didn't wake.
Maybe it was just a trick of the light. Maybe my eyes were playing tricks after a sleepless night. Maybe—
The door opened, and Dad stepped in, earlier than expected. He carried a small black case I recognized from his workshop.
"You're home early."
"Rescheduled my afternoon. How is she?"
"Sleeping now. But Dad... I saw something."
His expression didn't change, but his posture shifted subtly. "What did you see?"
"Dark veins that moved along her skin."
"Let me have a look."
He set his case down, opened it, showcasing the instruments inside that were definitely not standard medical equipment.
"What are those?"
"They are just diagnostic tools."
He pulled out a lens and held it over Rell's exposed arm.
"Is it the Signal? Is she awakening?"
"...Yes and no. It's complicated."
"So uncomplicate it."
"It appears to be a variant of the Sacred Signal, but with some unusual properties. I'll need to run more tests to be certain."
"Is she in danger?"
"No, not immediate danger."
He reached into his case and removed a small vial of amber liquid. "This will help with the symptoms while I figure out exactly what we're dealing with."
"What is that?"
"A stabilizing agent. It will slow the progression and ease her discomfort." He filled a syringe with practiced efficiency. "Hold her arm steady."
"Shouldn't we wake her first? Explain?"
"Better to let her rest. She needs it. This will help her sleep without nightmares."
Something felt off about the way he said that, but I couldn't put my finger on what.
I held Rell's arm while he injected her with the serum.
"There, she should sleep peacefully now. When she wakes up, she'll feel more like herself."
"And… what about the... things under her skin?"
"A temporary manifestation. Nothing to worry about yet… Fischer, I need you to monitor her closely. If you see any changes—anything unusual—tell me immediately."
"What kind of changes?"
"Behavioral shifts. Personality alterations. Sudden talents or abilities she didn't have before. Anything that doesn't seem like Rell."
"You think something's happening to her mind?"
"I think we need to be cautious." He snapped his case closed. "The Signal affects everyone differently. Some transitions are smoother than others."
"But you can help her, right? If it is the Signal?"
Dad placed a hand on my shoulder. "I'll do everything in my power. You know that."
I believed him.
◆◆◆
Whatever Dad had given her seemed to be working as Rell had continued to sleep without any terrors.
I should have been relieved. But I wasn’t; I felt uneasy and kept checking on her.
And then out of nowhere Rell was upright in bed, her back arched, eyes wide and staring at the ceiling, screaming her brains out.
"Rell!" Rell! Wake up!"
Her eyes snapped to mine, and I pulled back. Her irises had changed to a swirling metallic copper, with thin red lines radiating from the pupils.
"They're opening the doors, they're letting the darkness in."
"What doors? Rell, you're not making sense."
"The Gates aren't gates… they're wounds. Bleeding between worlds. And something is ripping through them."
Dad burst into the room. He took one look at Rell and cursed.
"Hold her down, now!"
I tried. But Rell’s strength was unnatural. Her skin burned hot under my hands.
"What the hell is that?"
"It’s a stronger sedative. Now. keep. her. still."
"They're coming through! Can't you see them? They're already here! They’re here!" Rell shrieked.
"Who's coming through?" I asked, struggling to hold her. "Rell, talk to me!"
Her eyes focused on me for a brief, lucid moment. "Fish... they're in my head. They're changing me. Don't let them—"
Dad plunged the needle into her arm. Within seconds, her struggles stopped. Her eyes—still that unnatural copper—closed. Her body went limp in my arms.
Dad checked her pulse, his expression grim. "The Signal is... progressing faster than I anticipated."
"Every infection is different. Some manifest with hallucinations."
"Bullshit." I stepped back, putting distance between us. "You know more than you're saying."
Dad straightened, his face settling into a hard expression. "What I know is that your sister is undergoing a complex transformation. What I know is that panic and accusations won't help her."
"Then what will?"
"Time. Monitoring. And trust… Fischer, I understand you're frightened. But this isn't something we can fight with fists or outrun. It's a process that must unfold."
"And what if it kills her?"
"It won't. I won't let it."
I wanted to believe him.
I'd spent my entire life believing in Dad's ability to fix anything, solve any problem, protect us from any threat. But the image of Rell's copper eyes, the feel of things moving under her skin, the terror in her voice when she begged me not to let "them" change her...
"Get some sleep, I'll watch her for the rest of the night."
I didn't move. "...What's really happening to her?"
He sighed, suddenly looking older than I'd ever seen him. "The truth? I'm not entirely sure yet. But I promise you this… when I know, you'll know."
Another lie; why is he fucking lying? But fighting with him any more won't help Rell.
"...Wake me if anything changes, anything at all."
He nodded, settling into the chair.
As I left the room, I glanced back at Rell. In sleep, she looked almost normal… except for the faint lines on her skin, spreading slowly but steadily across her body like a web being woven.