Chapter 7
The Shift
Something broke inside me.
I scrambled to my feet, slipping on the blood-soaked kitchen tiles. I rushed at him again.
Dad sidestepped it casually. My fist sailed past his face, momentum throwing me into the refrigerator. Magnets scattered, a family photograph fluttering to the blood-soaked floor.
"Fischer, this is pointless."
I spun and charged again, my vision tunneling until all I could see was his calm, infuriating face
"...Son, I understand you're upset, this is a natural response."
"You fucking ate her! You fucking monster!"
Dad sighed. And I swung wildly at him. He caught my wrist with little effort; his fingers felt soft, yet as strong as steel.
"You're thinking like some kind of mundane human."
"Let. Me. Go."
"As you wish." He let go of my wrist.
I threw a wild haymaker at him and drove my right fist into his kidney. To my shock, it connected. Dad grunted, a small sound of surprise more than pain.
Then his hand closed around my fist. I felt the bones crunch and pain exploded up my arm as he slowly crushed my hand.
"Now that’s a punch I can be proud of. You're strong, Fish. Your physical development is excellent. The Signal will have tremendous material to work with when your Infection comes."
He lifted me by my broken hand, my feet dangling above the kitchen floor.
"...I love you."
He slammed me into the floor and threw me into the wall. The world blurred as I smashed through it.
I hit the neighbor's dining table, shattering it into pieces of splintered wood before slamming into the far wall hard enough to crack the concrete foundation.
I lay there, broken and gasping, as Dad stepped calmly through the hole my body had created. He nodded politely to our neighbors.
"I apologize for the intrusion. But we are having a minor family disagreement."
The old couple stared, speechless. Dad approached, kneeling beside my crumpled body.
"Let’s stop this Fish, there really is no point in continuing. You will end up injured beyond repair if we continue."
Mikkel gently brushed hair from my face. He stood, straightening his shirt, and turned back to the elderly couple.
"I do hope you have a pleasant morning."
He walked back through the hole, leaving me broken on the floor of the stranger's apartment.
"Are... are you all right, young man?"
Blood bubbled from my lips as I tried to laugh. The sound came out as a wet gurgle.
"...He killed… my sister, He ate her... right… in front of me…"
The elderly couple exchanged glances.
"I'll call an ambulance," the man said, reaching for his phone.
"...No."
"You need help, dear. You're badly hurt."
I tried to move, to prove her wrong, but my body wouldn't cooperate. Pain flared from everywhere at once. The room swam around me as I started to lose consciousness.
"...Please."
"Hush now. Whoever hurt you, they're gone. You're safe here."
"...No… Not safe... Not anywhere..."
"Was it a Sacred? Should we call the SDC?"
"My father…" I managed.
"Hang on, dear. Just hang on."
◆◆◆
I opened my mouth to scream, but worms poured out instead. They formed patterns on the floor, spelling out two words.
Vermis Incarnate.
Dad's voice, somewhere in the darkness: You'll understand when you're ready, Fish.
My legs dissolved into wriggling masses. I tried to scream again, and the worms just kept coming, endless and unstoppable.
Then a ghost made of mist formed in front of me. Rell. Her marionettes danced around her.
"He didn't get all of me, I fragmented myself. I hid pieces. In you."
"Help me, Rell… please… I need you… I’m sorry."
She reached out, touched my chest, causing more pain to explode through me. The worms went wild and began consuming me from the inside until there was nothing left of Fischer, just a writhing mass of white worms in roughly human shape.
"See? You were never what you thought you were."
"Can you feel it? The Sacred Signal. It's been calling you for years."
"Tell me… how do I kill him?"
Dream-Rell smiled sadly.
She began dissolving, her mist fading away. "The Trial is coming, Fish."
"Don't leave me! Please!"
"I never will… pieces of me are inside of you now."
◆◆◆
Beep. Beep. Beep.
I tried to bring my hand up to rub my eyes. Something clinked against metal. Looking down, I saw my wrist handcuffed to the bed rail.
Well, shit.
The room came into focus.
SDC Medical Facility, I recognized the blue-gray walls and the emblem painted above the door. I'd visited once when one of my co-workers got his arm crushed.
There was a plastic water cup sitting on the side table, just out of reach. Of course.
How long have I been here? The last thing I remember was— Rell. Dad. All that blood.
Nausea hit me.
I jerked against the handcuff, trying to reach the small bedpan beside the bed. Pain exploded through my chest. Broken ribs. Definitely broken ribs. I managed to twist just enough to avoid choking on my own vomit as it splashed onto the floor.
The door opened as I was spitting the last of the bile from my mouth. A nurse walked in, she was a middle-aged woman. She took one look at the puddle of vomit and shook her head.
"You're awake."
"How long have I been here for?"
"You have been unconscious for three days. Don't move too much. You had significant internal bleeding. Four broken ribs. Collapsed lung. Fractured orbital socket. Broken hand. Concussion."
"...What about my sister?"
The nurse's hands paused for just a fraction of a second before continuing their work. "I'll inform Inspector Hoffman that you're now conscious."
"Please, my sister—"
"Inspector Hoffman will be with you shortly."
She left without looking at me once, stepping carefully around the vomit puddle. The door clicked shut behind her.
Three days. I'd been unconscious for three fucking days.
Twenty minutes later, the door opened again, and Inspector Hoffman came in, looking exactly as she had in our apartment. And carrying a tablet and a small recording device.
"Mr. Magni, I'm glad to see you're stable," she said, setting the recorder on the table beside my bed.
"Where's my sister?"
Hoffman tapped her tablet, bringing up some documents. "I'm here to inform you of the charges against you."
"Charges? What charges? I didn’t do anything."
"Fischer Magni, you are under arrest for the murder of Marrell Magni."
The room seemed to tilt sideways. The heart monitor's beeping accelerated.
"What the fuck did you just say?"
"Three days ago at approximately 0730 hours, you attacked your sister in your family home. According to witness testimony, you became violent after she returned from her Trial. You expressed jealousy regarding her newly manifested Origin abilities and, in a rage, physically assaulted her."
"No… no, that's not—"
"Your father attempted to intervene, at which point you attacked him as well. You then proceeded to throw your sister through the apartment wall with such force that her internal organs were catastrophically damaged. She died at the scene."
"He's lying. He's the one who killed her. He… he ate her—"
"Mr. Mikkel Magni has provided a full statement, as have your neighbors, who witnessed you crashing through their wall in a violent rage after throwing your sister through it."
I froze.
The elderly couple. They'd seemed so concerned, so kind.
"They saw me injured, they saw what he did to me."
"They saw you injured after your father defended himself and your sister from your attack. Mr. Magni has a well-documented Origin. It's a cultivation and enhancement ability. He has no capacity for the... consumption you're describing."
"Check the apartment. She was—" My voice broke. "She was torn apart."
"The scene has been thoroughly investigated. What was left of your sister's body showed trauma consistent with being thrown through a reinforced wall, resulting in massive internal injuries and blood loss."
"That's not what happened. He told us everything. He planned it. He waited until her Origin to manifest, and then he—"
"Mr. Magni, your father is a respected researcher with decades of service to the community. You are an unawakened dock worker with a history of expressing envy toward Sacred abilities. The evidence is clear."
"Evidence he manufactured!" I yanked at the handcuff again, metal clanging against the rail. The heart monitor beeped frantically.
"He set me up. He planned this whole thing."
"You'll be transferred to an SDC holding facility tomorrow morning. A medical Sacred will continue your treatment there."
I slumped back against the pillows, the fight momentarily draining out of me.
"He really thought of everything, didn't he?"
"Excuse me?"
"My father. The perfect crime. Tell me something, Inspector. Did he cry when he gave his statement? Did he talk about how much he loved us both? How shocked he was at my jealousy? How he tried to reason with me before I snapped?"
"And you believed him. Of course you did. Everyone always believes him."
"Mr. Magni—"
She gathered her tablet and recorder, then paused at the door.
"The transfer team will collect you at 0800 hours tomorrow. For what it's worth, Mr. Magni, I am sorry for your loss."
I closed my eyes, and behind my eyelids I saw Rell's face as Dad pulled her toward those spinning teeth. Heard her scream my name as I lay pinned to the floor, useless.
The worms from my dream whispered to me, bone-white and writhing. The Trial is coming, Fish.