Rae, The Only Person She Trusts
1258 Words
Lyra didn't know how she ran out the door to the nearest bus stop.
Panting. Eyes alert.
After claming down, she walks towards her apartment.
"I have nowhere else to go" she mutters.
The storm had passed—or at least, the roaring thunder outside had died down—but inside Lyra’s apartment, the tension was unbearable. She was still shaking from the encounter with Orin Hale, the stranger who knew more about her existence than she did herself. The cube sat on the coffee table, humming faintly, its blue light casting ghostly shadows across the walls.
Lyra tried to think clearly, but her thoughts spiraled. Terminal variable… extraction… alternate self… What did any of it mean? And why did Orin appear in her apartment like he owned the place?
Am I going crazy?
Her phone buzzed. She jumped, heart hammering, and saw Rae’s name flashing on the screen. Her best friend—the one person who could ground her when the world started to unravel.
“Rae,” Lyra answered, voice trembling. “I… I don’t know who else to call.”
“What’s wrong?” Rae’s voice was calm but worried, the warmth in it a lifeline.
Lyra took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. “Something… impossible. Orin… someone’s in my apartment. He—he knows things about me that he shouldn’t.”
There was a pause. “Impossible things are my specialty,” Rae said with a teasing lilt. “Sit down and breathe. Walk me through it.”
Lyra sank onto the couch, wrapping her arms around herself. “He said I’m… a Terminal Variable. That I shouldn’t exist. And there’s this cube, and…” Her voice caught. “I can’t explain it. But I need your help. You have to see this.”
“Okay,” Rae said firmly. “I’m coming over. Don’t touch anything or move the cube. Got it?”
Lyra nodded, though Rae couldn’t see her. “Got it.”
The minutes dragged. Every creak of the floorboards made Lyra flinch. Rain tapped against the windows, a nervous percussion that mirrored her pulse.
Fear grips her so hard, eyes darting left and right for any surprises from another realm.
Then the doorbell rang.
Rae. Finally.
Lyra opened the door to see her friend standing there, drenched from the rain, hair plastered to her forehead, and eyes sharp with concern. “Ly! What the hell happened?”
Lyra ushered her inside, gesturing toward the cube. Rae’s gaze immediately fell on it, and her eyebrows shot up.
“What the hell is this?” Rae asked, stepping closer. The cube glowed brighter, reacting to her presence.
Lyra’s fingers trembled as she explained, “It’s a stabilizer, I think. Orin—he said it’s a lock, a key, a warning. And I—” She faltered. “I don’t know what I am, Rae. He said my alternate-self died years ago. And now… I’m not supposed to exist.”
Rae blinked. For the first time, her usual confidence faltered. “Wait. Alternate… self? Like… another version of you?”
"And you believed him?"
Lyra nodded. “Yes! I— I can’t even wrap my head around it. But Orin… he knows things, Rae. Things only my alternate self would know.”
"I don't know what to believe anymore....it's like I'm in a horror movie"
Rae ran a hand through her wet hair, thinking. “Okay. That is… insane. But calm down....you called me because you trust me, right? Because I know you—maybe better than you know yourself. So we figure this out together.”
Lyra swallowed. “Yes. I need you here.”
They huddled over the cube, Rae leaning in to examine it. Its glow pulsed, almost like it was alive. “It’s reacting to us,” Rae whispered. “Lyra… what exactly did this Orin guy say?”
Lyra recounted everything: the Terminal Variable, the erased timelines, the breaches, the warning that something was coming for her. Rae listened silently, her expression darkening with each word.
And the mysterious figure that appeared and vanished.
“This is… bigger than I imagined,” Rae said finally.
"And unbelievable"
“Okay. So… what’s the plan?”
Lyra shook her head. “I don’t know if we can plan. Orin… he vanished. He didn’t tell me what to do next. And the cube… I don’t understand it fully. But I think it’s… trying to communicate something.”
Rae’s eyes narrowed. “We’ll figure it out. First, we need information. Second, we need protection. And third…” She hesitated, voice dropping. “We need to make sure you’re not walking into some kind of trap.”
A sudden metallic click made both women freeze. The apartment door shuddered. Lyra’s heart leapt. “Did you hear that?”
Rae’s jaw tightened. “Yep. Someone’s here. And they’re not coming to visit politely.”
"Better not be an alien"
Before Lyra could react, the door burst open. A figure in a soaked trench coat stepped inside. Short, gaunt, and wearing a face of grim determination. But Lyra recognized him immediately.
Dr. Caldwell.
“Lyra,” he said, voice low and urgent. “Rae. You shouldn’t be here.”
Lyra’s hands trembled. “You’re alive? I thought—”
Caldwell cut her off. “There’s no time. The Directive is after you. Orin… he’s not what you think. And this cube—it’s unstable. You need to leave, now.”
Rae crossed her arms, glaring. “And why exactly should we trust you?”
Caldwell’s eyes hardened. “Because I was the one who… started all this. And I’m the only one who can help you survive it.”
Lyra stared at him, confusion twisting into fear. “You… you knew all along?”
“Yes,” Caldwell admitted quietly. “I helped create part of this… the breaches, the Gate, even some of the anomalies. I never meant for it to go this far. But it did. And now…” He gestured at the cube. “Now it’s out of control.”
"Oh what a fantastic creation you made" Rae said sarcastically.
Before anyone could react further, a deafening explosion ripped through the building. Windows shattered, rain and debris flying into the apartment. The cube’s light flared violently, sending both women shielding their eyes.
When the smoke cleared, the three of them saw the impossible. The safehouse was in ruins—but Caldwell was walking toward them, unharmed, almost as if the explosion had no effect on him.
Rae stared, wide-eyed. “How…?”
Caldwell didn’t answer. He just said, “We have to move. Now. There’s no time to waste. The Directive will be here in minutes.”
Lyra grabbed Rae’s arm. “Rae… are you ready for this? For everything we just found out?”
Rae nodded, determination settling over her face. “Lyra… we survive. Together.”
"If it goes south, we RUN" she said firmly.
And with that, the three of them sprinted into the storm-soaked night, the cube’s glow lighting their path. Behind them, the shadows of the city twisted unnaturally, as though the world itself was aware of the Terminal Variable moving through it.
The wind carried an unearthly voice, faint but unmistakable:
“We’ve been waiting.”
Lyra’s stomach clenched. Whatever was coming… it was coming for her.
I'm being hunted.
And somewhere in the dark, the true nature of the anomalies—and the dangers of the Halcyon Gate—loomed closer than ever.
- Writer
