Regression: Leaking Reality

Chapter 3

As he ran back towards the office, Kael began to notice things.

Cars slowed for no reason, and some stopped in the middle of an empty street, but no one would urge them on; there was no blaring of horns. Pedestrians on the sidewalks seemed completely out of sync; some walked but remained stagnant, while others moved without actually walking.

'What kind of a dream is this?' Kael wondered to himself.

He pumped his fists a little harder and stretched his legs a little longer until he reached the office building. Slowing down in front of it, he paused, hands on his knees as he breathed rapidly for a solid minute.

Standing, he drew in a long deep breath and stepped in. In large strides, he reached the elevator and pushed the call button. Fortunately, this time, there was no delay, and more importantly, there was no one inside.

His tense shoulders dropped a little and he walked in. As the door closed behind him and the elevator began its ascent, Kael began to roam within the small space muttering incoherent words as he did.

Ding!

The doors suddenly opened forcing a pause. Slowly raising his head, he observed the busy office space.

Everything seemed normal, people walked around busily with files in their hands, their steps rushed, and wearing expressions of contemplation. It was a common office thing, even when going to the restroom, everyone made faces as if they had something on their minds.

He took small steps out of the elevator but then slowed to a pause.

No!

It wasn't back to normal.

There were a few new faces he had never seen before. He took a silent count and four people stood out, each wearing a black suit and tie, three men and a woman.

The gaze of one of them met his and they smiled, a moment later, the man walked up to him.

"You must be Mr Soren," the man asked.

"Yes," Kael nodded. "Kael Soren," he reached out for a handshake.

"And you are?" he asked.

"Just Vincent" the man replied.

"You left early" he continued after a pause to which Kael squinted slightly without responding.

"I did yeah, had an emergency," Kael replied feigning a smile.

"An emergency?" Vincent repeated his tone slightly off almost as if in jest.

"Then why did you return so quickly?" he asked again.

"Everything has been sorted out, it was a false alarm" Kael replied once more, shrugging his shoulders.

"Hmm," Vincent nodded.

As Kael made to move, he raised a finger and asked, "Have you been to the restroom?"

Kael's heart beat harder within his chest, he could hear the blood pumping rhythmically against his temples, the deafening sound almost overwhelming everything else. He forcibly maintained a straight face and replied.

"No, why?"

"Oh, just asking. There was an incident there earlier" Vincent waved in dismissal.

Kael easily recognized this trap, he had seen this in a movie before, this man wanted to see if he was curious.

"Oh? What's happened?" he asked, not about to disappoint

"There was an incident in the restroom, weren't you just there?"

"I- Huh?" Kael paused.

"Something happened in the restroom, have you-" Vincent paused, his expression turning confused.

"Did you just say something?" he asked.

"No" Kael replied shaking his head.

Vincent stared silently at him, then his expression suddenly eased and he asked "Someone reported an incident in the restroom, have you been there?"

"What's going on with this guy?" a guy in his cubicle close by could no longer endure and asked.

Kael glanced down at the colleague he recognized and shrugged.

A figure walked up to them and they both turned to him, it was a tall man with an unsettling smile on his face, he nodded at Vincent and then turned to the colleague in his cubicle.

"You noticed that, did you?" he asked, his words unusually slow but not so much that they slurred.

"I'm so- oooo- oo-"

As Kael watched, the colleague's words slowed to a stop, his questioning expression frozen on his face.

Kael stared with wide eyes as his figure began to blink like Draya earlier and a moment later it was gone.

Hips lips parted as he held back a scream but in the next second, there was a figure in the cubicle again. This time a different person, one Kael could not recognize.

His gaze moved slowly to Vincent only to see a casual expression on his face as if nothing had happened. Slowly, he turned to the man next to him, lips trembling as he tried to speak.

Suddenly, his expression eased. Kael felt his hand raise and casually tap Vincent on the shoulder then turn around and walk towards his cubicle.

'Run! Run! Scream!' he wanted to act but it was as if something had taken over him, he could only watch in dread, his eyes abnormally wide as he lowered himself onto his seat.

Now Kael was sweating profusely, his hands moved on their own, picking up a document in his left hand and a pen in his right, he held the pen like a knife and rose, covering the pen with the document in his left hand.

He began walking slowly but determinedly towards the man who was now chatting with Vincent. From this side view, he could see that eerie smile on the man's face and his mechanical gestures like he was a character in a Sims game.

Yet Kael did not want to do anything to him, his steps paused and continued unnaturally as he fought desperately for control of his own body. But this fight seemed to be failing because he was getting ever closer.

He reached eventually and raised his hand slowly, as the pen came down towards the man's neck, Kael closed his eyes in resignation.

"Kael!" A loud urgent call forced him to open his eyes and stop his action. He turned around to see Draya standing there just right behind him, her brows scrunched up as she observed him.

"You're leaking too badly now, they've marked you, you can't stay here anymore"

Kael frowned and felt something stir behind him. He turned around to see the man and Vincent staring at him, now both wearing that eerie smile, their eyes unnaturally wide.

"Kael!" another call came from his side and he turned. As soon as he caught sight of the speaker, a gasp escaped his lips and his knees buckled but he braced himself against a partition wall.

Beside him stood another him, only with a colder expression and glaring eyes.

"Run, now!" the second him urged.

Kael moved, once again losing control of himself. As he reached the elevator door and was about to push the call button, the doors opened by themselves but on the other side was not the elevator but the restroom, right there on the ground lay a corpse.

Kael took a step back, his eyes turning red as he shivered like a leaf.

A hand suddenly grabbed his and pulled him away.

Draya held onto Kael, her grip tight as she dragged him along with her. Kael watched as she stopped at a wall, reached, and pulled it open as if it were a door. Shock overwhelmed him when they rushed into it but then he suddenly misstepped fortunately, Draya caught him in time.

They were walking on even ground and yet his feet felt his body descending steps.

"Just let your mind lead" Draya's voice reached his ears.

Bang!

Behind them, a gunshot rang and Kael felt something whizz past his ears.

"Go!" Draya exclaimed and they hurried off faster.