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I am back in the abandoned building on the first floor. Almost everything is the same as before; the broken glass on the floor, the ivy creeping over the windows and doorway, however, this time it's pitch black.
No...that's not entirely true.
As I turn in circles, I notice there is a small amount of light coming from the stairway leading up. I make my way over and up the stairs; gravity is holding me in place, no floating or gliding like last time. However, when I get onto the second floor, that changes, as does the atmosphere. All of a sudden, I become like a ghost; my body feels light, my senses are gone, and every thought in my head just vanishes into thin air. I'm too busy trying to figure out what is happening that I don't notice them at first. When I finally do, I start to make my way toward them but they don't seem to know I'm there, or at least I don't think they do.
Three men stand in the middle of the room, in what looks like some sort of stand-off, two on one side and the other all by himself. The two men on the same side are facing me, and as I approach from the stairway, I get a good look at them, but I am stuck in place before I can see the third from the front.
The first man is short and pudgy; he has a bald head but a very large brown beard. He has tattoos up and down both arms, but they are faded as if they were done when he was a teenager. He looks like he is in his late forties, but the wrinkles and lines on his face would say he was one hundred and forty. The man standing next to him is taller but still considered short compared to the third guy. He is also kind of bulky, but he has more muscle along his arms and shoulders. He also has a large beard, but unlike the first, he has a full head of hair almost long enough to reach his shoulders. A tattoo of what looked like a galaxy on his right arm peeks out from underneath a long sleeve shirt. He seems to be as old as the first, but his face is smoother, suggesting that he could be younger or older than his appearance would provide. Even though I can only see the third man from the back, I can tell he is young. He is the tallest of the three men, standing at least 6 foot. He has a muscular build; his shoulders are broad, and his stance suggests that he is ready to make a break for it at any moment. His dark brown hair is cut in a short slicked back undercut, the type where it's trimmed short all the way around but the top slightly longer and pushed back.
"I knew it. I knew you were lying," the short, bald guy yells.
As soon as the bald guy speaks, I instantly recognize what's going on and who these people are. These are the three voices I heard during the second dream. I instantly recognize the bald guy as Frank, and even though the other two haven't spoken yet, I know that the one next to Frank is the so-called boss, and the one with his back to me must be the kid.
"I have no idea what you are talking about. I'm here on time, and no one knows what's going on here besides us," the kid says, a hint of curiosity and anger mixed within his voice.
"The Counter," Frank spits, getting angrier with each new denial from the kid and the longer this conversation goes on, "I saw you as we were leaving last night. I saw you look at your wrist and mumble something, but I couldn't hear what you said."
I did. Those six words have been repeating over and over in my head like a broken record.
"I told you I don't have one. If I did, trust me, things would have gone much differently," the kid says pointily, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Let's all just take a deep breath and talk this through. You wouldn't lie to us, right?" the boss questions.
"Of course not. The thing you saw me looking at was something I drew on my arm with a permanent marker a few days prior. It's kind of faded, but it's still there, see?" the kid states, holding out his left arm for inspection.
"See Frank. I told you he wasn't trouble," the boss says, a smile playing on his lips.
"But boss, I'm telling ya, I saw him rub right where a Counter would be, that picture is too low for him to be telling the truth," Frank pleads.
"Alright, Frank, I trust you. Would it make you feel better if we used a scanner, then we will know once and for all who's telling the truth and who's lying?"
The smirk making its way onto his lips and his tone indicate just how staged this whole event was. He had been planning to use it anyway and was waiting for the right moment. As soon as the boss mentions this scanner thing, I can move again. I start forward slowly and cautiously in case they actually can see or hear me.
"You have got to be kidding me. You really believe I have a stupid Counter? Fine, I give up," the kid says, exasperated, throwing his hands in the air and letting them fall to his sides.
The boss approaches the kid right before I do. He holds some device, the so-called scanner, over the kid's wrist, waiting for the result to come in. Though, I don't have to.
As I move to see the kid's face, I freeze again, only this time, it is by my own will. As I look at his wrist, I see it. I see a Counter ticking with the same 456 days, 10 hours, and 39 minutes that had been ticking down before I fell asleep. This has to be some weird coincidence, like the whole "lily" thing. Maybe in dreams, the "only soulmates seeing it" thing doesn't exist.
As I get a closer look, I see a small shape right under the Counter, so small that I almost miss it. There is a flower, more specifically, a lily. It looks exactly like the one drawn further down his arm, but this has the same color and digital look as the Counter. Someone lets out a small, quiet gasp, making me look up. I don't just see the face of the kid, but I see his eyes. Once I look at him, I can't look away.
They're golden, exactly like the ones I had seen before I woke up. They hold a mix of emotions similar to those I had seen last time, but they are all buried under something larger. They are buried under fear and enchantment. All of the others are still there; however, these two were the clearest to see. The fear, I understand where it's coming from. He might get exposed, get seriously hurt, or worse. It's the enchantment part that is throwing me off. I mean, what could be amazing in this type of situation? Then I see it, why of all things, this emotion is there.
He is looking at me.
He is looking straight into my eyes. He can see me. Whether all of me or just my eyes, similar to how I could see his last time, he knows I am there. The scanner beeps, and without having to break eye contact, we both know. Fear fills his eyes, hiding any and every other emotion, taking him over completely. I reach out to touch him, to let him know that I am right there. My name is a whisper on his lips, not audible, but I know he said it. I am about to speak when I'm plunged into darkness for the third time.
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