He woke with a start.
Cold sweat clung to every inch of his body as Gideon slowly sat up. His chest heaved up and down as he tried to calm his heart rate, cradling his head in his hands. Up until six months ago, he could have sworn he was adjusting. The divorce was finalized, he had found his own place, he had grown comfortable with his body again.
But then he fell sick.
Gideon hadn’t been sick a day in his life up until six months ago. Sure, he wasn’t superhuman, he developed the sniffles or a cough like anyone else. But Gideon had never taken a day off of work, let alone been hospitalized for several weeks. It had used all of his sick days and most of his vacation time just to cover the event and he was forever playing catch up at work because of it.
The image of a woman’s head being split open was haunting. It was like he had been there, just watching, powerless to intervene. Her screams echoed in his ears as Gideon, stood up from the bed, slowly walking to the ensuite bathroom as he balanced himself against a nearby wall.
Ever since coming home from the hospital, it was although he was seeing things. Faces he didn’t recognize would appear in the mirror after he showered, in the car, even in windows as he walked by. Then there was the incident with the lights, Gideon shuddered as he recalled the time the light had evaporated from the bulb and materialized into the air as though drawn towards him. Even as a fan of science fiction, it was all too X-Files for his liking.
Splashing cold water on his face, Gideon allowed the water to run a bit longer, before bending over the black granite countertop and taking a drink from the stainless steel tap. His throat was dry and the water was cool and crisp. It was as though he was taking a drink for the first time in a week as he continued to hold his mouth under the water before finally raising his head up and looking at himself in the mirror.
Three years ago, the face that was looking back would have been nearly three times the size. Now there was only a face he barely recognized, a face that was greeted far more enthusiastically than the one he had previously possessed. But the eyes.
The eyes were still the same.
Noting the time out of the corner of his eye, Gideon resigned any ideas of returning to bed and instead grabbed a pair of shorts and a t-shirt from a nearby hamper. Walking out of his bedroom, he looked down from the hallway balcony towards the living room below. The lamp from the night of the incident was unplugged, a decision made out of fear more than logic. Walking towards the stairs, Gideon paused at the top before changing directions and instead of heading to his home gym.
Nothing quite like exercise to clear the mind.
Emerging from the shower nearly two hours later, Gideon listened to the local Blues station while he dressed. Nodding his head along to one of his favourites songs while fixing his tie, Gideon reached to turn the radio off as the song ended only to stop as the hosts began to talk.
“In bizarre news today, a woman was found with her head split open.”
Gideon’s hand began to shake, unable to move towards or away from the dial as the story continued to unfold.
“It couldn’t have been real.” He muttered, slumping down onto the edge of his bed, bewilderment and fear consuming him as he caught a glimpse of himself in a nearby mirror.
Only there was someone else looking back.
Redhair and piercing eyes stared back at Gideon as he rose from the bed and scrambled out of the room, the sound of the news story unfolding in the background as Gideon hurried to get out of his apartment, locking the door tightly behind him. Leaning back heavily on the heavy door, his chest heaved up and down faster than any work out had made it in years as Gideon tried as hard as he could to compose himself. A hand reached into his pocket, feeling around until it grasped a plastic container. The lid popped open between his fingers and he tipped the container until two hard capsules rolled into the palm of his hand. Snapping the lid back, Gideon removed his hand and tossed the pills into his mouth, the powdery capsules exploding as his teeth bit down on them.
His heart rate began to slow, and Gideon pushed back a loose piece of hair as he nodded hello to his passing elderly neighbor. He and the woman weren't currently on speaking terms after he had failed to call her daughter back. The woman had insisted on setting the pair up and while the date had gone well, very well in fact but, Gideon or rather, Deon didn't feel the need for a second one.
Riding the elevator to the underground parking, Gideon controlled his walk as he made his way towards his car at a reasonable pace. Using the remote start on the vehicle's fob, Gideon felt a sigh of relief wash over him as the Hellcat purred to life. Climbing into the driver's seat, Gideon's head hit the rearview mirror. Rubbing the spot of collision gingerly, he made himself comfortable before reaching up to adjust the mirror back to its original position.
Only there was another set of eyes looking back at him.
"GET OUT!" He yelled, slamming the horn causing several others around him to also jump as Gideon quickly realized he was once again seeing things. Waving a hand of apology, Gideon put the car into gear and reversed out of his parking spot.
He needed a coffee.
A strong one.
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