Chapter 10: A Peculiar Creature
"Well," he said after a pause, his voice tinged with humor, "if you were going to tell me you'd show up like this, I wouldn't have dressed like a grease monkey."
Elara offered a faint smile. "I'd hoped to catch you after your shift. Can we talk?"
Elias opened his mouth to respond, but a sudden, sharp burn flared in his chest. He winced, reaching for his pocket to pull out a small bottle of painkillers. He shook a couple into his hand and downed them dry, waving off her concern. "Sure," he said after a beat. "It's been years since we talked regularly. What's going on, Elara?"
She hesitated, glancing toward the restaurant's bustling interior. "So much," she said finally. "It's always something new. Things have been spiraling since the event, and they've only gotten worse. They've captured over a dozen people showing symptoms like mine. But I have no idea where they've been taken."
Elias crossed his arms, leaning against the counter. "And why are you telling me this? Sounds like the kind of thing that should stay behind a locked door with six or seven padlocks."
Elara's gaze shifted, the confidence in her eyes faltering. "I've been trying to ignore the voices for weeks," she admitted. "But they just keep getting louder. Eventually... they told me to find you."
Elias's brow furrowed. "It? Voices?"
"The shard," she said, her voice quieter now. "It's connected to me. Somehow it communicates with my brain, sends me instructions. Even changes how I see the world." She studied his face, her tone steady but searching. "I was hoping you'd had a similar experience."
Elias shook his head, letting out a dry laugh. "Why would that happen? Didn't we already establish I don't have a glowing crystal sticking out of my chest?"