When All is Null and Void

Chapter Eighteen

Titus' absence left an impenetrable quiet over the house. Every noise Caleb made seemed far too loud. "He's your nephew?" Caleb finally broke the silence. The difference in personality was so vast. Titus was like a viper hidden in the grass, girded by a spoiled, rude, and bullying demeanor.

"Aren't I just the luckiest?" Alexander sighed and flopped down on the couch.

"So Rhea James is--" Caleb sat on the other end of the couch.

"My sister-in-law. His dad is—was—my brother. He died."

Caleb couldn't help but notice the slight hesitation before the last word of Alexander's sentence. Almost like he didn't quite believe what he said. "How did he die?" Caleb said as softly and gently as he could.

"The great mystery," Alexander said, splaying his hands in front of him as he shrugged.

"You don't know?" Caleb asked. He lower on the couch until his knees touched the coffee table.

"Carter just disappeared one day. Rhea never explained. Titus was still pretty young. I'd be surprised if he remembers anything about him."

The rest of Alexander's words slid past like ethereal ghosts. Carter. The name rattled around Caleb's head. Titus looked almost identical to Carter. He hadn't been dreaming, but seeing Titus' own father.

"Caleb?" Alexander said. "You went all pale on me."

"Uh..." Caleb said, not sure if he should bring it up. His experience in the Void had only been a dream, a toxin-induced nightmare. It hadn't been real. Or had it? "I'm just really tired," he said eventually, without conviction. Something held him back from sharing the truth. He didn't want to mention anything and sound stupid. He didn't want to get his mentor's hopes up either. Besides, no one had ever gotten stuck in the Void before, right? The Manifesto said so on page 45, at least. The Carter in the Void had only been fifteen-years-old, too. He couldn't have fatheredTitus.

So he rose, bidding Alexander goodnight, and shut himself in his room.

Caleb slept, but rest was far from him. Back and forth Caleb had gone for hours, stuck and confused about the implication of Titus' relationship to Carter in the Void. Caleb remained contemplative and quiet as he munched on the crisp bacon Alexander fried the next morning. His thoughts bubbled to the surface and Caleb blurted, "What if your brother is alive?"

Unperturbed by Caleb's sudden question, Alexander only raised his eyebrows.

"It's possible. People don't just disappear. Timewalkers especially."

"Oh," Caleb said. He took a bite of eggs.

"Rhea told me about the possibility of him being in the Void." Alexander merely took a sip of his coffee.

"But people don't get stuck in the Void," Caleb countered.

"Ah," Alexander replied folding his hands together. "Therein lies a dilemma. The truth, or a falsity for the sake of calm."

Caleb watched Alexander, whose hand hovered between his plate and mouth.

"Rhea is a woman driven by grief more than anything. She tries to do the right thing."

"There was someone in my dream..." Caleb started. "Like, the one when I was injected with the Dream Toxin."

Alexander nodded to urge him on.

"His name was Carter. He looked exactly like Titus."

The consistent light in Alexander's features dimmed. It was so small, the shift, Caleb might not have noticed had their eyes not been locked. "Death is an absolute. It can't be changed once it happens."