In Your Eyes // Steve Rogers

59

It shouldn't have came as a surprise when I didn't drop into the jail cell. If anything, part of me expected it. Home was close, I felt that much, but I required one final stop before I made it there.

I dropped from who knows where, into who knows what, other than an empty void of spaciousness. I floated to a stop. My body was rotated until I was placed on my feet. I was standing, on what, I had no clue, considering all I could see was white fog sifting throughout a withering blue light.

My head fell into my hands. Breathing shakily, frustrated, I rubbed at my eyes, then ran my hands through my hair. I sat down, for a second, but decided to lay down. I was tired.

"My love, is that you?" asked a disembodied voice.

"Is it?" I asked flatly.

The voice wheezed, struggling to continue speaking. It was croaky, as if it hadn't been used in decades. It whispered, "Clara Blake..."

"That's my name, don't wear it out," I sighed. "And who am I speaking to?"

"I do not know. I have no name. I know you, however, you may not know of my existence."

"Yes, because that's reassuring," I said, a little unsettled. I was too comfortable to move, let alone get defensive about the mysterious voice.

"After twenty-seven years of silence from you, I found your voice once more. It is I that heard your cries. It is I that granted your wish..."

I sat up, no longer able to ignore the odd voice. "What are you talking about?"

"Understanding how time works, especially involving a loved one, is vital to your quest. The time will come when all decisions involving time will be in your hands... It was important you see how the smallest actions, the smallest words, can impact a future."

Blue failed to illuminate the void. Instead, it morphed into a calming yellow tone, almost resembling a sunrise. I reached to twirl the white wisps above my head.

"Me? Going on a quest? Evolving?" I scoffed. "You're out of your mind."

"This is no joke. You must take my words to heart. Recently, I've felt the usage of my counterparts. Someone is on a hunt for us. If I am found by his hand, and not yours..."

"Bad things?" I asked.

"Terrible things," agreed the voice.

I bit my lip. "So, say I believe you, say all this talk is true..."

"You must find me, my love."

"Why are you doing that? Why do you keep calling me your love?" I asked.

"All the years I have been alive... All the years I have shouted hopelessly into the void... You, Clara Blake, were the single being to answer my calls. I touched your mind twenty-seven years ago. I graced you with your abilities. Minutes ago, when I reached your mind again, I began your evolution."

I watched a tiny portal dance through the gaps of my fingers. I stared at it in discontent. With every finger, it grew smaller, until it vanished violently in a poof of blue dust.

"I spent decades of my life believing I was a monster because you gave me these powers. I endured physical torture because people didn't trust my mind. I was forced through a life that I never wanted, because of your doing," I recited slowly, menacingly.

"You were chosen because you can handle it. Your abilities were a gift, my love, a blessing," assured the voice.

I shook my head. "Tell me where I can find you."

"I know not where I am. I know not if I am even on your world, my love. I can tell you, if we are close, you will feel it. When I am in use, you will feel it," it said. It paused. "Clara, we are now also together on a mental state. Your thoughts are mine. You cannot destroy me to end your evolution. To break, damage, or poison our bond now would mean the end to you and I."

"But why?" I asked desperately.

"I have waited twenty-seven years for you to hear my voice again. It is time you become more, as I planned for you, when I granted you with your abilities. Our connection is strong, but you only gain my full power once we touch..."

"You told me you didn't have a body," I said, confused.

"I am not a person. Some may refer to me a gem... Perhaps, a stone... My name rests in your hands, my love, and I eagerly await for the day that you and I, at last, meet in person. Then, and only then, will the gauges in our souls settle for good..."

I didn't have to wait long for clarification. Seconds after the voice finished croaking out the end of the sentence, a deep burning in my chest began. A green glow shined from within. I gasped for air, clutching at my shirt, scratching to rid the burning.

Problem was, it wasn't a pain that could be cured. My cure lay within touching the so-called gem. To do so, I had to find it first.