VAIN | Inside the Universe

Chapter Four • Bag and Burn

N E W Y O R K, N Y

Sleep had become nothing more than a distant memory. That became clear as I lie wide awake when the first bird chose to rise, the chirp serving as a different kind of alarm.

My mind has taken me someplace else. It is almost fully detached from its body, yet my actions come with a power fully charged. It's the beginning, I suppose, of the full consumption. There's no fight to be had because it knows I won't resent it. It is greedily aware that it is welcome and here it will thrive. Nonetheless, a deep sigh leaves from the bottom of my stomach. Despite all the good it offers, darkness is still restless. That I know all too well.

I throw my legs to one side of the bed at the sound of someone stirring outside. Burying my face in my hands, I take the moment to try and find some kind of silence. Just a second where a thought can not be processed or the brain has nothing to retain.

I don't need anymore than a minute to realize its futility. With the burden of misplaced anger infusing my every step, I hastily make my way to the kitchen and start to make a cup of tea. Isn't it funny how the quieter things are, the louder they scream?

I catch a glimpse of Vincent in the corner of my eye before I reach for a second cup. It seems he hadn't slept either considering how routinely he blows through each burner phone. Stacks of paper coated the entire tabletop, marked with his horrid handwriting that he adds to every three seconds or so.

"I thought you would have slept later." He murmurs, his head never rising from his work.

"That would have been the easier route," I grab the two cups and place one on the paper he was manically writing onto before seating myself across from him, "and it's as if to that I am immune."

He gives a little huff of a laugh before dropping his pen to take the cup in hand. He leans back in his seat to look me in the eye, finally taking just a second to himself. 

"He left a few minutes ago." He takes a sip from the cup, choosing to keep his eyes down after he puts it back on the table. "I thought he would at two when I heard him. And again at four. But he stayed. Until he didn't."

I pick up some of his papers and look each of them over with insistent focus, the meaning of the words hiding in some distant thought. "I hope he sends a postcard."

I could feel his stare burn the top of my head. Whatever face he was waiting to give me was not one I wanted to see. With that, I toss him one of the papers in my hand that may or may not have any meaning, giving him only a quick glance as he takes it. "Let's get to work."

For the next hour, we discussed the physics behind the tesseract and the entity inside the gods scepter. We agreed that the only way the two would be attracting each other is if they are of the same origin. In other words, they are compatible in a way that's meant for something greater. To scale that power, though, is nearly impossible. 

"There's no way that one or two entities could be put together. It's not viable unless we want to utterly destroy the entire planet."

"The magnetism between them is undeniable. It's as if they want to congregate together," Vincent starts, "and it's possible there could be more than just the two we know of."

"If that's true, they will start to surface. These two have shown up at basically the same time."

We both take a moment to think, sinking ourselves back into our seats. I take the last sip from my cup and meet his eyes with a grave thought that I have already answered myself.

"What does that mean for us? As a whole?"

"Depends on who you ask, I presume. More so on who puts them together."