EDEN

EDEN - Chapter 2

Lexine.

That was the name of the woman who drove a knife into Stanley's hand like it was just another day in the office.

Once the knife was removed and his injury had healed, Stanley's first instinct was to run out of that office and try to find someone who could help him. If it wasn't for his trembling legs, he might have made an attempt, but he had other reasons to stay seated.

His blood had turned into a mysterious black essence, and based on how calmly she was observing it, Lexine was likely expecting it to happen. If he wanted to find out why and how this was happening to him, it seemed that he would have to get his answers from her, so he remained seated.

Stanley stared at his unfamiliar hands again, still shaking from his recent trauma. He swallowed his nerves before he dared speaking up to her again. "What...was that?"

"Rapid sublimation and evaporation of the human body," she adjusted her glasses with a thumb and index finger, "That substance you saw is called 'Shade', it's what happens to you whenever you're injured. If any part of you is separated from your body, the parts will turn to Shade and converge on the majority to make you whole again."

Stanley blinked, keeping an eye on her as he struggled to understand what she had explained to him.

"Look, I'm sorry for tricking you with Simon Says of all things, but it was the quickest way to test if you had the ability or not."

Stanley blinked again, amazed that she could justify her actions with such a straight face. Then again, it's not like he would've gone along with intentionally hurting himself if she had asked. "M-Miss Lexine, I—"

"Just Lexine is fine," she corrected, waving a hand dismissively.

"Lexine," Stanley repeated, getting a feel for her name. He made sure she was looking him in the eyes when he asked in a trembling voice, "What the hell is happening to me?"

Lexine reached into one of her desk drawers. "Now that," after a bit of searching, she pulled out a fancy decanter half-filled with an amber liquid, "Is a tricky question to answer." She placed the crystalline vessel atop her desk before going back for a pair of matching cups. "Bourbon?"

"What?" Of all the things she could have offered to help ease his stress, hard liquor was one of the last things he was expecting. "N-No thanks. I'm not—"

"Not what? Old enough to drink?" she finished for him. "You're going to be twenty-one within a year, right? I'm not gonna get technical over a few months."

A mix of fear and confusion kept him anchored in his chair. Even if she hadn't just stabbed him through the hand, he wasn't about to voluntarily drink with the person who was keeping him captive and withholding crucial information. Besides, he could smell the contents from where he was sitting, and it reminded him of rubbing alcohol and nail-polish remover.

"Well, the offer stands if you change your mind." Lexine removed the rubber-lined stopper from the container and poured herself a drink, one that nearly reached the rim of the glass. She put the stopper back into place and took a few hearty gulps from her glass before speaking. "So," she brought the cup back down half-empty. "where should we start?"

"Can we start with why I look and feel different, or how I got weird shadow powers?" Revisiting the gray sweatsuit he was wearing, Stanley pouted at his outfit. "Or why I'm wearing these clothes?"

Lexine took another quick drink from her glass and set it down atop his file like a coaster. "Lucky for you, I have something that should answer all three."

She rose from her seat and sauntered around her desk. Stanley flinched thinking he was her target again, but instead she approached a metal cart in the corner of the room with a television sitting on top. It was one of the older TVs with the chunky back and bulbous screen, hooked up to a DVD player resting in the bottom tray. As Lexine wheeled it out of its corner, Stanley noticed she was wearing gray cargo pants and black combat boots. For someone with such a neat and formal office, she dressed more like some barfly punk.