Though he was finally relaxed again, he couldn’t go back to sleep. The words from the dream, as well as the memory of the strange light, began to run his mind. His subconsciousness was a persistent one. Depriving him of even a moment of solace or reprieve from its perpetual onslaught of millions upon millions of unwanted thoughts. Caiden got up and went to the bathroom to wash his face. The cold water gave him a jolt of refreshing energy.
As he dried his face, he noticed a stinging sensation near his left wrist where his holo-watch was. Hmm, must have had it on too tight. Lemme take this off and run some cold water on my wrist, he thought. He unbuckled the watch, but oddly enough it didn’t want to come off. Man, that thing is really stuck on there, he thought. His attempt to peel the watch off proved to be surprisingly difficult. He gave it one more tug, this time with more force.
The imprint of the watch on his skin was deep, but that wasn’t the issue. The outline in his skin where the watch was, was glowing a turquoise color.
“What the…” he exclaimed, before he quieted down so he wouldn’t wake Yvora.
His knees were weak. He suddenly became nauseous. He closed the bathroom door and sat on the edge of the tub in utter disbelief. His hand felt fine. He wriggled his fingers; all was good. He moved his left arm in a circular motion. That felt normal too.
He panicked to himself some more before he exhaled to release the excess nervous energy. Okay. Maybe I’m still buzzed, or tired or whatever. Maybe if I shower, breathe in the steam, and calm down, that will help, he desperately thought to himself. He undressed, turned on the shower, and climbed in. The steam filled up the entire bathroom. Caiden stood with his head tilted toward the shower head, eyes closed. He controlled his breathing; slow inhale, slow exhale, positive thoughts, repeat. He did this for five minutes before he heard the door open. Yvora got into the shower with him. She embraced him from behind and kissed his back.
“Morning, gorgeous,” she said.
“Hey,” he replied. He adjusted his left hand so that it was out of Yvora’s view.
She gently turned him around so that they were face to face. Her hair was wet and slicked back. Her skin was glowing and moist from the steam. She was too much to resist. She took a half step back, arms still around Caiden, and looked him up and down.
“Damn,” she said with the type of passion in her voice that drove Caiden mad. They kissed as the steamy water showered them both. “Thank you, by the way.”
“For what?” he asked.
“I dunno. For being you,” she said hesitantly. “I mean, I’ve had my fair share of relationships. And every guy hurt me in the end. And I could always tell that they were the type of person that would hurt me before they did it. And yet I still went on with those relationships. Stupid, right? I guess I was looking for something in them that would never be there.”
“What makes me so different?” Caiden asked.
“There’s an air about you. There’s a story your eyes tell me. I dunno how I know, but I just do. I can tell you’re a good person. And I wanna know more about you,” she said confidently.
“Thanks, I guess,” Caiden said sheepishly.
“There’s no guessing. Believe it!” she countered.
He smiled. He was thankful for Yvora in more ways than he could’ve imagined. Even though she didn’t know his life story, she saw goodness him. Her confidence in him gave him a reinforced sense of identity. It gave him the conviction to be proud of who he was, despite his background. It was empowering. Despite his emotional high, he was still lost in doubt. As he pulled her closer, he lifted his left wrist. Still glowing huh? he thought.
“Hey, I’m gonna make something to eat. Anything you want?” she asked.
“No, anything’s fine,” he said.
“Ooh, I like that. Not picky at all. Makes things easier for me. Just so you know, I’m an awesome chef,” she said happily.
“Man, you can do just about anything, huh?” he said.
“When I put my mind to it,” she said. She smiled, kissed him on the cheek and got out of the shower.
He finished shortly after, dried himself off, and got ready to head out. He put his holo-watch back on to cover his wrist. I’ll worry about that later, he thought. He headed to the kitchen to eat with Yvora. After an hour of relaxing with her, Caiden geared up to leave.
“Leaving so soon?” she asked.
“Yeah, gotta run. Got some stuff to take care of,” he replied.
“That’s cool. Speaking of which, I almost forgot I have rehearsals later today! Shit. Duty calls, I guess,” she said.
“I guess so,” he replied. “You wanna do this again sometime soon?”
A big smile crept across her face. “Excuse me, mister, but I coulda sworn you were asking me out on another date,” she said humorously.
“That would be correct.” He grinned.
“Aye, Aye, captain,” she said as she saluted.
“Cool,” Caiden said.
She walked him downstairs to see him off, and gave him a long, lingering kiss.
“Text me when you get home, okay?” she said.
“I will,” he replied. Caiden hopped on his hypercycle and took off.
Heading back to Darkside was like any other ride. Despite the sprawling cityscape and all its danger and corruption, riding around town was somehow therapeutic for him. He was cruising when he felt a jolt of stinging pain in his left wrist. He could have sworn he saw a flash of light. He pulled over to a rest stop on the
