In the dimly lit room, only Trevor and the mysterious blob faced each other in tense silence.
Trevor waited patiently for answers, his heart pounding steadily in his chest. He had so many questions swirling in his mind, but he held his tongue, giving the blob time to prepare itself. After a long pause, the blob finally smiled, an oddly human expression that sent a shiver down Trevor's spine. It cleared its throat dramatically, just like a real person would, and began to speak.
"Go on," Trevor said firmly, his voice steady despite the anxiety building inside him. "Explain what happened to Alvin and why he's in this state."
The blob's smile widened slightly before it replied in a calm, almost casual tone. "After you performed that little divination this morning, you lost almost half of your lifespan. I needed to replenish what was taken from you, and that is where your friend Alvin comes in." The blob slowly turned its gaze toward Alvin's motionless body, which stood frozen like a statue in the corner of the room.
Trevor's eyes widened in shock and disbelief. "Wait… so you're stealing his lifespan?" he demanded, his voice rising with accusation.
"Not stealing," the blob corrected smoothly. "More like borrowing. He gives me a portion of his lifespan, and in return, I grant him powerful future abilities that he could only dream of."
Trevor clenched his fists, trying to process the information. "So you're from that blob I met earlier today?"
The blob's expression shifted instantly to one of irritation. Its form rippled slightly as it snapped back, "No! Don't you dare compare me to that pathetic creature. I am a split-off from him—a more refined version, if you will. My name is Omar."
Trevor didn't care about the blob's useless ranting or its bruised ego. He turned away and walked over to Alvin, placing both hands gently but firmly on his friend's head. As soon as his palms made contact, he felt a faint but clear connection spark in his mind. It was like touching a live wire—subtle energy flowed between them. Trevor could sense that Alvin was still there, deep inside, and that he was alright, just trapped in some bizarre, suspended state for now.
"How do I snap him out of it?" Trevor asked urgently, looking back at Omar.
"You can't," Omar replied flatly, with no hint of sympathy. "He is stuck like this until I have extracted all the lifeforce you need from his body."
"Would he still be alive by then?" Trevor asked, his voice cracking with desperation. The thought of losing his best friend because of his own actions made his stomach twist painfully.
"That depends," Omar said indifferently. "If he can handle the sudden, massive blow to his lifespan, he will survive. If not… then he would die."
"What?" Trevor exclaimed, his anxiety quickly turning to panic. "You have to end this right away! Stop whatever you're doing!"
"I cannot," Omar responded coolly. "You just have to wait and see if he survives. There is no shortcut here."
Defeated and helpless, Trevor sat down heavily on the edge of his bed. His shoulders slumped as the weight of the situation pressed down on him. There was nothing more he could do than sit in silence and wait—however long that painful wait might be. The minutes stretched into hours, and every second felt like an eternity as worry gnawed at his thoughts. He replayed the morning's events over and over, wondering if his desperate divination had been worth risking his friend's life.
***********
Meanwhile, several miles away, Devante waited patiently inside the sleek hover car that floated just a few meters above the ground. The vehicle hummed softly, its anti-gravity engines keeping it perfectly steady in the air. The city lights below twinkled like distant stars, but Devante's mind was far from peaceful.
With a soft mechanical click, the passenger door opened, and Emilia slid inside, her face tense and focused.
"So, did you find out why I couldn't figure out that explosion before it happened?" Emilia asked, her voice sharp with frustration.
Devante didn't speak at first. Instead, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a small, ominous black box. He handed it to her without a word.
Emilia took the box, opened it carefully, and immediately let out a string of curses under her breath. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at the contents.
"How the hell does someone like that get their hands on something like this?" Emilia muttered, shaking her head.
"I don't know," Devante admitted quietly. "Do you think someone like the black market dealer Edward is back on the prowl again?"
Emilia sighed deeply, closing the box with a snap. "I don't know. There are too many mysteries piling up today. Nothing is adding up."
After a moment of heavy silence, she added, "Devante, send the forensic unit to the area for a proper investigation, will you? We need every detail examined."
Devante nodded once, his expression serious, and tapped a command into the car's console. The hover car smoothly accelerated, gliding forward as they drove off into the night, the weight of unanswered questions hanging between them.
**********
**TWO DAYS LATER**
After two treacherous days of agonizing waiting, filled with sleepless nights and constant worry, Alvin finally snapped out of his frozen state.
The moment the paralysis broke, his body went limp, and he collapsed heavily onto the ground with a thud.
"What just happened?" Alvin groaned, his voice weak and disoriented. "I feel so light-headed… like my brain is floating."
Trevor, who had barely left his friend's side, finally breathed a deep sigh of relief. The knot of fear in his chest loosened slightly when he saw that Alvin was okay—at least for now. He rushed over, gently helped his friend back onto the bed, and brought over the warm breakfast he had prepared earlier, hoping it would help restore some strength.
"Dude, what happened to me?" Alvin asked, rubbing his temples as he tried to piece together his scattered thoughts. "I just have this huge blank space in my memory. It's like someone erased part of my brain."
"So you don't remember anything that happened?" Trevor asked carefully, watching his friend's reactions closely.
"Not that I rec—" Alvin started, but he stopped mid-sentence. His hands suddenly flew to his head as he began clutching it tightly, his face twisting in sudden, intense pain.
Trevor immediately panicked, his heart racing again. "Blob! What is going on?" he demanded silently, directing the question to the blob inside his mind.
"Firstly, it is Omar," the voice corrected with mild annoyance. "And second, he is now properly assimilating with the powers and memories transferred from me. If everything goes successfully, you should soon be able to speak to him mentally through me."
Alvin continued to clutch his head, screaming in pure agony as waves of pain coursed through his body. His eyes rolled back and turned a milky white, and bloody tears began streaming down his cheeks, just like Trevor had experienced days earlier. The sight was horrifying and heartbreaking at the same time.
Then, after what felt like an eternity of torment, there was sudden, eerie silence.
Alvin collapsed limply to the ground once more, his body completely still.
"Alvin, are you okay?" Trevor asked, his voice trembling with fear as he knelt beside his friend.
"What did you do to me?" Alvin whispered softly at first, his body still whimpering from the aftershocks of pain.
Then his voice exploded with raw anger and confusion. "What did you do to me?!?"
Without warning, Alvin swung a powerful punch straight into Trevor's belly. The impact carried inhuman strength, sending Trevor flying backward across the room. He crashed hard against the wall, the breath knocked out of him.
Alvin froze, staring at his own fist in complete shock. He knew for a fact that he had never possessed that kind of raw power before. His hand trembled slightly as he processed what had just happened.
"Wha… what was that?" Alvin asked, his voice filled with awe and terror.
Trevor coughed painfully as he struggled to push himself up from the floor, wincing at the sharp ache in his stomach. "Your new ability," he managed to say, offering a weak, pained smile despite everything.
Alvin looked down at his hands again, flexing them slowly. A faint, mysterious glow pulsed briefly under his skin before fading away. The room fell into a heavy silence as both friends tried to comprehend the dangerous new reality they now shared.