Later on that night after returning home from church, the house was quiet, wrapped in the slow breath of summer midnight as the thunderstorm roared outside as if creating its' own thunderous pounding symphony.
The stove light glowed faintly in the kitchen, painting a soft golden haze across the hallway floor.
Nyx awakened throughout the night stumbling up out of her bed with her sleepy eyes as she rubbed them, like usual she needed to use the restroom.
She stopped halfway down the hall.
Something was off.
The air seemed..fuzzy ahead of her, just barely, like heat rising off pavement, the space seemed to blur and ripple.
Nyx frowned, tilting her head. "...Huh?"
She blinked once. Twice. The fuzziness didn't go away. It just hovered there...a hazy distortion against the light.
CONTROL ROOM
A flicker on the monitor. The agent sat forward, eyes narrowing at his screen.
The feed glitched, showing Nyx staring right at him.
His heart skipped. "No fucking way..." he whispered as he sat his cold coffee down.
He reached for the analog control, fingers tense, ready to hit disperse.
HALLWAY
Nyx stared, her breathing quiet and steady. The fuzziness pulsed faintly, like it was watching her back.
Then, softly. .she spoke.
"I can see you."
The agent froze as lightning crackled outside.
The headset slipped halfway off his ear.
"...What?"
The silence sat between them at least 15 seconds it seemed, the thunder rumbling as lightning illuminated her from behind from her window.
Then suddenly, Nyx broke into a run, straight through the distortion.
The agent flinched, slamming his hand toward the console as his eyes widened his breath caught in his throat.
But instead of alarms, there was laughter.
"I told you I can see you, Luna!" she giggled, scooping up her doll from the end of the hall.
"You were hiding again!"
She walked into the bathroom, humming to herself.
The agent stared at the screen for a long second before exhaling hard, his pulse hammering.
He let out a shaky chuckle, running both hands through his hair.
"Fucking hell, kid... you're gonna give me a heart attack."
He leaned back, closing his eyes for a moment.
When Nyx came out of the bathroom, she flicked off the light and turned toward her room her small feet pitter pattering down the hall.
As she stepped inside she looked over her shoulder, glancing back subtly.
The door clicked shut behind her.
The agent leaned back in his chair, exhaling softly.
The monitors flickered, the hum of the station filling the air.
He logged the event, fingers tapping across the keys with mechanical rhythm:
"Subject 324B: visual anomaly, unconfirmed breach. No escalation required."
Then, rubbing the bridge of his nose, he shut his eyes for a moment and let the room fade into that thin border between waking and sleep.
Morning came.
The soft crackle of bacon, the clatter of dishes, the faint sound of a girl laughing.
The agent blinked awake, eyes drawn to the feed.
Nyx's family kitchen filled the screen, sunlight spilling across the counter as her mother flipped pancakes. Nyx's feet pattered against the wood floor as she darted by, lunchbox swinging in her hand.
"Morning, kid," the agent muttered absently, watching her bolt toward the door.
Her mother's car pulled out of the driveway. A few minutes later, the school gates came into view.
"Hey man, any update on your little troublemaker?" a voice called behind him.
The agent turned to see his colleague grinning, cup of coffee in hand.
"Nah. Last night she scared the hell out of me, thought she looked straight through the feed."
He chuckled, shaking his head.
"Just my paranoia, I guess."
The two left their posts, walking toward the cafeteria.
As they joined the breakfast line, his colleague leaned in. "You know today's Gateway, right?"
The agent frowned. "Gateway?"
"Yeah, it's that development assessment they run through the schools. Flags any anomalies, behavioral spikes, emotional pattern shifts. Sends it straight to our side."
"Right," the agent said slowly, watching the coffee pour into his cup.
"Gateway."
The agent knew he couldn't miss this, if last-night truly was an anomaly, then gateway would surely catch it.
YOU ARE READING
Code
Mystery / ThrillerA world built on Happiness, Thrive, and progression..or so the masses thought. A world inside of a world truly, low below on the outer skirts of Earth unknown to all that remain ignorant, lie agents planted around monitoring the world as it is. Cont...
