1. Macabre Marmalade (COMPLETED; EDITING)

I (1.1)

LAST EDIT: 04.03.2019.

     Todor Corpus hated jam with a passion. It was not a dislike he was born with, on the contrary. As a child, he adored the fruity dessert a bit too much. But that changed in the seven years he was forced to work in the jam factory. It wasn't the work Todor wanted to do, he had a dream job once and world wide web still existed. But the world changed around Todor and it wasn't the type of change that happens gradually over time.His world changed overnight.

     Seven years ago Todor was returning home after work one Friday night. He had a job he loved and enjoyed. Co-owner of a game studio that was working on a title that will reinvigorate the MMO genre. As a cherry on top, he had the entire weekend to level up a new character in the latest expansion of old time favorite game. He called it 'scouting the competition' but deep down, he was just excited to play the game.

     First signs that something was wrong showed on the horizon as he squinted through a windshield. Violet lighting started flashing in the distance, their thunderous roar assaulting Todor's ears a few seconds later. He slowed his vintage Renault Four to the crawl, gawking at the bizarre sight. But after ten minutes nothing more happened, so he brought the engine to life and drove on. After a short ride, he turned into his driveway still unnerved by the unusual weather.

     Just as the rumble of the engine died the purple fog surrounded him. It came from nowhere bringing with it a hum that forced Todor to clamp his palms on to his ears with all his might. The car started to vibrate as if it would fall apart any moment and a strong mixture of smells spread inside of the vehicle. Todor tried to ignore the odors but soon was overwhelmed by them. At first, he couldn't distinguish what they were but as the unreal moment stretched on he started to recognize them. There were three different smells that somehow intermingled but managed to stay distinctive. The faint smell you could coming from a bag of ice or when going to an ice rink. The second one was the coppery smell of a penny or fresh blood. The third one was the sharp smell of ozone after a thunderstorm. Before Todor could find the source of the intermingling fragrances both the hum and the fog disappeared as if they were never there. Todor was left breathless and shaking, clutching the steering wheel and staring at his house. It was still there, and the yard together with a part of the street was still standing, but the entire neighborhood changed. And as it turned out so did the entire world.

     Years passed after that event. The phenomenon that came to be known as "The Knitting of the Realms." The change was so big, so profound that Todor refused to believe it. He turned inward, ignoring the world full of new wonders and held firmly to the things he lost. Like the Internet.

     "Nothing of use here either," he announced to the empty room, flinging a book across the table. An orange tomcat that sat on a cupboard looked at him and blinked once.

     "I don't think I can find the way, Mihos," Todor told the cat. The feline just yawned at him. "I don't think I can bring the Internet back on my own."

     The cat was not originally his. It belonged to his neighbor, an old lady that baked cookies which tasted like dirt. But that was before the change. When the Knitting happened the pet was in his yard and it transitioned together with his entire home and yard. The enterprising tomcat found himself without a master so he took a liking to Todor.

     But as much as the world changed some things were all the same. He had to work for the living. Todor glanced at the large clock above the fireplace. It was almost time for his shift. He groaned inwardly at the reminder. Letting out a huge sigh he grabbed the remote control and turned on the TV.

     Screen lit up and an attractive woman in her early twenties held a microphone in front of a pale man who wore a white suit with a black tie. The man grinned at something the interviewer said, flashing two unnaturally large fangs to the camera.