Cognitive Deviance

26. Insomniac

You're safe, she reassured herself as she used her piece to unlock the main door. You're safe.

Finally approaching the coffee table, she carefully leaned down and wrapped her fingers around the drawer handle before looking over at the light switch on the wall. She couldn't remember the last time she'd used it thanks to her preference for her apartment's voice-activated controls. "All apartment lights, on," she whispered, but nothing happened. "All apartment lights, on," she repeated again slightly louder.

She tensed up as the light switch beeped several times, and a series of small holographic letters trailed across the wall. Her hand remained on the drawer handle, her palms growing sweaty. Once the message had finished filling the small projected screen on the wall, Margo knew the night wouldn't be working in her favor.

ELECTRICAL INTERFERENCE DETECTED DUE TO ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS. VOICE ACTIVATION TEMPORARILY DISABLED FOR 30 MINUTES.

Margo groaned under her breath. She returned her sight to the her hand, still holding onto the handle with a grip of iron. She took another deep breath as she dragged the drawer out of its hiding place, the sound of wood scraping against wood bringing her discomfort. Margo clenched her eyes shut as she continued pulling, not knowing what consequences her actions would have next.

Almost...there...

Margo heard the sound of glass shattering in her bedroom.

She froze in place, her hand finally fitting inside the drawer. She felt the grip of her Fatemaker, and she carefully pulled it out, repeating the process with her car key. She was looking back at her bedroom, the lights from outside briefly flashing through her room, and suddenly her entire apartment grew significantly colder. Goosebumps rippled across her skin, and once she successfully retrieved her gun and key, she dropped to the floor, hugging herself tightly as the room transformed into an icy trap.

Please...just go away, she wanted to scream at her intruder.

She could hear footsteps back in her room.

The frigid air penetrating down to her bones, Margo carefully maneuvered around the coffee table, remaining as close to the floor as possible. She activated the silencer on her Fatemaker as she reached the other side of the table. Once she'd emerged her head, she had a perfect view of the path back into her bedroom. And if she was lucky, the intruder.

And if her plan to apprehend the intruder failed, she had two other targets in mind to reach: her shoes and her coat.

Two more steps broke the silence. Margo could tell they were at the bedroom door.

She leaped from the floor, her Fatemaker in front of her. "F-F-Freeze!" she ordered with a stutter. "By order of Psychwatch!"

Her ThoughtControl piece's lens activated, casting that familiar blue glow on the area in front of her. Her bedroom was still pitch black as well as the rest of the apartment outside of the light's range. The only lights managing to break through to her bedroom were infrequent flashes of the city lights every time the curtains parted in the wind, illuminating her room with various disorienting colors, like alarms alerting her of the chaos this unwelcome guest would unleash upon her.

The Scan didn't pick up her visitor's identity, and all she could see was their silhouette. It appeared to be an adult man wearing a jacket of some kind, maybe a suit. His hair was a wild mess of spikes. His hands were coiled up into fists. Each step he took was a loud, daunting clap against the floor.

"Sir!" Margo urged again, her finger on the trigger. "Please cooperate! We can find you therapy of some kind to treat whatever conditions you may be dealing with. Y-Y-You just need access to the P3S."