But I need you to trust me.
My heart pounds so loudly I can hear it in my ears. But my thumbs still move in agreement before my brain processes what’s being asked of me. I need a little tit for tat.
Eris:
Are you always the same person?
The cursor blinks. Once. Twice. Three times.
Locke:
What do you think?
Eris:
I think there’s more than one of you.
Locke:
What if I told you that makes me more real? Not less.
We want to be everything for you, but I need to know you won’t run when we tell you.
My pulse jumps.
Eris:
That’s not normal.
Locke:
You don’t need normal. You need someone who knows when you’re about to cry or lose your mind… Just from the way you pause before speaking.
My vision blurs a little at that. Only for a second, though. I wipe it away with my sleeve, and frown at my phone like it’s offended me.
The final message comes like a whisper through the static.
Locke:
You asked me once what I was…
Here’s the truth.
I’m part of the ones who choose you.
And we’ll choose you every time.
Iwake up too early.
The kind of early that feels like punishment… Where it’s eerily dark outside, and the air is just cold enough to make getting out of bed a mistake.
I stare at the ceiling too long, wondering if I had imagined the photos I got yesterday. One can hope they’re fake, but they aren’t from a dream. They’re still on my phone, seared into my mind.
I haven’t answered.
And he hasn’t sent any more messages.
Daniel, I mean.
