Page 8 of Black Hollow: Awakening

“Absolutely! I love that confidence.”

“You can count on it, Steve.”

Venom laughed loudly, and Danny immediately joined in. Will looked at him in surprise.

“You found that funny?” he asked, not seeing anything amusing in what Venom said.

“Sure. You didn’t?”

“No. I’m having a hard time listening to him, for some reason,” Will confessed. “He seems so… I don’t know. Loud? Ostentatious?”

Danny gave him a pitying look.

“I think the word you’re looking for is charismatic.”

Will didn’t think so. Usually, he hung on Venom’s every word, but this was a particularly bad interview. He forced himself to keep watching. It only got worse, so he finally stood up.

“Where are you going?” Dan asked, surprised.

“To get dressed.”

“You’re seriously skipping the Venom interview?”

“Yeah. He’s just not doing it for me. And his laugh is really grating.”

“What? His laugh is the best thing in the world! Totally infectious. Everybody loves it!”

Will generally loved it too, but somehow… Something just felt off today. Maybe it wasn’t Venom’s fault. Maybe he was just in a bad mood. He promised himself he’d check out the video again when he wasn’t so worried about his health, and then went to get ready.

Twenty minutes later, he was walking to school with Dan.

“Will,” Dan said at one point.

“What?”

“It’s creepy when you’re quiet like this.”

“I’m just scared,” Will confessed nervously.

“Of what?”

“Seriously? You wouldn’t be scared if half a day literally evaporated from your brain?”

“You had a headache. You probably went home, lay down, and that’s just how it went.”

“I can’t remember the moment I got into bed. Hell, I don’t even know when I got home. You think that’s normal?”

“No, man, it’s not normal. But it’s only happened once, okay? No need to panic.”

“Yes, there is. I had some kind of… dissociative fugue, and I’m afraid it might happen again.”

“A fu—what?”

“It’s like… a memory disorder. Triggered by stress or something. I don’t even know. I read about it real quick this morning when I was looking for something that fit my symptoms.”

“Honestly?”

“Yeah?”