World Apocalypse: Apocalust

Chapter 38: Chapter XXXVIII - Changes

Sage finally found the bathroom after opening almost every door in the hallway. One had turned out to be a closet, while another revealed a set of stairs leading down into a finished basement.

She had flicked the light on for only a second, just long enough to catch a glimpse of the space below. Unlike the hardwood floors of the first floor, the stairs and basement floor were covered in a beige carpet, giving the lower level a noticeably different feel.

After stepping inside, she closed the door behind her and looked up.

The room looked as though it had been cleaned fairly recently. Everything appeared to be in its proper place, and a faint scent of cleaning chemicals lingered beneath the warmer aroma of amber wood, giving the room a surprisingly pleasant smell. The scent matched the room’s appearance, which was just as clean and well-kept.

Just a few paces ahead sat the bathtub, with the shower positioned to its right. A pane of clear glass separated the shower from the rest of the room, meeting the surrounding walls at a right angle. Sage barely spared either fixture a glance before turning toward the left.

A mirror hung above the sink, and she stopped in front of it.

For a few seconds, Sage stared at her reflection, taking in the face she had kept hidden behind the scarf for most of the day. Then, almost instinctively, her hands rose to her cheeks.

She rubbed her cheeks gently, yet the warmth remained. She frowned and rubbed them again, this time a little more firmly, as though she could somehow scrub the embarrassment away.

Nothing. If anything, her cheeks felt even warmer.

Her expression flattened as she stared at her reflection in the mirror.

"Seriously?" she muttered.

Sage exhaled through her nose, her fingers lingering against her cheeks before eventually dropping to her sides. She turned her head slightly, as though hoping the change in angle might somehow make the redness disappear.

It didn’t.

Her mind unwillingly replayed the moment from earlier.

I think it’s cute.

She could still hear Noah’s voice saying it, followed almost immediately by his frantic correction.

"Cool."

Sage stared at her reflection for another moment, her expression slowly softening as the faintest hint of a smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

"Idiot."

The smile was quickly suppressed. She refused to give herself the satisfaction.

Her eyes drifted toward the scarf she’d left folded beside the sink. Maybe she’d leave it off for a while at least until she figured out why one stupid compliment had managed to make her cheeks feel like they were on fire.

That was what she told herself, anyway.

She turned on the faucet and watched as a stream of cold water rushed into the sink before vanishing down the drain. Cupping her hands beneath it, she splashed the water over her face. Slowly, the warmth in her cheeks began to fade, taking some of the awkwardness with it.

Then she felt it: a faint sensation.

It was fleeting—so brief that she almost dismissed it as her imagination—but for the smallest fraction of a second, Sage felt as though something was watching her. Not from the mirror. Not from behind her.

All around

It was as though she were standing on a runway beneath a barrage of flashing cameras, every angle leaving her feeling completely exposed.

Her movements stopped.

A strange awareness settled over her, leaving the hairs along her arms standing on end. Yet before she could make sense of it, the sensation faded, replaced by something entirely different.

Warmth.

Not the warmth of her skin, but a quiet sense of security that settled over her like an invisible blanket. The bathroom, which had moments ago felt like nothing more than a room she’d wandered into, suddenly seemed different. Safer. As though the walls themselves had become a barrier between her and everything beyond them.

A place where nothing could reach her.

Almost like a sanctuary.

Sage stared at her reflection, water dripping from her chin.

"The heck was that?"

She shut off the faucet and wiped the remaining water from her face before reaching for the door. The moment she stepped into the hallway, the strange sensation was gone. She made her way toward the living room, but only a few steps in, she spotted Levy standing farther down the hall, his attention directed toward the kitchen.

He glanced over as she approached.

Sage slowed.

"Did you feel that?"

Levy’s expression shifted into a wry smile.

"Feel that?"

He turned his head slightly toward the kitchen where she had last seen Noah.

"Oh, I felt that alright."

After he said that, a nagging feeling settled in Sage’s gut, quietly insisting that whatever she’d just experienced had something to do with him. She walked toward Levy, slowing as she neared him before turning to see what had caught his attention.

In this case, it wasn’t a what but a who.

Noah had been maintaining eye contact with Levy before Sage reached them. But the moment she came into view, his gaze shifted from Levy to her. And just like that, she knew that feeling had been right.

His sclera were completely black, swallowing the whites of his eyes until they looked like two bottomless voids staring back at her. His irises had changed as well, no longer their usual amber but a stark, silver-white that seemed almost luminous against the darkness surrounding them. Only his pupils remained unchanged.

Sage’s eyes widened slightly.

For a moment, she stared at him, unable to tear her gaze away. Whatever had happened in that bathroom hadn’t been her imagination. And judging by Noah’s eyes, she was beginning to suspect that he was the reason.

After snapping back to his senses, Noah blinked, his expression briefly clouded with confusion as though he’d only just realized what he had been doing.

Then his eyes began to change.

The black slowly receded, retreating into whatever depths it had emerged from as the silver-white of his irises faded alongside it. Bit by bit, the familiar amber returned, settling naturally into place.

Within moments, his eyes looked completely normal again.

Almost as if nothing had happened.

Almost.

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