The world was dark, and empty. I floated in a void, with no sensation, no light, no ability to move. I just existed for an unknown time, barely aware of where I was, who I was. I existed in nothing, I was nothing, I was one with the nothing. Time passed, and I barely noticed.
Gradually, sluggishly, like waking after a deep sleep, I became aware of a presence in the void. It was like another person, someone nearby, warm and close, as if I was being spooned. I reached out for them, but it was like trying to grasp smoke. Even trying to connect with the presence made it seem to fade away.
However, simply making the attempt made me gradually more aware of something else. I felt some kind of string, connecting me to things, things far more distant in the void. These strings were ephemeral, and delicate, as if they were made of the thinnest thread. Some of them seemed to vibrate as I noticed them, as if they were drawing my attention.
As carefully as I could, I took one of those threads and followed it. Whether I was motivated by curiosity, boredom, or a desire to find help, I couldn't say. The surreal situation had me acting on automatic, doing something just because I could do nothing but experiment. Seizing the thread did not even make it tremble- in whatever way I felt it was "delicate", it didn't seem in danger of snapping because I was touching it. I crawled along the thread through the nothingness, and gradually became aware of something else.
-------------------------
Derek still had his work buddy Campbell's tip out on him, the heavy envelope stuffed into the very bottom of his backpack. It was a pretty good cut this week, he knew from his own tip out, a thick stack of bills north of two hundred dollars. Working close to downtown meant good tips, and although front of house staff walked away with the majority of it, the boss still split out a percentage to keep the kitchen staff focused on the quality of their work.
He was standing down the street from Campbell's apartment, pretending to be standing at a bus stop while looking curiously at the large, boxy, matte black van standing right outside the door. Some kind of guys in black suits, the same kind of dudes who had turned up at work asking questions about Campbell, stood around, talking to each other and maintaining a perimeter. Derek figured that something strange was going on with his friend, that was why he bothered to come all the way down here after his shift, but this was on a whole 'nother level.
Derek's eyes went wide. Some guys in heavy body armour were coming out of the building now, each pair dragging a person with them. It was hard to tell at a distance, but one of them might have been Campbell, and the other seemed to be a woman with blue-green hair. Both of them looked to be unconscious, their limbs dangling, as they were hauled to the back of the van. What really piqued Derek's interest was what happened next. Two of the armoured guys went back into the building, and a few moments later returned with a long, black, bulky object that could only be a body bag.
"What the fuck did you get into?" he asked himself, shaking his head with wonder. He turned, and, trying to be unnoticed, slipped down the street in the direction of the subway. No chance that Derek was going to hang around and find out.
-------------------------
I recoiled from the thread in surprise. Why had it showed me Derek, of all people? And what exactly were these threads? The thought occurred to me that this might have something to do with my demesne, because damn near everything else happening to me was like that, but if that was the case, why did it show me somebody I haven't seen in person since before I inhreited the grimoire?
There was another thing about the vision that troubled me. I distantly remembered what happened in my apartment, and getting captured, but now I had evidence that they were taking Rosalie and I and bringing us somewhere else. And Rosalie had killed a person. A person who meant us harm, but still, that still sit well with me. I hadn't ever seen someone die before, and now, a girl I had just slept with, who seemed to want to keep being with me, had murdered someone trying to protect the both of us. I didn't think Rosalie made the wrong choice, killing him, but it was unsettling.
Further, Aya had never told me about any remote viewing powers I might have. Even more than any of the spells I received from the grimoire, just the information gathering capabilities of being able to spy on anything in my demesne would be incredible. Again, I felt that warm presence in the void with me, a reassurance that I wasn't alone. Did it have something to do with Aya? I couldn't tell, reaching out just made the presence fade again.
Now my curiosity was fully engaged. I couldn't reach or interact with the presence, and while I think I could find Derek's thread again, I felt a little bad spying on him without him knowing. But, I needed options, I needed a solution. Selecting another thread at random, I followed it, until once again my awareness shifted.
-------------------------
Mingze tugged the curtain on the window again, wearing nothing but his boxers as he peered outside. This neighbourhood was far from the height of wealth and privilege, but a straight up police raid was among the last things he expected to be woken up by in the middle of the night. Worse, it had woken up his poor grandfather. Mingze never received the full story, but something about his grandparent's emigration from China left both of them with a deep seated anxiety for any kind of armed state authority, and while his grandfather was usually well put together and mentally tough, tonight the old man damn near had a mental break.
Finally, the guys in suits finished packing up their van, and with deep bass rumble of the engine starting up, it departed down the street. A few of the suits remained, but the party, whatever it was, was clearly wrapping up. Whatever agency or ministry they represented, they didn't seem to be interested in hanging around longer than they needed to.
