Page 36 of Fade With Me

I swallowed, my mouth dry, fighting to understand. “Okay…what does that even mean?”

His voice grew deliberate, each syllable slow and measured, as if he were choosing them with care. “I’m not of this world.”

The words clung to the air, a challenge, a declaration of something far beyond my comprehension. My lungs felt heavy as his meaning settled in, but the pieces refused to fall into place.

“I’m not just a mere mortal,” he continued, his eyes holding something timeless, something vast. There wasan unspoken knowledge in them, secrets too large for my human mind to hold.

The silence that followed was heavier than before. I could hear my heartbeat—frantic—but couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Zeke stood there, so close, so different, and everything I’d ever known slipped away like smoke in the wind.

Then came the words that shattered the last of my resolve.

“And neither are you.”

thirteen

“This can’t be real,” I muttered, still trying to make sense of it.

I must’ve landed hard when I fell, hard enough to rattle something. There’s no way Zeke actually said that.

“You’re not mortal?” I repeated, the words tasting as absurd as they felt.

Maybe the isolation of rural living had driven him mad.

Zeke tilted his head, steady and unnervingly sure. I studied his face, searching for any trace of delusion,but found nothing.

Oh boy. He’s really lost it.

“We,” he said slowly, calm and even, “are not mortal.”

Goosebumps prickled along my arms. I’d said that out loud, hadn’t I?

“Are you insane?!” I shot back, my voice rising. “Do you hear yourself?”

I laughed, a sharp, mocking sound that echoed through the woods, and threw my hands up in exasperation.

Without warning, Zeke blurred out of sight.

One moment he stood a few feet away, the next, he was inches from my face. His gaze locked onto mine—intense, unwavering—then he vanished, back where he’d started. The rush of air from his movement sent my hair flying and stole my breath, all before I had time to blink.

Then, with slow deliberation, he raised his hands toward the sky, as if commanding the heavens.

The clouds thickened, swirling in ominous darkness. The sun disappeared, swallowed by the encroaching gloom. A chill gripped the air. The wind howled through the trees, carrying the sharp scent of rain.

For a moment, everything held its breath. Then thunder cracked through the silence, low and threatening.

And just like that, he lowered his hands.

The wind stilled. The clouds parted. The sun spilled golden light over us like nothing had happened. Zeke stood tall, unaffected.

I stayed frozen, wide-eyed, struggling for words.

Finally, I stammered, “O-okay…so you’re not mortal.”

A silence fell, tense and pulsing.

Maybe I’m the one losing it. How could this be happening? I’ve always been rational. But now, everything was unraveling.

Is this a hallucination? A dream? Did he slip something into my water bottle? No…I felt fine. But what I saw…was it real? Or was Iactuallygoing crazy?

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