Cracking an eye open, Nic finds he's staring at the floor. He starts to push himself up, but a wave of dizziness and nausea sweeps over him, and Nic's arms give out. He hits the floor again, and with the room still spinning, passes out. The last thing he hears is Tibs' worried meowing.
Slowly waking up, Nic starts to shift around. While he still feels dizzy, it's the familiar creaking coming from under him that stops him dead in his tracks. Looking down, he realizes that he's in his bed.
"How did I get here?" Nic asks aloud.
"That would be my doing," answers a voice from the hall. Pushing open the door, a beautiful young woman walks in. She appears to be in her early twenties, has jet-black hair and her eyes are the same shade of blue as his. Her movements are graceful, like a cat's, and she seems to always have a bemused expression on her face. "I thought you'd be a bit more comfortable in your bed instead of on the floor. I could put you back, though, if you like."
"That's all right. Thank you for moving me." Nic answers quickly. "Who are you, though, and just how did you get here?" Nic thinks he should be suspicious about this woman, but something about her stops him. He feels that he knows her from somewhere, and that he can trust her fully.
"My name is Corinne, and I'll get to why I'm here in a moment," the woman answers. Do you think you can get up?"
"Ya, I think so. Why?" answers Nic.
"Smiling, Corinne replies "Your still covered in jello, that's why."
"Oh. I guess I'd better take a bath, then," chuckles Nic.
With Corinne there to steady him, Nic slowly makes it to the bathroom. While Corinne waits in the living room, Nic pours himself a bath and steps in. He lays down, and starts to wash himself off. After a few minutes, though, the heat from the bath makes him drowsy. After a few seconds of trying to fight it, he starts to doze. Half an hour later, Nic wakes up. Seeing that the water has turned green, he rinses himself off, and lets the water drain out. Nic looks down at himself, and notices that his skin is still green. Filling the tub back up, he grabs a scrub brush and starts to try to scrub the jello off his arm. However, it doesn't seem to be coming off. Scrubbing harder, he starts to think What the hell is going on? Why won't this come off? Then he remembers, almost sickly, what happened at the plant. I remember the jello vat, Nic thinks, the electricity... how it hurt... and FLYING? I FLEW HOME?!?
"OH MY GOD!" Nic yells. "I FLEW HOME!"
"Yes, it looks like you did," says Corinne, stepping into the bathroom. "There's a broken window in your living room, and I found you lying in the broken glass. Also, the fact that there isn't a balcony in front of the window just gives more evidence to the fact. Now, instead of having this conversation here, why don't you get out of the tub and get some clothes on? While you do have a nice body, now is not the time for that."
Blushing furiously, Nic grabs a towel and wraps it around himself. Laughing, Corinne leaves the bathroom and heads back to the living room.
Dressing quickly, Nic heads out to the living room. Passing the kitchen, Nic realizes he starving.
"God, I feel like I haven't eaten for days," remarks Nic. "I'm going to make something to eat. Do you want anything, Corinne?"
"No thank you, Nic, I've already eaten." replies Corinne from the living room.
While Nic prepares a few sandwiches for himself, he realizes that something is missing. "Hey, where's Tibs? I haven't seen her at all."
"She's probably hiding. When you crashed through the window, you probably startled her so bad that she won't come out for a few days," answers Corinne.
"Ya, your probably right," says Nic. I hope she'll come out soon, though. I miss her already." Putting the sandwiches on a plate, Nic pours himself a glass of milk and takes the meal out to the living room.
"Nic, I need you to answer some questions," starts Corinne. "I'll tell you everything you want to know in a moment, but it's important that you answer my questions first. Okay?"
Well, okay. Shoot," replies Nic.
"Do you remember what happened at the plant three days ago?" asks Corinne.
Nic almost chokes on his sandwich. "Three days? I've been out for three days?"
"Yes. Now what do you remember?" replies Corinne.
Nic tells Corinne about the phone call and the budget report, and then about what happened the next day at the plant.
"I remember that when the lamp fell into the vat, it felt like I was being attacked from all sides. I couldn't move a muscle. Then suddenly I could move again. I swam up, and when I broke the surface, I was still going up. I kept going up and broke through one of the ceiling windows. Then I flew home," finishes Nic.
"Nic, did you notice any cuts or injuries on yourself while in the bath?" asks Corinne. "You did crash through two windows, so normally you'd expect at least a few cuts, right?"
"Ya, I guess I should have at least a few. Now that I think of it, though, I didn't see anything," replied Nic. "What's going on with me?"
"Well, you've just gone through a big change. No one can say for sure whether the changes are for the better or worse yet, or even if they're permanent, so all we can do is wait and see."
"I guess," says Nic, "It would a bad thing to suddenly drop from midair while flying."
"Yes. Yes it would," says Corinne, laughing. "Is there anything you can remember that you did before you started flying the last time?"
"As far as I can tell, I didn't even have to think about it," recalls Nic. "It just happened."
"Do you think you could do it again?" asks Corinne.
"I don't know, but it can't hurt to try, can it?" replies Nic.
Concentrating, Nic tries to lift himself up off the floor. At first, nothing happens, but then slowly he starts to rise. Looking down, he sees that he's now a foot of the ground. "Wow, I'm flying!" he exclaims.
"Now, try to move around," says Corinne.
Concentrating some more, Nic slowly starts to move around the room. "God, this is hard," grunts Nic. "No wonder I passed out!" He drops back down to the floor. Wiping away the sweat that's collected on his brow, Nic notices his ring. What used to be a gold ring with a diamond set in it has changed to a gold band with a green line encircling it, and the diamond now has green swirls in it. On close inspection, the swirls appear to be moving, but Nic dismisses it as a trick of the light.
"Look at my ring!" says Nic. "What do you think happened to it?"
"By the looks of it, probably the same thing that happened to you," replies Corinne. "Hmm, why don't you try concentrating on getting the ring to make you fly?"
"Hey, good idea," answers Nic. Concentrating hard on the ring, Nic wills himself to fly. He rewards himself with slamming his head into the ceiling.
"OOUU� ouch? It didn't hurt! Wow, that's strange!" exclaims Nic.
"Really? Look at the ceiling, Nic. Your absolutely sure it didn't hurt?" asks Corinne. There's a worried tone in her voice.
Looking up, Nic sees that he made quite a dent in the ceiling. "Whoa, I see where you're coming from," says Nic in a surprised tone. "Yes, I'm sure I didn't hurt myself. I just got plaster all over me," he says, coughing.
"So your ring must act as a sort of amplifying device," Corinne muses. She seems to think about something for a second, then looks back at Nic. "Okay, I'll start to answer some of your questions now. I'll start off by telling you what's happened over the last few days. The plant exploded a few minutes after you left. At first, the authorities were ready to treat it as an accident. That was, until they started finding the bodies of the people who died from gunshot wounds. Eventually they found the gun, and they matched the prints on it with Jeolen's. However, they haven't found his body yet. They were looking for your body too, but I made sure that they'll think your dead." Cutting Nic off, Corinne says "Let me explain first. The security tape managed to survive the explosion. It caught your little fight with Jeolen, and you flying out of the plant. So I changed the tape with on that I created, which shows you being shot to death by Jeolen. The authorities will believe that the explosion was big enough to vaporize both you and Jeolen, and they'll close the case."
"Why would you want everyone to think that I'm dead?" asks Nic, looking hurt.
"Nic, I don't want to sound mean, but look at yourself!" replies Corinne. "Do you really think that people would accept you like this? Your green, and you can fly. They'll think you're a mutant!"
Nic feels hurt, stung by her words, but knows that she is only telling the truth. "I guess your right. Couldn't you have waited until I was awake, though?"
"There wasn't the time," replies Corinne. "They found the tape yesterday."
"Why are you doing this for me?" questions Nic. "I've only just met you."
"It's a little complicated to explain," answers Corinne. "Let's just say that it needed to be done. Can we leave it at that?"
"Okay," agrees Nic. "So, what do we do now?"
"I would suggest you get some sleep," says Corinne. "You can't stay here, because soon the police will come to collect your belongings and see if there is any evidence to point toward what happened at the plant. It would probably be best if we weren't here when they showed up, right?"
"Ya, that's a good idea," answers Nic. "Where will we go, though?"
"I have a place we can go," replies Corinne. "Go get some sleep. I'll wake you up in a few hours, then we'll go."
"I shouldn't take anything with me, should I?" says Nic sadly. "Wait a minute, what about Tibs? There's no way I'm leaving her behind."
"Don't worry, I'll find her and get her out of here while you sleep," reassures Corinne. "It will be easier that way than trying to get her out when we leave. Oh, and you should bring the clothes that you wore at the plant with you as well. If the police find them here, they'll think something's up."
"Good thinking," says Nic. "If you need any help finding Tibs, just wake me up, okay?"
"I don't think I should have any trouble, but if I do, I'll wake you," replies Corinne with a smile. Now go, you'll need your sleep."
"Alright, I'm going," says Nic. "I don't know why, but for some reason I feel I know you, and can trust you."
"Thank you, Nic," replies Corinne, looking genuinely happy. "You don't know how much that means to me."
"Goodnight, Corinne," says Nic, walking towards the bedroom.
"Goodnight, Nic," replies Corinne. "Sweet dreams." They just might be the last ones you have for a while, she adds to herself.