Love and Chaos (Decemeber 2011)

Serena and her team began to assemble the lasers, the control device and the containment room. It was all hands on deck, day after day and when anyone had any free time they spent it there. They were behind in getting this system up and running. As Evan had pointed out. Just having it to use was just the beginning of their thesis. Actually using it to collect their research data would take months.

In the weeks that followed Evan and Serena’s love grew. She stayed at his place so much that he had made her a set of keys and she had nearly taken over the bathroom with all of her stuff. Luckily Evan didn’t seem to mind, at least he never complained to her about it. He considered it a small price to pay to be able to wake up with his arms around her. Or wake up in the middle of the night because she wanted sex. Especially on the colder nights which were coming on strong.

In the mornings, it was a mad scramble to get up, shower, do her makeup and hair while he fed her scrambled eggs or toast with peanut butter as she held a curling iron. In truth Evan liked having Serena around. Her brand of craziness broke the bouts of loneliness he had begun to feel. He hadn’t said anything to her yet but more and more he felt as if someone was watching him. He had this feeling that someone was looking over his shoulder. Watching what he was doing with some ill purpose behind it. He also knew it watched Serena too though he didn’t know why.

While they worked on their experiment there were times where he just stood there looking at it. His eyes were open but he looked as if he were in a daze. When he snapped out of whatever it was he seemed to have no recollection of it either which began to concern Serena. One night no matter what Serena did she could not get warm under their blankets. Evan was beside her in bed but he seemed to be sleeping on his back and hadn’t moved or reacted to her when she pulled the covers off of him. She had done it to be funny but when she looked over at him she noticed how pale he looked. His eyes were all black and his flesh had tracks of black veins all over him. When her eyes shot open and she felt for Evan and noticed that he wasn’t there beside her.

Serena and Evan had fallen into a routine together in their relationship. She had all but moved in to his place and they were already talking about her not renewing the lease on the apartment her parent's were paying for and officially moving in with him when her lease was up. She knew that would mean a talk with her parents and they would have to meet Evan. Her parent's were extremely protective of her and she wasn't sure how her father would react to her moving in with Evan. However, the thought excited her and made her very happy.

Things were working out well between them. They were spending more and more time working on the project with the rest of the group, but in the little spare time they had between their classes and the project they spent together...even if it was just laying in bed together watching a movie. The team had figured out that she and Evan were together and seemed to support them as a couple. However, when she and Evan worked together they were all business. They both understood how serious this project was for the entire team and they wanted to ensure that the work was done properly.

Serena though had started to notice some odd changes with Evan. She would sometimes see him standing there staring blankly at their experiment...his eyes almost glazed over. When she would touch his arm he would come out of it, but would not remember anything about what had happened. Serena began to think that perhaps he was just overly tired, but her concern grew. One night she was laying in bed with him. It was a particularly cold night and she couldn't get warm. She was feeling rather playful and she pulled all the blankets over onto her and then looked back at Evan for his reaction. However, when she looked at him she saw him sleeping on his back and he didn't react. His face was pale...almost white, but the most terrifying thing was his eyes. They were black and his skin had tracks of black veins all over it...

Suddenly, her eyes flew open and she sat up. She realized she had been dreaming...or at least she thought she had. She looked for Evan, but noticed he wasn't there. She got up and began to look for him through the apartment.

"Evan?"

Evan’s place was essentially a studio so there were only separations between where the bedroom area was, the kitchen and their main living space. The bathroom was the only place that had walls and a door. She heard the sink running and the door was half opened. It was dark in the apartment, very dark and though the bathroom light was on, she could see the glow of it on the ceiling. However there was nothing but blackness inside as if all of the shadows in the room filled it. She knew Evan was in there but she couldn’t see him or anything. Once she reached into the blackness, the shadow it felt cool to her flesh. That and the sudden feeling that someone had shifted their attention toward her. The hair on the back of her neck rose and her heart began to beat faster as if she were suddenly afraid. Of what though she couldn’t be certain but she knew Evan was in there. Evan and something else that didn’t want her there.

Serena’s heart began to beat harder and faster as she stepped towards the bathroom. All of her senses were on high alert. The fact that Evan hadn’t responded to her frightened her. She knew he was in there though. She took a deep breath before pushing open the door. What she saw wasn’t Evan, but a black mass. She suddenly had the same feeling she had when she had absorbed sone of the dark energy from Evan a few months back. The hairs all over her body stood up and she felt like an unseen pair of eyes was suddenly looking at her. She became terrified.

“Evan?!”

Serena knew Evan loved her and she knew that if she was in some kind of danger, any kind, he would do what he had to do to help her. Whatever he had to do, even if it meant his own life. Well, she felt Evan was in danger. She didn’t know how she knew she just did and so she choked down her fear and moved into the darkness and reached for him…

At first she could neither see now hear anything. The black mass of shadow nulled all of her senses until she felt Evan’s shoulder. Once her hand felt him she brought her other hand up and she had taken hold of him. The moment she did that the space around her seemed to open up…

The sky around her was a dark violet with black streaks that resembled clouds. There were stars as well but those looked pink as if their bright colors could not fully penetrate the violet of the sky. Evan was completely naked, he never slept with clothes on and his flesh looked so pale and felt cold to the touch. She stood on the ground though it looked black to her eyes. It was solid and felt like dirt under her feet but it was far blacker than any dirt she had ever seen. It was cold as well and she felt it between her toes.

She didn’t notice the large entity that loomed over her though until it shifted it’s stance to peer down at her. “It was tall with long, thin arms and legs. It’s flesh was almost iridescent and it glowed an eerie violet color. She could almost see inside of it, its veins were black and she saw its heard and organs shift as if it were really alive. It was wearing something that resembled a skirt that looked as if it were ancient and made of gold. As she looked up further she knew right away it was female. It had breasts that were bare and long, jet black hair that came down to her waist. She wore a helmet that looked just as ancient as the skirt and it too was made of gold. Her eyes were large and completely black and just gazing into them made her heart go cold. It smiled down at her but she knew it wasn’t a friendly smile. It’s arm shifted and it’s hand came toward her. It had long, pointed black nails on thin fingers and she knew if it touched her she’d go mad. Serena’s hands tightened on Evan’s shoulders and with a cry she jerked him backward with her. Together they fell out of the darkness and she saw that they were in the apartment once more.

Evan convulsed and vomited on the floor. He took in a long, deep breath as if he had not been breathing oxygen for quite some time. He was covered in sweat and his flesh began to turn back to normal. He could feel Serena pull him toward her and felt her cradle him into her arms. He felt her smooth his hair back and felt her tears on his face. He knew she was talking to him but didn’t know what she was saying. “Nyx...it was Nyx…” He said though he spoke in an odd language Serena couldn’t understand. After a few moments however his words began to make sense to her. “Nyx...it was Nyx,” he said again and he understood Serena now as well.

The only other time Serena had ever been this terrified was when she had faced Ghost seven years ago. Evan was the man that she loved and his life was in danger. She didn't understand what was happening, but she knew that she needed to do something. It had taken all the courage she could muster to step into that swirling black mass and she had not known what might happen to her. Entering that black mass was entering into an entirely different world. She could see, feel, and even smell everything around her and what she saw terrified her. The mass seemed to morph into the shape of a woman. Its skin was iridescent and glowed an almost violet color. She could see through the shape and saw the same black veins she had seen in her dream on Evan's body. Its eyes were black and seemed to pierce into her very soul. They were the same black eyes she had seen in her dream. She watched as a hand came towards her and she knew that she couldn't allow her to touch her. With a cry she jerked Evan back and they fell out of the black mass and both hit the bathroom floor. She didn't realize she was crying as she held him until she saw the wetness from her tears on his hair. She realized he was speaking a language she didn't understand, but after a few moments his words became normal again. She pulled back and looked at him.

"Who is Nyx? What was happening Evan?" she said as she tried to calm down. She was still extremely upset though.

It took time for Evan to catch his breath and his breathing sounded less ragged. He held onto her arm as if he feared letting it go would mean she let go of him. ‘Would she leave him now?’ He wouldn’t blame her if she did.

“She’s the goddess of Chaos...the plane of Chaos. She...wants something from me...from us I think,” Evan said in a hoarse voice as if he were very thirsty. “I don’t know what and that scares me,” Evan said. “I think I need to talk to my mother…” Evan said as he looked up into Serena’s eyes. “I’m...sorry Serena,” he said but he wasn’t certain sorry would be enough for what he was putting her through. “Help me up,” He said and she complied.

Serena helped Evan to his feet and then helped him over to sit on the bed. She went and got him some water and brought it back over. She sat down next to him and helped him to drink some of the water. After he had had enough, she put the glass aside and turned to look into his eyes. She rested a hand gently on the side of his face. "We will figure this out...together, Evan. I'm not leaving you. Would you like for me to go with you when you talk to your mother?" Serena didn't know much about Evan's mother. All she really knew was that his mother was a goddess from another world.