Intermission // Van McCann

17. Do You Trust Me?

I heard my alarm go off and blindly reached for my alarm. I wasn't anywhere near it but I heard it being turned off. I opened my eyes and saw that Van turned it off for me.

"Thank you," I replied, rolling away from him and pulling the covers back over me so I was still in my warm cocoon. I could feel the bed dip from his weight as he pulled me back towards him.

"You need to wake up," he called. He was now tugging on the blanket and I held on tight even though I was no match in my sleepy state. "C'mon, Ren. I wanna get an early start. I reckon The Void is huge so it'll take a while to explore, especially when I can't control it. Can you believe it's Friday? Bondy's been stuck in there for five days now."

I rolled back so I was now on my back and looked at Van. I hadn't realized it's been five days now. Where'd the time go? It was going by way too fast. Time was ticking and he was slowly dying. I kicked the blanket off and sat up.

The spider's movement will be random. As soon as it senses something in its way, it will change course. We just hoped it wouldn't cover ground it has already explored or else we'll be going backwards and wasting precious time that we didn't have a lot of. Luckily Van was already ready so I didn't have to fight him for the bathroom. I went to the toilet, brushed my teeth, and changed out of my pajamas before making my way to the kitchen where Van had breakfast ready.

"I'm willing to stay there all day and work all weekend if needed," Van spoke, handing me my brew. I hoped it didn't have to come down to that.

"If we find him, how do we bring him back? If the time machine sends the spider back, can it actually bring them both back?" I questioned.

I could see Van frowning. "I hope so but we won't know until it happens. We're just solving it one problem at a time," Van replied.

Van pulled out Weetabix and shook the box, asking if I wanted some. It wasn't my favorite as I preferred oatmeal but sometimes I gave into trying it, today being one of those days.

"Sure, why not?" I replied. I wasn't in the mood for anything in particular. I just wanted something quick and easy.

Van pulled two bowls out and placed two pieces into each bowl, poured the milk in, and added some sugar. He handed a bowl to me and I took it, waiting for him to tell me when I can start eating.

"It depends on how you like it," Van explained. "If you like it crunchy, you can eat it now or if you like it mushy, you can wait. I like it a bit crunchy." After a minute or so, Van dug his spoon in and I figured he probably knows best so I copied him and began eating. Van watched me carefully, gauging my reaction to eating one of his favorite breakfast foods. I made sure to chew and swallow before talking or else he'll poke fun at me again.

"I think I'm getting used to it because it tastes better than last time," I replied.

"Progress. I'll take that!" Van laughed.

We finished eating and made our way to work.

Once at work, Van made a beeline towards his pet spider, double checking that nothing changed overnight. He charged everything overnight so he began putting everything back in place. He carried the spider over to the time machine; it was obvious he was eager to get started but Iván and Professor Hayes still weren't here. Iván walked in and immediately spotted the spider.

"Why does it have a stick coming out of it?" Iván questioned, walking over to Van.

"I had to elevate the GoPro because it was too close to the light," Van explained.

"¡Pobrecito!" It was apparent Iván felt horrible for the spider. "Look at him...he's like Frankenstein! This is the worst thing I've seen you build. It's so ugly."