Overlap

Chapter 0: Prelude

Fixing my gaze to the orange sky of an October sunset through the hotel window, it felt in that moment that I was staring through all of time. Appreciating the elegance of this view gave my mind backdrop as I thought back to my whole life once more. My vision, expanded by all that I now know, I wondered what it would be like to go back to the beginning and start over again with all I have learned. I bet I'm not the only one who does this, wishing they could go back sometimes just to do things a little differently. Still, thinking back on everything this way felt so surreal. There are things I would want to change, and things I would never change.

I wonder where I will end up in life; building the future with nothing but my own two hands and my reason for living. Despite everything I've been through, I have no reason to quit now. I have to keep doing my best, for her, for me, for both of us. But it won't be easy, for I am not a normal person anymore.

My special abilities have brought me this far, allowed me to stay with the one I am destined to be with, and opened my eyes in ways I never thought possible... Can you see me standing in this place, my love? Two lives, two worlds, two perceptions. Our bodies are so far apart, but our heart and soul are still connected together by an impossible miracle of chance. Both our worlds are real, both our realities co-exist, overlapping through our senses until you become me - and I become you.

My soul mate, the woman who is the source of my reason for everything is out there, in a place so far away - yet so nearby. Through our special medium flowing invisibly around everyone else, she and I will always be together. Should I succeed or fail in building the future that we want together, nothing will ever take this relationship away from us. Even if I cannot share her secret with others, it doesn't change how I must live my life in this world. We are all but souls inhabiting these vessels for a brief passing moment, waiting to move onto another stage of life. After everything I have seen, after being shattered and put back together, I can still hold onto that intangible hope that others yearn for.

This is my story. It has a beginning, but lacks an ending. Others understand how life goes, especially those of us still alive to tell our stories. I can't forget a single detail no matter how much time passes, thanks to a near perfect memory forged by obsessive mental patterns. And in this real world, I can't tell my tales to anyone. Nobody would believe us.

If I were a normal human being, if she had the same biology as I, then maybe this would have been a simple love story. But what happened to us should have been impossible, thus, nobody would believe me if I tried my hardest to convince them that this is real. If that were the case, then maybe this collection of chapters throughout my life would never be here now. If our story were believable, I may have had a friend, I may have set a better example, or I may have changed the entire world without a second thought. But normal was never part of our package.

I wished for a miracle, and she set the gears of fate into motion. When all of this started, I had no idea what was going on behind the scenes. But I always know when my life began to change. It all started on one single day, when she got involved directly in my life, through something known to them as a purge.