Heart of Titanium

Chapter 18: Smoke and Mirrors

October 6th, 2044

Bryce sits at a desk within his and Cherise's room, scratching at his head. He brought his journal with him, something he hasn't wrote in for a while.

"Its been...around two weeks since Cheri and I arrived at the Jackal Home Base, it's so strange finally being here. Meeting the team, practicing on the indoor range, catching up with my sister...it all feels so surreal."

He looks up from the desk and sees Cherise peacefully napping, and softly snoring. He smiles and continues writing.

"The new visor I custom built using Cherise's code is also interesting, I can see what she meant about the strange artificial feeling. Her visor is still way cooler though, looks way better due to her snout."

He takes a deep breath and continues,

"Not being able to do the raid, whenever it is, still hurts slightly. I want to be able to avenge my uncle, and my parents. Sally was right though...Cherise is my main concern, I won't allow her to get hurt."

Bryce finishes his last stroke of the pen as he closes his journal and leans back in the chair, he catches another glimpse of Cherise sleeping, her twitching slightly while dreaming.

Bryce chuckles as he lags beside her, not exactly tired, but also staring at the ceiling in deep thought. He could hear every little sound. The talking and chatter outside the room, Cherise's soft breathing, and even his own heartbeat.

He felt a little more relaxed, so he decided to join his partner in resting, holding her thigh as he did so.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bryce then opens his eyes slowly and sees snow falling on his face. The skies were a deep orange mixed with red.

He quickly sat up to see he was back in the safehouse area, his breathing became shallow, and his muscles quivered.

"Oh no, not this again..." He said, as he heard that ghoulish voice of a disfigured Cherise right behind him.

"Hehe...hello again, Bryson...m-missed me?" She said, in a robotic and deeper tone.

"Go away...you're not her...you're not Cherise!" Bryson said, turning towards her, his fist balled.

"O-oh really? Not me hmmm?" She said, slowly walking towards him.

She then put her bloody paw on his chest, and looked up at him, "You sure it isn't me...Bryson? This is still the same paw you hold every day...I'm just a better version of what I used to be."

"Stop. I know for a fact this isn't the real you. I'd never let this happen to you." He said, standing his ground, but still shivering slightly.

"Oh, but you let what happened to us, didn't you?" Uncle Charlie's voice echoed behind Bryce's head.

He then turned around and saw the same three walking corpses he had in that nightmare months ago. Charlie, and Bryson's parents all disfigured, their voices also distorted.

Bryce turned his head away from them, a single tear shedding. "No...I'd never let that happen."

"Oh, but it did...didn't it? Face it...you know everyone around you will end up dead." His mother said.