Taipan // Doctor Strange

Chapter 4

Remember, half 3rd person, half first 😅
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Since her last excursion to the man's home, the temperature had taken a sharp dip into below freezing- the pre-winter air setting a chill down her spine as she mindlessly walked with a purpose. The late afternoon after her sleep threw her circadian rhythm out of order- causing her body to feel extra sluggish in response to its lack of energy.

Alaria wondered if all of it was a dream itself. How could it be that she had gone so long without discovering it? Why had she been so interested in watching Christine Palmer's surgery?

It seemed that these puzzle pieces were quickly fitting together, and the adventurous woman now had only one desire: to explore and learn all that she could about this possible universe Jonathan had hinted at. Being raised as an atheist left doubt roaring  within her stomach, and yet the trust she placed in her eyes and memory of Strange and Palmer left an unignorable tinge of hope that she wasn't so insane after all. Perhaps even, she would be able to question Jonathan about the Taipan.

As her feet splashed in the small puddles littered across her path from a rain that must have fallen whilst she slept- Alaria's hands performed the same movements they had earlier- the tilt in her lips expressing the excitement she held as the golden color again began to appear in front of her, moving with each step she took .Upon the last drag of her finger, the gold sparks became a long line that began to slither in front of her, and then it solidified into the brown creature she had been afraid of in her dream.

It moved as though it were floating over water; a calming thing to watch for the woman who had only just discovered that she could create a solid being out of nothing. Yet as calming as it was for her to watch as she walked, those that passed stared in horror or walked briskly past, their eyes taught of the vision of the Taipan, as though its body posture exposed its plans of biting each and every one of them that passed. In truth, Alaria had no sense of how to control what she was controlling: she could smell the strong current of different people that flushed throughout the streets, she could taste the food that wafted from different restaurants scatted about, and she could swear that her eyes felt keener than before she had conjured the being up.

It was almost as though the woman was looking through a pair of glasses that were twice her prescription. The vision was not yet blurry, but instead, crisp grain emphasized colors and movement above all else. Focus was a bit promiscuous- Alaria needed to find something to focus on before she was able to see it with this crisp sight.

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As she approached the small red-brick home, she lifted her hand and dragged it to the side, causing the snake to move into the tall bushes beside his door. But if he should remain at the door whilst letting her in, she would never be able to slip him through undetected. Her hands moved again, watching within the bushes as the golden sparks took away her ally before she turned again and knocked slowly against the door.

Jonathan glanced outside his window a moment later, annoyance dripping from his heavy sigh before Alaria heard the unlocking and saw the small light stream from its open frame. "Yeah, Alaria?" he asked calmly, tilting his frustrated head against the side of the wooden frame.

"I just have a few more questions," she began right off, stepping up and into the entry hall of his house without invitation.

"I said no more." he insisted, staring with disbelief at how bold this young woman was. In truth, there was a slight fear beginning to build somewhere within him. Her interest was too keen- to correct in terms of what she thought, when she asked her questions, and the persistence that she showed up. "I have a bro over, you can't be here."