Libitina

Relief Of Morning

I soon found myself waking up in a cold room with the soft warm covers around me. When I opened my eyes however, I only saw white. There weren't even any covers on me, but it felt like there were.

After I stretched, I stood up on the nonexistent floor. As soon as I did, I heard some noises.

"Did you sleep well, Thirty Six," said Ms. Jasmine's voice.

"Yeah I think so."

"Good. Now Daniel... there are some things I need to talk to you about."

"Like what? The fact that you lied to me about stressing Libitina?"

"That wasn't a lie. While you slept, I looked into everything that had happened. Do you remember the interference we had the first time?"

"Yeah."

"What Dr. McKinley told you was true. The interference did occur because you felt bad about what you said. You won't really notice anything happening when Libitina stresses, but it still has a very negative effect on your brain."

"Then why is McKinley alright with me stressing her out?"

"I'm not sure. He should know about the negative effects, so I plan on confronting him about it later on."

"Yeah, alright."

"And Daniel. You must also hold back on your hostile mindset. It will bring stress to yourself and Libitina, as well as cause some unpredictable changes to occur in the world we've created for you."

"Alright I'll keep that in mind I guess."

"Good. And I also noticed that Heinz keeps telling you to not listen to what I say... But I guarantee that everything I tell you to do is for both yours and Libitina's safety."

"Well I mean, I barely trust any of you so..."

She sighed. "Fair enough. Just please remember what I told you. Do not stress yourself or Libitina, and keep away from being hostile. And while you're at it... be careful with what McKinley tells you to do. I'm afraid he may have something else on his mind. I must be going now. Do you wish to proceed?"

"Do I even have a choice..."

As soon as I finished, the void around me started to fill with color before slowly changing into my room. I was standing beside my bed and Libitina was sleeping on it, which was relieving. That meant I didn't need to worry about finding her.

I went ahead and decided to let her sleep in for a bit. I went to the restroom and looked in the mirror to see what outfit I had been given today. When I looked in the mirror however, I didn't see anything.

Well I saw the room, but I didn't see myself. It was a little shocking actually, but after hearing some of the familiar ear clicks, I immediately calmed myself down. I went to back to the room with Libitina and saw her lying in the bed. She was wearing a whole different outfit than when I left her just a minute ago.

"Hey Libitina," I said as I gently moved her.

She moved her head and slowly opened her eyes before looking in my direction. She rubbed her eyes and slowly sat up.

"Mornin'," I said.

"G-Good morning..." she said in a somewhat nervous and tired tone.

"How'd you sleep?"

"I uh..."

Her body suddenly glitched before returning to normal within the second. As soon as it did, she smiled at me.

"Good morning, Danny," she said in a sweet and gentle tone.

"Oh uh... good morning, Libitina."

"How did you sleep," she asked me.

"I slept alright. And yourself?"

"I slept fine."

"That's good. So uh, are you ready for today?"

She lightly giggled. "I just woke up, I may need some time to get ready."

Her hair was brushed, she was fully dressed and she smelled great... what else did she need?

"Uh, alright. I'll go ahead and wait for you in the living room."

She smiled as I left the room and closed the door behind me. When I got to the living room, I was surprised to see Libitina sitting on one of the couches. She seemed to be thinking to herself.

"Libitina?"

"Oh, hey Danny."

"I uh... never mind. Are you ready?"

She nodded and gently smiled. "Yes."

I checked my pockets and found my Miata keys, cell phone, and wallet. I headed outside with Libitina and saw the Miata in the driveway, but I also saw it parked by the curb. Inside, I could see Libitina with the same frozen expression I saw her with yesterday. It was somewhat unnerving just seeing her frozen like that.

On the other hand, the Libitina I was with didn't seem to notice it and just headed to the one parked in the driveway. I went ahead and did the same.

Once I got into the car, I backed up onto the road. Once I did, the replica Miata suddenly disappeared along with the Libitina inside.

I started the drive down the road, but I wasn't really sure where I was going. After a bit of thinking, I decided to head to the mall.

When we got there, I parked in the empty parking lot. Upon entering however, the mall seemed to be somewhat packed. About the same thing that happened when we went to Red Lobster.

Libitina and I just walked around for a bit until I saw someone familiar. A couple of familiar people, actually.

Maegan and Monika were in a clothing store looking at some of the clothes. If memory served me right, then I must be at the book store.

I went ahead and just kept walking. No reason I needed to interfere with what they were doing.

"Hey Libitina. Do you see anything here that you like? Maybe a certain store or something?"

"Well... I'm not sure."

"Alright. If you do, let me know and we can take a look around there."

"Okay."

We continued to walk around for bit until we came across a knife stand. It seemed to catch both mine and Libitina's attention. We approached the knife stand and looked at some of the knives. I went ahead and asked the guy in the front to show me a switchblade that had a pearl white handle and silver blade.

As soon as I held it in my hands, the world around me seemed to freeze.