After the Flash: Deep Six

Chapter 10: Dual

He woke. Unaware I wasn't there, he got up, and was in control. He made coffee. He helped Jane. He went to bed.

The cycle went on for weeks. Months. An amount of time I couldn't let go on. I had to do something.

I woke. I noticed something different. I got up, made coffee, helped Jane, and went to bed.

The cycle went on for weeks. Months. An amount of time where it was a process. Boring. Awful. Something was going on in the dark, however. Something he couldn't control.

Jane's Point of View

I woke. I had been frightened by my dreams, that I decided to not wake Jace. This had been going on for a few months now, me and him. It felt like it happened so suddenly. Like a spark igniting a flame. Two people people suffering gather together through love. RAD-4 has brought us together, a lead-in into a new chapter. A new volume. But there would always be it in me. And eventually one of us would turn. One of us would bring the others downfall. Or a rise of something new. But which one? Would one be the end? Or the other a beginning? Would these paths we take be the last things we do? Would it all be in vain? I snapped back. Realized I had been mixing more of the cure together. It was happening in front of my eyes. I was falling.

And I could only hope he was too.

But how to know? I looked back in the past few months. From when he go here to the night I dreamed of— the truth hit me. After the first few days... he had fell. And it was bad. He had been living this double life. Had I been doing the same? I snapped back.

Just calm down.

It was at this point I realized.

The two of us wouldn't last much longer.

Jace's Point of View
My conscience isn't right. Something is happening. I constantly find my dreams being those of fighting myself. An inner conflict of violence, one I can't win. Is this the disease? Is it me? Am I going crazy? I didn't know what to do. I want to save her. And yet I don't. I don't want to save her. She's killing me. I have to kill her before she can get to me. She must die! Never. I could never let her die. So as I sit here, writing stories of what's happening in today's world, I realize that I have to kill her. Nothing else matters. Something was triggered inside me, something I can't stop, unless I stop myself— but then what of Jane?

She dies. Tonight.

No! I can't do that! Who's telling me to kill her! Yourself. Your true self. Complete your mission. Exterminate the virus. The virus is her, can't you see? You have to kill her, any means necessary. No exceptions.

But she's my everything...

So? She will kill you if you don't kill her! You have to do it. DO IT NOW.

Conversations like these went on for days. I couldn't stop it. I couldn't stop myself. Sooner or later, it will control me and my life. What am I to do—

Wait. I could just— I could— If I just k—
If I kill myself, he will die with me. That's what I have to do to save her...
But if I die—

There was a loud noise from the room next to me. Almost the ringing of a telephone. But Jane was out fishing, so what could it be? I decide to walk over to it. I exit the room, and take a walk down the long hallway. My stomach begins to turn. What am I to do? What if this is something I'm not supposed to see? I get halfway down the hall when I start to feel my knees shake. The lights flickering above me. The scene around me. It's almost like a horror movie. I'm 3/4 down the hall now. I realize I'm staring at the door. What if this is my death? Would Jane live? What happens if this is a bomb? I decide to face a possible death with a smile. I grab the door handle and open the door...