Dusk Harbor 1999

Realization

It was nearly noon, and Jake and his good friend Mason were at the table in the dingy old trailer playing Yahtzee, drinking cold root beer. Like they did every Monday for the past few years. Since both of them had most Mondays off, they liked to hang out at the trailer for games. They had the option to play somewhere else, but they never did.

Any minute now, Jordan would come home with groceries or a few odd items and join them.

The dice rattled in the little red cup as he shook it around, hoping for a good set. As he threw the dice down on the table, the creaky screen door opened, and Jordan came in. As he predicted, he was carrying a brown paper bag in one arm.

He was all cut up in the face and looked like he had just been beaten brutally in a fight.

"I still can't believe I tied! That's ridicu-" Jordan realized that Jake was there and shut up immediately. He blinked and swallowed.

"That er, skateboarding competition was crazy!" Jordan exclaimed.

Jake sat back in his chair and narrowed his eyes. Studied Jordan's appearance. A swollen eye, a puffed-up split lip, bruised chin, all very familiar. A nervous energy buzzed around him. Him walking in and complaining about tying in a competition, and then stammering and changing course was all very suspicious. 

He exchanged glances with Mason, Mason shrugged and took a long, slow sip of root beer. The tension was so tangible that he could have grabbed a handful of it.

And as he looked to Jordan again, he saw an almost electrical flicker in his eyes, like static, if only for a moment so brief he thought he had imagined it. At that very moment, he realized with shock rippling through him that Jordan and Megabyte were one and the same. And, that maybe, Mason wasn't who he thought he was either.