Double Vision

Chapter 2

Ryan

"Still up?" I asked, creeping around the corner into the kitchen. The Doctor and Yaz were on my heels, and emerged slowly after me.

Graham was standing with his back facing our way, looking out the window. He didn't respond to my question at first, but suddenly began to turn his head towards us. I exchanged a nervous look with Yaz as his eerie smile lit up in the moonlight. It wasn't the normal, loving grandad smile I usually got from him; this one seemed slightly off.

"What are you doing up so late?" The Doctor asked, stepping towards him and examining the cabinets and shelves along the walls. She wasn't graceful as she slammed and searched the wooden cupboards. Graham didn't move, but followed her with his eyes.

The Doctor picked up a glass of water resting by Graham's hand and sniffed it. She scrunched up her face and stuck her pinky into the glass, licking the liquid off of her finger and immediately sticking her tongue out in disgust.

"Yuck! What's in that?" She exclaimed, passing the glass off to Yaz, who rolled her eyes in exasperation. I knew she was just playing, though; she still looked at the Doctor like there was nothing else that mattered more in the world.

Graham snapped his head over to the Doctor, a flash of anger shooting through his pupils. It disappeared before I could reassure myself of what I thought I saw.

"Oh just some... sleeping medicine. You know how I have trouble getting to bed sometimes," Graham finally mumbled. The Doctor looked skeptically at him and Yaz swirled the clear drink around in the cup.

The Doc whipped out her sonic and began to scan the drink. Slightly delayed, Graham lunged at the Doctor. It was like he glitched; one moment he was standing there, completely still, and staring into empty space. The next, he had already jumped. He knocked the cup out of Yaz's hands and pushed the Doctor back against the wall, with a force I didn't know Graham could even muster.

I jumped in front of him, to prevent any more damage, and watched as his eyes slowly fell back to a normal stare. That rage had taken hold of him again, but it was harder to miss this time. Still, the others didn't seem to see what I did.

Graham put a hand against his heart and leaned back against the counter, like I've seen him do many times before. This Graham was familiar, nothing like the one who had just lunged at me and my friends.

"I saw a mouse! Those pesky things, all over the place lately. Sorry guys," Graham apologized, catching his breath. Before he even finished his sentence, I jumped up on the coffee table. Yaz looked up to me, eyebrows raised, but I wasn't about to describe my fear of mice in full detail. We had never had mice before.

I focused back on Graham and lowered my eyebrows, confused by the subtle change in attitude. It was like he was just warming up for those first few minutes of conversation, but he was all ready now.

Yaz had her hands on each side of the Doctor's head, looking for any blood. I heard it smack into the wall, but she seemed unfazed. Yasmin seemed a little more concerned.

"You okay?" I asked the Doctor. Her eyes broke away from Yaz's and she smiled.

"For sure," she reassured, turning her attention back to the kitchen. She bent down slowly, Yaz looking on with concern.

"What is it?" Yasmin questioned, noticing that the Doctor was taking longer than usual to make an observation.

"It's gone.. I don't-" she cut herself off, and picked up a piece of shattered glass on the ground. Graham was still leaning against the counter, but I noticed him staring at the Doc out of the corner of his eye.

We all peered over the Doctor's shoulder and saw the shattered glass- without any liquid surrounding it.

"Has it- evaporated already?" I asked. The Doctor shook her head and ran a finger over the dry floor tiles.

"No that's impossible. Unless it had an extremely low density, but I doubt it could be that-"

"I took care of it," Graham blurted, interrupting the Doctor. We all looked at him skeptically. He didn't possibly have time to clean the spill in the few second we weren't watching him.

Yaz gave him a sympathetic look and put an arm over his shoulders as a guide.

"Why don't we get you to the couch. I think you need a little rest," she offered, sitting him down on the sofa. He looked reluctant, but allowed her to set him down. The Doctor pulled Yaz aside and whispered something in her ear.

It took me until that moment to realize I was the third wheel.