EAGLE

2: AWAKENING

JAN WAS DREAMING.

They were once again at the empty supermarket. Sari and Jan were sitting on the floor across each other. Sari's mouth was moving, but no sound was coming out. Jan attempted to scream for help, but his body too won't move an inch. Sari had a knife in her right hand, her eyes lifeless. Kin's loud sobs penetrated Jan's ears.

"Wake up, Jan."

Sari suddenly lifted the knife and brought it down to her left wrist, cutting deep enough that blood came pouring out it. Jan couldn't feel his own skin anymore.

"You have to wake up."

"Sari." Jan opened his eyes. His shirt was stuck to his chest, and the back of his neck felt sticky with perspiration. "Sari!"

Someone laughed beside him. A gentle hand caressed his cheek. "It's okay."

Jan looked over and there she was. His wife. The love of his life. No blood, no pain. Jan couldn't help it. With a release of breath, he sobbed and buried his face into her chest. Sari was still laughing as she played with his hair. "You've been having a lot of these nightmares lately."

Jan lifted his face from her bosom, his eyes swollen red. "Nightmares?"

Sari smiled in consolation, "Yeah. The ones where you keep saying my name, and Kin's as well. Why don't you tell me about it?" Jan diverted his eyes away from hers. He couldn't bear to say it out loud, at least not yet. It seemed so real. Every single night it repeats again and again in its vividness. Jan's fingers trailed over Sari's waist, to her shoulders, to her neck. No scar. Sari closed her eyes and sighed in contentment. She leaned over and kissed him on the lips. "I love you."

Jan kissed her back. Pretty soon, they were entangled in each other, sitting up. Sari was on top, and and he was on the bottom. "I love you." Jan announced in the midst of his kisses, now focused on the spot between her shoulder and neck. "I love you so much. Don't ever, ever, leave me." He breathed. Sari craned her neck to give him more access, her mouth open, lost in the sensation. Her hands found their way to his stomach and below, where she lifted the hem of his shirt and undressed him. Jan halted his actions and looked into her eyes. Sari stares back, half-annoyed at the interruption. Without breaking her gaze, she took off her nightgown, leaving her in nothing but skin and soul. She placed a hand between Jan's legs.

"You're mine, Eagle."

Jan bit his lip, but before they could continue, a loud wail cut across the whole house. Sari sighed and leaned her forehead to his. "Little Mycrobatt is such a damn cockblocker."

9:03 AM

"I'm so hungry, what are we having?" Jan inquired as he entered the kitchen. He just got out of the shower and was putting on a tan shirt. Sari was leaning forward on the countertop, tapping her pen on the marble. She wore a white Sunday dress paired with sandals. Jan looked over and saw she was making a grocery list.

"Nothing." She laughed. "We're gonna have to drop by the supermarket first since you two Mycrobatts are such monsters for food." She wrote more on her list. Almost as if she heard, Kin wailed from her room.

Jan kissed Sari on the neck. "I'll get her. Can you add some pain relievers there, too? My body's been killing me lately."

Sari furrowed her brows. "Are you okay?" Jan waved her off.

"It's just work." Jan took her by the hand, pulling her away from the kitchen. "Hurry up, we're eating out." Sari laughed, letting go of him. "Wait, I forgot to write something down." She reached for a yellow sticky note and jotted something down, folding the piece of paper right after and putting it inside her bag together with the grocery list.

9:45 AM

They arrived at the supermarket. Surprisingly, there were already a lot of people there. Sari got out of the minivan, going to the back to unlatch Kin and unload her things. "By the way, we're buying stuff for Kin's annual calendar shoot, okay? We've been putting that off for so long."

Jan didn't reply or move from the driver's seat. He kept on looking at the facade of Yaja Supermarket. A faint thumping was at the back of his skull. Headache.

Had this happened before?

10: 01 AM

Jan Mycrobatt stared at the seemingly never-ending arrays of products lined up at the shelves of Yaja Supermarket. He felt really odd, the sense of deja-vu clouding him. He frowned, looking at Kin who was playing with the grocery items. Suddenly, two children bumped into Jan, a girl and a boy. The boy was older by about two years, and he was having fun letting his sister catch him. Jan stared at their running figures until they disappeared off to another aisle.

"Wouldn't it be totally fun if we bought some whipped cream for Kin's April segment?" Sari said. Jan slowly turned around to look at her.

"This is so weird. I feel like this happened before."

Sari slapped him on the shoulder, "Oi, I know that feeling!" Jan nodded, face still serious. Sari pouted, rubbing his back. "No need to get worried. It usually happens when you've dreamt of something like this. Also, you're hungry. I promise I'll make this quick." She gave him a peck on the cheek. All of a sudden, Kin giggled. Both of them looked over to the baby in the cart.

"Isn't she a sweetie?" Sari asked in adoration. Jan faintly replied in agreement.

Dreams. Dreams.

"Whipped cream for April, tomatoes for May." Jan remembered. Sari gasped. "How did you know? I was thinking the exact same thing." Jan took out his phone and looked at the time. A quarter past ten. What happens next?

"Hey, honey, could you go grab some mushrooms for me real quick? I'm cooking burger steak tonight." Sari asked him, looking at the variety of whipped creams in the section. In a trance, Jan walked over to the mushroom section with the cart. He saw the two children once again, playing catch. They were running so dangerously close to the shelves that Jan worried they would knock the canned tomatoes over.

"Pa... pa." Kin said out of the blue.

"What happens next?" Jan whispered. He kept on repeating the phrase in his head, racking his brain for what he forgot. He didn't even know why he was so intent on finding out in the first place. He just knew he had to. It was all so surreal.

"Mama." Kin said. Before Jan could react, a set of arms wrapped themselves around him from behind in a hug. "What's wrong?" Jan inquired. He felt Sari press her nose onto his back, sighing deeply. She pressed something into his palm. Sari gave his arm a squeeze before letting go and walking away.

"Did you get the mushrooms?" She asked him, disappearing into another aisle. Jan opened his hand. A folded yellow sticky note was inside. He unraveled it, and written inside were the words:

It's real.

Jan turned around. "What does this m—" Suddenly, all the lights in the supermarket went out.

A blackout.

"Welcome to Riot." An automated voice said.

Jan was instantaneously submerged in liquid. Panicking, he opened his mouth for help and accidentally gulped down a huge amount. His lungs were filled. He kicked and clawed around him in distress. Somewhere in the distance, he heard a crash, followed by the laughs of two children. The children!

He kept on thrashing around, hoping he could attract the children's attention, or anyone else's for that matter. His foot came in contact with something solid: glass. Kick, kick, he heard a crack. Kick, kick, kick—

Finally, it shattered. Jan heard a resounding noise of glass breaking before the platform below him gave away. He fell to the floor, coughing and heaving, wet with the mysterious fluid. Jan squinted his eyes. Everything was so bright, he couldn't see where he was. He touched his head and immediately hissed from the stinging pain. He pulled his hand away and dazedly saw the blood on his fingers.

There was a slow clap, then a clack of heels. Someone gripped his neck so tight he had no choice but to look up. The only features he could make out were dark red hair, and deep brown skin.

"Welcome back, Eagle."