Jay's breath hitched, the room dissolving like ink in water.
Her thumb pressed into his forehead—cold, then searing. The world lurched.
—
Water.
It filled his lungs, thick and brackish, clawing at his throat. Jay thrashed, bubbles bursting from his lips as he screamed soundlessly. Above, sunlight fractured through the surface, just out of reach. Drowning. Drowning again.
A hand clamped his wrist, hauling him upward.
—
Barracks. Dawn.
Jay blinked, his uniform crisp, his boots unscuffed. Tom stood beside him, adjusting his helmet with a grin. "Keep your head down, yeah? Stay close."
Jay tried to shout—Don't go, don't leave me—but his lips wouldn't part. He was a ghost here, trapped in a body that wasn't his.
The woman's voice slithered through the memory: "You can't change the past. Only observe what you've buried."
—
Mud. Blood. Screaming.
Jay curled in a foxhole, hands clamped over his ears. The voices weren't just heard now—they pierced, their voices threatening to fracture his mind.
"I don't want to die—"
"Mama, Mama—"
"God, make it stop—"
"Tom!" Jay shrieked, nails raking his scalp. "Tom, help!"
Boots splashed through the muck. Tom dropped beside him, bayonet dripping, his face streaked with grime and grief. "Hey… hey. It's me." He pulled Jay into a crushing embrace. "Breathe. Just breathe."
"Their voices… it's too much—"
Tom pressed his forehead to Jay's. "Then share it. I'll take half."
A crack reverberated in Jay's skull. Blood welled in Tom's eyes, then Jay's—crimson tears mingling as the voices split, their torment halved.
"See?" Tom whispered, smiling through the red. "Not so heavy now."
—
The woman's laugh severed the memory. "How noble. How fatal."
Jay gasped, back in the blue-lit room, his cheeks wet. Not with blood. With tears.
"You… you showed me a lie," he choked.
She tilted his chin, her thumb smearing his tears. "No. I showed you the weapon they made. Tom wasn't your shield. He was your anchor. And when he died…" She trailed off, gesturing to the watch. "The leash snapped. Now the hound rages, blind and starving."
Jay recoiled. "Stop."
"Or what?" She leaned closer, her serpent tattoo writhing. "You'll drown yourself in tonic again? Hide from what you are?"
"I'm nothing."
"You're a Seer." Her whisper was a blade. "And your government is still out there, hunting others like you. Experimenting. Killing."
The watch trembled between them.
"Why me?" Jay rasped.
"Because you're the only one angry enough to burn it all down."
Somewhere, deep in his mind, the shadows hissed in agreement.
---