Chapter 35 (1/2)

Dan nervously clutched an iron skillet, twirling it slightly within his hand. Abby stood across from him cheerfully encouraging him while nursing a cup of coffee. They had relocated to her living room to experiment with his power, as it was the most open area in her house. The couch had been pushed back against the wall, and her recliner was currently in the hallway. There was plenty of free space available.

Dan licked his dry lips and said, ”Alright, I think I'm ready.”

All he had to do was will himself somewhere else. Simple and easy. He'd done it a hundred times before. Nothing to be nervous about.

Abby thrust her fist into the air and cried, ”You can do it!”

The exuberant movement tipped her coffee cup in just the wrong way, splashing hot liquid onto her wrist. Abby yelped, frantically blowing on her wrist. The motion was so exaggerated that Dan couldn't help but fall into snickering laughter. She gave him a glare as she set her cup aside.

”Glad to see my misfortune entertains you so,” she sniped, turning up her nose.

Dan nodded shamelessly. ”It really does.”

He felt his fear rapidly draining away. It was almost impossible for him to remain tense around Abby. Something about the girl, her aura or her demeanour or maybe the fact that she seemed to leak good cheer, something about her always relaxed him. Suddenly, the idea that he should fear his own power seemed ludicrous.

Right. To work, then.

”For the first test I think I'll—”

”Oh! Oh oh oh, wait!” Abby exclaimed abruptly. Dan jolted at the interruption, but she quickly rushed out of the room without explanation. A clamor emerged from deeper within the house, somewhere in the region of Abby's bedroom. She emerged moments later, brandishing a large and clunky tape recorder.

”I've always wanted to use this,” Abby said, wiggling the device. ”This was grandpa's, and I'd like to think that he'd approve of these experiments.”

Dan shrugged noncommittally. ”As you like.”

With a grin, Abby clicked it on.

”This is Abby Summers and Daniel Newman, testing the mechanics of Mr. Newman's natural power,” she intoned. ”For our first test—”

She thrust the recorder at Dan's face.

He leaned forward, rolling his eyes. ”For the first test I'll just be dropping into the Gap without a specific destination in mind.”

Abby's eyes widened. ”You can do that!?”

”I don't see why not,” Dan replied with a shrug. ”The way I see it, it'll be safer I'm just hanging out there without moving around.”

”Movement can often trigger a predatory response,” Abby agreed.

Dan twitched.

”Ok. Ok.” He bounced up and down a few times, loosening his shoulders and neck. The pan whooshed through the air as Dan swung it experimentally.

”Ok. I got this.”

...

Abby watched him expectantly.

Dan huffed.

”Doooo you want some pads?” she asked earnestely. ”I used to rollerblade a bit; I think I've got my old safety—”

”I'm going in!” Dan announced before she could further damage his pride.

He slammed his eyes shut and remembered that vast empty not-space. For the first time, he willed himself there, into the void. A sense of weightlessness overtook him, the quiet but present ambient sounds of Abby's neighborhood vanished, and the lingering warmth of her home transformed into a cold numbness.

Dan opened his eyes.

Empty. That was the first word that came to mind. Dan hung suspended in a vast nothingness, neither floor below nor sky above. Empty, in a way that space itself did not match. There were no stars here, no planets, no bits of space dust or shimmering nebula, no distant galaxies twirling through eternity.

There was nothing, yet still Dan saw. There was no light in this place, no sound, nor sense of touch. Dan suspected that the physics needed for such things didn't exist in this reality. It was a feeling, ineffable and certain.

There were things hiding in the not-darkness beyond him, hovering at the edge of his awareness. They were alive, and they were watching him. He knew it in his bones, in his heart, in his soul. He couldn't describe them, they defied description itself, but he knew their presence with a conviction that disturbed him.

He put it out of mind; those thoughts could be examined later. More importantly, the beings lingered in the distance. Dan was in no immediate danger. Whatever interest they had in him seemed passing at best, at least for now.

How... long had he been here? Minutes, at the least. Simply orienting himself in this strange place had taken some time. Time must flow differently here, if it existed at all. What was it that Marcus had said about the Gap?

No rules, no physics, no reality at all. Only what we bring with us. Only what we expect.

Come to think of it, how was he breathing?

The thought came suddenly. Awareness struck him: there was no air here.

Dan didn't panic. He was getting pretty good at that; a product of constant practice. He remained calm, he remained still. His heartbeat was steady, thump thump thump, without a trace of stress.

He was fine, he had been fine, he would continue to be fine. Just don't think about it. He'd experienced stranger things.

One of the distant not-beings moved slightly, metaphorically drifting in his direction before steadying itself.

Dan ignored it.

He distracted himself by looking around once more. The... landscape, for a lack of a better word, had to overlap with his own reality somehow. He remembered the first (and only) time that he'd teleported with his eyes open. That feeling of movement, of fighting inertia. Some part of Dan, some innate aspect or required secondary power, allowed him to unconsciously navigate this place. To get from point A to point B with a mental picture being the only input.

It had to be unconscious, because he sure as shit had no sense of direction at the moment.

His power was his guide. It... kept him safe in this horrible place.

Dan 'looked' down at himself. His body was shrouded by the watery veil of energy that he had always visualized his power as. It clung to him, over his clothes, around the iron skillet still clutched in his hand. It was comforting to see. His power. It belonged to him. It obeyed him. A thing to embrace, not to fear.

The longer he remained in the Gap, the calmer he became. There was no danger for him here. The monsters in the dark could not harm him. His power was here, with him, always. He could be gone in an instant. Safe, untouched. It was a part of him, and there was nothing that could take it away. A veil between him and danger.

Why had that been so difficult to see before now?

”I want to go back,” Dan spoke into the void.