How could Adder get to her? Personally? Using gang members? Using traps? Malpractice? Too many options flooded her mind. She tried not to rush but Adder was getting more and more tetchy since he’d realised about his memories, and her instincts were to do whatever she could to make the tension go away. None of this helped her because she felt weary to the bone. Adrenaline pumped through her veins, leaving her hands shaky and her heart pounding. As it ebbed, a bone-deep exhaustion settled in like a weight, pushing her eyelids closed.

  She slammed the pen down on the table, her head in her hands. The paper in front of her overflowed with random scribblings—things she needed to remember. It swam before her eyes.

  Can you help me draft a pact?

  Yes.

  She waited but The System didn’t say any more.

  Go on then.

  Error: Question not found.

  Tanya sighed. The System was happy to answer her questions about how things worked, but when it came to broader discussions, like forming a plan, it defaulted to its simpler, robotic responses. Yet she knew it could do more. Sometimes, it changed—like the first time she’d interacted with it. At times like that, it felt almost human. Now, though, it frustrated her like a robotic voice on the other end of a customer service line.

  You got this Tanya. Just a few more minutes, then you can rest.

  She began to write.

  “Here,” she passed the paper to him. It had taken her about an hour to think through it enough to be happy with what she’d written. She could basically recite it off by heart at this point.

  I, number 43 pledge not to harm Number 10056 or anyone who she considers friend, family, or ally. I will not harm them directly, indirectly, or withhold any information that could protect her or help her.

  He read through a few times, glancing down the page and flicking his eyes back to the top.

  “Not bad,” he said.

  “You could’ve done better?” she scoffed.

  He looked at her with piercing eyes. “I have done better.”

  Her blood ran cold. She knew that pacts could be abused. Hell, she’d considered it herself, but the idea he’d used it like that sickened her.

  She accepted the cold, a reminder that the world was destined to become more like this. Theoretically, she could take it back. He was still tied up there. Maybe with enough time she could draw up a pledge to stop him hurting other people. Her instincts told her that in this new world, one mistake forcing him to be a pacifist would result in his death. No, she just needed to look out for herself for now.

  “Pledge it an’ go.”

  He spoke each word in monotone. She felt like hundreds of eyes all around witnessed this verbal document.

  She expected something special—perhaps a sound or a sensation—but felt no indication that it had worked.

  “Am I now in a pact with number 43?” she asked aloud.

  Yes.

  After so long it felt underwhelming. They stared at each other. Tanya looked away first for the scissors. With a single snip, she freed the man who had threatened her life. She knew he couldn’t hurt her, but her muscles resisted her every move to free him. Her instincts screamed that the moment the binds were off he’d kill her.

  As soon as he was free, he scratched his neck. The tattoo appeared infected, raised blisters and puss all around the snake. Its tongue flickered at the edge of her vision, leaving her uncertain if she’d imagined it.

  “Do you have anything for this?” He pointed to his neck. “I have money.”

  She looked at the various ointments around the room. With a tattoo like this she’d send someone straight to A&E. She wasn’t even sure if A&E existed anymore.

  “No, but I’ll let you know if I see you again an’ I have.” She said it to be civil but then realised she meant it. If this was a common issue with her tattoos she would need to find something to fix it soon, and he would be a good test.

  He slid a walkie talkie across the counter. It crackled softly, muffled words between other members of his gang coming through.

  “What’s this for?” she asked. Her stomach sank. She hated the idea of having a direct line to him. The whole point of the pact was to make him go away.

  He looked up and to the right, above her eyes. She could see he was studying his interface, lost in thought. “I will not withhold information that could protect her or help her.” His eyes met hers “You'll be hearing from me.”

  “What happens if you break it?” Tanya asked, half to him and half to The System.

  He held up one hand as if willing The System not to speak. “You decide. If you don’t or can’t, then I die.”

  He paused by Dreadlocks, looking down at him with his back facing her. She couldn’t see his expression. “Rest in Peace, Khenan.”

  For a moment, she thought he would pick him up or request his body, but then he stepped over Dreadlocks and the moment passed. Adder’s long jacket billowed over Dreadlocks’ face like a funeral shroud. Then he was gone.

  Everything ached: her arms, her legs, her head, and her heart, both literally and metaphorically. The throb of poison being pumped round and round her body stung more with each beat. But she hated the hollowness more. She wasn’t sure who she was now, but the Tanya she’d been that morning was so far away.

  She couldn’t go upstairs without putting down the metal shutters. That meant going outside. She didn’t know if that was a tactical decision or if she was simply too delirious to care. The door creaked open and she stepped outside.

  Fresh air filled her lungs and a breeze blew her hair to one side. The street looked even worse out here. Limbs dangled out of the window—the car an utter wreck. She looked away.

  It dawned on her that a couple of random snippets from the radio that morning were all she knew about everything changing. The sun was setting. It was the kind of sunlight that was difficult to focus through. So many hours had passed that she wasn’t even sure if the snippets from earlier meant anything anymore.

  She squinted through the gloom. Adder was still on the street, a couple of dozen feet away. Aside from the breeze, all Tanya could hear was the uneven tapping of Adder’s boots as he limped back home. There was an empty space where Maria's car had been parked. Tanya hoped she was safe...wherever she was.

  She spun to close the shutters and the stench of burning hit her. It was faint—a few streets behind her. The smell wasn't anything like wood or coal or oil. It was a mixture of an acrid smell of burnt steak with the stench of hair straighteners being clamped onto hair for too long. She hoped it wasn’t flesh.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  The clanging metal shutters echoed along the street. They sounded too loud in the silence of the centre of London. This street had never been silent before, even in the middle of the night there were drunk people milling around using it as a shortcut between a dive bar and the club they staggered to afterwards.

  The lock clicked. She wondered if this metal shutter could stand up to the new powers coursing through London.

  Tanya flicked through the keys. She found the one to unlock the little stone staircase to her flat upstairs.

  The street lamp cast a glint of light against the glossy black of her television screen. She stumbled through, tripping over abandoned shoes and lunging at the television remote. Her balcony door was still open from that morning. The semi transparent white curtain underlayer blew around in swirling folds. Then the television clicked on and the room was instead filled with the cool glow of LEDs.

  It was like waiting for a break-up text, or that nagging unease of someone you love being in the hospital.

  Something felt wrong about the sleek flatscreen, that jarring comparison to the literal magic she’d experienced minutes earlier. This really was her life, her flat.

  The news lady sported a glowing blue rune on her forehead. Her eyes were completely white with the same blue glow lighting up her sunken sockets. She had the same carefully plastered smile as every other day. Tanya gaped in shock.

  “Good evening, you’re watching BBC News, bringing you continuous coverage of the ongoing global crisis. As portals continue to open worldwide, unleashing deadly creatures and granting dangerous powers to millions, we are here with the latest updates. Here’s what we know so far…”

  The screen cut to a place Tanya recognised in central London where a creature lurched through the streets. It was a shaky vertical mobile camera from an apartment window a couple of stories up. The creature came into view and she stared at it, no longer listening to the broadcast. It was like a marionette under the control of a malevolent puppeteer. Its elongated legs moved with an unnatural grace but its arms flopped backwards and forwards with each step. Tanya wondered if it had a spine. With each few steps it paused, twitching its head around. She couldn’t tell if it possessed insect-like mandibles and antennae, or if the cracks appearing on the screen were distorting her view.

  Cracks?

  Why would the phone screen cracks be recorded? The creature grew ever closer, its face staring up at the building with no features, only a white mask-like face with a hole where one eye would be. The same murky blackness of its body was behind it, wriggling beneath its skin like oil in a bin bag. Then the camera got worse, black cracks forming all over the screen and sections where LEDs didn’t light up at all. It looked exactly like Tanya’s old phone, the one she’d dropped and could only puzzle the picture through. The section that wasn’t black was overcome with waves of static.

  Then the creature passed and the quality returned to normal.

  “—individuals deemed ‘worthy’ by this mysterious phenomenon calling itself ‘The System’ are being gifted with extraordinary powers. Our estimates place those with powers at over a million, skyrocketing by the hour, along with the death toll. The Home Secretary urges all citizens to refrain from using any new powers. With emergency services overwhelmed, misuse could result in further loss of life. Stay indoors, avoid unnecessary risk and await further instructions. Now over to the chief medical officer for further information…”

  Tanya sat and stared at the screen for what felt like forever. It hadn’t mattered that she’d missed the section on the creatures because all the news was coming in an endless loop, with only occasional new information.

  She switched between different networks, everyone was covering it but whilst some holed up in tower blocks with echoing screams outside, others explored out in daylight with perfectly coiffed hair. It seemed completely random where these monsters were appearing.

  Images hit her over and over. Bodies lay in the background of clips of monsters before cutting to a normal man in a suit discussing wild theories of what the monsters wanted. Then back to someone surging flames all over themselves and screaming as the fire poured out of their hands. Tanya struggled to swallow.

  Something cold and rectangular fell out of her pocket and slid to the wooden panels on the floor.

  My phone.

  Her heart lurched. With all of the chaos of Adder it had never set in for her. If this was affecting the whole world then it was affecting her loved ones too. They had been outside of London for a few days visiting her Nanna in Scotland.

  She plucked it from the carpet so quickly she almost threw it behind her. She'd muted it for the work day and she had no clue what she'd missed. Calling her mum on the way to work felt like a lifetime ago. Were they even alive? The thought wrenched the air from her lungs. Her mum and brother's face filled her screen and she whimpered. One by one, each missed notification pinged through. Dozens of missed calls flooded in from her mum, old friends, and Maria. Amidst the chaos, she tapped her mum's name.

  Mum: Please call me as soon as you can. We are all safe. Please call me.

  They were safe.

  Tanya let out the breath she’d been holding and her head swam from the lack of air.

  She sent a bunch of quick fire ‘I’m safe’ messages and then dialled her mother’s number.

  “Tanya?” Mum said. Her voice shook and she heard chaos in the background as someone further back stubbed their toe and cursed loudly.

  “Mum?” Tanya replied. It came out barely more than a squeak.

  “Oh love, are you okay? Are you hurt?” she replied.

  There were muffled voices in the background.

  “I–I’m okay, Mum. Got meself in a tight spot with someone in the shop but…” she raked her hands through her hair. “Ain’t important now. I’m alright.”

  A sob escaped Tanya’s mum’s lips. “She’s okay,” she said away from the phone.

  Tanya beamed, but tears streamed down her face as she heard her mother's voice.

  “Are you—“ Tanya started. The image of the monster from the television flooded her mind like a terrible aftertaste.

  Her Mum’s voice cracked. “One of our neighbours…he…well... Peter kept us safe.”

  Tanya nodded even though her mum couldn’t see her. She had never been more glad for her Mum’s dumb ‘I’m your new dad’ beefcake boyfriend in her life.

  “And Tommy..?” Tanya added. She had to speak louder now over the sound of some sort of electric drill.

  “He didn’t see any of it,” Mum said, under her breath. “Him and Peter are boarding up the windows.”

  “Good.” Tanya hadn’t realised how tense she was. She attempted to relax into the back of the sofa. She remembered Nan’s neighbour Mr Baird. He was nice but quiet. They’d only ever spoken when he was pointing out birds in the communal garden. “And now? You gonna be safe?”

  “Breathe, Tanya. It’s a care home so it’s got multiple doors to get in, cameras everywhere, and a bunch of local family members showed up to help us guard it. You. I wanna hear about you.”

  “I’m fine—“ Tanya started.

  Her Mum’s voice changed. “You’re not fine. None of us are. The sooner you can get to us or us to you the better but for now defend your home with all you’ve got.”

  “Mum!” Tanya exclaimed, she grinned. “What happened to all that ‘minimalist lifestyle’, ‘objects are blocking our chakras’ malarky.”

  Tanya expected her mum to joke back but she didn’t. “Tanya, I watched Mr Baird lose himself today. We need somewhere safe that’s ours, somewhere to hold on to everything that reminds us of who we are.”

  Tanya sat in silence at the end of the call. They’d gotten so wrapped up in goodbyes and I love you’s that the flat felt empty now. Tanya walked around the room turning on every slightly wonky vintage lamp she owned. The warm light wrapped her in a hug. Nanna's gifted ugly golden lamp sat on the table and the tarot moon card wall hanging on the wall. She ran her fingers across its soft fabric. The multicoloured cushions were squished against her leather sofa, one of them was sewn by her mother out of her baby clothes. Her eyes filled with tears staring at them, but she didn't need to see.

  She had memorised every inch of this place. Her mind ran through the various charity shops where she’d found odds and ends to bring home. Her bowls from breakfast were exactly where she left them, the cliche romantasy book haphazardly left open on the side next to it, leaves from her favourite plant laid over it. Her mum was right. At least her plants were okay. At least this was still home. She dropped to her knees and sobbed.

  She cried for the life she’d imagined, every appointment pencilled in for the next few weeks that wouldn’t happen. She cried for the dog she was going to get someday, and the flat in Hampstead she’d vowed to rent with Maria when someday her tattoo shop was a chain all across the UK and they were both rich. Then she cried for that dream too.

  Her fingers sunk into the fluffy off coloured tousles of a soup stain in her carpet. She spilled it a few months ago, watching reruns of a sitcom with her ex when she laughed so hard she flipped the lap tray onto the floor and her bowl went flying. The memories just kept coming and they hurt more and more. She wasn’t sure how long she stayed there, curled up like a cat with its head stuffed underneath it. But eventually it felt a little bit less like the world was ending.

  Well, I mean, it kinda is.

  And then she laughed until she cried again.

  Wrapping herself up in her favourite blanket, she half crawled half hopped to her bed and flopped there, holding herself until the memories lulled her to sleep.