As the guy stepped toward me, I pushed his toe down just the slightest bit so it caught the floor. It worked. When he stumbled forward, I tugged at the tray. Again, just the slightest bit. It all had to seem like an accident. When he tried to catch his balance and grab the medicine, I slid the cup toward his fingers. He swore as the cup bounced from his grip. The liquid spilled over the tray. A drop splashed on my lip. I licked it without thinking, then braced myself for the bitterness.
That was weird … it tasted like water.
Cursing, the man wiped his hand on his pants and stomped toward the door. He pushed his palm against the plate and stepped out. There was no click from the bolt when the door closed behind him. I hoped he was annoyed enough that he didn’t notice.
I kept my concentration on the bolt as I walked to the door. It was easier to hold it back than to try to figure out how to trigger the mechanism once it closed. I opened the door and peered out.
From what I could see, the place wasn’t very big—just a short hall with a couple rooms on each side. No windows. It had the damp, musty smell of a basement. I heard the clink of someone grabbing a bottle from a room at the back of the hall. Probably the guy getting more medicine.
I raced up the stairs at the other end of the hall, trying to move silently. I stumbled once, but managed to catch myself. There were four open doorways on the first floor. I peeked into the closest one to make sure nobody was inside. It looked like some kind of lab with all sorts of electronics stuff. I dashed past it. The next room was an office, with file cabinets and desks. I wasn’t going to stick around to examine anything—not when I could see the front door ahead of me.
“Hey!” The shout came from downstairs. I guessed the guy had gotten back with the medicine already.
I blew past the other two rooms, slipped outside, and braced myself for a blast of cold air. Though the sun was low in the sky, the weather was surprisingly warm. I blinked and looked around, feeling like a bear coming out of hibernation. But I wasn’t at the mouth of a cave in the woods. I was in the middle of a city block. There were narrow two- and three-story houses in both directions. Across the street, I saw a couple small stores and a coffee shop. I could hear car horns in the distance, and an ambulance siren farther off.
The fresh air helped lift some of the fog in my head. I jumped down the three porch steps, landing on the sidewalk. I knew I had to get away from the house immediately. As my mind cleared, and the sting of impact spread across my bare feet, I realized something else. I was about to attract a lot more attention than I wanted. In my rush to escape, I’d made myself highly visible. I guess I’d been living in them so long, I didn’t even think about the fact that I was wearing pajamas.
It was like one of those dreams you’re really happy to wake from. I was on a city street in pajamas, running from a monster. But this wasn’t a bad dream. It was a bad reality.
A scruffy guy in jeans and an Eagles t-shirt stared at me as he walked by. I started to hunch down, but that brought back another strong memory. For years, I’d shuffled through life like some sort of human turtle, trying to duck beneath the radar of the real world. I wasn’t going to do that anymore. I glared at the guy. Look, man, the only real difference between you and me is that you’ve got underwear. And it’s probably not all that clean. The instant I caught his eye, he quit staring and hurried off.
I didn’t stop to enjoy my victory. I had to get away. As I headed for the corner, I tried to act like it was the most normal thing in the world to jog down the street in pajamas, but I could feel my face flushing. I checked over my shoulder just in time to see a door fly open. A little girl raced down the steps, followed by her mother.
Wrong house.
Tell that to my heart. It didn’t matter. The lab door would open any second. I spun around the corner, ignoring the pain of city grit abrading my feet.
I hurried a couple more blocks, turning corners at random, expecting to hear shouts of pursuit at any instant. When people stared at me, I stared right back. But I wasn’t planning to spend the rest of the day dressed like a sleepwalker. I needed clothes. Right now. Which meant I needed money.
I stopped walking and tried to think up a way to get some quick cash. I could beg. But who’d give me money looking like this? I didn’t have anything I could sell. As I stood there, a guy bumped into me, jolting me out of my thoughts. I glared at him, but he didn’t even look back.
Jerk. His wallet was jutting halfway out of his back pocket. The next thing I knew, it was sitting in my hand. I’d floated it over before I even realized what I was doing.
The wallet was bulging with cash. There was more than enough money to buy everything I needed. Instead of relief, the sight of the cash made me gag. I fought back the sour flood of nausea that burned my tongue. What’s happening to me?