Dead Time Series by Jason Wilcox

corner looking for the dark figure that had stood there before.
Unsurprised, Caden found nothing there except carved initials that had been
there for years. Besides the mat on the floor and a bed along the wall, the
room was barren.
    Caden
felt like he was losing his mind. He just didn’t understand how the dark figure
could’ve been Steven. Two possible hallucinations in one
night.   He was beginning to
get concerned. Shaking it off, Caden drew his attention to Steven.
    “Are you
the one who brought me out?” Steven asked as Caden moved closer. “Have you come
to finish what you started so long ago? Is that why you’ve brought me here?”
Steven looked up, still hunched down, but he appeared ready to attack. His skin
was pale and his eyes looked void of irises—just black pupils.
    Caden
could feel himself breathing heavily. Whatever went wrong in Dead Time really
messed Steven up, not only mentally but physically.
The man looked creepy. No wonder the guard didn’t want anything to do with
him .
    “I
think,” Caden started, “you may have me confused with someone else.”
    Steven
grimaced and relaxed his muscles. “Do you know my name?” Steven asked while
standing up. Color began to enter his eyes and skin.
    “Steven,”
Caden responded, “Right?” His breathing was still heavy even with his effort to
calm himself. Ready for action, Caden kept his hand on his gun, just in case
Steven went into a psychotic rage.
    With a
big smile and a chuckle, Steven moved over to his pad on the floor and lay
down. “Yes, it’s Steven.” He paused. “You just keep thinking that.”
    “So, who
did you think I was?” Caden asked while he moved over to the wall and leaned
against it, but was still ready for anything that might happen.
    “Why did
you come to visit me?” Steven asked, completely ignoring Caden’s question.
    Not
knowing how sane Steven was, Caden decided to answer. “To find out about your
trip into Dead Time, stopped time.”
    Steven
rolled over to his side. “You want to know what happened in there, do you? You
want to know what caused me to be locked up, right?” He looked up at Caden for
a moment with almost a twinkle in his eye. “They think I’m crazy, but I’m not.
It was that stupid Robert. He made the whole thing up and pumped me full of
drugs to make me lose my mind.”  
    “You seem
to be doing okay right now,” Caden said, not believing Steven’s story.
    “They
didn’t give me my meds this morning,” Steven responded. “I’m not sure what’s
going on, but somehow they forgot.”
    Caden
frowned. “Why would Robert even care about putting you on drugs and keeping you
captive?”
    Steven’s
jaw muscles tightened with anger. “Look, all I know is that I came out of Dead
Time very dehydrated and starving. Robert and the scientists immediately
injected me with something that made me lose control of my body.” Steven’s
voice rose as he continued, “From that point on, they kept giving me drugs. If
you want answers, go talk to Robert because I don’t have them for you.”    
    Caden
backed up to the door. He was worried that if Steven got too loud he might
create attention and that was the last thing Caden wanted. “I think it’s time
for me to go.” He was going to have to come back another time. It had been a
mistake to come that night.
    “Good,”
Steven stood up and took a step forward. “Get out of here. You weren’t really
looking for the truth, were you? You’re a part of this whole thing, aren’t you?
You just came to harass me.” Steven seemed frantic, his eyes darting like a
frightened bird. “Get out of my cell! Get out! Get out!”
    Caden
gladly exited the cell, taking care to lock the door securely behind him. As he
peered in once more, he noticed a menacing smile on Steven’s face.
    There was
more to this story, and he was curious to get some answers. Steven’s reactions
weren’t consistent and seemed staged. There was truth to be found, but not