The omniscient eye

One in one hundred

The day was darker than usual. Heavy rain has been falling for a week now, but today was especially dark. Not many people visited the bookstore and that stressed Logan. Lack of money is never welcomed. He was looking through the glass door from behind the counter and praying for the rain to stop soon. Of course, it didn’t listen.

He had already read all the books in the store so there wasn’t much for him to do except watch the rain. No people coming in, no kids running down the street, and no his favorite ice-cream truck. It really was a bad day after all.

His attention was seized by a bright neon red sign a little bit down the street. He had seen the sign multiple times already, but this time because of all the rain it looked even spookier. It said Are you the next player? , and Logan snorted at it. He imagined winning the game multiple times already, he imagined winning the money and maybe doing something different with his life. He wished to be the next player because that could change his life forever.

He sighed tiredly. He was going down the rabbit hole again. Only those with the invitation could play, and chances of getting one were one in one hundred. He was better off selling his books in his small store than daydreaming the whole time.

As the rain wasn’t stopping any time soon he decided to close the store earlier. He looked around the bookstore and saw some of the books lying around in the wrong places, some were even on the floor, but he realized it wasn’t a big deal since no one was going to come in anyways.

He went to check if the back doors were locked. The light in the warehouse wasn’t working, again, so he had to touch his way out to get to the door. One of the big empty boxes almost fell on him in the process, but he managed to reach it and check that the door was actually locked all the time. You never know, he said to himself as he was returning to the front.

The lights flickered in the store, which prompted Logan to hurry with closing and get the hell out of there since the storm was about to come. Just as he reached under the counter for the keys, he heard the doorbell ring. Great. He thought to himself. He did want the customers but right before closing? Really?

“Logan, you there?” , he heard a familiar voice calling out his name. A dark silhouette drenched to the bone was standing near the entrance, and if it wasn’t for the familiar deep voice, Logan wouldn’t have recognized his own brother.

“Jack? Is that you?”, who would’ve thought that after two years, Jack would appear in front of him, on this terrible day, looking nothing like himself? Definitely not Logan who was standing there dumbfounded not believing his own eyes.

“Jack, what are you doing here?”, Logan asked since Jack didn’t respond the previous time. He couldn’t really see his face as the lights were flickering and the day was dark, but he noticed Jack’s shoulders shaking. He was just standing there wetting Logan’s ‘welcome’ carpet, swallowed in darkness and his overly big coat.

“Brother, I need your help.”, his voice was shaking as well, as if he was trying his best not to cry, as if he was doing his best not to crumble right in front of Logan.

He didn’t elaborate so Logan had to ask. “Help? Help with what? Jack are you okay?” , he made his way to him, but Jack stopped him with his hand.

“Don’t come closer! It’s contagious.”, he yelled. He looked weak, even his yell that could usually wake up all the dogs in the neighborhood was now closer to a whisper. He was breathless and fragile.

“I am sick.” Jack explained “They…They quarantined me for two years because of it… But I’m still sick. I need your help.” Jack was swaying and Logan assumed he was going to pass out soon.

“How can I help you?” , he asked hurriedly. “Do I need to take you to the doctor? I don’t understand what’s going on Jack.” Logan was conflicted between coming closer to Jack and keeping his distance as his brother wished.

The lightning and thunders were getting closer, so in the fragments of seconds, Logan was able to see his brother’s face. He was pale as a ghost. His cheeks were sunken and his eyes just two black orbs. He didn’t look human. The disease looked far more serious than he thought. His brother was always healthy, muscular. When they were teenagers he always made fun of Logan for looking like a twink even if he was the older one between the two. So seeing his brother like this was something Logan never expected.

“I-I need money.” , Jack coughed and held himself on the doorknob. Logan was terrified that he will witness his brother dying in front of him. “ I ran away. But I need medicine.” He made a short pause letting Logan keep up with the pieces of information. “I found a doctor that can prescribe me the drugs, but they are expensive.” Jack had big, fat tears running down his cheeks at this point. He was scared, Logan knew that. “I-I need money for them or I’m going to die in a month.”

And there it was. Logan’s biggest fear, his only family dying, and him being unable to do anything.

“Please Logan. My brother, you need to help me.”

Jack was crying. Brave, strong Jack that was always his pillar was now breaking apart in front of him. Logan wanted to close the distance between them, to console his younger brother, to tell him that it’s going to be okay. But he was frozen in place, unsure of how to process all of the information.

“How much do you need?” , he asked quietly, scared of the answer that he may get.

“Five million.”, Jack said while sobbing.

That’s a lot. That’s far more than Logan has. A lot more than what he can get in one month. There is no way he can make that much money.

“Okay.” But his mouth works faster than his brain. “Leave your number and I will make sure to send you the money.”

How the heck is he going to do that? His brain ran through all the things that he could sell really fast.

Longan was too much in his head to notice the little shift in the aura around Jack.

“Thank you, Logan.” , was all Jack said before he left the store and disappeared into the thick rain.

Logan couldn’t really process what just happened. That was for sure his brother, right? He wasn’t getting scammed by his own blood, Jack would never do that to him, would he?

How is he going to get that much money? Where was Jack for the past two years? Why did he suddenly show up in front of Logan?

He had so many questions, but no one to answer them.

The rain calmed down a bit, but Logan couldn’t calm himself.

He reached the door and saw a paper in the c***k that was left behind by Jack. The numbers were written in red marker and it looked so much like blood that it made Logan sick. Remembering his own brother from a few minutes ago made him sick as well. He didn’t notice it at first but his whole store smelled like a rotten animal after his brother left. It smelled like death. It made Logan shiver.

He wanted to leave the store as soon as possible so he grabbed his coat and his umbrella and ran out not even checking if he locked the store properly.

The trip back home was faster than usual. He just wanted to lay in bed and leave all the problems for tomorrow. He didn’t even know why he was so tired in the first place, all he knew was that he wanted to close his eyes and disappear into oblivion.

But of course, nothing happens the way we want it to happen. Right as he opened the door the envelope was waiting for him on the floor.

Could this really be happening?

A neat white invitation with WIC’s wicked games written in red was directed to him. To: Logan Snow it said.

Logan definitely didn’t know how to feel about it, but he knew things were about to change, and he hoped it was for the best.