Chapter 4 – The Start of Something Strange
Tim had stopped counting how many pills he took a day.
His mom lined them up by color — white for pain, blue for inflammation, yellow for "hope."
He called them Skittles.
She didn't laugh at that anymore.
Still, he smiled. Every morning.Because what else was there to do?
At the car wash, he sang to customers' music, danced with the spray wand, and told jokes that made old ladies tip double.
His boss said,
"Kid, you got spirit."
Yeah, spirit. That's all he had left.
That night, he felt the ache spreading deep — bones humming like they were carrying static.His vision flickered when he stood too fast.
He brushed it off, texted Tanya:
Tim: You think Ultra Buff ever gets sick?Tanya: Probably not. But if she did, she'd punch the cold in the face.Tim: Bet. I'll punch mine too.
He smiled at the screen, chest hurting with every breath.
When he looked in the mirror, something weird happened — faint outlines glowing over his reflection.Like threads of red and green smoke floating around his chest, his neck.
He blinked. Gone.
He thought maybe he was just tired.Maybe dying came with hallucinations.
But deep down, something in his bones whispered:
This isn't the end.It's the start.