The Soul Keeper

"Please don't glare at me like that." Inspector John said with a sigh. 

I continued to glare. His shoulders dropped as he shook his head. "Alright, alright, I get it. It wasn't nice of us to bring you here without explaining anything."

My expression didn't change.

"You've changed though," He said after a moment of hesitation. You seem a lot healthier. I'm glad."

I sighed. "Was busy training. Now, do you mind telling me why I was brought here?"

Inspector John seemed surprised for a moment. "Right…" He mumbled before glancing at the documents he was holding. "So, first of all, I need you to answer some questions."

"Shoot." It wasn't like not answering was an option right now.

"In the past month, have you felt any unusual anger, irritation, wrath, sadness or emptiness?" 

I raised my eyebrows. Was he being serious right now? From the look on his face, he was. "Define unusual." I said, deciding to tread carefully.

"Unprompted." He hesitated. "Or due to reasons that wouldn't make you as emotional as before."

I pondered for a moment. "No, I haven't. Why?"

"Alright, what about any headaches? Random jolts of pain anywhere? Any sickness when you try to eat?"

I shook my head again. "No, never." I was fairly sure that something had gone wrong for some people who got freed from the game. Inspector John wouldn't be asking these questions otherwise.

"What about odd dreams? Nightmares? Memory loss?"

I hesitated, suddenly I didn't want to continue this anymore. His eyes narrowed. "Which one, Kai?" He asked – my hesitation was enough for him to realise what was going on.

My shoulders dropped. "All of them."

"Damn it…" He whispered as he threw the documents on the table. "How bad?" His gaze didn't leave me for even a split second.

"Nightmares and odd dreams… Well, whenever I close my eyes." I shrugged. "Memory loss…" I hesitated. "That one is a bit odd. I…" How could I best explain this? "I sometimes forget names, faces or places." I made a vague gesture. "But other things are crystal clear – I could tell you every detail about some event I wasn't even there to witness, but if you asked me about what Joshua's eye colour in the game was…" I shrugged. I had no clue.

"I see…" He mumbled as his gaze wandered about.

"Anyways, what is this about?" 

He sighed. "Some people woke up recently." 

My eyes widened. "Those who died woke up?" I shouted.

"Some of them," He repeated. "And almost immediately, they started showing signs of aggression. Some of them couldn't remember who they were – I'm talking about total amnesia here. Some others were plagued by nightmares so awful that they became scared of falling asleep." He hesitated. "They passed out from exhaustion after not sleeping for days." 

My eyes wide, I listened to him. "Some became so emotional that it's impossible to speak with them without somehow triggering an overly emotional response." He hesitated. "We only observed these in those who died in the game though."

I gulped. "Is Vincent ok?" I had to ask. Even though I knew I wouldn't like the answer, I had to.

"He's still unconscious." He shrugged. "The doctors can't tell when he will wake up. Same goes for his brother, and Alina Rodeux."

I sighed. I wasn't relieved nor was I alarmed. I was just… I wasn't even sure of what I was feeling right now. 

"Anyways," Inspector John said, pulling my attention once more. "You were supposed to call me if you ever felt something was off."

I hesitated. "I mean… I've been having memory issues for a long time." I shrugged. "I didn't think it was worth mentioning."

Inspector John opened his mouth in shock, failed to find anything to say and just sighed. 

"I mean it! It's happening because my head is filled with way too many different memories. I'll be fine after some time passes, I'm sure." While I had no scientific evidence to back that claim up, it did feel like the most plausible explanation. As for getting better… only time would tell.

"I'd still like to have a few scans and tests done." His tone of voice made it clear that I didn't get to say no.

"Fine…" I glanced at the mirror behind him. "By the way, can you tell her to stop watching? I'm…" I hesitated. "I hate that feeling."

He seemed surprised more than anything. "There's no one watching."

I shot him an annoyed glance. "I'm not quite that naïve, Inspector. I know there's someone watching us."

Inspector John furrowed his brows. He got up and left without saying a word. I remained still for a while, until he came back with an annoyed expression. "You're right – someone was watching." He mumbled. "Though, I wasn't the one who instructed them to do so."

I shrugged. "Told you." 

"How did you know?" He asked, his expression still somewhat sour.

I fiddled with my hair. "Don't you ever get that feeling that someone is watching you? Like ever move you make is recorded in memory?" I glanced at the mirror. "Mirror or not, it's pretty easy to notice it once you're paying attention."

He scratched his head. "Usually, the mirror itself is reason enough to feel that way." He shook his head. "Are you saying that it was just a hunch?"

I nodded. "What else can it be?" I chuckled. What powers I had remained in the game. It wasn't like I could carry my magic over to the real world. 

Inspector John also chuckled, though something in his voice alarmed me. "Why do you ask?" I said as I tried to convince myself that nothing was wrong.

He just shrugged. "Oh, I was just surprised at your luck is all." He laughed and waved his hand dismissively. "You even got her gender right."

"What?" 

"You said 'she'. It was indeed a woman, one of my colleagues, in fact. She was just as surprised as I was. In fact, she said you were a bit scary." He chuckled. "Before I came, apparently you stared right at her – even followed her with your gaze when she moved aside." He grinned. "You have some scary intuition, Kai."