Elijah checked the weather report on the radio as he lit a cigarette. Clear skies were scheduled today before an upcoming snowstorm the following day. Sunlight breached through morning clouds, speckling the sky with emotion as if GOD painted it. The trees swayed with a rare warm breeze for this time of year.
He sighed as he watched Ashley grab her backpack, glancing back at Emily, sleeping in the motel room. She smiled at him, then looked down at the parking lot before turning her attention towards Bruce near a pay phone. Ashley handed Elijah her P.I.A. badge with a thin-lipped smile.
"Take care of yourself, okay?" Ashley said as she looked up at Elijah, who clutched the badge in his right hand. "I know I said that I would stay and help you."
Elijah nodded. "It's alright. I get it," he interjected as he flicked his cigarette bud on the street.
Ashley smiled, then rubbed her shoulder. "Please be safe."
Elijah chuckled. "Don't worry, I have experience with overpowered teenagers now. What's the worst that can happen?"
Ashley laughed, then breathed deeply. "Do I need to answer that?"
Elijah smiled and shook his head.
Ashley flipped her backpack over her shoulder, then looked at Bruce, gesturing to her as a taxi pulled up beside him. "Guess this is goodbye," she said, then shrugged and smiled.
"Hey," Elijah said as she started to walk towards Bruce.
Ashley stopped, then turned her head.
"Tell your fiancé the truth... about you know what."
Ashley's lip quivered, and her eyes lowered. She breathed deeply, wiped her eyes, and looked up at Elijah. "I won't like it, but you're right. Where can I send you a postcard?"
"Postcard?"
"Figured we keep each other updated. We can be penpals?"
Elijah nodded, his eyebrows lowering. He pulled out a sheet of paper and wrote down Emily's address.
"It makes sense," Ashley said wide-eyed as Elijah handed her the paper.
"I would say you should worry about the P.I.A. fallout, but I guess you have all the security you need, right?"
Elijah shrugged and chuckled as he hugged Ashley and watched her leave in the taxi. He sighed and glanced at Emily before returning to his motel room. He turned on the television, watching a local news reporter discuss what happened at the church.
"Turn that off, I am trying to sleep," Emily mumbled as she tossed in bed.
Elijah side-eyed her, grabbed the remote, and turned up the volume.
Emily's eyes widened as she flipped the pillow over her head. "I have a headache, can you not?"
"Whose fault is that?"
Emily kicked her legs on the bed and grumbled under the pillow.
"They're talking about you on TV."
"Good for them; now let me sleep."
Elijah turned the volume up louder.
Emily groaned, then threw her pillow at the window. "Why are you being a dick!?"
"Because being a dick is the only language you fucking get!"
Emily's mouth dropped as she blinked slowly. Her eyebrows furrowed as a frown stretched on her face. "Wait, Ashley and Bruce left already, and you didn't wake me up!?"
"What part of you scares them do you not understand?"
Emily scratched her head. "Look, I had nothing to do with all that."
"You didn't even take a gloom pill; how did that happen?"
"Yeah, so gloom is like me calling her. She can show up whenever she technically wants."
Elijah frowned, then rolled his eyes.
Emily shrugged. "What the hell am I supposed to do. Tell her off?"
"Why doesn't she just show up herself?"
Emily rubbed her neck with wide eyes. "She can't just do that....that would be bad. You should be glad she doesn't."
Elijah rolled his eyes and sighed. "Why is everything so complicated with you?"
Emily rolled her neck and groaned. "I don't know, maybe because my other self is a cosmic being?" She jested as she rolled out of bed. "You don't get it even while in the Paranatural Intelligence Agency?"
"And you're going to enlighten me?"
Emily nodded as she rubbed her chin. "I can, but first, I am starving."
Elijah frowned as he lowered his head. "I swear to GO-"
"You what?"
"Just get your shit, and let's fucking go," Elijah grumbled as he opened the front door.
Elijah lit a cigarette as he turned the ignition to his Mustang. Emily opened the passenger-side door as the engine roared. Eli glanced over, half expecting to see a pair of mulberry eyes staring at him. He then pulled out of the motel driveway, driving down the country road. A billboard promoting Mel's Diner rushed by as he turned at an intersection.
He parked his Mustang in Mel's Diner minutes later, subconsciously parking in the same spot he once did. Memories tickled his mind as he grabbed the keys. His eyes widened as a gunshot echoed in his eardrums, followed by shattered glass. Eli glanced over at a grinning Emily with a knowing expression etched on her face.
"You just had deja vu huh? I can see the hamster spinning in your head," Emily said. "Parked in the same spot, by the way."
Elijah's lips quivered as he grabbed the keys and exited the Mustang. He held the front door for Emily before entering. Red checkered floors and bar stools complemented the white walls of Mel's diner. Sizzling bacon and the homely scent of pancakes and syrup lingered in the air. Emily parked her butt in a red booth and gestured for Elijah to sit down, unbothered by the gazes she attracting.
"They watched the news," Elijah said as he glanced at everyone. Their eyes drifted away as he attempted to make eye contact.
"It doesn't matter; people will believe whatever they want," Emily replied as she tapped her fingers on the booth table. "Their institutions program them; that's why they can't see."
"And I am part of the problem," Elijah replied as he glanced down at his P.I.A. badge and flagged a reluctant waitress down. "Coffee and a sausage biscuit mam,"
The waitress forced a smile and nodded, avoiding eye contact with Emily. "And the lady?"
"A glass of milk, waffles, pancakes, and an omelet. I am starving," Emily ordered as she tried to make eye contact with the waitress, who refused, scribbling the order and bolting away.
"I thought keeping people like us a secret would help people, but now I see the P.I.A. has it all wrong," Eli said as he watched the waitress walk into the kitchen. "We created a literal perception rift with the citizens. They are taught that supernatural phenomena don't exist, so they don't even know when it's around."
"And you're them when it comes to Emily Prime."
"What do you mean?"
"She has been trying to communicate with you since you arrived in town. The music, the strange coincidences, the symbols and signs, and you still don't have a clue."
Elijah's eyes blinked as his eyebrows lowered. He thanked the waitress, and she returned with their orders. His mind raced as he poured sugar into his coffee. His thoughts swirled like the cream in his coffee. "You're right, but why music?"
"She is a musician, and music is universally understood," Emily explained as she poured syrup on her waffles and pancakes. "You're not artistically gifted, are you, Eli?"
Elijah put his coffee down and shrugged. "Does drawing stick figures count?"
Emily chuckled and shook her head. "No, tell me, have you ever heard of the Artist's eye? " she asked as she grabbed a paper towel and sketched an eye.
"What's that?"
Emily lifted her finger as she continued to scribble, adding shading and depth to the eye. "What do you see?" She asked as she pushed the paper towel towards Eli.
"It's an Eye?"
"Look closer."
Eli stared visibly closer. A crudely drawn ink pen drawing with splotches of mulberry from Emily's jelly and syrup.
Emily grabbed the paper towel and shook her head. "The artist's eye, or the third eye, is the ability to see beyond what is just shown," Emily explained as she grabbed her fork and knife. "And it's clear you're just as blind as they are."
"So what do you see then?"
Emily chewed her food and then swallowed. "I see omnipotence," she flatly said. "Think about everything you've seen and learned. Think about all the coincidences, symbols, and signs you encountered. There is a reality that you're not seeing because you're just looking, not thinking. You see what others don't with paranormal stuff, so the next leap is to apply that same lens to their world," she said as she pointed her fork towards the waitresses gossiping in the kitchen.
Elijah blinked, stared at the eye, and then looked back towards the waitresses. His eyes darted around Mel's diner. His ears picked up the tune from the jukebox, and the lyrics were oddly relatable to his present situation. He looked at the menu, his eyes narrowing upon seeing the supernatural names for the food. His eyes widened when he noticed a customer's vaporwave T-shirt with static-styled words.
"You see it, don't you?" Emily asked as she ate.
"It's everywhere. Your right...I wasn't looking."
"As an artist, I see this every day. It's a reality on top of our reality, and most people don't have a freaking clue."
"Are these all signs from Emily Prime?"
"Yup, this is how she communicates. She is listening right now, watching everything. So now look at the eye again," Emily explained as she showed her drawing again.
Elijah's eyes widened as he stared at the eye once more. "The mulberry eye...I didn't even think that meant anything," he said as he dropped his fork with a puzzled expression. "But why does she communicate like this?"
Emily nodded. "Because this artistic reality is the only way she can speak to us because she exists in our reality that we are not equipped to understand or see," she explained as she drank some milk. Just like they can't see paranormal stuff, we can't be in her presence because she operates at a higher level of reality."
"So that's why I froze in the church," Elijah muttered as he looked out the window. His heart quickened as he turned back to Emily, only to see a pair of glowing mulberry eyes looking at him.
"EM!?" Elijah coughed as he recoiled.
"ⱧɆɎ, ₴ØɄⱤ₱Ʉ₴₴....ØⱧ ₩₳₣₣ⱠɆ₴!"