The Meeting Part 2

A chill crept up Ryan's spine, working its way down into his hand until his entire body felt cold. For a second, he tried to move his mouth, but then stopped. What the... He should be getting used to this by now. But he the entire world seemed to be tipping on its side, spinning around him.

The red-haired man tilted his head, his words mushing together, first fast, then slow. "Are you oooookkkkaaaayyy?"

"No..." He managed to get out. "Who did you say you were? And why are you looking for me?"

"Havelin DeCourt. I'll explain everything, but first we need to get out of here. The paradigms have been altered, that's why it took so long to find you. You aren't supposed to be here?" He said it all like he was talking about a Math problem.

"Wait? What do you mean? I'm not going anywhere until you start making sense." Ryan gritted his teeth. His heart raced and his head swam.

Havelin's brow wrinkled together. This time he spoke a bit slower, drawing out each word. "We need to leave. You can trust me."

For a second, Ryan thought he could trust him. The guy seemed nice enough, even with his leather jacket and the scar across his face. His heart started to slow down, the chill that had covered his body started to fade.

And then everything went to hell.

A flash of white boomed inside of the bar, making everything seem like a reverse echo. White turned black. Black turned white. The guy across the table tried to reach out for him, but Ryan looked down and saw that the other man was fading. He reached out to try to grab him, but it was like he was being pulled apart. Strings of ones and zeroes leaked away from him.

Ryan's fingers went straight through the other man's hands. He tried to decipher the rhyme and reason, but it felt like he was missing a variable. Something vital was being leached away and he needed to figure it out, or it would be lost.

But then the other man was gone. And he was sitting at the bar. It was night. People crowded around him.

And Chad was talking... "Are you going to be okay?"