∞Death’s Apprentice.∞

  Ever opened his eyes, wide awake. He sat up, goosebumps rising across his bare skin. He looked across at Zoe, shrouded in grey light. She slumbered in peace, snoring gently. Did she hear it?

  He shuffled out of the bed, but not before pulling the blanket up over Zoe’s shoulder and combing the hair away that had fallen over her face.

  Once he closed the bedroom door with a soft click he probed outwards with his mind for a connection.

  *Chaos?*

  All he could sense was the equivalent of white noise. Had he just dreamt Chaos calling out to him?

  He crept to the living room. Mimi wasn’t anywhere to be seen, which meant that she was probably still sleeping. Ever got onto his hands and knees, lifting up the cover underneath the arm chair. Sure enough the dog was curled up. She twitched, kicking her back leg and sighed deeply.

  Next, he went to the bathroom. Looking in the mirror, he saw someone who had stayed out far too late after the end of the New Year’s Eve fireworks. Ever bent over, picking up their clothes that they had left on the floor after getting back in the wee hours of the morning.

  “Oh that’s where my phone went,” he murmured, pulling the device out of the pocket of his pants.

  It started to ring.

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  Ever had received the odd spam call. But there was something… different about this one. It didn’t show a phone number calling from a foreign country, nor did it say “Private” or “Unknown Caller”. The only thing it had was one symbol: ∞.

  It didn’t matter. Whoever it was on the other line seemed to really want to talk: Ever watched as the slider moved seemingly on its own, engaging the call. He held the phone at arms length, watching the screen. No sound came from it. Instead of counting upwards as each second passed, random symbols appeared: △, ★, ?, ?, ?.

  “Death’s Apprentice.”

  Even without being on speaker, Chaos’ voice still bounced off the walls in the bathroom.

  “Chaos?” Ever, closed the door slightly. “Why are you calling me through a phone?”

  A scornful laugh. One he hadn’t heard in what felt like years. “Why not?” He replied.

  Ever frowned, looking in the mirror to see if his reflection could understand the logic of the first primordial.

  “Get dressed and come outside,” Chaos said. “I’ll be waiting.” With that, the call ended.

  *Mentor,* Ever said, hopping as he pulled his pants on. *Did you hear that?*

  By the time Death responded, Ever was already fully dressed in last night’s clothes.

  Hear what?

  *Chaos just called my phone and said that he wants to meet me outside.*

  Hmm.

  *Should I do it, Mentor?*

  Why are you asking me? Weren’t you the one who said that you wanted to see him to say thanks?

  Ever went quiet. Death was right about that, though the circumstances had changed since then.

  Also don’t forget: if Chaos decides to come into your life, you don’t get a say.