The Midnight Stroll : Chapter 02

Chapter : 2

I had been awake for an hour, yet the only thing on my mind was that key--the power it granted and the price it demanded.
I picked up my phone and dialed my manager. After about ten seconds, I heard a soft but authoritative voice.
"Hello, Ross. Is everything okay?"
I replied in the deepest, most tired voice I could muster. "Good morning, madam. I've had a high fever since last night. I don't think I can come to work today. Hopefully, I'll be back the day after tomorrow."
After a pause, she replied, "Okay, take care. See you on Monday, Ross."
After thanking her, I hung up.
Starting my day with a lie, huh. She's such a caring manager, even though she always chides me for "preserving my energy," or as she likes to call it--laziness.
With my job for the day taken care of, I turned to my work-cum-dining table to the left of my entrance door. There it lay--the bronze key. What should I do with it? If I keep using it, it'll give me a heart attack one day.
"Fuck it. It might be worth it."
With that, I left my single bed, which creaked slightly, and picked up the key. "You better be worth the risk."
The next moment, I felt a warm sensation on the back of my right palm as the key vanished into thin air. My mind went black for a moment, replaced by a blurry vision of a key, a chain, and a ring.
"So, I'm not the only one, huh," I muttered, caressing the one-inch key tattoo now imprinted on my right hand.
Along with the vision came the knowledge of the price I had to pay for its use--a random fear for ten seconds immediately after every use. And a limit of two uses every twenty-four hours, counted from the first activation.
So in my case, my new cycle resets around midnight, huh? But what about its range? Is it only five kilometers? Can I travel through only doors?
But considering my stingy lady luck, the random fear will sound the death knell for me one day.
And then there were the bearers of the other two supernatural accessories. Who are they? What powers do they have? And since when?
With so many questions swirling in my head, I decided to take it slow. First, let's take a shower and cook something.
"You're still the same old bachelor, dear Chosen One."