Who: Alex Cross Where: his room When: five minutes to midnight What: An urgent phone call from mother
Midnight was actually a little early for Alex, but he'd been moving furniture all day and was tired. Besides, the plague was gone and he might actually manage to sleep through the night this time.
Then, only a couple of seconds after he laid down, his phone rang. He recognized the ringer as the one he had set for his mother as he picked it up and answered.
"Hello?" he said, unable to keep the sleep from his voice.
"I want you to tell me the truth, Alex."
"What? Mom, do you know what time it is here? I know you're two time zones away from me, but-"
"That's not important right now," her voice was stern. She was either angry or worried. "Just tell me. Did you get sick around the first?"
"Yeah. But it cleared up today and I haven't grown anything, so I figured it was just a coincidence," he reached for the glass of water he kept next to the bed to clear his throat.
"Your sister just set the couch on fire."
He choked, "Lizzy or Cathy? Oh my God, are they alright?"
"Lizzy. And she's fine. She fell asleep here. She said she was having a nightmare, and that she was trying to protect herself in it."
"What did she do? Did you have a candle on the coffee table?"
There was a long silence on the other end. As though she was hesitating.
"Mom?"
"There was a candle, but it was on the other side of the room. I saw what happened Alex. She brought the flame to her and tried to defend herself. Not the candle, just the flame. This isn't just wings and horns and people turning into animals."
"And you called to figure out if I had weird powers, too? I get it now."
"Do you?"
"None that I know of. Yet."
He was calming down a bit. There was no need to panic now that he knew his sister was alright. He became aware of the glass in his hand, that it felt colder than it was a few minutes ago.
"Call us if something happens. You're the only one we can't check up on by driving down the street."
"I'll... alright mom."
"Go back to bed, Alex. Goodnight."
She hung up, leaving Alex staring at the glass. The water in it was frozen solid.