Page 54 of Tapeworld Induction

“Yep, all good here!” Dylan seemed excited to be going in again.

Isaak realised he was about to dive into the Tapeworld with her once more, only this time she was right there lying beside him. It spiked his anxiety and made him take a couple of deep breaths.

“Isaak, can I see you in the other room for a minute?” Sacha asked, in a way that made clear it wasn’t really optional.

Isaak exchanged glances with Dylan, trying to impart to her he had no idea what Sacha wanted. “I’ll be right back.”

“Er… sure. I’ll just be here,” she said, her voice drawing into herself.

She’ll be fine.

In the other room, Sacha spoke first. “What is all this? You coming in here with the first girl that batted her eyelashes at you? And she already knows about the tape? After months of not replying to my messages.”

“Do you want the truth?” Isaak asked, his anxiety tensing him up.

Sacha nodded, his eyes narrowed, arms folded as he rested back against a counter full of tools and paraphernalia.

“You’re right. She is the first girl that has even spoken to me for a year.” Isaak whisper-shouted, his voice quiet but strained. “But she gets me.” The words came out easy. He looked in Dylan’s direction, hoping she couldn’t hear him. “I… I like her,” he dared to say, chest puffed, hands on his waist, nervous sweat gathering in his palms.

Sacha stared back at him with a serious face. “So what are you going to do about it? Why is she already involved in the tape? She seems kind and protective of you.” His German accent clipped his words, making him sound more curt than he really was. His tone was more brotherly than fatherly, less reprimanding and more advisory.

“She is. We get on well. I didn’t want it to just be another fling. I was trying to impress her…” he confessed. He rolled his head, feelings of shame and guilt washing over him.

“Awfully brash of you.” Sacha continued to look at him, appraising the situation. “Okay. Your heart’s in the right place, I think.”

The tension in Isaak’s chest loosened and he breathed a sigh of relief. He went for a hug, wanting to put out the hatred and pain there had been between them.

Sacha raised his hand to stop him. “I’m going to need a bit more time, and a bit more from you.”

Isaak swallowed dryly. Sacha wasn’t ready yet. It was okay. He’d work on it. Talk to him again. He realised how much he missed his star pupil, his teammate. His friend.

He nodded in agreement with Sacha’s terms.

Dylan was playing with her phone when they returned. “What were you two up to out there? Not deciding who gets to keep my kidneys, right?”

Sacha burst out laughing, prodding Isaak with an elbow. “She’s funny! Oh, no, nothing like that.”

“Good,” she said, serious as hell. “I kinda want to keep them both.”

Both Isaak and Sacha chuckled. Isaak sat back down on his couch.

Sacha took out two rolls of tape, one matte black, one pink. “Daddy’s got your order!” The word “daddy” was already out of order, but in Sacha’s accent it sounded even funnier.

Isaak gestured for the black roll.

Sacha tossed the pink one to him instead, and he caught it with a baseball player’s grasp and a sneer. He’d take it gladly.

Dylan scrambled to grab the other roll Sacha had tossed her way, and she almost let it fall, but held it tight.

Sacha made his way out of the room again. “See you soon.”

As he left, Dylan and Isaak locked eyes. He felt a tug in his chest. The feeling led to a dry swallow. He lay down on his couch, while Dylan lay on hers, a torn piece of black tape already in her hand. She nodded at him, a cute smile on her lips.

In his mind was only the phrase “Don’t fuck it up”, repeating like a mantra. He meant to hold on to her.

She put the tape to her temple. She let out a moan and her body seized up, arms and legs stretched out, as her mind travelled to the Tapeworld. He watched as the tension in her limbs gave way and her body settled into an idle routine, hands crossed over her chest like a vampire sleeping hidden from the sun.

He stuck the pink tape to the side of his head.