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Author's Note: Ok, so I'm ahead of schedule on this story for now. I have Ch.6 fully written and almost done with 7. This is shaping into a fun tale for me to write. I will say there's a tad bit more action at the end of this one. The two chapters that follow are all talking ones. There will be a lot of explanation in the next two chapters too. This is also the chapter where we finally learn Mystery Girl's name, thus I used a pic of her for the Chapter photo :D.

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5.

The blaring of my alarm woke me.

The constant drone louder than I would have liked. Rolling over, I took a swing at it, instead of shutting it off though, I managed to knock it on the floor. Cursing, I slowly pushed myself to waking before bending over the side of the bed to retrieve the offending thing. I was halfway to reaching it when I stopped and looked around. It took me a few seconds to make the connection but as soon as I did I was as confused as hell. Was I in my room? How did I get here? When did I get here?

What the hell just happened?

I pinched myself then yelped.

So I wasn’t dreaming.

Did that mean I’d been dreaming before? I groaned. Sitting up fully, I looked around to make sure this was, in fact, my room. There was no doubt that it was. I had the same posters on the walls, the same desk in the corner, my dresser, my end table, even my bookshelf. Everything was the there and where it should be. Finally grabbing the alarm---which had finally stopped---I looked at the LED display: 6:02 AM. That was enough to warrant another groan. I didn’t get up this early unless it was a school day. I set it back on the end table then grabbed my phone. I checked the date. Nope, it was still July. Hey, I had to be sure. There were, after all, a lot of strange things going on. This also wouldn’t have been the first time I dreamt about summer when it was really Fall.

I sighed in relief all the same.

I was not mentally prepared for school.

Especially not after that dream.

I mean it was a dream, right?

I tried to recall everything that happened yesterday. I remember waking up like usual, making sure there was someone to watch Carrie before heading out on my own. My plans diverted once I got out and about though, leading me to the warehouse district instead of the school natatorium. That’s where things got weird. It's also where I knew everything had to be a dream. There was no way those guys, that girl, and that light…

It just wasn’t possible.

Laughing at it, I managed to slowly make my way down the hall to the bathroom.

I always tried to shower quickly in the morning. Most days there was no one home in the morning besides me and Carrie, so taking care of her was my top priority. A long shower was a luxury I couldn’t afford. This morning was no different. I rushed into the bathroom, took a quick pee, brushed my teeth then hopped in for a quick one. I closed my eyes, letting the water soothe my body after a restless sleep. I was halfway through it when something felt off. Not the water itself but something with me. As the water caressed my body, I felt it. Sure I always felt the water but this time it was different. I couldn’t really describe it. It was almost as if for the first time I felt at peace. It was strange and yet absolutely invigorating. I didn’t want it to stop.

Sadly I knew it had too.

After another ten minutes of it, I shut off the shower. Sighing, I quickly stepped into a towel, wrapping it absently around my waist. I started over to the sink, wiping away the fog on the glass. I got my shaving kit ready but looking in the mirror, I could see it wasn’t needed. I didn’t grow much facial hair, just some stubble every couple of days. I liked to keep myself as clean shaven as possible though. The less hair on my body, the less friction in the water. It was the main reason I stopped letting my hair grow so long. Not only did it keep the teasing at a minimum but it was easier to handle. Looking into the mirror now though, it was clear that I needed another visit to the barber.

How long had it been?

I ran my hands through the mop. Did it feel thicker? Was it longer too? It was hard to keep track of these things. Over the summer I always let it get a little shaggy. I generally cut it shorter right before school started. Groaning, I stepped away from the sink, the more I looked at it, the more I was reminded of Mom. It broke her heart when I started to cut it. The combination of teasing and wanting to be a better swimmer ruled out in the end. She wouldn’t let me shave it all off though. So I had to settle for a more manageable cut. It still bothered her though.

Grunting in the mirror wasn’t going to get me anywhere this morning though.

I finally left the bathroom, meandering my way back to my room.

There were a total of three bathrooms in this house. One was downstairs for the guests and my father had one attached to his room. Though he barely used it. Much like his room. We’d only been living here a couple of years. The house didn’t even feel lived in. There were still unpacked boxes in the back of the garage and the attic. Long forgotten memories of a time when my father didn’t throw himself into things so much. Also, memories of a childhood long gone. A childhood with her. I think it was the memories that kept Dad away most of the time. I knew it was the reason he chose to sleep in one of the guest bedrooms. The master suite had barely been stepped in since Mom died.

If there’s one thing I understood, it was that.

Back in my room, I dressed quickly. I decided too. I was going to try swimming today. With school not in session over the summer, the school board decided to open the pool for the community. Though it was mostly used by high schoolers. It was weird. Instead of spending time at the mall, those of us not on actual vacations spent most of our time in school. Ok so technically it was the pool but still, it was strange. I couldn’t help but laugh a bit as I packed my gym bag.

I started out of the room when the mirror on the back of the door stopped me.

This had been Becca’s room once. At least briefly. The plan was that we each got our own room. By then though, she was in college. She told my parents she didn’t want it, that she was barely going to be home. Dad insisted. Eventually, though, she got a little apartment off campus. It being the biggest room---save the master---it was agreed I could move in. The problem was that it was already set up for her. I’m not saying it was a girl’s room, its just that it had some girlier things, like the mirrors. There had been three. The only one I didn’t move to the attic with the rest of her furniture was the one on the back of the door. I usually hung my coats back there so I rarely saw it. It being summer, all my coats were in the closet at the moment. It was a good thing the mirror was there today.

I cursed.

The necklace was back.

I cursed my sister.

This little prank of hers was going too far.

It was one thing to slip it around my neck once but again, I was getting tired of it. When I walked around wearing it the other day, I was convinced it had to be her. I scolded her for it but she feigned innocence. Today though, I was fed up. I was surprised too. I managed to hide it pretty well or so I thought. I shoved it way back in my drawer last night...no wait, the night before right? I was confused. It was weird. Once again, I vividly remember getting up, going about my day. Up until…

The dream.

It was a dream, right?

What the hell am I saying, of course, it was a dream.

Though if it was, what happened instead?

Trying not to think about it, I quickly pulled open my door. I rushed out of my room, bound and determined to forget it ever happened. I got to the top of the stairs when I smelled bacon. Who was cooking breakfast? Cursing, I rushed down them, mad as hell at a certain ten-year-old. I stormed into the kitchen, ready to raise hell. I stopped in the entryway, surprised to see…

“Grace!”

Grace was a good fifteen years younger than my father. My grandparents had her very late in life. Its one of those rare things that happen from time to time. More so now than ever before. Being fifteen at the time, my father and Grace never really connected. By the time she was old enough, he was off to college. It wasn’t all that dissimilar to the relationship between Carrie and Becca. The difference was, Dad never really cared. I think he treated his sister more like a distant cousin than an actual sibling. The way she tells it, they didn’t really start to bond until she was in college herself. When she decided to be a Realtor, she actually helped my parents land this house.

“Hi sweetie,” she said, turning from the stove.

She was holding a spatula.

I looked past her to the sizzling bacon.

Wow.

Real food.

Usually, I just made Carrie and myself something frozen. In fact, I couldn’t remember the last time anyone used that stove.

“I’ve got some eggs too,” she said, plating some of the bacon while pointing to another tray on the counter.

I nodded, helping myself.

Grace went back to cooking, humming.

No one did that around here either.

She and my father couldn’t be more polar opposites. Though both fairly tall, Grace took more after my grandmother. Lighter hair, bright blue eyes and a smattering of freckles. She was always happy and full of life too, smiling and singing. Dad was stoic, like his own father. I never met either sadly. Both of them were gone before I was born. Cancer took grandma and grandpa drank himself to death. Grief does horrible things to people. I’m just glad Dad never went down that road himself. As it was, he abhorred drinking of any kind because of it.

I smiled as I sat down.

“It's nice to see you, Aunt Grace...” I said and meant it.

I was curious though.

“But,” she said with that smile of hers. “You forgot, ‘What the hell are you doing here’, is that about it?”

She laughed.

She had a great one.

I smirked. “So what’s his excuse this time?”

Grace dropped the smile. “Not an excuse, an all hands on deck type of thing. An officer is missing.”

Shit.

I opened my mouth to say something but quickly closed it.

Wait, wasn’t there an empty car at the warehouse…

No, that was a dream.

“At the warehouse?” I asked absently as I forked my eggs.

She gave me a weird look. “How did you know?”

I sighed. “I had this weird dream...”

I told her.

I always told Grace everything. I didn’t have a choice. Like my father, she always could smell out the truth. Unlike Dad though, she was good at getting it out of us. Dad always knew when we were lying of course but he never pressed it. Like when we did something wrong. He let us stew with the guilt of it until we confessed to it. He glared at us the whole time though and wouldn’t stop until we confessed. It was the cop in him. I always wondered if it worked on bad guys the same way?

When I finished, she gave me a look.

Then she giggled. “It wasn’t a dream honey.”

Wait, what?

She laughed this time, responding to the freaked out look I was probably giving her. “I mean sure some of it clearly was. I doubt you ran into some guys and a strange girl with a spear cut off their heads”.

She laughed even more.

I felt like pouting.

When I was growing up, Grace was the cool aunt. She was young and hip and I loved her. She liked to tease though. She meant well by it but it used to rub me the wrong way sometimes.

I felt like a kid again.

“Your friend brought you home yesterday,” she said, her laughing finally stopped. “Said the two of you were poking around the warehouse and that a beam fell and hit you in the head.”

Grace was glaring now.

Like, Dad.

“You’re lucky to be alive” she scolded. “I could have killed you. The only thing that stayed my hand was how out of it you were. You were barely conscious. I wanted to call 911 but you insisted you were fine.”

She was giving me a look.

It was strange because I couldn’t remember any of that.

The only thing I could remember was the dream.

I must have dreamt up the rest of it to account for what I clearly couldn’t remember.

I smiled though.

“Hey at least Charlie stepped up,” I said happily.

Good for him.

Grace smiled. “It wasn’t Charlie, sweetie. It was some girl. Very cute. Kinda strange though and so tall...”

Tall.

Oh god.

Her.

It made no sense.

The truth is in the lie I suppose.

My mind couldn’t remember parts of yesterday, so my subconscious filled in the blanks with a dream. Why that particular one though? Why the crazy, weird guys and my Mystery girl with that spear thing? I groaned as I looked out the window, staring at the city as it slowly zoomed by. Breakfast was little over an hour ago and yet I couldn’t get what Aunt Grace said out of my head. So I went to the warehouse yesterday and what, got bonked on the head? It made no sense. I mean, why was I there with her? Where did she come from? I definitely didn’t show up with her that’s for sure. I would have remembered that part. Why there? Why the strange guys too? What did any of it have to do with the missing police officer? I wanted to scream. That would have looked pretty weird though, what with all the people sitting around me. The more I thought about it though, the more I wanted to blame Charlie for it.

He had to put that stupid alien thought in my head.

That combined with my addled brain, it was the only thing that made sense.

What did they say? That dreams were your brain processing the day’s events? Well, clearly my accident at the warehouse molded with his crazy alien theory in a weirdly messed up dream sequence where my Mystery Girl suddenly becomes Xena the Warrior Teenager. I couldn’t help but laugh at it all. It was all so strangely stupid and liberating. I mean, at least I wasn’t going crazy. For a split second, I actually thought maybe the dream had been real all along. Thankfully, Aunt Grace set me straight.

After she told me about “my friend”, I laughed. I think she thought I was nuts until I told her how crazy I’d been this morning. Of course, she wanted to call 911 again. I think she thought the head bump was more severe than it really was. I talked her out of it though. The rest of it was forgotten by the arrival of Carrie. An over ecstatic girl was enough to distract anyone. She was practically bouncing with joy at the sight of my aunt. Carrie dominated the rest of the morning with her animated talking. She was strangely always hyper in the morning, it was creepy. It was welcomed today too. It got Grace to forget about smothering me with concern.

It was also a perfect getaway for me.

While Carrie had her distracted, I quickly excused myself. I told my aunt my plans and rushed out the door before she could say anything. I know it was cowardly and stupid but I just didn’t want her to worry. I got away with it too. She texted me a few minutes later when I got to the bus stop. She scolded me for leaving without discussing things further but she told me to have fun too. Grace only ever worried if it was really serious. After Mom died, she was just as much of a wreck as the rest of us. Grace often said that she just didn’t have the time or the energy to have her own family. Ours was the surrogate one she always wanted. Mom was like the big sister she always wanted too.

Grace had been devastated.

We all were.

It hollowed her out though. She tried to hide it but I think its one of the reasons she didn’t come around as much as she used too. Sure, she helped out from time to time but she used to be over a lot more. She and Mom used to spend time with each other every day, going to lunch, shopping on the weekends. Like sisters. Grace put on a good front with us but it was a mask. She was hurting. I knew that pain all too well. We were healing though. It took nearly two months for any of us to laugh again. It still wasn’t great but it was getting better a little bit each day.

“That’s a nice one,” said a voice next to me.

I turned and looked at the woman sitting next to me, smiling. She was middle-aged, wearing a business suit. She looked professional, hair pulled back, sharp.

“Excuse me?” I asked, lost in my thoughts.

“That necklace you’re wearing,” she said, pointing at my hand. “You don’t see ones with pure stones like that”.

I paused, looking down.

What the...again…

I was fondling the necklace, rubbing the stone absently between my fingers.

This was like…

What the second time...maybe…

What was wrong with me.

I smiled. “Its soothing” I lied.

She smiled. “Aquamarine is an important stone” She reached around her neck, pulling out a necklace of her own. “I wear one too.”

There was an aquamarine stone there but much smaller than my own.

“It's for clarity you know. I was never into that whole crystal crap before until my sister bought me this one. I used to be horrible at public speaking. After I starting wearing this, it really helped. It's a stone of truth...”

I smiled. “I was born in March, it's my birthstone, my little sister talked me into it...”

We shared a small laugh.

She started talking about holistic healing and all that stuff. It wasn’t really my thing. I tried not to be rude though, half listening. She was really into it. She went on and on about chakras and cleansing the soul. I’m sure it was all very interesting but I was distracted. I couldn’t stop thinking about yesterday. It still bothered me that I couldn’t remember what really happened. Maybe Aunt Grace was right and I did need to see a doctor. Head injuries were bad and the fact that I couldn’t remember the rest of my day, that was really bad.

I decided there and quickly interrupted her.

“Do you know where the nearest clinic is?”

“What?”

“I wanted to get a quick look over” I lied. “Bonked my head yesterday. Want to make sure I’m ok.”

Maybe get a Cat scan or something?

She nodded. “I think there’s one on South Street.”

South Street.

That was only a couple of blocks from here, right? I looked out the window. I knew this route well enough to know I was almost at the school now. South Street was on the way. In fact, it was almost coming up.

“Thanks,” I said, jumping to my feet, barely remembering to grab my bag.

I didn’t even bother to say goodbye as I rushed down the aisle toward the front of the bus.

“Can I get off here, please?”

The driver was not amused.

“This isn’t a stop!”

“It's important!"

He grunted. Slowly he brought the bus to a stop. He opened the door and I jumped out without even thanking him. Just as well because he was moving even before the door was shut. I didn’t waste my breath on it though. I looked around, checking where I was. I was almost at the school anyway. I was only slightly familiar with this area though. Looking around, I tried to find a familiar street sign.

Greenfield was split up into two major sections, upper town and lower. Lower Town was a much older part of the city, centered around the canal that ran straight through it. The houses and buildings there were older, built toward the end of the 19th century and early 20th century. That part of the city had been built, dismantled and rebuilt so many times it was hard to tell what was new from the old. Its where the warehouse district was for instance. Its also where Charlie lived. Upper Town was much different. Everything was new there. It had all been fields and farmland once. I’m not sure when the city expanded but most of the buildings in the Upper part of the city couldn’t have been more than thirty years old. The high school was here. I lived there.

Upper and Lower Town were only ten minutes away from each other by car. About thirty by bus because of the constant stops. If one were to walk from one end of the city to the other though, it would probably take a couple of hours. That didn’t count the remaining farmland either. It also didn’t count walking from Lower Town to my newer housing development. Driving back and forth added another ten minutes or so to the journey.

Thinking about all of that right now was pretty useless though.

Right now, I needed…

Ah, there it was.

South Street.

I smiled.

I quickly rushed across the street, huffed it two blocks before finding what I was looking for.

The Emergency Clinic.

The hospital was on the other side of town. There was a professional district with doctor’s offices and things but you needed an appointment for that. Whereas the clinic was smack dab in the middle of what was affectionately called “Professional Parkway”, one could simply walk in. It was just as well. I didn’t want my father to know I was coming here. I didn’t want anyone to know. People worried about the littlest things and it was frankly no one’s business but my own. I needed to get checked out though. Grace was right.

I started into the building like I belonged there.

I walked up to the front desk, smiling at the wo…

Man.

That was weird, you don’t see too many male receptionists.

Oh well.

“Hi,” I said, trying to remain calm. “I had a bit of an accident yesterday. I think I need to be checked out.”

He nodded.

“Of course,” he said, his voice strangely cold.

He was a tall man. Really tall. He was strangely pale too. I smiled as he continued to stare at me. I was waiting. He was supposed to give me some paperwork or something, wasn’t he? I looked around the counter, there was a clipboard right next to him. He continued to stare at me though. It was uncomfortable. I looked away, hoping that someone else thought it was uncomfortable too. Then I realized, there was no one else. I turned and looked out the large glass front of the building. There were cars out there in the parking lot, at least ten. Where were the rest of the people?

I turned back to the man.

"Pretty quiet, huh?"

I was trying to make small talk because it was kind of creepy. Where was everyone?

He was still staring.

“You smell nice,” he said, sniffing. "Like the water."

“Umm….thanks...” I said, creeped out.

The water? Who even talks like that?

I backed away from the counter. I started to make my way toward the waiting area but stopped. There was an abandoned purse sitting by one of the chairs. On the coffee table nearby there was also a cup. I could still see steam coming off it. There was something wrong here.
Something very wrong.

“I think I better...ummm….just...”

I took a step back further.

That’s when he reacted. He was fast. Too fast. His arm shot out toward me, grabbing my wrist. His grip was surprisingly strong. I tried to pull free but I couldn’t. I started to struggle but his grip was like iron.

“Let me go, you fucking freak!”

He smiled, his mouth spreading a lot larger than humanly possible.

What the hell?

How was he…

What was he…

The dream....no, it couldn't...

“He was right,” he said, his tongue slithering out of his wide mouth, flicking about his chin. “He said you'd come here. We just had to wait..."

What was going on?

“Let me go!”

I tried to pull away from him but he was inhumanly strong. Like before.

Like the dream.

“Not a chance, you know too much, hue-man.”

The way he said it though.

Two words instead of one.

“Hue-Man”.

Like before.

From the warehouse.

From my dream.

Oh, my God.

I panicked.

Without even thinking, I swung my bag around. The heavy duffle whacked him hard up the side of his head. It was enough to stagger him, his grip loosened. He didn’t let go but it allowed me to grab something else. There was a large glass container of gumballs on the counter next to the phone. While the bag staggered him, I snatched it up quickly. I didn’t even think. I swung it at his head too, smashing it against the side of his face as hard as I could. He didn’t even flinch though. There were glass shards and blood all over his face but there was something wrong.

Something wrong with his face.

It was cut in several places but it was...there was something underneath.

Almost as if this face was a mask?

A mask covering something gray and slimy.

A strange greenish puss started to ooze out of his facial wounds.

He hissed.

“YOU RUINED IT” he shouted.

Finally, he let me go but not gently. He pushed/threw me away from him. The force of it sent me flying backward into the waiting area. I crashed into the little coffee table, it collapsed under my weight. I was dazed and it hurt. I grunted, trying to push myself back up. I was shocked too. More so by what I managed to see just behind the counter. There was a pool of blood there. Oh god. I think I knew what happened to the previous receptionist. I couldn’t help but wonder if the rest of the patrons had met a similar fate?

What the hell was going on here?

I snapped back around to “Slime Head”. He wasn’t paying attention to me though. He was trying desperately to fix his face. Half of it was coming off now though. I could see what was underneath. His face was grey and besides the slime, there was this strange scaly texture. It was almost reptilian with a large wide mouth too. It was his eyes that drew me though. I could only see the one, the other looked human but this one was like a snake’s.

Shit.

I made a mad dash for the door.

I almost made it too but he was there. He leapt over the counter and landed in front of me in one quick pounce. He had clearly given up on his face because the destroyed part was just hanging there now. He blocked the whole door, it was clear I was going nowhere.

“What do you want with me!”

“Not you” he hissed. “It!"

It? What It?

“Give us It and you can live”.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“Archon lie” He hissed. “Can smell it. Where is It.”

He started pawing at my hoodie, trying to rip it open. I remembered something. Something from my dream. The other one---the one in the trench coat---he tried to do the same thing. He got it open though, started too...I couldn’t remember…

“Give It to me, Archon!”

That word again.

Archon?

What the hell was an Archon?

“I don’t...”

Something outside caught his attention, he turned for a moment. I took a chance, kicked him as hard as I could. The kick did nothing to him but it sent me backward. I landed hard on my back. Kicking him was like kicking a wall. My leg throbbed and the force of it...ouch. It got me further away though. There was now a good couple of feet between us. I started scrambling back on my butt, trying to get further away. Toward the door, toward safety.

He turned, hissed loudly. He let out an ear-shattering scream before jumping toward me, his arms outstretched. He would have made it too. What happened next was so fast that neither one of us saw it coming. One minute he was in the air, flying toward me and the next he wasn’t. There was a loud shattering of glass and something hit him out of the air. I blinked a few times and looked around. My head quickly snapped around to where the Slime Head ended up though. It was a grisly sight.

He was pinned to the wall, mangled beyond all human recognition.

His opponent.

A car door.

I snapped around, wondering where it came from.

A moment later, I got my answer.

Walking across the parking lot---wielding that spear---was the girl.

My Mystery Girl!

She threw it, like a frisbee.

How was that even possible?

When she finally reached the building, she shattered the rest of the glass the door went through. She stepped through, looking around the room. She never once looked at me though. She walked forward with a purpose. She went up to the mangled scene on the wall. She grunted. Then reached forward, grabbed the door and ripped it away like it was nothing. It clattered to the floor where she dropped it, covered in that green ooze and other disgusting things. I looked from it to the rest of Slime Head, smeared in a mess all over the wall and some of the floor too.

I felt sick to my stomach.

For a moment I couldn’t find my voice to talk but when I did, I only wanted to know one thing:

“What the hell is it?”

She smirked, still not looking at me. “It was weak. Now it's nothing.”

She finally turned to me and when she did, those gold eyes of hers were shining.

“You,” she said, taking a step toward me. “You and I need to talk.”

I nodded but still found myself asking, “Who the hell are you? What the hell is going on?”

“My name is Dey’ya Vynn, Emissary of Zeeka, Servant of Her Holiness Tryn and you are in great danger, Chase Matthews.”

I gulped.

Definitely not a dream.

Author’s note: As I’m sure all of you know, comments are life blood to an author. I’m not begging or demanding, but I certainly would appreciate anything you have to say (or ask). It doesn’t have to be long and involved, just give me your reaction to the story. Thanks in advance...EOF