1 Wake up!

The sunlight greets me as the world starts brand new again. My eyes slow into the river of reality, taking themselves down along the flowing white drapes that frame the sun and flowing ocean of green grass below the cedar porch beyond the window.

My cheeks begin to ache in rose. I'm gently breaking at the edges as my eyes meet the boy drenched in the sunlight before me. Rising from his shoulder to get a better look, I hush the breath he takes from me again. The dark amber of his hair against the sheet stirs something in me. It takes me back to the day we met. The memories of the day bounce back to me as if it were only a second ago. The thought of going back to that time once more leaves before I have the chance to entertain it.

Staying here with him is all I could ever want. Ironically, we don't have time for that, but he will go with me. I lay back on his shoulder as his lightning blue eyes open. This is a time no one will take from me, even if we're running out of it. He is silent, but I hear him. I fear I'll never get used to this feeling, and I fear I will. It was so different the first time, but this never changes. This reminds me of when we…

"Wake up!"

Blaring with noises and colors and everything. Something seemed to suck itself into this moment, as if all I am was being violently vacuumed into… whatever this is. Wherever this…

"Get up! We need to go!"

I peeled my eyes open to glaring lights and sirens. The disorientation lingers, and nothing wants to make sense. In front of me is a young woman with blonde hair flowing to her shoulders slowly taking shape. She was frantically tugging at my arm through the broken glass, each pull and shake more desperate than the last. Red liquid trickled down her arm, deeply contrasting against her pale white skin.

"Hold on, please!" The panic in my voice startles me, "Wait!"

What the hell is going on here? Why don't I remember anything? Where am I?

The ringing in my head quieted and I could feel my gravity reign itself in. Along with the urge to vomit. As I lean over the broken glass, everything feels wrong. I am only calibrating to my new environment. As if a calm torrent crashed through my mind of its own will, jolting my thoughts to a halt, I could feel it there. This is natural, think rationally. The unease is tearing at my mind. This is my mind. Take a breath, it's time to assess my situation. Get out of my head! I need to do this. It feels like my blood is crawling the wrong way under my skin. It burns. I will be calm right now, I must be. No! What is this? What fears I have right now will not control me. Stop it. With a deep breath, the uneasiness of it all faded slowly. I shouldn't fight this; it is helping me adjust. I can't tell anymore. I need to know.

"I have a lot of questions…", my voice still sounded strange, everything was strange. Her hazel eyes pleaded back for me to trust her. Her mouth went agape before closing again after a moment, as if thinking of what she should say before committing it to words. She looked panicked, then determined.

"We don't have time for this. Let's go!" The woman said as she reached out for my wrist, not waiting for a response.

She pulled one last time with all her strength and we tumbled away from the shattered container. The ground below us was covered in a thick blue liquid and broken glass. The smell of charcoal assaulted me, as if everything in the room was burning. The blue liquid was quickly evaporating into steam, even at room temperature.

"Put this on." She said as she threw me a lab coat from a nearby desk and scrambled toward the exit. As she kept an eye on the hallway beyond, she kept peering back at me and urging me to hurry. As I slid on the sleeves of the coat it dawned on me that I had never put on clothes before. This was a first. I looked down at myself as I walked toward the mysterious woman that seemed to care too much. I was seeing a body that felt so familiar to me, yet I'm seeing it for the first time. Something is w-right.

Only now did I realize how exposed I was in only a pair of skin-tight silver shorts and a matching sheer crop top, all still covered in the evaporating blue ooze. Shame being added to this strange mix of emotion I was feeling didn't bode well. Everything was on the verge of turning in my head again, leaving me between deep breaths. The sudden chill assaulted me again and brought me back to center. I was not allowed to cross this emotional boundary, I must be focused right now. My body instinctively knew it was not safe. As we left the room I started to hear a siren far off in the distance as red lights flashed in the halls.

"Shit! Hide!" She yelped as shadows started to grow at the end of the hallway. A deep clicking sound repeatedly echoed behind us.

We ducked behind the door and she began picking at her bare feet. "Damn. This is going to be a pain." She whispered as she pulled at small shards of glass. "What about you?" She asked, gesturing toward my feet.

I felt fine. I couldn't imagine there was anything wrong with them. Among all the things that were on my mind right now, my feet didn't make the list. "I think they're ok." I whispered, unsure what to make of this situation.

"Check, would you?" she said in a motherly tone. I didn't really have a choice. She seemed relieved to see there wasn't a single scratch when I turned them to face her. "So, you really are…" She started to say something as the shadow started to creep its way into the doorway. The chittering noise of cicadas filled our ears.

The bloody footprints on the floor seemed to draw the shadow from the hall further and further into the room, and eventually it made the hairs on my neck stand on end. A large metallic insect-like arm struck against the open steel door and bent it under the weight. An effortless tug from the creature and the whole door was crushed and pulled out into the hall in one motion. The figure of a praying mantis flew into the room with us. The thing must have been 2 meters tall at least, even squeezing to get through the door. It smoothly turned to face us, chittering to itself in joy, as I heard the woman whisper in panic "Run!"

I got up and took off at the instruction. My feet fluttered in beat with my heart. I looked behind me to see the young woman at the mercy of the large insect, already caught in its grasp just beyond the doorway. The look of panic on her face as she reached out in desperation tore at my heart. Covered in blood, the insect severed her limbs from her body slowly. My answers to all of my questions seemed to be taken away in a fleeting moment. She was the only one that knew what was going on. I needed her right now, whoever she may be. I can't lose her here, I can't have this stolen from me without a fight! I need to know! We need to survive!

My body felt it by instinct. My emotions were running hot now, none of the icy calmness was holding me down. The uneasiness I felt a moment ago was lifting. It felt as natural as breathing. I leaped into the nothingness and beyond the veil was the moment before. I tore through the membrane of time, catapulting myself toward the mantis-thing and its victim. As I moved through the hall I saw everything in reverse. When I reached them, time was stuck at the moment that thing had entered the room. This time, I was behind it instead of behind her. Not knowing what else to do, I could only use brute force. I slammed into the bug with my shoulder, putting all the strength I could muster into a single shove which sent it reeling farther into the room. There was the sound of a crash and a screech, but nothing I wanted to waste time to see. The woman ran ahead of me as I climbed back to my feet and we made our escape.

"Thanks!" she said, not even stopping to catch her breath. It isn't safe here, and we needed to leave. The voice in my head, filled with questions, slowly came back down to earth. The uneasiness quaked inside me again as my emotions were forced to quiet.

"What am I?" rang over and over in my mind as I blindly followed her, my only hope of knowing what was going on. "Who is she?"