Chapter One: First Glances

The sun rose over the horizon burning off any mist that had fallen. Sun dappled spots began appearing through the trees. And my heart was pounding. I was running from something, I'm not sure what but I could hear large wingbeats behind me. I ran faster, crashing through the thick undergrowth. Just as I came around a bend I slipped and starting falling down a steep hill. I scrambled for something to grab but there wasn't anything big enough to catch me. I kept sliding down when finally, as I thought I would fall off the mountain, my hand got caught by a tree root. The sudden jolt of stopping dislocated my shoulder and broke my thumb, I screamed out. The whole world faded in and out because of the pain. The sound of large wings closing in.

After ten long minutes passed the wingbeats faded into the distance. I managed to pry my hand loose with lots of whimpers and crys but it was free. I laid back and sighed, it would seem I'm safe. After what seemed to be an hour I sat up and finally took in my surroundings. I was at the edge of a cliff looking down into a deep dark cavern and the tree root that caught me was from a strange and gnarled tree. I gathered my strength and stood. My left arm hung limply at my side, pain exploding from the joint as I moved. It was hard trying to climb back up the steep hill so I stopped at the base of the tree. I sat down and the tree started to move.

I jumped back but the tree grabbed me and brought me to its unfolding trunk. The tree branch that had me stopped a couple of inches from its trunk. It looked like there was a hand reaching out and for some unknown reason I grabbed it. The world around me flashed with a bright light and I blacked out.

My alarm clock beeped loudly as I woke suddenly out of that strange dream I'd been having for the last week. But this one was different. I actually got past the fall this time so what does that mean? My shoulder twinged as if I had actually hurt it and my thumb throbbed slightly. Who's hand was that? Why did light explode all around us? Why is there another person in my bed? I asked myself as I felt someone's hand grab my side. I yelped and jumped out of bed my left shoulder exploded in pain and then I realized that I wasn't in my bed but someone else's.

He sat up groggily and mumbled something about coffee, he had shaggy blonde hair and piercing blue eyes with dark blue almost black rings around the iris. He moved to the side of the bed to get up and I backed up against the wall. Who is he? What am I doing here? Was I actually being chased by something last night? What is happening? His eyes moved to mine and a feeling came over me something told me I could trust him. But he was a stranger and I woke up in his bed with no memory of how I got here.

He opened his sweet looking lips and spoke, "I know what you're thinking, who am I, where are you, why can't I remember anything? Sound about right?"

"Can you-?" I started to ask.

"Read your mind?" He finished. "My name is Michael and you my dear, have been my student for a long time although you may not have known it. Last night you successfully and fully Astral Projected, meaning you left your physical form. And got into a lot of trouble after. The monster I've been trying to protect you from your entire life, almost got you last night. You went and disturbed the path I had set for you so I had to intervene." he sighed apparently exacerbated. "You're going to have a splitting migraine for the next few days as both sides of your mind collide. Your subconscious and you. I've been training you in your dreams almost all your life. After the migraine finally dissipates you'll find you have abilities beyond a normal human."

My head started swimming as a flood of strange memories washed over me. I slid to the ground my head starting to split with an earth shattering headache. Luckily though I passed out from the pain before it got worse. But even in the deepest recesses of my mind I could still feel my mind in battle with itself. Days where I thought I had been doing something completely normal flashed in my mind and then changed, I was in battle armor and fighting nightmare fuel. huge creatures with twisted mouths and gruesome bodies.

I didn't know it but I was unconscious for 7 days. Strange memories filled my head the whole time, training with Michael, fighting those creatures, helping spirits pass on. It was like I was in a movie or an anime. One memory in particular stood out in my mind the most, Micheal and I kissing very passionately. None of it seemed possible. as the events that led to me waking up in Michael's bed played in my mind the headache finally subsided and I opened my eyes knowing in my heart that those memories were real. I sat up and looked around the room. It looked like a large trailer bedroom. I could tell where the slides were. I got up and almost fell to the floor if Michael hadn't swooped in to catch me.

"Maybe you should take it easy." he said, "You did just wake up."

I nodded and he put me on the bed again. I didn't know how to act around him all of a sudden. On the one hand he was almost a complete stranger and on the other i had spent almost all my life by his side.