Morph

Sweat encases me, its a feeling I know all too well. A feeling I used to know all to well, I’m having a nightmare, but I haven’t had one in years so I’m confused. Confused and trying to force my eyes open from the inside out, I’m freezing, I couldn’t even tell you when I fell asleep if I tried. “Shh.” A voice rings through my head. Its a familiar voice, one I’ve heard before but I can’t pinpoint where, has someone come to shake me from my tormented dream world?

I’m not even having a dream, now that I take time to look around, its only darkness. Nothing more, no memories of my mother, no druggies on a street, no sobs from my father, nothing. Complete and utter nothingness, a black pit, a void, and I can’t say if its better or worst than the nightmares I use to experience. Maybe it is a nightmare, a nightmare disguised as isolation. I’m freezing but I’m sweating, tossing and turning as my sheets stick to me. Its a horrid feeling to be drowning in your own sweat, to be afraid of your own mind.

The voice echos through the darkness again. “Your mind can be a ratchet place if you let it, it can also be as beautiful as you if you morph it.” I shudder at the sound of the voice. I know this person, but who is this person? My eyes are screwed shut, no matter how hard I struggle to open them nothing gives, the voice shushes me again and I feel a hand brushing away some sweat soaked strands of hair from my face. “Morph it Serenity, what beautiful place would you like your mind to be?” Since I’m being touched, I’m sure the voice is coming from next to me, above me, somewhere by me and yet its ringing in my head like all it is is a figure of my imagination. I have no idea what the person means but I try to answer his question, trying desperately to see something in the darkness.

“Home.” I feel my lips moving, am I talking in my sleep again?

I would say my eyes open but they don’t. They are already open, in sync with black pools, they’ve been open this whole time. The darkness from what I had though was a dream was actually the glossy black of Gemini’s eyes.

All I can see is that I was maybe having some kind of lucid dream, or something, that I maybe took the whole black eyes thing too serious, that I am still dreaming. Surely he can’t be here, in my room, staring down at me. “Gemini?” The sign sounds weird coming from my mouth as a name, but I ignore it, I’m clearly dreaming and I’m sure Gemini is just one of my many concoctions, I’ll wake up soon and start the day.

“You’re special Serenity, you are a morpher. Nothing can hurt you if you only morph it to your will.” He says, standing from my bed.

“What a crazy dream.” I stiff a laugh, running my hands through my soaked hair, I feel the cool touch of my fingertips against my scalp, I shouldn’t be feeling anything. I shouldn’t be able to think and do as I wish either.

“Dream?” Confusion takes over his face. “Ah, you mean the depths. That was not a dream, it was very real.” Seriousness laces his voice. “Never mind that, you are needed far from here. And if its in your best interest to stay alive, you need to come on.”

Suddenly, the outside air whips at my bare arms and I’m aware this isn’t a dream. A scream is on pause in my throat, waiting for the okay to alert my father that his mentor is a mentally unstable creep. There’s a various amount of things on the mini dresser just a few inches away from me that would be great for knocking him senseless, then I’ll run for it.

“If I was here to harm you, you would not be sharing the same air as me right now.” He speaks slowly, with more of a promise than a threat in his voice. “Your windpipe, would be crushed, since you of course have no idea how to use your ability.” Before I can consider his words, something bangs on my window. His black eyes go ballistic, he rushes to the window. In this state I see how young he really is, he looks only twenty or so, way too young to be someone’s mentor, pushing those thoughts away I jump from the bed. “They’re here!” He yells, I’m already turning the door knob and a few seconds later, nearly plummeting down the stairs.

I hear Gemini following behind me, he stomps more than walks and its almost like I can feel his anger and impatience. “Your father isn’t here, stop now don’t walk out that door!” As soon as I hear that my father isn’t here, I run to the front door and sling it open, I’ll bang on a neighbors door and this all will stop once they get to the poli-

A three headed beast stares down at me with all six of its beady red eyes. It growls at me- one of them growl at me, the middle one. I don’t give its neck time to stretch out an reach me, I throw myself back into the house breathing like a mad man. “Listen to me Serenity!” Gemini is in my face, his voice leaving no room for discussion, and if he has a way to get the tri-headed whatever that is away from my front door, then I’ll play Gemini says faithfully. “Morph that Trilan, mold it, it has came here to hurt you, and it will unless you focus on it and make it what you want it to be.”

He walks to the front door and it swings wide open, one of the Trilan’s heads pushes inside. Focus, and make it what I want it to be. It has came here to hurt me, I need to mold it. For some odd reason the only part of his speech that continues ringing in my ears is that this creature will hurt me. The middle head launches at me, missing me by an inch, it seems to be the angriest of the heads. Heads. There are three of them, I want them to have no heads. I want all of its heads to blow away to oblivion. Its going to hurt me.

The heads leave like they were never there, it takes no time, they all just disappear. All is left is four rough and scaled paws and legs. Nails of a wolf but scales of a snake. The creature had teeth like a wolf as well, but the face of a snake, I try to shake the image from my mind. I can’t, there is no denying that what I just saw is real, that this is no dream.

“My father.” That’s the only thing that comes to mind, the only thing that I am worried about in this moment. Where is my father, and has one of these, these creatures found him? I need to get to him, to help him, to keep him safe he’s all I have left. “Where is my father?!” Gemini seems to know it all so he’d better know where my father is.

“Your father is okay, as long as you’re no where near him he will continue to be. We don’t have time to chit chat we need to leave, now.” He looks around, checking our surroundings over and over. “You can call him, face time him even but trust me when I tell you, that Trilan will be the least of your worries, and his.” His eyes meet mine and I look away.

“I don’t trust you and your stupid little eyes.” I huff like a child, thinking about his words. Am I really in danger? And will my father be too if I stay? The last thing I would ever do is put my father in danger.

“Did you see that Trilan? That came for you,” he points to me, “you, next to your father? More and more creatures will come and won’t hesitate to go through him to get to you.” Gemini laughs and walks through the front door, I trail behind him, eager for answers like a lost little puppy.

“Where is he though?” I repeat my words.

“Didn’t I say call him or something? He’s at the office I sent him off, I also got a friend of mine to persuade him to let you take an internship in Venus Sway La. Now come on we need to leave!” There’s a hint of sarcasm in his words but a truth to it as well. Its time for me to leave here.

I follow him, convinced about one thing, I am a danger to my father. He has done so much for me and I would let the beasts take me before letting them hurt him trying to get to me.