Back to Reality

Back to Reality- Part 3

"Wh-what is that?" I stuttered; my jaw still wide open.

The thing floating through the clouds looked like a giant insect. Except, it wasn't, rather it was a mixture of giant insects. It looked like someone had taken all the terrifying looking bugs, enlarged them and squished them together into this abomination. I saw an ant head here, a grasshopper foot there. The more I looked at it, the more horrifying it got. I averted my eyes.

Helen looked at me. "That is The Devourer"

I gulped. "The Devourer?"

Helen smirked. "Do not worry. The Devourer is not hostile. He is a servant of the Change"

"He?"

"Yes" Helen shifted her head upwards. "The Devourer prefers to be masculine"

"What exactly does he do?" I asked, shooting nervous glances at the sky.

"I do not know" Helen said. "None of us who live on the surface do. He often patrols the skies from time to time, and heads back that way, after he is done"

Helen pointed towards the east. A huge tornado swirled in the air. It uprooted trees and animals. Thankfully, we were nowhere near it.

"Come" Helen gestured. "We have much to discuss"

We walked side by side, for what seemed like hours. The Devourer had started heading back to the tornado. Helen finally stopped. She waved her hand in the air and a city appeared before me. It spread out in all directions on the grassland. I saw tall skyscrapers and booming suburbs. Neon signs flashed on various buildings and for a moment I was confused. I glanced around me and immediately noticed the change from daylight to nighttime.

"So... this is the Paranome?"

"Yes" Helen replied, a surprised look on her face. "I did not expect you to see it so early"

"The Change must like me" I smirked.

Helen didn't smile, or even laugh. Instead, she looked horrified. For a second, her face contorted into a grimace. The look disappeared before I could blink. She shook her head and closed her eyes.

"Helen?" I said, as I put my hand on her shoulder. "You, okay?"

"Y-yes" she stammered. "Yes, I am fine"

"Should we stop to rest?"

"No" Helen said, her eyes open now. "We should get moving"

I had so many questions, but I knew Helen would shoot them down. I kept my thoughts to myself... for now. Helen led me through the city. It wasn't different in any grand way. It actually looked like a normal metropolis. We walked until we reached a hotel. Helen paid for a room and we headed upstairs.

"Make yourself comfortable" Helen gestured towards the double king-sized beds.

I plopped myself on one of them and sat up. A thought struck my mind.

"Helen?"

"Hmmm?"

"You can do the Change to objects right?" I said, recalling what she had done, back in the emergency room.

"Yes" Helen nodded. "I can force objects to reveal their true nature"

I scratched my chin. I held out my hand over the telephone and waved it once. Nothing happened. I positioned my hand and tried again. This time I saw the telephone, but it looked broken. I restored it with another wave.

"Very good" Helen looked genuinely impressed. "Not many newcomers can control the Change as well as you do. Then again, not many people are..."

Helen stopped talking and smiled. "Sorry. I digress"

I glanced at my hands. "Is that all I can do?"

Helen sat down next to me. "Patience will decide how you master your powers. Now, you should sleep. I will see you tomorrow morning"

I nodded. I was pretty tired from all the walking. My leg muscles ached and my eyes were as heavy as lead.

"Don't you have flying cars in this reality?" I yawned.

Helen chuckled. "Sleep Macy. Questions can wait"

My head lolled and I tumbled on the bed. As I drifted to sleep, I felt my body tumbling into a dream. It sounds weird, but I knew where I was. I could smell coffee brewing and I could hear the monotonous chatter of multiple people. I looked around me and saw the bar I used to work at. I was seated at one of the table's, a cup of coffee clutched in my hand. I took a sip, and surprisingly, it tasted like coffee. I set the cup down and tried to get up, but quickly found that I couldn't. I was literally glued to the chair.

As I struggled, I saw a random guy approaching me. He walked over, sat down in front of me and snapped his fingers. A glass of hot chocolate appeared on the table. He took a huge chug and set the glass down.

"Ahh" he sighed, licking his lips.

"Who are you?" I asked him.

"Me?" the man said. "I am no one and everyone. I am existence and nonexistence. I am the Change"

"You're the Change?" I said, surprised. "I thought you'd be..."

"Bigger?" the man said. "Scarier? Perhaps you thought, I would have horns on my head?"

"S-something like that, yeah"

The man chuckled. "I prefer to stay human on first encounters. I do not want to kill you on the first meeting now do I?"

"Kill me?"

"Yes. No mortal can gaze upon my true form"

"Huh" I scratched my chin. "You seem fun"

"Oh, I assure you" the man smirked. "I am"

I gasped for air as I woke up on the hotel bed. My head felt like it had been micro waved. My ears rung and white lights popped in front of my eyes. Then suddenly, everything stopped. My airway reopened as I gulped in fresh air, my eyes readjusted to my surroundings and my head stopped aching.

"How did it go?"

I looked over and saw Mike standing at the door. His hands were folded and he was leaning on the door frame. Judging from the look on his face, he had been there for longer than he had wanted.

"How did what go?"

"The meeting" Mike said pointedly.

"You mean the meeting at the bar..."

"Look!" Mike snapped. "I don't care about the location! Just tell me how it went!"

"Ok!" I stammered. "I- It went fine, I guess. He didn't kill me, so that's... good right?"

Mike walked over and picked up the telephone. He dialed a number and said- "Get ready"

He hung up and looked at me. "Let's go"

"Where?"

"No more questions. If you ever want to see the light of day, you'll follow me and shut up"