Lacrim

°Chapter 6°

After taking her clothes to her bed, she headed off to take her Test. Madelaine led her to the testing room, where a woman in a white coat was waiting for her.

"You're Alex Brown?", she asked immediately. Alex nodded and a pen was already placed in her hand.

"You need to fill out this questionnaire and then we will begin. Miss Spencer you can leave now."   The last sentence seemed directed at Madelaine, who nodded and looked uncertain at Alex, who gestured her that she could go quietly. When she handed the papers back to the woman, she frowned.

"You left out a lot of questions.", she said.

"I've only had my Skill for a few weeks. So I haven't had much time to get to know it.", Alex said dryly to which the woman looked at her concerned. 

"I didn't know that."

Alex just shrugged her shoulders. It seemed her mother had forgotten to mention this important fact that she is only a Changier since merely a week. Typical, Alex thought. 

"Then we'll start now. Just for your information, every student with us has to take this test. It will determine what your Skill is best suited for, how much potential you have and what type your Skill belongs to. The letter is subject to change. According to the results, it will be decided which class you will be in.", the woman explained as they stepped into a large grey room. The walls were probably skill resistant. There was a Chair in the middle with a strange machine next to it. She was invited to sit down. It was more comfortable than it appeared, Alex noted. The woman, who introduced herself as Dr. Tillsley, sat down next to her and typed something in the machine. Skeptically Alex looked at the large device and wondered what it would be used for.

"This device lets me measure your skill waves.", the woman said, as if reading Alex's  mind. 

"Can't that be dangerous?", asked Alex, who was not so comfortable with the thought of someone getting inside her head.

"No, after all these years on this office, there has only been one accident, but even then no one was hurt. There is one drawback however."

Now even more uncertain, her shoulder tensed. Expectantly she looked at the doctor, who glanced at her seriously. 

"To See your Skill, I have to put you under stress. In other words, as soon as you close your eyes, you will find yourself in a situation that could be very uncomfortable. What exactly will happen I can't tell you, but please remember it's just a simulation."

Alex swallowed nervously. None of this sounded very reassuring.

"Are you ready?"

The doctor now had a tube in her hand in which a needle was stuck.  She tried to look strong and nodded confidently, but she had not been prepared for the pain that followed. . It felt as if 100 bees were simultaneously drilling their stingers into her forearm. Agonized, Alex clenched her teeth and pressed her fingernails into her palm. 

"Take it easy Alex, you'll feel the effects soon. Hang in there!", she heard Dr. Tillsleys voice say dully. In fact, she slowly felt her senses of taste and smell diminish and her body become more and more limp. At first she tried to resist the fatigue, but soon she gave in and let the darkness swallow her. 

°°°

Alex opened her eyes. She was sitting on a beach. The sky was dark and the clouds were thick. A strong wind blew Alex's long black hair in her face. She felt the warm sand under her. Strange, shouldn't I be exposed to a stressful situation, Alex wondered. Everything seemed almost too peaceful to her. But before she could think further, she saw a figure far out the sea. Without thinking much, she stood up and hurried into the water. She was drawn to that person like a magnet. Even before the cold water hit her skin, Alex realized that what she was doing was stupid, but she no longer had control over her body. As if on her own accord, she swam further and further out, which turned out to be harder that she thought, as the wind grew stronger and thick raindrops pelted the surface of the water. Far away you could hear it thundering. But all this did not stop Alex. For whatever reason she absolutely had to save this person. The closer she got, the more she realized the situation. From her position, Alex looked at the back of the Person's head, who was in the water and swimming on the spot. Once she got to her Alex loudly shouted against the roar of the storm: "Hey, you need to get ashore! It's dangerous to be out this far now!"

The Person did not rule, but stopped moving her arms. Still she didn't go under. It almost seemed as if she could stand, but that was impossible. Now a bit unsettled, Alex swam even closer to her and when she was within reach, she grabbed onto the person's shoulder.  What followed happened so fast that Alex had no chance to defend herself. The person spun around. The girl looked into hateful black eyes with red pupils. The creature grinned widely and showed her black razor-sharp teeth. In a flash, it grabbed Alex's neck with its wizened hands and chocked her. Panic filled Alex and already she was pushed under water. Desperately she tried to loosen the grip around her neck, but in vain. Bubbles rose from her mouth as she gagged and tried to get air. Deeper and deeper she was pushed into the ocean. Horror now overcame her and her thoughts spun like crazy. Again and again the words simulation and test were mixed in, but the pain blinded her senses. The pressure on her ears grew stronger and her consciousness drifted further and further away. Her eyes hurt and she could only see the ugly grimace of the figure, which still had it's fingers on her neck, in a blur. 

Suddenly just before Alex finally lost consciousness, she felt a warmth on her back and hands and immediately her thoughts became clear. She remembered again that this wasn't all real. Her pulse slowed down again. Muffled, she heard a shrill scream, which went through Alex's bones. She felt the pressure around her throat ease. Confused, she squinted her eyes to realize what had happened. Her eyes widened. Black tentacles, which looked very sharp, pierced through the body of the alien figure, which howled painfully. A red cloud enveloped it and desperately it tried to defend itself. Only then Alex looked at her hands and was startled. They were black and her fingernails were long and also dark in color. Hastily, she reached for her back and felt something hard. Then it dawned on her: the tentacles were coming out of her own body. She heard a hiss and the figure dissolved into black dust. Unexpectedly, Alex felt a tug and squeezed her eyes shut.