Heathen Series - Changed

Chapter 17

Stephanie walked back to her room in pain after she spent three hours practising with a very mean training bag and some very motivating music. She waited till the new guard left to change his shift with someone else before she snuck back in; she was getting better at this.

As she walked into her room, she felt a wave of comfort radiate outwards towards her and she smiled despite the pain running through her body.

She felt a little relieved - home sweet home - and strolled into the bathroom. Steph turned on the shower while she undressed and connected her I-pod to a speaker they had brought in for her. She stepped into the shower and relished the feel of ice-cold water running down her neck and back; chasing all the pain out of her body.

She put her head back and enjoyed every moment of it letting out a long sigh.

The water was refreshing and comforting; teleporting her into another universe far away from all the pain in this current one. She dried herself off as gently as she could, trying not to disrupt any bruises on her body, then went back into her room to dress. As she stopped at her bed, she found a note displayed prominently on her pillow.

She looked around to see who had sent it or delivered it but found only shadows and walls. Hesitating before she picked it up and turned it over she examined it quickly before she read it.

'Good luck with your match on Monday. I hope you win but then again, I also hope you don't. This program is not what you think it is. I watched you practice today, I wanted to help but I am not allowed to be seen by you yet.

Be careful.

–M.'

"Ok, thanks... –M, a bit creepy but sweet at the same time... And now I am speaking... aloud... to myself; great!"

She folded the note carefully and left it on her nightstand before turning back to slip on her pyjamas and snuggle limply into her bed. Her thoughts were like a herd of wild horses, stampeding over the land looking for the best place to eat and rest. She had no control over them even though she tried her best. When the dreams came, she could not stop or change them despite all her hard efforts.

She tossed and turned, trying to fight them off but she couldn't; her voice went mute and her heart raced frantically.

***

'She was being chased across a long ominous hallway and through different dark rooms that never seemed to end. She screamed but no sound came out other than quiet whispers, not of her own. She looked for somewhere to hide within and she spotted an old closet; before she could get to it, she suddenly found herself in a dry field; her school's field.

Again, her dreams chased her into a desert where the lands were drier and barren beyond the fields of her school.

It changed again into something else; abnormal to any human; her nightmare had somehow managed to morph itself into some hideous creature that she couldn't name but was still familiar to her. This creature leapt into the air with leathery wings of dark shadows spread wide; so wide was it that it blotted out the sun.

She ran as fast as she could to try and get away when she stopped at the edge of a cliff where the ocean was dark and in an uproar.

She turned; she had to make a choice, but how would she do that when her choices were face it or jump into darkness.

She waited; her breath fogged the air around her as a tear rolled down her already damp cheek. She watched herself turn and look back at herself, with one word: CHOOSE echoing between them before she jumped...