Heathen Series - Changed

Chapter 21

Stephanie's Pov...

Training with Sebastian was not as hard as before, all I had to do was stay focused. It got to the point where I had started to actually enjoy it when I looked passed the parts where he annoyed the living shit out of me or where my aches from the duel acted up.

I went for check-ups the rest of the week and was told that my final check-up would be tomorrow - a Friday. I was excited and enjoyed the Doctor's company once I got used to his... quirkiness. I also noticed that he only stuttered when he was nervous and was glad to see that he wasn't nervous to see me anymore. I learned a lot of the soldier's names because I was genuinely curious and because I had this little game I played where I looked at their appearance and guessed their name from that. Sometimes I was right and other times I was wrong. I was still learning and wasn't even close to halfway done.

I also found out by sheer luck that most of the scientists there were not the usual doctors you would expect to find at a military camp, which made me very curious to what they were actually doing here.

I walked around and watched how everything worked; it was oddly a different yet calming kind of flow.

I strolled into my new room which always had a guard standing stoically by the door and settled myself down on the bed; my room was somewhere on the other side of the base for some reason, and I wasn't allowed to be near other soldiers that were not fully trained - whatever that meant. I enjoyed the walk to my room though I did get distracted on the way sometimes. I missed having someone to talk to that was... normal.

That night, I dreamt of her friends.

***

'I saw them in the distance and started running towards them. I never felt so happy then at that moment. My heart sped up and tears flowed from my eyes rolling slowly down my cheek. I had missed them dearly and couldn't wait to embrace them all. I slowed my running and looked around; something was wrong.

It all started to change; two paths stood before me, both dark and gloomy. I looked down the dark path to my left with dim lamp lights running along it; and at the end stood a mannequin, pale white in colour with black hair and eyes that were stapled shut. I took a step closer, and its eyes were forced open, tearing the lids to reveal blood-red orbs that followed my every move with staples sticking out at the top and bottom of its lashes.

I looked down a similar path to my right to see a scarecrow made of dark brown straw and torn clothes. It was looking down at something and not straight at me... strange.

"Steph!..."

I turned, and there they were, my friends were standing on the opposite side to where the pathways were, they waving at me.

What's going on?

Did I get turned around somehow?

I ran back towards them, away from the two pathways and as I got closer, they had changed into the two creatures I had just seen: scarecrows and mannequins all staring right at me. I stopped, terrified at what I saw and turned to find my nightmare staring back at me. The darkness...

NO!...

No!'

***

I woke up unsure of what happened in my dream; I wasn't even sure I remembered any of it other than the two creatures and the fact that my friends were there somehow.

Were my friends in some sort of trouble or was it because I deserved all the pain that came my way?

I got up groggily, stretched out my body and changed into my new uniform. Looking out my door I found that the guard had gone and got excited at the notion of heading to the gym by myself for once. Just as I locked my door, Sebastian stepped out blocking my way.