Thanatophobia

13- memories

I woke up in the void again and was now struck with grass. I could now see the fullest of the mountains, and there was a large tree in the middle of the void with many leaves and a treehouse in it.

"Hey!" Taylor yelled, grabbing my attention, "Up here!"

I climbed up into the treehouse via the ladder. The ladder was clean and splinterless. As I finally reached the top, he ran up to me and hugged me.

"How'd you like the sweater?" I said, visibly red, "Isie kinda forced me to give it to you."

"Uhm- great," Taylor said, also visibly red, "It is warm like you and Isie said."

"You can hear everything?" I asked, fear riding in me, "Like everything, everything?"

"Yeah," He said, patting my head, "And I am somewhat here for you."

"Pssh," I said, giggling, "Well at least you are here."

We wordlessly sat down on the couch in the treehouse, which was way too big for the small space it was in.

"I kinda just stay here stay here," Taylor said, awkwardly, "I mean, I could be at purgatory, but I prefer it here."

"So you are just...in my mind all day?" I said, confused, "So you can read my thoughts?"

"No." Taylor said, twiddling his thumbs "I just need permission for all of that telekinesis stuff."

"Did-Did you just hear that?" I said, voice trembling.

"No?" Taylor said, "All I knew is you sounded panicky."

"Oh," I said, staring into his eyes, "I see your eyes shape changed to square"

"Interesting," He said, "Well, this is the average time for you to wake up."

He stood up and adjusted his neck-piece. His face structure looked warm as he helped me up with his soft hands on my ragged ones. All I wanted to do was stay in this void forever. I just wanted to stay with Taylor. He smiled and gradually pulled my hands closer to him as I blushed at his action of kissing them.

"Love you," He said as I opened my eyes to the whole crew looking down at me.

"Oliver you idiot!" Isie screamed, "We thought you died!"

"What happened?" I said, eyes darting around to check if anything changed, "Did one of you get a haircut?"

"No!" Stacii screamed, "We heard an explosion, a very loud one!"

"Stacii," Emilee said, glaring at her, "You don't need to get all frustrated over something."

"Well, maybe we all need some news flash of some sort!" Stacii screamed, eyes screaming in fury, "You humans are changing, not even humans at this point!"

"Huh?" I said, looking Stacii dead in the eyes, "How do you even know I am changing?"

"Gort is gaining fangs for goddamn sake!" She screamed, then dragged his bottom lip down, "We need to find an exit for y'all."

"Hold on now," Emilee said, gaze intensifying, "We didn't agree on this."

"But, they are going to become like us, and if that happens, they won't be able to see anyone they love again!" Stacii grumbled, "And to think I had it worse."

"Uhh, Stace?" Emilee said, her face showing shock, "You were once human?"

"Uh! No!" Stacii said, her gaze disputing anger at Emilee, "Why would you even think that lowly of me!"

"Okay jeez," Emilee said, her face relaxed, "I was just curious, that's all."

I stared into the single eye of Stacii. I don't know why, but I felt that transitioning to that animal thing was not normal, or at least not normal to them. Gort stared into my eyes, his pupils slit and fangs bared.

"Why do you have feathers on the sides of your face?" Gort said, confused, "Are you-"

"Yes," I sighed, "I am transitioning. It might be some bird-thing."

"No!" Emilee said, her eyes widened, "That means-"

"What is?!" I yelled, "Why is it so significant?!"

"It's about your animal." Emilie sighed, "Your animal is a pure-Animaterai blood rarity. That means, only people with Animaterai blood can gain that form, and even that is rare."

"But," I snapped, "I am human! I was born with human parents, born with a HuMAN sibling,"

"Not all animaterai birth animaterai!" Stacii said, gazing at Emilee, "And to think you knew everything about this so-called race."

"But I do!" Emilee snapped, startling Isie, "It's not my fault you are-"

"Guys," I said, Isie in my arms, "You guys should stop."

"Fine," Emilee said, her face shaping into a smile, "Anything for our Isie!"

"Ugh you two face," Stacii scoffed, "Still, anything for Isie though. C'mon Oliver, let's forage for some more food."

We walked out the door of the airplane and ran towards the forest, it was now sun down, so we needed to use a glowy mushroom thing to light the path. Isie was saddled onto my back and was using me to get around since she was dead-set on staying with Taylor, even though Gort wanted to take a turn looking after him. We approached the bush of berries, and Isie sighed.

"This is where we all met," She said, her grip on me tightened, "You still shouldn't have chased me, Oliver."

"Aw," I said in a teasing tone, "Is it because you are slow?"

"No!" Isie screamed playfully, "Besides, I could have flown away!"

"Whatever you say, pipsqueak," I said, starting to pick berries from the bush.

"I am surprised that you can carry me, Emilee and Stacii can barely pick me up anymore, and you are much smaller than them."

"I did weight-lifting and running as a class at my school." I explained, "My dad also taught me some techniques for running from the military."

"That's cool," Stacii said, her eyes fixated on how vibrant my feathers were. "Your feathers a pretty an-"

"We need to figure out what animal you are." Emilee said, her ears twitching, "We need to see Ube."