The depth of short stories and micro-fiction 2

The Cosmic Inheritance

Katherine stared at her parents, her mind struggling to comprehend the words that had just left their lips. She felt as though she was trapped in some sort of bizarre dream, one that she desperately wanted to wake up from.

"What do you mean I'm an alien?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Her parents, Mark and Sarah, exchanged a nervous glance before her father spoke up. "Katherine, sweetheart, you're not from around here. You're not even from this planet."

Katherine's eyes widened in horror as she felt her world crumbling around her. She had always thought she was a normal teenager, living a normal life in a normal suburban town. But now, her parents were telling her that everything she thought she knew about herself was a lie.

"What are you talking about?" she demanded, trying to keep her voice steady. "I was born here, wasn't I? I have memories of growing up here."

Her mother shook her head. "Those memories are false, Katherine. They were implanted in your mind to help you adjust to life on Earth. You were actually born on a planet called Xanthea, in a galaxy far, far away."

Katherine felt like she was going to be sick. She stumbled backwards, her eyes fixed on her parents as if they were strangers. "Why are you telling me this?" she whispered. "Why now?"

Her father sighed. "We were waiting for the right moment, Katherine. We wanted to make sure you were ready to hear the truth. But...something's happening. Something that makes it imperative that you know the truth about yourself."

Katherine's mind was racing. What could be happening that would make her parents reveal such a shocking secret? And what did it have to do with her being an alien?

As if reading her mind, her mother spoke up. "You're starting to...change, Katherine. Your body is undergoing a transformation, one that will reveal your true nature to the world."

Katherine's eyes dropped to her hands, and she felt a shiver run down her spine. She had noticed some strange things happening to her body lately - her senses seemed heightened, and she had been experiencing vivid, disturbing dreams. But she had written it off as puberty, or maybe some sort of illness.

But now, she realized that it was something much more sinister.

Over the next few days, Katherine struggled to come to terms with her new identity. She felt like a stranger in her own skin, and she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched. She began to experience strange visions and heard whispers in her mind, urging her to "awaken" and claim her rightful place as a Xanthean.

As the transformation took hold, Katherine's body began to change in ways she couldn't control. Her eyes turned a piercing green, and her skin took on a subtle, iridescent sheen. She grew taller and stronger, her senses becoming even more acute.

And then, there were the nightmares.

Katherine would wake up in the dead of night, her heart racing, with vivid images of destruction and chaos etched into her mind. She saw herself standing on a desolate, ruined landscape, surrounded by twisted, alien creatures that seemed to be worshiping her.

She knew that she was losing her grip on reality, and she didn't know how to stop it.

One night, Katherine woke up to find her room bathed in an eerie, pulsing light. She sat up in bed, her heart pounding, as she realized that the light was coming from her own body. She was glowing, her skin radiating an otherworldly energy.

As she watched in horror, her body began to shift and contort, her limbs elongating and twisting in ways that seemed impossible. She felt a searing pain in her mind, as if her very soul was being ripped apart.

And then, everything went black.

When Katherine came to, she was lying on the floor, her room in shambles. The furniture was overturned, and the walls were cracked and broken. She stumbled to her feet, her mind reeling with the implications of what had happened.

She was no longer human. She was a monster, a creature from another world.

As she stumbled out of her room, Katherine saw her parents standing in the hallway, their eyes filled with a mix of fear and awe.

"Katherine," her father whispered, "you're...you're becoming what you were meant to be."

Katherine shook her head, her eyes filled with tears. "I don't want to be this," she whispered. "I want to be human."

Her mother stepped forward, her voice filled with a desperate urgency. "Katherine, listen to me. You must learn to control your powers. You have to learn to be a Xanthean, or risk destroying everything around you."

Katherine nodded, feeling a cold determination creeping into her heart. She would learn to control her powers, no matter what it took. She would learn to be a monster, and she would survive in a world that was no longer her own.

But as she looked at her parents, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was no longer Katherine, the girl she once knew. She was something new, something ancient and evil.

And she was just beginning to awaken.