The Animal Inside

Chapter One: The Hospital

I woke up in a hospital bed, my head pounding. Why was I in hospital? I couldn't remember anything. Then it all came crashing back to me. The loud noises. The strange clarity of the kitchen. Dad telling me something about cat eyes. Then I had fainted. My parents had obviously brought me to a hospital.

Sound slowly began to seam into my eardrums. I looked around. White. Everything seemed so WHITE. There were two chairs positioned close to my bed. I looked down at myself, and noticed that I was connected to a nearby machine with wires, and I had one of those clip things on my index finger. A thin curtain was drawn around my bed. Through a small gap, I noticed a nurse walk past.

"Excuse me, nurse?" I called.

The nurse poked her small brunette head through the gap.

"Oh good, you're awake. I'll call the doctor," she said.

"Wait!" My voice was hoarse, probably from all the screaming. I cleared my throat. "Could you show me where the bathroom is?"

"Sure thing. Let me just unplug you." She walked over to the machine beside me and started fiddling with switches and dials. Then she reached over me and started to remove the wires. Once she was done, she helped me out of bed and walked me to a bathroom across the hallway.

I muttered a quick thanks and ducked inside the bathroom, locking the door behind me. I turned around, and was startled to see myself staring back. I walked closer to the mirror. My long, blonde hair flowed half way down my back. My skin was tanned, a result of my many summers sunbathing. I was dressed in a white hospital gown. Dad's words flowed back to me and my eyes immediately darted to my face. I had small features, and I loved my eyes. My lovely green eyes... What the hell?

My normal-looking green eyes had been replaced by cat's eye. My pupil was now a slit and the normal green in my iris was now bright green. I gasped. I closed my eye tightly, and opened them again. My eyes were normal. Huh, weird.

'They're not going to stay normal for long', a voice in my head said; a voice that was not mine. A voice that sounded NOTHING like me. I gasped again, and stumbled backwards and fell onto the toilet. Did I mention I'm a bit of a klutz?

"Is everything alright?" the nurse's voice came through the door.

"Yes, everything's fine" I answered, and exited the bathroom.

The nurse took me back to my room, where my parents were waiting for me.

"Oh, thank goodness. There you are! I was worried sick!" Mum said in a high pitch. It tends to do that when she is stressed. Or nervous. Or worried. Or a combination of all three. She gave me a massive bear hug, almost crushing me.

"Mum...too...tight" I struggled to get out.

"Oh sorry," she said as she let me go. I was directed back to the bed by the nurse, and she reconnected the wires to me. The machine hummed back to life.

"How are you feeling Kefira?" Dad asked.

"I'm ok, I guess."

Dad didn't have a chance to reply before the doctor walked in. The doctor quite tall; taller than Dad. He had stubble all over his face, not enough to be a beard but enough to be seen. The doctor's hair was dark, and his eyes were a warm brown. He looked quite young to me, maybe in his early 30s. His shiny name badge, that read 'Dr Ashton', stood out from his white lab coat, and he was carrying a clipboard.

"Hello, I am Doctor Jason Ashton, but call me Jason," he said to me. "Now, let's take a look at you."

Dr Ashton pulled out a stethoscope and listen to my heart. He also looked in my ears and eyes. I didn't like bright light in my eyes, and tried not to blink too often. He also took a sample of my blood.

"Well, I think you're as healthy as a horse," he said. "However I am worried about the episode your parents told me about. Can you describe what happened for me?"

"Sure" I said, and began to recount what happened. At certain points he would write something on his clipboard.

"How does everything sound now? And look?" he asked when I had finished.

"Things are still loud, but I think I'm used to it now. Everything looks clear. Incredibly clear. Like a filter was blurring the world before and now it's gone."

"Uh-huh. Let me look at your eyes." He said. I lifted my face and looked him straight in the eye. He surveyed my eyes, and then wrote something else on his clipboard.

"Right. I have to give this to pass this and the blood sample onto the specialist, and then we will see how much longer you will need to be here. How does that sound?" He said

"Awesome, thank you." I replied. He left the room. Mum mumbled something about a coffee, and left as well. I yawned.

"You tired kiddo?" Dad asked.

"I suppose," I replied.

"All right," he said. "I'll leave you to rest."

* * * * *

I awoke to murmurs. As I opened my eyes, I saw Mum and Dad talking with Doctor Ashton. Mum looked stressed out, and Dad looked worried.

"What's going on?" I asked. They turned to look at me.

"Kefira, honey, they are going to have to keep you a little longer than we expected. In fact, you're going to be transferred," Mum said, her voice high again.

"But...Why? I feel fine" I said. Doctor Ashton looked at me, and then came closer so he was standing at my bedside. He looked very intently at me, and I shrunk under his gaze.

"Extraordinary," he whispered to himself.

"What? Why am I transferring?" I demanded.

The doctor handed me a mirror. When I looked at it, the cat eyes were still staring at me. I dropped the mirror, my breath quickening.

"What's going on? What's happening to me?" I asked.

"Your test results came back," Dr Ashton said.

"And?"

"They were, how can I put this... interesting," he said.

"Interesting? There's nothing interesting about me. I'm just a normal teenager," I blabbered.

"Your test results and your eyes say different. You have a gene called the eximius gene. Have you come across that term in your studies?"

"No," I replied shortly.

"It is a unique gene. Possibly one of the rarest one there is. It is more commonly referred to as the 'Super' gene." He said.

"What? The Super gene? But t-that's impossible. I'm n-n-normal. Ordinary. I'm..." I trailed off. Suddenly, the strange voice entered my head again.

'You are anything but ordinary Kefira.'

Author's Notes:

Hey everyone. Yay!! People are actually reading and voting and commenting!!! That makes me feel so happy!!! Anyway, here is the new chapter. Hope you like it. Tell me what you think of the characters and the voice inside Kefira's head.

Jason means Healer, so that is why I chose that name for the doctor.

On the side is a picture of Kefira. She is played by Helena Mattsson.

xXInMyOwnWorldXx