The Weaponsmaster

Chapter 2

Drea woke up in a small, dimly lit room lying on a padded bed. She was covered up by a thin sheet with an ice pack on her forehead. She wasn’t exactly sure where she was either. It took a few minutes for her eyes to adjust properly in the light, but when they had gotten used to it, Drea just lay staring at the ceiling, wondering what happened.

Her memory was a little foggy, but it was slowly coming back to her; she just had to give it a little bit of time after that fall. Drea sat up slowly, trying not to induce dizziness. It was incredibly difficult, but within a few minutes, she was propped up. She found that her shoulder was hurting as she sat there feeling dazed. She moved her hand up to her shoulder, feeling bandages curl up from her elbow to her shoulder. She smoothed her hair back and took a deep breath as it began to sting painfully.

How did I get here? she thought looking around. The pain shot through her body, snapping her brain back to reality. It woke her up, and she realized she was in the school nurse’s office. Drea suddenly remembered what had happened all at once. Crystal’s touch had burned her and that’s what had sent her to the nurse. It was so painful that it drained her energy and forced her to the ground. It was so powerful that it went right through her clothes and burned her skin. How is it possible that a simple touch could physically harm me? She wondered with confusion. Something’s wrong…

            She had a feeling Crystal wasn’t right, a feeling that was reaffirmed by her memory of the wolfish quality that Crystal had taken on. The image of wolves sprung up from that memory, spreading like a virus in her mind. Every time she remembered Crystal now, she looked like that wolf. Not human, but not entirely an animal either. Her eyes were the most terrible part of her, though. They were always glowing red in her mind now, looking more like the eyes of those monsters in the classic nightmares. It was completely inhuman.

Drea rubbed her temples with all the thoughts bouncing around in her head ripping her mid to pieces. Her life was beginning to feel like something out of a science fiction novel. Scattered memories began to flash back to her. She began to see bits and pieces of memories she didn’t remember seeing. The wolf-like appearance she saw was very familiar as she began to see it often in her memories of six years ago. Six years ago was when Kevin died.

Drea didn’t remember this wolf thing at all of the day that he died. It was strange. It was like this wolf was in her memory, but she just didn’t know it was there; as if it had been masked by something else.

More parts of her memory came back to her in shattered pieces depicting this monster. She only saw still pictures of it, giving her curiosity for its purpose there life. It was as if it was just thrown into her memories, yet it felt like it belonged there. Drea thought about it for a second, thinking that just maybe the monster had something to do with her brother’s death, but right when she thought she remembered, it slipped away. So close, she thought as the answer avoided her once again.

            Drea sighed and swung her legs over the side of the bed slowly. Her body was feeling a little sore from falling and lying in the bed for so long. She reached for her phone on the bedside table. It was three o’clock, end of the school day. Drea’s day actually ended at two fifteen, and Jackie’s at three, but she usually waited up for Jackie to walk home with her. Knowing Jackie though, she had probably been waiting in the nurse’s office all day for her to wake up.

            Drea got up slowly, using the side table as an anchor. She still felt a little dizzy, but she really didn’t want to lie in bed any longer. She took a deep breath, feeling stronger and stronger with every second as energy flooded back into her body. She walked slowly to the curtain that separated the beds from the office, pocketing her phone on the way.