Project N.A.N.A.

Chapter 1: Tick Tock (Sample)

Tick—Tock!

Tick— Nana's eyes followed the rusty pendulum of the grandfather clock as it swung closer to midnight. The tension between her shoulders ratcheted tighter with each pass and the two creatures in her head weren't helping.

'Tickety-tock-tock,' Ciforus hissed from his dark corner of her mind. Nana felt him slithering behind her eyes like a traveling migraine. He'd begun mocking the countdown to midnight since the moment Nana read her mentor's letter that morning.

'The time is nearing,' Arielanna's melodic voice whispered. She was the other creature occupying space in Nana's head but thankfully she acted as cooling balm to Ciforus' constant chafing. 'Trust Immanuel's decision and stick to his rules.'

Nana gripped Immanuel's letter tighter as she sat cross-legged in front of the fireplace. She took a deep breath of the burning wood in and let the warm of the flames keep her grounded, despite Ciforus and the clock's mocking.

"Rule number one," Nana murmured. "Stay hidden."

"You're not normal, child." Immanuel had told her. "Some may even call you an abomination and until the day you can defend yourself properly, you must hide. Because humanity would kill you if they knew or worse control you.'" Immanuel had been poking at the fire while he spoke but stopped when he turned to face her. "Trust no one child.'"

Over twelve years ago, Immanuel had heard the twin shot-gun blasts that had sent Nana's six-year-old body into a shallow grave. When he found her, half-dead and partially buried the white-haired hermit decided to bring her back to his cabin. A one-room, log cabin sat deep in the northern territory near the Canadian border. The structure hid itself with miles of pine trees and rocky, iron cliffs between it and any road or town, which was why he had not expected to find Nana.

In the months spent nursing her back to health, Immanuel began to notice that Nana healed at an accelerated rated. What took a normal man weeks to heal from, Nana could heal cuts, bruises and even broken bones in a matter of days or sometimes hours. Her intelligence exceeded his expectations as well, as she learned reading, writing and arrhythmic in a matter of weeks, including mastery of other languages in the months that followed.

When Immanuel inquired about Nana's past and her memories before their meetings, she'd told him of the dark place she'd been kept and the creatures that spoke to her in her head. He had pondered on the information for a couple of days before finally addressing the matter.

"No one can know about the creatures in your head. No one." Immanuel had told her. "Do not speak to them aloud. Control your facial expressions. And most importantly, do not become their puppet child."

"Rule number two: train." Nana said.

"You must learn where you end and they begin." He had said. "Pay attention to your surroundings and always be listening."

Despite his advanced age and ever-declining health, Immanuel insisted on teaching her to fight and exercise her body. For a man that creaked with every step, he moved swiftly in practice and held nothing back when sparring. Together, Nana learned that it was because of the presence of the creatures in her head that she could heal so quickly, lift objects thirty-times her body weight and move at a speed no human eye could follow.

"Rule number three," Nana sighed heavily as she reached over to the plastic case on her right. "Keep them contained."

On his last day, Immanuel warned her that there may come a day when she could be discovered or need answers. Answers that only the outside world could give her and if that day ever came, he said, "It would be better to return willingly, than by force." He had recognized the growing influence of the creatures inside Nana, both the cruel and benevolent, when he had showed Nana the tracking beacon he had kept hidden under the floor boards.

'Ss-smash it.' Ciforus ordered her as he slithered to the front of her mind. 'No one will come and we can live on in peace.'

Nana hesitated to open the case, "He never said who would come for us." She frowned at the plastic remnant from a world that tried to kill her, shuddering at the memory of the damp, dark cell she'd been locked in. Old, darken scars still encircled her wrists and ankles where the metal bans had cut into her skin. Occasionally, she could still hear the sound of footsteps haunting her waking moments.

'Take it on faith,' Arielanna assured her. 'He knew what he's doing.'

'Faith!' Ciforus snorted, disgusted by his counterpart's answer. 'That signal could be received anywhere. Chances are that anyone could show up. Even Him!'

A cold sense of resolve settled low in her belly at the thought of 'Him', her father, the man who had locked her away, tortured her for months and ultimately shot her in the back. "Let's hope he does show up," Nana snarled as the clock struck midnight. "There's a nice spot over the mantel where we can mount his head."

'I still cannot understand why you must keep this ridiculous promise!' Ciforus snapped, thrashing about his mental confines and causing jolts of pain with every strike. 'Don't do it, you insufferable brat!'

Reaching over to the case, she flipped it open, her finger hesitating above the on button.

'Don't listen to him, sweetheart, you're doing the right thing.' Arielanna spoke up, pushing back against the tantrum. 'Immanuel would be proud of how far you've come. He wouldn't have asked this of you if he didn't have a reason.'

'Let's say people do come,' Ciforus proposed. 'How long do you think we'll last before the humans start to notice something is different?'

'Probably around the time you take over,' She snapped, fed up with all his bellyaching. 'It's because of you two that we need answers.'

Within the last couple of years, Nana noticed Ciforus and Arielanna's influences increasing in strength and frequency over her body. On the night of a full moon, Ciforus would force her consciousness to sleep as he took control and for Arielanna, it was the night of a new moon. Keeping them contained was no longer an option, not when the creatures wanted out and would do so regardless of their safety. Ciforus craved chaos and bloodshed, often leaving a path of destruction in his wake while Arielanna craved companionship, often wandering closer and closer to towns and cities.

"We need answers," Nana decided out loud as she flipped the transmitter on. A red light flickered in response and a high pitch frequency beeped out a message. "I'm not some helpless child anymore. It's time we find the bastard that did this to us and get you two out of my head."

'I know this will be scary sweetheart, but don't let the snake ruin it for you.' Arielanna murmured. 'Immanuel wasn't a fool; he knew this time would come.'

Nana looked around at the bare walls and worn floorboards of the cabin, the room held only a bed, dresser, fireplace and clock. There was nothing particularly impressive about the space, but it was familiar and what lay ahead of her was not.