Morph [EDITING] || Wattys 2017 Winner

~THIRTY~

~amelie~

"Step away from the screen," I say, trying to make my voice lower in order to impersonate the guard. I feel terrified without the voice changer - terrified that discovery is so much easier now. My tone is more commanding and authoritative then I expected, but when the figure does as I say I'm even more surprised. "Now, turn around, with your hands on your head."

They do as I say, swinging round quickly to face me. They say nothing.

"Who are you?" I ask. "What do you want?"

They just shrug at me, and I feel infuriated. Something catches my eye and my vision flicks to the screen, but before I can fully process the name displayed there they dive at me, and my legs drop before I realise what's happening. I swing wildly back at them, but they're already gone, and instinctively I realise that they're behind me. My hand flies out and clamps around their arm, and we stay there in freeze-frame for one long second.

Then the moment snaps, and my fist swells and swings and they kick towards me. I dodge as my shot goes wide, and they capitalise on the miss and ram an elbow into my side. I grunt and lash out with my other hand, adding in a foot for good measure. They avoid the punch, but the kick hits them in the leg and they fall. I drop down and pin their arms to their sides, and they slam their head into mine. I reel back, stars exploding in my vision, and they immediately start trying to push me off. But even though I'm still disoriented I hang on with all my strength. But I've forgotten their arms, and the blow connects with my left wrist. Pain spikes up my arm, but suddenly my suit ripples and reverts, and they stare at it.

"You're not a guard," they say, and their voice sounds familiar. It's obviously going through a voice changer, though, that's clear with the artificial tone, so I can't place it. "Who are you?"
"It doesn't matter who I am," I answer. "Why are you here? Are you looking for someone?"

Through the small slits in their mask, I can see their eyes flicker towards the screen I noticed earlier. I frown and turn my head to see. They've opened the prisoner database, the search function. One of the guards' identification cards is lying by the keyboard, explaining how they got in.

SEARCH: Matthew Tyrone

My frown deepens. I recognise the last name, but... who is that?

I ask the intruder the same question.
"A friend," they say curtly, but the way they try and get rid of my question quickly tells me there's more to it than that.
"I don't believe you."
They stare at me. "You don't need to believe me. I don't need anything from you."

My gaze is fixed on the screen as something clicks in my mind. The slightly familiar voice. The prisoner they're searching for. The voice I heard, on Cade's last day, whispering a name again and again...

"Matthew, I'm so sorry... Matthew..."

I gasp, and all my strength flows away as I realise who the intruder is.

My mother.

I stumble back, and she narrows her eyes at me. My body morphs back into my true form, and my mother gapes at me.

"Amelie?" she whispers. "What are you... why?"
"Mum," I say. "You need to tell me what's going on. Now."
My mother reaches up and pulls off her mask, and flies towards me in a hug. "Amelie, what happened to you? Where's Sophia? Is she okay?"

I'm suspicious now. She's never showed this much affection, not in all the time my life was still normal. Something's not right here. My mother notices my frown, and she pulls back with concern.

"What? What's wrong?"
I say, "Prove you're her."
"What?" Confusion flits across her features.
"Prove you're my mother."
She stares at me for a moment before answering me, and I swear something clicks in her expression. I know she's realised what exactly I'm asking. "I was never a close parent, and this must seem so strange to you. And I'm so, so sorry. But right now you just have to trust me, and we have to get out of here. I don't know why you're here, or how you got that -" she gestures to the suit, still disguised as a guard uniform, "- but we have to leave before they realise you've escaped."
"I... I didn't escape."
Her brows lower. "What are you doing in prison, then, Amelie? Tell me that."
"I came here to get something, just like you, I'm assuming. Specifics later. Right now, we need to find it, and your person too."