When Worlds Collide

Chapter 3: A New Face - Literally...

I was running, splashing through puddles and dodging slimy patches of brown mould. There was a faint smell of chlorine in the air, clinging to the white walls of the abandoned corridor of the swimming pool room I was running through. It was huge and damp, white surfaces stained with brown; a hole in the roof with ivy streaming in. I ducked into the changing rooms and skidded to a stop. Dead end. I turned back, grazing my bare feet against the rough floor as I entered back into the main room. I looked up, the gaping hole showing tantalising blue sky and sunlight, whispering for me to escape. The vines were too high to reach, there were no stairs. There was no point in trying to jump, but I tried it anyway. And gravity then decided to fail, forcing me to float effortlessly through to freedom. Then, everything faded; the last thing I saw being a glade in the countryside; a stand of trees with a stream that tumbled down a weir, behind which was a footpath framed by glorious heather coated hills, before they too disintegrated into the dull brown of the backs of my eyelids.

Returning to consciousness, I opened my eyes to a blurred image and burning lungs. It didn't take long to figure out I was submerged, which ignited a spark of panic. Instinctively, I kicked out with my legs and soon broke through the water's surface. I splashed about aimlessly and blindly, with no idea where I was and freaking out. Eventually I reached the edge of whatever I was in and tried to grasp it with my hands, only to find my fingers refused to obey. I shook my head to clear the water that had accumulated around my eyes and tried to assess the situation visually, to find that I was apparently using the wrong pair of arms, which was a little alarming. I hung what-should-have-been-my-arms over the edge of my container and surveyed my surroundings.

I was in a dark green lab-like room with a grey tiled floor. At the far side of the room stood the blonde man and scaled boy I vaguely recognised as being from the black van. They seemed to be talking, but I couldn't understand what they were saying - they sounded distorted, as if I was underwater. Tentatively, I tipped my head to one side and cringed as I felt warm water dribble out of my left ear. Ugh, I hate that sensation. Even so, I tipped my head to empty out the other ear and was immediately barraged by a commotion of sounds. Not meaningless noise, but lots of little noises, all combined into some sort of soundscape. When I shut my eyes I could conjure an almost perfect picture of my surroundings in my head based off machine vibrations and similar bouncing off of other objects. There's something else I couldn't quite put my finger on, or paw. A dim red glow that covers everything, showing all the details, two green human silhouettes which shone like two light bulbs in comparison, tinged with the same red causing them to look slightly yellow. And below me, a startling neon blue creature looking a lot like a tiny dragon, again tinged red but only extremely faintly.

I opened my eyes to see there really was a small dragon-like creature standing below and looking up at me, a little grey critter with eyes like ice but strangely warm. I stare back, curious, aware of the two people watching us. Looking down, I located the top rung of the inside ladder with my... hind legs? I froze. What used to be my legs were now green and furry, tipped with paws and trimmed with brown hair. I clambered up the ladder and perched on the slippery edge of the tank, teetering on the thin surface. My eyes cloud over as my head spins from climbing up so quick and I felt myself leaning over the edge, wait, falling off of the edge. The grey creature squealed in surprise and quickly moved out of the way as I landed in a crumpled, and rather moist heap on the floor right where it had been standing. It sniffed at me warily as I tried to stand up, swaying on shaky legs.

Now I saw the grey critter up close it was clear that it didn't quite follow the normal laws of nature. And that it was male, but that's a different matter. He had an extra pair of little arms behind his forelegs and a pair of dragon-like wings peppered with neon blue speckles, almost like someone's attacked him with a spray can. As he moved around me I caught my own reflection in the glass of a tank - I had wings too! And a tail, and mini-arms... It took a moment to figure out what muscles control which new body part, but I soon started flexing my wings to show similar spray can markings on my own lime green wings - except this time they're neon yellow.