Double Redamancy

Chapter 11: Appetence

Appetence : intense desire, instinctive inclination

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"Come on Sage!" Wren encourages in front of me.

Sage? I think to myself. I look down at my hands and sure enough they are small  and pale like Sage's. I reach up and touch my hair. It goes to my shoulders and the color is a dark red.

"I'm coming!" my mouth moves and I can hear her voice saying it.

It is as if I am a robot with a remote control. I have no control over what I say or where I walk to, so I can't stop myself from joining Wren at the bottom of the large tree. The branches look plentiful and just enough to climb up.

"I bet you we could make it to the top." Wren grins excitedly.

I want to tell Wren that this isn't a good idea. To warn her of the pain and suffering ahead, but I still have no control. Sage grabs the branch above her and begins to move up the branches.

"Bet I'll get there first!"  Sage says and I view the fatal climb through her eyes.

It continues on agonizingly slow and casually her own thoughts float through my mind. This isn't as tall as I thought. Mommy and daddy would be proud of me if they knew how strong I was. I have to make it to the top before Wren.

She grabs another branch above "us" and suddenly I hear a crack. There's barely anytime to grab another before we're crashing through the branches below us. Pain cuts through my back as the branches break and finally I hit the grown with a harrowing thud. A sharp electric pain shoots from my spine all the way to my finger tips and toes.

I scream, but as I attempt to sit up my whole body goes rigid and I fall back. Everything goes black.

"Jason?" I can hear Wren ask, but she is far away.

"Jason!" someone shakes me and I recognize the voice as Booker's.

"What?" I ask breathing heavily, unable to get enough oxygen into my lungs.

"You were screaming." he says with wide eyes.

"I know what happened now." I say sitting up.

"What are you talking about?" he asks looking at me with large, concerned eyes.

"I know what happened to Sage. I was in her body. I saw it —no— I felt it all." I say breathlessly.

Booker says nothing. Just pulls me close to him and lays back down. I turn so my back is against his torso and he wraps a strong arm around me.

We lay there for a few minutes until my heart stops beating so quickly.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asks finally and runs a comforting hand through my hair.

"No." I reply softly and sit up. "Want breakfast?"

My head pounds from a concoction of last night's alcohol and stress. I massage my temples with my fingers. Booker sighs and sits up too.

"Sure."

We adventure downstairs, but the the house is uncharacteristically empty. There are no signs of my mother or Thea in the kitchen. No dirty dishes, no ringing Wii remotes. My father's office is empty and the house seems to be coated in heavy silence.

"Something's wrong." Booker states the obvious and rushes towards the front door.

I follow him quickly and when we open it I see a large group of people standing straight across from the pack house near the edge of the woods. I begin walking over, but Booker grabs my shoulder. He shakes his head seriously.