The very first
thing she noticed as she awoke was repetitive synthetic beeping next to
her. A red light display shone its artificial light into her groggy
eyes. Then the smell of hyper sterility, like someone cleaned every inch
with hazardous chemicals. Tubes hung over her head with long pipes
snaking their around her limbs and into her body. It was cold and
unnaturally quiet.
The hospital! Yes, I got into an accident. The kids!!!
There was pain,
but she ignored it, she needed to get out of there. Juniper’s first
attempt at reacting was to get up and leave wherever she was inside of.
But her limp leg would not nudge, the other was held together in a cast.
She tried to sit upright, hoping to unlatch it but her chest felt too
weak to move.
Her head started
convulsing and spinning, she felt her eyes try to take her back into
the darkness of sleep. Her resistance was met with a sudden jolt that
sent pain through her whole body. It was agony. She felt like she
couldn’t breathe for a moment, before it stopped, taking deep breaths as
her heart rate spiked. Then she calmed down again, her pain
disappearing mildly.
She stared at
the archaic analog clock in front of her face. It was around two
‘o''clock, past midnight, time had went on without for a while now. Her siblings!
She needed to know. She needed to find her phone right now.
Her weak arms
fiddled around every machine and drawer around her... None of her
belongings were nearby. She did however notice the Depotmart bag on
the ground. She tried reaching for it, but it was like climbing a brick
wall, only downwards. Her bones hurt, and her muscles were aching. She
gave up eventually, tears welled up, not because of the pain, but the
fear of leaving her siblings alone for so long. Anything could have
happened. Her brother was a legal adult, but a kid to her, all the same.
Her sister wouldn''t survive at all.
Something about
the air changed, it became harder to breathe. The air was heavier, the
dynamism of the moonlight itself froze, and the wind that sneaked in
from her open window suspended itself in midair. The analog stopped its
incessant ticking. The machine’s robotic hammering.
A soft but soothing voice spoke out of nowhere. “Do not be afraid, Juniper.”
Goosebumps, her
hair stood on ends, chills went down her fragile spine. She felt the
urge to piss herself, but the machines took care of that. She had to be
hallucinating, there was no way. Was it a cape, perhaps it was the
person who rode over her, coming to finish her off. Just in case, she
saw a face or heard the inkling of something she shouldn''t have. Maybe
it was a ghost, and she was already dead.
“Metatron!?Gabriel!?Lucifer!?Azazel!?Baal!? Wha–who is there.?”
The voice giggled, childlike. “I’ve met them before but I’m not them, they are children, like you are to me.”
“G-god?”
Or death
“Not quite, though there hasn''t been one around the earth in a while…”
“Who are you…what is this…” she said frightened. Her fingers twitch, she was scared to move even her hand.
A spark appeared
and a glowing orb of light manifested itself in midair, shaping like
playdough, but if that playdough was plasma or something. A bubbly,
squishy, marshmallow-like furry creature in the shape of a cute red fox
appeared. However, there was something utterly alien about it. Its furs
were acting dynamically like walking flames. Colors shaping every
second. She didn’t know what to do, it was straight out of a piece of
fictional media. But that otherworldly fright that shook her remained.
“Call me, Quixis, or Dandelion, or maybe Kitbooh, or maybe Fluxreon, or maybe…”
It kept on
yammering, dozens of names, unending and unraveling its absurd but
cutesy names. Quixis was all she heard, it was all she could make sense
of at the moment.
“...”
“Oh, uh sorry, I
get carried away, sometimes.” it apologized, closing its glowing eyes
as it. “Just call me whatever you want, as to why I’m here.”
“You’ve come to
collect my soul.” she started, feeling the weight of her own body
holding her down. She did feel like maybe, she could just pass away, it
wouldn’t be that bad, all the pain would be gone, her emptiness as well.
However, nagging irritation that her siblings would get thrown into
supervised homes, did not sit right with her.
It let out a
deviously cute laugh. “I haven’t done a soul-hunt in 800 years, and only
then that person and his horse riding caused so much chaos. I only
found him after he was dead and his corpse was hidden somewhere, can you
believe it? ” it approached, every time its paw moved, she felt her
heart stammer like the earth itself was shaking.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Genghis khan!?
“Regardless, I
come from a realm outside of your universe, the planes of Elysium, and
you Juniper Pinewell, you have been…” it pondered, tapping its little
paw as it stormed its mind. “Awakened yes, not chosen.”
“I-I don’t
understand…” she said overwhelmed by the theatrics, was this her brain
playing a trick on her. A dream. If it was one, it was very vivid
indeed.
“Powers, or
magic in some variations of time and space, you come to possess one,
maybe two. But your powers are not of this world’s making.”
“A cape, me?” she said, confused. But the possibilities of what she could do marauded her head. What powers?
“Every once in a
while, we caretakers are tasked with planting life seeds that often
grow in something, whether it be a place, a person, or an animal. You,
Jun, are one of those seeds…your birth while not planned was always
going to result in… well you.”
What the hell was it speaking about, she was some kind of talking seed.
“I…don’t believe
you, this is some kind of trick, some kind of sick ploy, it can’t be
real, it can’t be.” she yammered, panic mode activating. The room was
dead silent, she could hear her heartbeat drumming under her chest.
It held out its
paw like a wizard did its staff, waving it in a circular motion and her
nerves settled. Easing, her breathing came to a calm still, and she felt
at peace again. The creature then stared at the midnight ball of light.
“It appears
things have changed and I won’t have the time needed to explain
everything tonight, let me run the basics with you real quick.”
She listened
attentively but was skeptical of what she was seeing, The chances were
very good of being brainwashed by some creep. Lulled into thinking she
was safe, and then slowly murdered in her sleep.
“Seven years
from now, Alien invaders will plummet this planet into nothing but a
ball of resources, and the human race will be wiped out. That’s why
people like you are born Juniper, to counter threats like this.”
“Capes!”
“No, you’re a byproduct of something else. But you''ll fit right in, I''m sure.”
"I’m…special.”
she stammered. She felt giddy all of a sudden, it was rare for her to be
complimented. But this wasn’t a human she was dealing with.
“Well…in the
grand scheme of the cosmos, no.” her eyes dropped down, and looked at
her broken leg.”But here on earth, I’d say yeah. SO…here’s the thing.”
It became bipedal, standing on its cute hind legs, fur floating like water in space.
“In most of the
realities, I foresaw. Planet Earth has a survival rating of point
twenty-one (0.21), however, when you awakened it bumped up to three
(3%).
“Huh?” she deadpanned. It had to have made some mistake, there was no reason she was of any importance to anyone or anything.
“You mean everyone I know will be dead in seven years?”
It nodded, smiling like it didn’t just tell her the worst possible thing.
“Yes, everyone, including your family.”
She winced,
sweating. 7 years wouldn’t be so bad, she’d get to see her sister grow
up, maybe see her brother getting the treatment he observed with the
money from his career plan. Perhaps laws will be lifted and she could
see her mother again. Maybe she could turn her life around.
“That 3% of yours can go to a 5 if you’re extra super duper prepared.”
It stared at the moon again expressionless.
“That''s not very reassuring.”
“Don’t worry others like you exist elsewhere, if you all work together it could go to 45%.”
Its head turned
and it frowned. “I need to leave urgent matters elsewhere, I will see
you again. Juniper. on some other quiet night.”’
“Wait, these powers of mine, how do I use them!”
The creature
shrugged, “I don’t know, I’m not all-knowing, I merely sensed you
waking. And came to inform you, use your imagination.”
The creature
balled up again, liquidating into a field of plasma, before zapping out
of existence. Leaving her with more questions than answers.
She felt overwhelmed.
“What the fuck was that.”
Time resumed again. The machine started beeping, the wind started flowing again, prickling her skin.
She was skeptical, no way that was true. How was she even supposed to guess what she could do?
A faint memory
of her bleeding out got stuck in her head. Before she passed out, she
saw words, highlighted like that of a video game.
Was that her brain coping? It was the only thing she loved as much as her family.
She held her hands out. “Uhhh… main menu!”
Nothing happened. Just silence.
“Inventory.”
Still nothing,
what was she supposed to do? If there was a chance of her actually
having it, it could change their lives, Effy could go to a safer school,
and she could get her brother the treatment he deserved. Panic arose
again, what if that really was a dream? She was just hallucinating to
make her feel happy, a trick.
It cast a spell
on her and made her calm. Sorcery, witchcraft even. But what if it was
real, then where were these powers, Quixis promised?
Her mind shifted
from her surreal experiences. She remembered the more important matter,
she was attempting to find her phone. There was a large button on the
machine next to her, labeled ‘Call nurse.’ She started tapping, the
button chiming every time she tapped it. Then her machine beeped like a
dysfunctional alarm. An older lady came rushing inside, a nurse with
long black hair.
“You’re awake!?” the lady exclaimed. “I’ll get a doctor immediately.”
She lifted
herself up, ignoring heavy aching pain, holding her hand up to the
nurse, working the courage up to ask. “Wait, I need to make a call. I
need my phone.”
The nurse came
to her side panicking and attempted to push her back to lie on the bed..
“Please…don’t move, you need rest. We can sort everything out in the
morning darling.”
She tugged at the older woman’s arms, clinging to her like a baby to a doll.
“Please, I-I need to call my brother, it''s urgent.”
She felt a sharp
tingle travel from her arms, which sparked something in her brain
making her chest jump. The nurse looked at her in horror. Unable to
discern what was happening.
[Mimicry skill activated. ]
[Mimicry Analysis ]
[Super Audition Level 1 - Heightens your ability to perceive sounds severely]
[Auditory enchantment limited to a 1-mile radius, control impossible]
What was this?
At first, she
heard something fall behind her, with a heavy drop she spun around
staring at the wall. Frightening the nurse. Then the flow of water
spilled into someone’s throat, gurgling it down as it went down their
esophagus. Then came the cats with their unending wailing, all at once.
She stared at
the nurse wide-eyed, who was still investigating the cause. Looking up,
she heard the squeaking of footsteps as someone passed a room, the
snoring of a patient two floors up, two people’s bodies slamming against
a wooden desk. The droning of electrical circuits below them whirring
and buzzing. Beeping of server machines.
Blood leaked from her nose. “Make it stop," she begged the nurse shaking her body. “Make it stop.”
“Make what stop dear!?” The lady asked in fright.
“The noise, it’s getting louder.”
It got sharper
too, more persistent. A hundred voices coming in all at once. The
cutting of knives, dogs barking down the street, honking, turning, and
spinning of every car near the road. A door hammered open and shut, she
heard the sound of flesh being cut at a molecular level.
She started
suffocating, her breathing intensifying. She could barely hear her own
thoughts Memories came flooding in, the day of the calamity. When her
parents were separated from them, and thrown into an armored truck, the three of them were pulled back into the depths of the city.
Tears welled up,
she can''t hold it in. She wants to kick something but she can’t. Her
muscles feel they are turning from the inside out. She starts shaking.
Screaming it’s all she could do. She yelled her lungs out. Her body
convulses.
The frightened nurse scrambles to get out of the room.
She couldn’t think, she couldn''t hear herself. She wanted her mother. She was alone, she didn’t want to be alone.
Heavy running
footsteps came inside her room. Strong arms, hold her down tightly, she
feels a needle jabbed into her arms. It made it worse, her legs woke,
and she started throwing herself around. Adrenalin kicked in. She
slapped the man away as she snaked her out of his arms. Another needle pierces. Then it slowed, her eyes resisted and she felt the world grow dark once again.