Chapter 1: Late Night Out (4 years later)

I hate feeling like this

I’m so tired of trying to fight this

I’m asleep and all I dream of is waking to you

By Skillet from the song Comatose

 

His vision went from blurred to clear slowly. The pain and not so distant memories (not many) came back to him instantaneously. The memories he was getting were broken and unorganized fragments; he remembered he was running from something. Or maybe it was too something. Why?

Pain flooded his head from his chest and back.  When Marc looked down at his chest he saw three deep bloody cuts, stretching diagonally across. They were uneven and slowly losing their will to bleed. Skin and veins were crawling their way across laceration. To Marc they looked like little ants moving scar tissue into place. Making more pain as began completely healing. The deep cuts now only appeared as scares.  Only from his imagination could he assume an answer of what was making the cut across his chest heal, he was dreaming. He had to be.

He tried to push himself up slowly, but even that wasn’t slow enough and the loss of blood made his vision black-out for a few seconds. The tree that he leaned against made some of his memories make some sense in his mind. As soon as he regained normality, he still had the pain in his back to deal with. Until his stomach weirdly healed up he had never noticed the pain in his back to much, it all sort of felt the same.

 An uppercut type of punch must have lacerated his chest and sent him a few feet backwards, into the tree. But still what attacked and why would it just leave? Surely if it was an animal if would stayed for the kill, right? He knew he just got lucky if it was an animal. He decided; only after being against the tree long enough to stand again, that he should get back to camp.

The light of the full harvest moon helped his eyes focus; they weren’t what they could have been that night.  Like a rewinding movie, in reverse, every memory streamed through his mind.  Marc was not so glad once he could remember what happened to him, his mind thought of a better story other than being attack by some oversized wolf and then being knocked-out. He liked the other theory better, than the truth.

Knowing how to get back to his friends was the easy part, but being about a football field away… that was would take him a few minutes.  He staggered through the forest back to camp and nearly fell several times. Something inside his chest really hurt and it hurt even more to touch just the skin. Somehow he made it thought the not so dense forest to get into camp. He had not realized that the walk took him about two hours.

As Marc walked slowly over to the camp his friend noticed him and tried to include.

“Marc what the heck took you so long getting the firewood?” Max shouted before he had the chance to see Marc. Max was still laughing at a just told joke, his face suddenly changed at the sight of blood.

Marc walked closer and into the light of the fire and his friends stopped everything and went silent. His appearance took them by shock and look told them that he was hurt and he needed help fast. His blood stained shirt said more than what was actually there.

“Marc… what happened?” Kyle said worried for his friend. Kyle supported Marc as he walked the rest of the way into camp.  “Marc, just lay down” The way he said those words to Marc seemed like he wasn’t being offered a choice. Kyle’s mom was a nurse so he knew some stuff about how to stop bleeding but Kyle didn’t know it was already stopped. Marcs white shirt was covered almost everywhere in blood and was still very wet.

“Max call 911” Jason said with a “Duh” expression as to what to do.

“Guys don’t even worry I am fine. I just need to get up” He stood up and yelled out in pain. “OUCH!” “Jason we’re trespassing on private property and we have a fire, I am pretty sure that arson” Max said “I am calling my mom; she’s a vet tech and even better she won’t arrest us and can help. I am calling her”

His Friends put out the camp fire and then headed to the county road at the same time supporting Marc through the forest towards the road.  He was trying hard not lean over, pain would always erupt from his left side whenever his chest moved in the wrong way.

When they got to the road Marc and his friends had to stay hidden until Max’s mom arrived. When Max’s mom drove up she nearly exploded when she saw Marc, who to her looked like he was too OK to be hurt the way Max said he was.

“Marc what happened to you?” She said to get some straight answers.

“Mom, I keep getting I don’t know whenever I ask him.” Max said trying to help his mom.

“Can you stand up alone Marc?” Marc’s friends stopped supporting him.

“I think, but It hurts a lot” He stood alone, but the second his chest leaned over pain erupted again and Marc swore, shocking everyone. Saying stuff like what he said wasn’t normally Marc.

She put her hand on his chest, feeling the rib cage until she came across something un-normal, “you have... I would say possible two or three broken ribs. Do you have any idea where all this blood came from?” Referring to his shirt, which at one point was nearly all white.

Marc shook his head no.

She ripped his shirt open to see his bare skin. She was shocked to see no bleeding cuts, just three long, slanting (from the lower left stomach to upper right chest), thick, scars. “Where the hell did all this blood come from?”

“The cuts, but I can’t really remember much” Marc said, even his voice sounded dazed. Marc looked like he was about to pass out any second

“Did you hit you head or something?”                                                                                                                     

“Yeah, I was thrown against a tree”

Liz didn’t buy that story for a second. She had seen her son and Marc do a lot of stupid stuff and was probable the result of another of their brainless stunts.

“Kyle, Jason you’re going home tonight, get in the car. Max, give Marc your hoodie and Marc Take off your shirt. No More Camping this weekend. There’s something out there you guys are not getting hurt.” Well looking at Jason ad Kyle “or finding it.”

Marc was told that he should be in the front seat since he was injured and it could lounge, Liz Really didn’t want Marc getting caught in the middle of an “in car” wrestling match.

Marc watched the yellow lines on the road as they drove home. It almost seemed that they lifted off the pavement and into his mind; each line like a dart between his eyes and straight into his mind. He passed out.

“Tonight boys is going to be long, you are going to the hospital” Liz said

 

4 am at a Neighbor’s house

 

Marc woke up. When his eyes opened up and the light blinded him for a few seconds but he adjusted to it. The table was lying on hard wood and hurting his bruised back.

“Finally, you’re up” Someone’s voice Marc didn’t recognize entirely. Marc Could not Bring the Right name to mind for a few second. For it being this late at night Marc was surprised he woke up.

 “Don’t sit up just yet, you had two broken ribs so I had to wrap your stomach with Acer bandage, it’s a quick fix and the best I can do.”

Marc sat up anyway, there was a small pain but not as bad as it was before he came to where ever he was.

“Who are you again?” Marc said still because everything, including the lack of sleep.

“I was at your house yesterday, your neighbor had an asthma attack at you house.”

“Oh yeah, Dr. Dekker right?” Marc said trying to ignore the pain his chest was causing him until he shifted to the right position.

“I prefer James, but back to you, you’re going to want to take it easy for a few months, no football, or pretty much anything highly active.”   

James tossed Marc the hoodie to put on over the bandage and told Marc he would need to wear the bandage for about three months depending how good the healing went.     

“…and you’re going to definitely need one of these tonight.”  He tossed Marc two painkillers. “They will help you get to sleep and num your pain. Next matter, some how it seems like you either have really low bloody pressure or you lost a lot of blood. I am betting on the second one. I saw no cuts on you, but I am really curious as to what happened? Your blood pressure could not be that dangerously low without bloodless. Your friends tell me you went to get some firewood then came back about an hour latter bloodier than anything, about to pass out. But how could you have been bloody and have no cut that’s something I noticed, but three really huge scars. How did you get those?”

Marc’s stomach dropped, he knew he could never explain those scars. He couldn’t even explain it to himself. The veins crawling by themselves into place, and the blood becoming skin, how could he explain that?

“I really don’t know” he lied. Marc made sure he made himself look like he was in pain that was one thing that made him wish he was seven instead of seventeen.  He slowly pushed himself off the table he was on and tried to walk out.

James followed close behind Marc, James was afraid Marc would pass out again. Outside the little closet was the kitchen. The kitchen was weirdly too organized. Then just outside that was a large living room. Stella (Marc’s mom) was waiting on the couch watching TV, she was clearly worried, she would have been in the “doctors’ office” (used loosely) but there wasn’t enough room.  Marc knew she was worried; nobody woken up about four am is going to stay awake unless they need too. Or want too.

“I wouldn’t bother asking him any questions, he not entirely here. But from now until tomorrow I would say, no driving, and tons of rest, not much to worry about there. He knows to take it easy cause of the ribs. Since all I had to do was wrap his chest, don’t bother worrying about a bill. It’s on me.”

“Thanks James” Liz said. “I am so glad I have you as my neighbor!”

“Don’t tell anyone I gave you guys help, least of don’t tell them it was free if you do” He had to add a small joke to lighten Liz’s mode. James was afraid he broke some kind of law so he didn’t want anyone to find out.

Liz walked with her son two houses down. She tried to get some information about what happened out of him; but she found out Marc was lucky to be even able to walk with how drained he was. When Marc got inside his house he walked off to the restroom took those pills. Then painfully went to bed, letting the drug overcome his mind and put him to sleep.

 

Swirling darkness became present unto his mind. Before Marc, appeared a single mirror and with it an eerie and unnatural light shinned out of the glass.  Marc was standing right in front of the mirror and could not move.  It was like his body had to be there, but everything else about himself didn’t want to be there. He slowly let his eyes fall upon the mirror. At first there was nothing, not even the reflection that a normal mirror would have. Then something clouded the unnatural light that radiated from the mirror, a fog. This fog rushed and churned within the glass. Wave after wave it entered the glass soon the mirror became full clouded. Something moved behind it and Marc knew it was wicked.

The figure was materializing out of the fog. It was Marc in so many ways, or becoming him. But there were several differences also. The emotions that came of his face were blind, violent rage, undying anger, and unrelenting sorrow. His physical features were also in a small way different from Marc’s. Those were the things that scared Marc the most. Crimson eyes, a more defined physique, and last the most intimidating thing of all; the elongated eye-teeth!

The figure in the mirror was reaching to the glass, or what was glass. When the hand touched the glass, it was bending like plastic wrap. The glass was stretching to contain the hand and failed. Like a sheet of paper being torn from the top of his hand down.  He slowly and carefully ripped open the mirror as Marc just stood there frozen in fear. Then it lunged at Marc through the mirror.

Marc was jolted awake.  He sat straight up in his bed breathing fast and deep. Pain came from his side but it was minor. Marc was shacking like crazy, he couldn’t control it. Like there was something fighting for away out of him. He shifted to sitting on the side of his bed letting his feet hang on to the floor of his room. He slouched over and ran his hands through his hair, only calming him a little. He was still shaking but not as bad once he got his breathing under control. Marc stood up walked to restroom next door to his room. Closed the door, and took off his friend’s hoodie to see the scars he got from last night. He unwrapped his stomach to see his skin, which had gotten a good tan over the first two weeks of summer. The scars had no pain when he touched them, but he could feel the difference of scar’s skin and then normal skin. It was smooth, very smooth.  It was a change, the only one that Marc fully knew about. Compared to the many he would soon find out.

He stood in front of the mirror, the three scars fascinated him. They were unusual and he had never seen scars like them. He figured after about a minute or two of look intently at them, he was bored.  He was about to put his shirt back on when he noticed something different.  It was one of those subsequent glances that you normally regret later, and he did. His eyes had a new something; the iris had changed its color! The shade was so bright and humanly unnatural that it made him think he had contacts on them. The bloods colored eyes from his dream were his!

The surprise left his mouth dropped and that uncovered another transformation that had occurred. The eye teeth were once again like the dreams, lengthened. He got his face up close to the mirror to see that the changes were authentic.

When he touched them, he became mad at himself for being stupid enough to touch his eye. He started shaking because whatever had changed in him was taking advantage of what little anger it could and Marc was noticing that. He noticed that he had even gotten a little extra muscle, the stronger the shaking got the stronger he got. It was apparent in the mirror. He was freaking out, in any biology class he had taken stuff like this could not happen! He balled his hands into a fist just to restrain himself from punching through the mirror.

“Marc, are you alright in there? You’ve been in there for nearly 45 minutes.” His mom called from outside the restroom door.

Marc knew he had to calm himself down or he was going to just lash out.  He stumbled over to the bathtub and ran his head in cold water until he shivered. The trembling stopped and when he got up and saw the reflection everything was back to normal. “What the heck is happening to me?” he thought with some extreme concern.  He closed his eyes to collect himself. Once he felt he was normal again he dried himself off and got the hoodie back on. He walked out of the restroom and down the hallway. 

He went to the living room to tune out the thoughts in his mind that told him what was happening to him genuine; in no way would Marc ever acknowledge that willingly.  When Marc walked around the corner he saw his Mom with someone he had never meet watching a movie.  He sat on the couch carefully to not hurt himself.

“Marc how is you chest doing?” his Mom asked

“It's sill broken. Nothing I can change” Marc said.

“Marc this is Leo, he help me fix my car a today and so I invited him out to diner. But he thought it would better if we just stayed here, can’t say I disagree.” The smile on her faced showed Marc that she actually like Leo and that this may be their first date but it wasn’t going to be their last.

“Cool” Marc said. Marc wasn’t really fond of his mom dating. Her last boyfriend was a freak in Marc’s mind.  He saw through a window just behind the TV and knew that he had slept all day, but mainly that he was going to be up all night unable to get to sleep.  “What time is it Mom?”

Leo’s eyes bolted to his watch before Claire (Marc’s mom) could even begin to move.  “It about seven forty five” Leo hesitated have heard what happened to Marc, not that he was surprised. “Not to be nosy but what happened to you? I heard you got hurt. “

“It was just a camping trip gone bad.”

“Were you on someone’s property?”  This was only going to prove what Leo was thinking right, If Marc said yes.

“We were only there for a short time, and then giant wolf attacked me or something.” Marc was playing like everything was cool.

“You sure it wasn’t a bear.”

“I really have no idea” Marc’s voice was honest.  “I am going to a walk mom”

“Why” his Mom said “were in the middle of a movie”

“I’m not, so I think that would be good so I can just vent. I will be on the trials up the street”

“If you are your going, change first”

That’s when Marc realized that he was still wearing the sweater Max had borrowed him and the sorts that still had blood on them. Marc didn’t like how blood dried brownish or nearly black. There was no way to cover up the truth by looking at the blood, he had been cut, he was bleeding, and somehow the cuts had been healed. The cuts had been healed very fast. Even with the truth right in his face he would not accept what he saw last night as real. He went to his room, changed and left his house…

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excerpt from The Moonlit Dream   by The_Mirror_God