Story: Chimera: Class of 666
Part: One "Waking Up"
Chapter: Five "The Chimera"
Authored by:
Hannah Nyland (The Irreverent Revenant)
All Rights Reserved.
Chimera: Class of 666
By Hannah Nyland and Jerad Sayler
I also
looked up the Two of Cups to see if I could parse out why Casstiel
was so sure of its meaning. According to
online sources this card of the lesser arcana signifies reconciliation of some
kind. Struggles come to an end, and harmony is restored to even the most
hostile of relationships. Inner conflicts also come into play when this card
appears which I get but it was still a bit confusing. As cousins we never really hung out or
talked. I was the wallflower with my
head in a book. Maybe this was a
reconciliation of that divide? Maybe it was because he had been torn on whether
to endanger more family. Maybe there was
context he instantly got that Google couldn’t tell me. Most likely, the occulted wouldn’t be secret
if it was so accessible, even the word occult means “hidden.”
I’ve
had a lot of time to think about being a mage, and my feelings are still
conflicted…again, like the conflicting elements of the chimera or the inner
turmoil of the Two of Cups. I’m having
trouble keeping my perspective. On one hand, my only supernatural experience so
far has been horrifying. Furthermore, the abilities that I have now have so
much potential to be abused. But even if I don’t want that power – and I’m not
even sure that I don’t - I need it. For protection, if nothing else; I am
acutely, acutely aware of how weak I must be in comparison to some of the
things out there.
Despite
my worries about unseen enemies I still go to karate and am sure to stash the necklace. I feel so enfeebled during sparing without
what I am starting to call my amulet.
Speaking
of the amulet: a few days ago, I was wary of the thing. Now it’s become almost
too normal; I’m almost starting to take it for granted. The majority of the
time, it’s on my person. At first, it was out of paranoia, but at this point
I’m less uncomfortable with it than not. Funny how that works. Really, the
biggest problem with it is that it makes everything too easy. Social
situations, schoolwork, everyday life in general. To me, everyone else seems to
be running at half speed; every action and moment is predictable. Normality
isn’t comforting like I expected. Instead, it feels plodding and trite. The
week is filled with boredom, anticipation, and unanswered questions; all of it
driving me up the wall.
The
amulet has helped my sleep a little. I
still have the nightmares but thankfully I haven't flailed out and broken the
bed with my amplified strength. If not for all the heightened mental and
dexterity augments you have no doubt that you would have slipped up and broken
something. Those first carefully tests have internalized well.
At
the same time I feel just a little justified in having a really easy week. After
my ordeal in November maybe I deserve it, and I don’t relish having to give it
up. Simply knowing the Casstiel is monitoring me is a huge relief. Sometimes I
get a strange sense of him at random intervals for a few moments. Just a
feeling but one that makes me feel like I am being watched. One time I look for distortions in the fabric
of space and detect a small shimmering spot above my head. In the converging silver threads I could
swear I could almost see his face before it goes away. Maybe that is how he is doing it.
Halfway
through the week, I take to patrolling around town with sights up, looking for
anything unusual. I rationalize that it’s better to know of any nearby threats
as early as possible, but that isn’t the reason I’m doing it. Really, I’m just
desperate for something to fill the empty stretches of time. Stupid to go
looking for trouble. Unbearable not to.
I
figure it is better to know what is lurking around my neighborhood, especially
while I still look perfectly mundane.
While I still have the amulet masking my mystical presence. I go out after everyone has gone to bed, or
before then if I can convincingly tell my parents that I want to go to the YMCA
or a study buddy’s house. With my study
hall at the end of the day I usually had from 1:30 pm to 5:00 pm all to myself
before my parents came home. If I had
one of these excuses I would take my van out to places around Jamestown I
wanted to check out first.
As
the darkly streets empty out and traffic slows to a crawl I start to notice
things lost in the normal daily shuffle.
There
are strange... mental presences I can nearly see and feel like some sort of
amorphous hazes roughly the size of people sticking to an area or traveling
about. Some drift and some move quite a
bit faster.
These
unknown things leave me very unsettled, not knowing what they are. Worried they
could be one of the things Casstiel wanted me to avoid I do not get to close or
attempt to study them. Mostly they just make me afraid though they never seem
to react to my presence.
I
do make more than a few sightings and note these shadows of thought sometimes
don't react to their environment around them and sometimes they do... sometimes
they appear to be doing something.... to people. I watch sometimes, unable to
dare interfere while I watch them…alter the emotional states of people. I watch people’s auras change color like a
mood ring.
I
need to tell Casstiel about this, ask if I need to be doing something other
than hiding. Jamestown has a hidden side and the unknowns return some of that
dread I’ve been running from ever since my test...
There
are not many. Maybe slightly more than a half dozen spotted between traveling
my weekly routine around town. Some are weaker than others, or just harder to
detect. Some slink around like large vermin the size of a dog or cat. They creep along the ground, they float like
a balloon.
This
is all well and good until I am out on patrol in my neighborhood on Thursday
night, the day after New Year’s Day. My resolution was getting my new life
under control. Tomorrow is Friday and
after all the fatigue and dread of last week I are not worried about being a
little late to bed. I can’t wait to see Casstiel on Saturday and get my
training started.
So
Thursday night (the second of January) around 11:30 after the family has gone
to sleep and I manage to creep out of the house, I begin what I started
referring to as “my patrols” around the neighborhood. Tonight I see something
very odd.
At
this point I am just walking down the street, looking as casual as possible
while various magic sights stream loads of parascientific data into my brain
for instant interpretation. With the amulet I find that I don’t get so
saturated and distracted by all the sights I can cast. I’d would be curious to see how well my
control has improved without the amulet and once more don't fully look forward
to giving it back.
On
a rooftop a few blocks away from home I see a dark shape. The form is so odd I slow my steps for half a
beat before going back to my casual pace.
I try keeping an bead on it from out of the corner of your eye.
The
shape is hunched over, emaciated, with very few fresh sympathetic connections I
can see at a glance. There are some
light clusters of probability but that could be anything. I notice with a start
that I spot the density of probability relating to my observation of this
moment… I’ve learned enough to recognize when an event is significant and that
insight fills me with revulsion.
This
is not human. Its mental processes ping
more like that of a big dog than a person. But it is humanoid in shape... then
I see those reflective predator eyes glow from the lights of a passing car.
The
creature slinks towards the upstairs window on all fours. Its head pokes out from over the rooftop and
then turn and looks out at the street. For a second the incandescent eyes of a
coyote or dog seem to rest on me and then dart away. My heart skips a beat and the hair on the
back of my neck prickles. The thing
changes direction and slinks out of sight along the roof facing the backside of
the house. I tell myself I am not sure if it saw me or not.
My
imagination paints me with very creative interpretations. Those eyes and crouched naked form remind me of
Gollum from Lord of the Rings... I shiver and look around me trying to make
sure I wasn’t being snuck up on.
I
hurry back home after that. That is
enough patrolling for one night. I get
in bed sometime later but have trouble sleeping. I realize it’s because I am listening for it
crawling up to my second story window. I
tell myself that listening for it is most likely futile, it didn't seem to make
any sound when it scrambled out of sight. The way it moved banished all doubt
of it not being human.
I
stay in bed, turn on the light and read some more. I check the window every five minutes. I notice that at no point does Casstiel intervene
or offer explanation. Maybe he is busy, I start to wonder how good his
attention really is.
Thursday
night still. Technically, early Friday; my clock reads 3:00 am. Bit late, even
for me. I am kept awake by thoughts of animalistic shapes, a predator crouched
on a roof . . . and eyes. Those eyes, burning into my skull. Every time I close
my eyes, I see them again. Fun, I seem to have stumbled across a new obsession.
It looked at me . . . through me, maybe. Thoughts fly through my head, a mile a
minute, heightened by enhanced intelligence. It occurs to me that by
investigating, I may have drawn it closer to me and my family. Needless to say,
the idea fills me with dread. But it’s impossible to tell either way. I didn’t
exactly get a clear read on that thing. The unknown element makes it all so
much more unsettling. I would have contacted Casstiel by now, but I honestly don’t
know if the situation is dire enough to warrant it.
I
get out of bed, walk across my room to the window, and look down at the street
below. I’ve got the amulet clasped in one hand, running my fingers over it
anxiously. The lights of the supermarket across the street keep most of the
neighborhood fairly well lit, even at this late hour. But now I have no trouble
imagining the things hidden at the edges of that light, skulking through the
darkness without a sound or trace . . .
Yeah,
I’m not getting any sleep tonight.
I
head downstairs and spend the night sitting quietly on the couch, staring out
the window; listening and waiting. Hearing only the rustling of the wind,
seeing nothing at all. Would I even know if it was there? I lapse into
unconsciousness a few times out of sheer exhaustion, but am awoken by visions
of predatory eyes, formless haze crowding into my mouth and nose. Pleasant
dreams just aren’t in the cards for me lately.
Once
morning comes and everyone starts to get up, I lay sprawled across the couch
with my eyes closed, pretending to have simply fallen asleep down here. I
actually do this a lot. Well, without pretending so it’s not super unusual for
my parents to find me there. Last night reminded me uncomfortably of the other
ones I spent awake last month. The feeling of helplessness was palatable then
too.
I
feel like crap the next day; after school, I crash on the couch to catch up on
my sleep. It’s a little easier during the day hours, though not by much. The
next night passes in much the same way as the previous one did.
By
Saturday morning I’m exhausted again and dying to get to business and end all
this waiting. Hopefully, Casstiel will
have some answers.
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