Author's Note: Hey everyone this is my first series here. I wrote a story on here a long while ago, and came up with this tale recently. But I only ever have time to work on it every now and then, so it may take some time in between chapters. However, here goes nothing and I hope you all enjoy.
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My mind is a tomb. My body feels like a coffin, and I don't know if anything can bring me out.
A sliver of light passed through the window and fell directly on my face waking me. My body ached everywhere, my head hurt and yet I knew I had to crawl out of my nest of blankets. The white sheets held me tight, their warmth called to me and promised safety.
"Here you don't have to deal with anyone, no one can hurt you. Stay. Warm."
I let these voices wash over me, as I laid there debating if getting out of the bed was really even worth it. I had class soon... I didn't really understand anything in there anyway. I would only get mad if I let my oasis of warmth.
I rolled over away from the light and into a nook of darkness. My alarm clock hadn't even gone off yet, why the hell was I awake? I stared into the sheets for a few more minutes before realizing that today sleep would not steal me away again. Groaning I rolled over and sat up in my bed. Rubbing my eyes I looked around the room, the same as yesterday. I slung my feet off the edge of my bunk and braced myself as I nimbly landed on the ground. My roommate lay snuggled in the bottom bunk surrounded by her stuffed animals. Today she held a 'courier', this little white pony thing from a video game. For some reason this made me chuckle and I turned to go ready for the day. I walked to the mirror.
A well-defined chin and feminine face looked back at me. My brown eyes glinted a bit with their honey color, looking a lot happier than I felt. Without looking down I scratched my nails against my arm to wake up. My eyes flared up at the pain and the sleep wore off. This was what I had to do now to wake myself up. I couldn't sleep and if I did it was barely enough. I wanted to sleep, but I just couldn't. So this was my last resort on the days I felt grogginess threatening to overcome me. After preening myself well enough to look acceptable, I wandered over to my drawers, grabbed a random shirt, and stripped. I looked down at my body. I wasn't unattractive, several guys liked me. Hell, I had even had two guys ask me out in the last month. It wasn't self-esteem that had me down, honestly I don't know what it was that had me down. I had asked my doctor and my school's physiatrist, no one knew. The only helpful advice I had been given was from my friends. Ignore your mom.
My mother's name is Marie, and for the past ... oh wait my entire life nothing has been good enough for her. Whether I was overweight (I've never weighed over 150 pounds, and I'm 5-9") or not being 'optimistic' enough, she knew how to degrade me in every way possible. I supposed this should have made me stronger, but it never did. It had only gotten worse too in these last few months. Rather than the sadness I had felt before I only felt apathetic, but not in the good way. I cared less and less about what people thought and just did what I wanted. Admittedly, I don't want to do bad things, but too much of anything is bad and now I struggled with too much apathy. Honestly apathy isn't bad either, unless you become an asshole.
I didn't care and I did care all at once.
Pushing thoughts away I grabbed my physics textbook, and headed to class. I stilled my thoughts and let them become a shield surrounding me. I stumbled down the stairs and headed of the school wing of the tiny campus, it was foggy outside. The kind of fog that sticks to you and coats your body leaving you cold and damp, but not completely unpleasant, almost crisp and refreshing. It was the kind of fog that makes you feel like a super hero, or some monster creeping on people and watching everyone with no one able to see you. It makes you feel invisible. Peeling my eyes away from the windows, I pushed open the heavy wooden doors to the bottom floor of the academic hall.
My ears stretched back as I entered the new space keeping aware. Walking into new spaces had made me increasingly nervous the last few months, even if had visited these places thousands of times, and quietly I watched as my fellow students went to their classes. I sighed trying to release some of the tension and I entered the class room.
White, blue walls with brown desks and a long white board, it was a small college class room speckled with other students. Sitting in the front row was a way to force myself to stay awake. So I sat down, pulled out my notes and book, and watched my classmates and the teacher file in. My ears pricked again this time without my warning and I twitched my head; I felt slightly uncomfortable. I glanced left and right for a second to see what I had reacted too, but without turning around I couldn't see what it was. I could feel it though, something felt stuck to my back. I shivered and turned to the board to stare at the teacher as he began his lecture. He was an old man, thick set and without a doubt had a complete witzelsucht complex. Class continued, yet I couldn't shake the feeling of whatever clung to my back. I wiggled in my seat, trying not to make my discomfort visible to the class. Unable to take it, I eventually stood up and scooted through the desks, quietly leaving the class room to head to the bathroom. As I passed through the door I glanced back. Sitting directly behind me was a stranger. He had a slight build, lean and willowy with mousy brown hair. His chin was sharp along with a well-defined nose and brow line. But that wasn't what struck me the most, it was his eyes, a deep earthy green, and they peered at me quizzically. Dumbfounded I shook my head, looked down and left the class before I looked like a complete idiot for staring at him too long. As I looked down though, I saw something near his foot, it was the same mousy brown as his hair and it curled around his feet. It twitched slightly and my ears flickered in response as I backpedaled from the classroom and scampered to the bathroom.
We didn't get new students randomly at this school. It was a small college, highly selective and students only came all at once in the fall. There was no option for starting in the spring. People didn't just show up. Why was that person here? Who was this new being in my environment, and why was he staring at me like that? Also what was that thing by his foot? My hands shook as I threw the bathroom door open. I sighed relieved to find no one else in there. I went over to the sink and threw water on my face. My breathing had picked up dramatically as I had walked down the hall, and now I tried to calm myself. I looked in the mirror and breathed slowly looking into my warm eyes. My pupils were tiny and my ears laid back against my head in an odd manor, almost inhuman. My expression changed from near panic to curiosity as I poked my ear and its strange new position. Slowly the tension left my body as I played with my ear, and as I did, it returned to its normal shape. I continued to stare at myself even though my breathing seemed regular again. It was nothing. I dried my face and decided to head back to class, I would simply address the stranger after class and everything would be fine.
I walked back to class and as I came through doorway I glanced at the chair behind mine. No one sat there. My eyes flew wide open and I stared in shock, where was the stranger? My mind went back to the spiraling questions and I sat down in my chair unsettled at this new discovery, it was probably just my tired mind. I really needed to get a grip on myself. Hallucinations, really? Yet another thing to talk to the school psychiatrist about. I tried to focus on the rest of class and relax. An hour passed and the Professor let us go.
I walked dazed with a few friends, and decided I should head upstairs to my room to calm myself more before going into a large crowd. I waved to them as they left for the cafe and I went up the stairs two at a time, the exercise flushing my face and had making my blood churn. At the fourth landing I stretched and growled, my body moving against my will as I bent down, my neck straining. My muscles quivered with the exercise and rippled under my skin, it was like something was trying to escape. My face went from smiling to serious as I pushed down these erratic movements. They had become more frequent over the last few months, and I didn't like them. Honestly, a lot of things had been changing, like the ear thing today in the bathroom, but like my over exaggerated emotions I had no answer to them. I hugged my books to my chest and shuffled down the hall to my room.
I slipped my key in the lock and as I opened the door a scent hit me like a wall. It was a musky, earthy tone almost like sandalwood but with a more bodily tone definitely belonging to that of a person. It was arousing and intoxicating. The strength of it made me jump back and I could feel my ears flattening again. The hair on the back of my neck rose and I eased into the room closing the door behind me. My mind groaned, all of the surprises today had made it tired. Ugh, it was only the first half of the day. Trying to grasp my mind, I yanked my thoughts out of my head and looked warily around my room using my ears and nose to find the source of the smell. Nothing, and no one, stood anywhere I could see. I checked the closet and bathroom and continued to search the room until I heard a soft grumble. Surely my roommate still wasn't in bed, I looked down at the lower bunk and saw nothing. The soft grumble began to get louder until it turned into a purr. Spinning on my heel I did a 360 utterly confused as the smell pummeled my senses and nose.
"HELLO?! Is someone here, and if so mind telling me who the fuck you are?" My voice had a slight venom trying to cover the slight fear I had, but I didn't care my nerves had just about had enough of this today. Couldn't it just be another boring day without phantom guys showing up in my physics class or my body acting up?
The purring abruptly stopped and what looked like a tail flopped out of the top bunk. I shrieked and yanked on it.
