The 'Kers - Ep. 2: The Changers, The Dreamers, and Me (Original)

prufarchy (68)in #story • 7 years ago

Find and Read Part 1: Ch-ch-changes here

CHLOE

Lately, her sleep had been less sexy-time and more spooky-time. Tonight she found herself dreaming inside an old library, alone. Columns lined the center aisle to support the impossibly high ceiling and a dozen levels were stocked full of books.

“This is exactly what I’d dream of, except more lace, softer lighting and no library. Also, much less talking to myself.” She muttered as she walked along the aisle.

“Are you lost, then?” She spun to find nothing, no one.

“Can’t find your way?” the question came from somewhere above her.

“Won’t you sit a while?”

This time the small voice came from behind her and, when she turned, she was no longer in a library; she was in a field looking at a small boy with black eyes as he reached little hands towards a campfire. Definitely un-sexy.

Chloe sat down, whispering curses at whatever part of her subconscious was dredging this up.

“This isn’t your dream, Chloe. It’s mine, or it will be. I’m coming, and you'll all be there” The little boy grabbed a branch and stuck the tip into the fire.

“Great. Just when I think I couldn’t get any more convoluted I inception myself. And there I go again with the talking out lout to no one.” She started pinching herself in different areas and gave a heavy sigh when it clearly had no effect.

Her body seized. She bolted upright into a standing pose, but it hadn't been of her own willpower. She was frozen and couldn’t control her limbs or even her eyes. What the hell kind of dream was this? Maybe it wasn't one after all.

The boy had also stood up and what was once a branch was now a metal rod like they use to brand cattle. The symbol at the end of the pole was a circle with a V at the top, like a crown, and it glowed a vibrant yellowish red. Her eyes widened.

“I told you, this isn’t your dream. You’ve been studying Magick for some time now, but have you ever thought that you didn’t seek out Magick, but were sought out by it? I need you to remember, Chloe. Everyone does. Remember, Dreamer, find the changer and the chain of 3’s.”

The boy pushed the glowing brand against the inside of her wrist. The pop and sizzle of her skin was a pain she'd never experienced, though try as she might, she could not open her mouth to shriek.

Chloe shot upright, awake and alone in her bed. She heard a light tapping at the window and jumped. Her hand felt sore and as she turned her forearm over she saw the puffed lines of a burn along the inside of her wrist.

It was a circle, with a V at the top.

Cautiously, she stuck her head through the curtains, half expecting to see the black-eyed boy and his brand. Instead she saw the tear-streaked face of her best friend, Tara. When she opened the window and let her in, Tara collapsed against her sobbing.

“It’s Magick, isn’t it,” Chloe said without needing an answer. She knew it was Magick, she had just touched it herself and recognized the trauma of that experience in Tara's eyes.

“How did you know? Wait, what did you do?” Tara stepped back, fear playing across her face.

Her open cardigan revealed Tara's neck, and Chloe could see what looked like a tattoo of 3’s across her best friend's chest. Like a chain.

A chain of 3’s. "Tara, your neck," Chloe waved her hand over her own neck and upper chest. Tara's faced blanched and she rushed to the mirror, opening her cardigan to study the odd tattoo that had not been there hours before. She touched around it as though it were dangerous to contact directly.

“We need to call Rider and –“ Her mobile started to buzz, the screen showing a picture of blowfish with the name Rider flashing above. Chloe tapped a button and put the handset to her head.

“Rider, I was just about to call you,” Chloe looked over at Tara, who was still staring at her new Magick tattoo in the mirror. Even at that distance, Rider’s voice was crystal clear.

“It’s Magick, isn’t it? Chloe, I need you to come over here now. If you can find Tara, you should bring her, too. Something's happening to me, to all of us, I think. But hurry up, cause I think it's ---" All that Chloe heard next sounded like a mobile phone tumbling on the floor and what sounded like the soft whimpers of a dog.

"Tara, we get it, you're an inked up badass now. But I think Rider's in trouble, or he got a new dog, or both. Do you think you're all right enough to come with? Maybe you can tell me what happened to you tonight, you know, with Magick."

Tara steadied herself at the mirror. "Yeah, yeah. And you can tell me which one of the spells that I thought were fake new age crap is responsible for all this, and how we can reverse it. I hope Rider's okay"

The two left through the same window Tara entered, bound for Rider's place. This night was only getting stranger, and it was only getting started.