The Devil Within

Chapter 1

"Hellooooo ! Wake up doofus!"

My eyes flew open. The first thing I noticed was that I'm off the bed, in a less than comfortable position. The second thing I noticed is that I'm staring at Austin feet. When I lifted my gaze, he had this annoyed look plastered on his face. His arms were folded and he tapped his feet impatiently while he looked down at me.

"Breakfast's ready," he said. I was the one who usually prepared breakfast, but it seems that I overslept this morning. "Sorry," I mumbled, rubbing my head. He seemed to notice my discomfort. His face softened a little. "You okay?"

"Yeah, 'm up" I said groggily to him. He nodded slowly and walked out. He doesn't seem to be in the best mood today. Well, neither was I. My back was sore and aching and it had been like that for a few days now. I put on a shirt and winced at the stabbing pain. There hadn't been any symptoms of a cold or a flu so I wasn't exactly sure why I was experiencing these backaches. 

Or why I'm having those ridiculous dreams lately.

When I staggered down the stairs to the kitchen, I found Dad brewing coffee and Austin chewing slowly on his pancakes.

"Morning, Ethan. Had a good night's rest?"

I opened my mouth to respond, but all of a sudden the memory of last night's bizzare dream comes back to me. My vision zeroed out in a second, and suddenly I was back in the park, in the presence of the creepy cat. 

"Damien," the black cat purred, "go to sleep."

The world suddenly tipped to one side. My legs folded on itself but Austin caught me in the nick of time, holding me steady by the arm before I trip on the stairway. I hadn't seen him come over to my side, but he was beside me before I knew it, holding me up with one arm.

"You okay?" Austin asked, the second time today.

"I....I'm fine. I think."  I pushed his hands away and realized that there was a moment of deja vu when he gripped my arm. I think something's wrong with my head. Since earlier, I've been groggy and dizzy, and my limbs were sore like I did a triathlon.

"What's wrong, Ethan? Are you alright?" Dad pulled off his apron and came over to me. If his doctor coat was here right now, he would be eagerly putting it on.

"I'm fine, really. Just a bit worn out that's all," I said. I pulled out a chair and quickly took a seat before my body decides to crumble again. I took a sip of the coffee and winced at the scalding heat. At least it's enough to jolt me awake. Austin pushed a plate of scrambled eggs towards me. Dad frowns for a second, but shook his head afterwards.

What was that? It was as if I was teleported to the park in my dreams, like the continuation of that crappy dream.

I recalled the black cat, slowing padding it's way towards me, it's gaze never leaving mine. It talked, calling this Damien guy over and over again. Then there's the reply from this mystery guy. Calling the cat 'Dad'. 

Now that's something worthy to note. I raised my eyes to see Dad flipping through the newspaper, totally oblivious to my thoughts.

You see, I doubt there are many fathers like mine, a shape shifter. In fact , I'm not even sure how many people out there are power users, so the possibility of someone being a father and a shape shifter must be pretty slim right? Dad looks up and caught my wary glance. My eyes darted to my plate quickly. "Something wrong?" 

I shook my head, and dismissed my suspicions almost immediately. Dad doesn't leave the house in animal form, and it wasn't as if I knew the guy in question. This whole thing might just be a figment of my imagination. But it had great details, I gotta hand it to my sleep deprived brain. 

"It's probably the way he's sleeping," Austin suggested, referring to the way the upper half of my body dangled off the bed while I was sleeping. He wasn't too far off the mark. Lately, I had trouble falling asleep. Whenever I close my eyes, my mind seemed to become preoccupied. I can't even begin to pinpoint what exactly my mind is preoccupied with, but it certainly isn't the  calculus assignment that I have been delaying. Coupled with the backaches and odd dreams and you get a zombie-like guy, trying his best not to plant his face in the plate.

"I just remembered a weird dream," I said, shrugging.

"About what? Melanie?" Austin cracked a grin, raising his brows at me. 

I resisted the urge to smack him. I was too tired to lift my hand anyway. "No, not everyone thinks about girls 24/7 like you." Austin laughed, not bothering to refute my statement. 

Dad was less jovial. He put down his newspaper and took off his glasses. "So what is this dream about?" I wasn't expecting him to ask about it. But I guess it was my first time telling them such things, so it might have piqued their curiosity.  

"Let's see," I said, twirling my fork around. "There was a black cat, it talks. And there was a guy. Called Damien," I replied, looking down at the ketchup I mistakenly smeared on my eggs. I was expecting Austin to burst out laughing but he didn't. In fact, when I looked up, I swore he was frozen still like a deer caught in headlights. A second later, he had a grin on his face. "Eww gross, you swing that way now?" was his crude reply. 

"Austin, please," Dad sighed, as if he hadn't just paused on whatever he was doing when I mentioned the name. 

"Damien, please," the cat pleaded

I froze on the spot.

I slowly turned to Dad and saw him trying to mask his expression into a less serious one. His hands quivered as he reached over for his mug of coffee. I looked over at Austin who had completely settled into his act of normalcy, and chewing loudly on his food. 

Ok, what just happened? 

Why did they look....so nervous?

"It must've been some book or film you were watching, it might have stuck in your mind more deeply, leading to your weird dream," Dad reasoned. 

"Yeah...it might be," I lowered my eyes while drinking from my mug. I knew for sure that I hadn't been watching or reading any bat shit like that.

"You're gonna miss the bus at this rate," Austin said suddenly. I almost spewed out my coffee. My eyes immediately locked onto the minute hand of the clock on the kitchen wall, which said I only had five minutes before the bus came. 

Muttering my thanks for breakfast, I rushed over to grab my belongings and headed to the door. 

 As I bend to tie my laces, I couldn't help but notice the mirror hanging on the living room, reflecting the kitchen, where Dad and Austin were still seated. 

Dad nodded gravely to Austin, while Austin's face darkened with a frown. 

I quickly turned my eyes away. I don't understand why I even did that.

Most importantly, why did they look so troubled by what I said?

Bile rose up to my throat. I don't know if anyone has ever felt as out of place as I do. Dad and Austin has some pretty amazing abilities. I mean, yeah I did mention that Dad could shape-shift which is awesome and everything. But Austin has some psychic gungho stuff going on. He can project his thoughts and subtly influence someone's decisions, like a power of suggestion. 

Me? I have phantom back and muscle aches. And after today, I gained the ability to have weird ass dreams. 

Maybe I should be concerned if they are hiding something from me.