Forever Changed

Chapter Fifteen: Dreams VOL III: Cathy

Chapter 15! Hoorah! Last backstory chapter, promise. Pinky swear. Maybe.

I turned curiously and looked at two of the sleeping girls. Jemma and Ivy had fallen fast asleep a while ago, although Jemma had trouble getting there. Pulling the ragged black blanket over Wren and me, I fell asleep too, as the moon sparkled outside the vine curtains.

In my dream world, I saw eleven other Changed. The original twelve, myself included, were the first to be experimented on. We were infants. Stolen children. Right out of the hospital. Anyway, we were all sitting around a small camp-fire. This was after we had escaped, with the old man who, before his death alongside Dan, wed me to Wren.

Our hero.

In this memory, he was known as The Man. No real name. We ten year olds had no idea where he had come from or who he was. Yet. This man taught us everything. How to hunt, cook, etc.

I relived his mentoring.

I relived his tutoring.

I relived his laughter.

I relived his fathering.

The 'old man' was my father. Now, when he had saved us, he was in his mid-forties. Markus, as was his name, told me to not tell anyone.

"I don't want them to remember that they have no families," he had said to me.

It was hard, not revealing that you had the only family of anyone. I kept through it, though. It became easier over the years. Well, those I had to keep it from were dead, so that helped, I guess.

I should probably tell you more, huh?

It was a bright summer day. No clouds were in the sky. We lived close to man, almost amongst them. With hoods and cloaks, we hid our animal parts. The others made friends. Or what they thought were friends, anyway.

That day, the 'friends' attacked. Everyone was slaughtered and deemed to be satanic and demonic.

Unnatural beings.

Devils.

It was when I watched the last child slain that I awoke. I saw Ivy and Jemma breathing deeply and sweating, too.

Dreams are not for the weak, but the scarred and strong.