Hybrid: The Awakening

Chapter 7-Asher

"Fly?" It probably wasn't the correct thing to focus on at the time, but my mind fixated on it. "You mean you flew? How is that even possible?"

The red haired girl wrapped her arms around herself. "Yeah, it's not awesome if you are deathly afraid of heights. And I have no idea. I-I don't think I was human anymore. It felt like I was...a bird or something. I didn't have to think about what to do to get off the ground. I just...did it. Ugh, it sounds like I'm on crack. None of this makes any sense! I have no idea how I could fly. I have no idea what that creature was or wanted. I have no idea how we could all have the same mark. And I have no idea how any of this is possible."

Diana's hands were balled up into tight fists and her face, even though contorted with anger, looked fragile, like a single word could break down her tough exterior.

Tristen was studying his tattoo, tracing his fingers over the marks. Quietly, he said, "Didn't have a monster waking me up from my sleep, but some weird stuff started happening to me too. Went to school and ditched a few classes before bumping into my ex-friend, Jason. He was mad and got his friends to hold me still while he punched me.

"Thing is, I barely felt anything. But when I opened my eyes, Jason's fingers were broken. From punching me. I ran and hid in one of the bathroom stalls before this really weird feeling came over me. And I think..."-Tristen looked at Diana-"You said you felt like you weren't human anymore, and now I know I definitely wasn't." He looked back down at his hands. "When I saw myself in the mirror, my skin was gray and I had a horn-"

"A unicorn?" I exclaimed loudly. "You turned into a unicorn?" Diana snorted loudly.

"A rhino," Tristen said. "I turned into a rhino."

Diana was still wheezing. "Oh man. Screw Headphones Guy. I'm calling you Unicorn Guy from now on."

"Please don't," he pleaded.

It took a moment for me to catch up, but the understanding slammed into me like a wave. My brain spiraled in a thousand different directions. But one statement they had said stuck out more than the others.

"Wait wait wait, slow down. You guys both touched the strange cube too and now have superpowers? Does that mean I'll also get cool powers? Ooh do you think I might turn into a bird too? I've always wanted to fly!"

Diana ignored me, finally calming down from her laughing fit. She became serious once again. "There was something else too." She fiddled with her sweater. "When I pointed out the clearing behind the trees, it wasn't because I guessed. I could actually see it. From the moment I woke up, there was this clarity. Nothing is even the slightest bit blurry."

"You're cured?" Tristen rubbed his eyes hard enough to look painful. "But I thought your eye condition was incurable."

"That's the thing. It is. Was. Like everything else, I don't know what this glowing thing is, but I think it healed me. No, I know it healed me. And gave me a huge permanent headache in the process." The words hung in the air, not yet processing.

We all seemed to come to the same realization simultaneously.

I tried to smother the hope that was festering in my chest. No. There was no way the cube could have fixed me. I didn't have a simple eye problem. The whole lower half of my body was jacked up. I had given up that fantasy a long time ago. Nothing could fix it. Nothing. Nadda.

Despite my logical side, I took the risk of glancing at my legs, failing at not feeling my hope swell, that maybe, just maybe, I'd have a chance to not be helpless. To not be given a pitiful look every time someone made eye-contact with me. To live a normal life.