Humanity: Project X - 160

Chapter 7

Skye did not talk to Joseph much after seeing who he was. Whether it was fear, or perhaps even the feeling of betrayal__she wasn't sure. All she knew was that he had been a part of her past life. Could he have been chasing her with bad intentions, like trying to kill her? Or perhaps they were just playfully chasing each other... she couldn't tell.

The rest of the night, her tired eyes wandered around the room, heavy with exhaustion. She was not as alert as she should be... maybe if she could just...

And then she fell asleep.

She was sitting alone on her bed, the ceiling above her fresh with paint, although no intelligible words were written. It looked like scribbles, as if it were rushed to be written. Getting up from her spot, she walked around the room, trying to find someone else she knew here. However, it seemed as if though she were the only living soul here. That is, until she heard a sound come from behind her. No longer looking where she was going, she turned her head to see who had made the noise... but nobody was there.

Turning her head, there was the blurry figure that had attacked her, a knife in hand. She tried to run away, but it felt like something was weighing her down. And the worst part was that when she tried to scream, nothing came out of her mouth. The figure's voice echoed in her head, "You can never escape my grasp, never truly, never will..."

And then it stabbed her shoulder, and her blood oozed out. She gasped, waiting to lose herself. Perhaps... perhaps this was the end. Her vision blurry, and finally able to move, she stumbled forwards only to fall through the figure in front of her. She tried to use her hands as a temporary bandage, to stop the bleeding. However, not even this seemed to work. A pool of blood now lay in front of her as she crawled to the door, her hoarse voice barely managing to croak out, "Help me," before she gasped and everything blurred.

Perhaps it had been days, or maybe hours, she wasn't sure, when she opened her eyes. She looked down at where the stab wound had been. However, it was no longer there. Carefully studying the area around her, she quickly realized she had never been there before. Or at least, if she had been there, it had been in her past life, not now.

Walking around, exploring the area, she discovered that it was a room with no windows, no lights, causing it to look dim inside. However, she could see perfectly well, which didn't make any sense to her. Turning around in circles, she tried to find a door to get out through... however, everything was well hidden.

Looking down at herself, she soon realized she was not in her normal form anymore.

She was a child.

Trying to find anything that would give herself a reflection, she did not notice someone entering the room. When she finally did notice them, she thought they looked friendly enough as they tapped her shoulder, telling her to come because breakfast was ready. They looked awfully familiar... just a lot younger than she knew them. Like... Joseph. It was Joseph.

He guided her through the halls, holding her hand as cold stares found their way to her. She felt vulnerable; like a trapped animal trying to find its way through a pack of wolves.

And then those people's mouths turned to snouts, their teeth turning sharper than usual... pretty soon they all were wolves, except for Joseph.

And she was their prey.

They all made their move at once, jumping at her as she screamed for help, Joseph suddenly having disappeared into fog which had rolled in from in front of her. She tried getting out of their reach, but she couldn't. She needed help... she needed to..

Skye gasped as she shot upright.

She had fallen asleep.

Joseph had been reading his book the whole time, not caring in the slightest that she had been asleep event though she should have been keeping watch. He turned his head sideways, looking straight at her, asking her in a sweet voice, "Had a nightmare?"

He raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to answer.

"I'm fine," she said, getting up from her position.

"I-" he began before she raised her hand to signal him to be quiet.

"I'm fine, I said," she walked to where she and Kaya had gotten into the room and saw Joseph as well as the others... her head leaning on the wall, she quietly calmed herself down.

It had just been a dream.

Just a dream, right?

In the morning, she was still standing next to the doorway, her leather journal in hand. She wasn't going to lose it... she wanted to keep it. Perhaps she could show Kaya after she woke up. Looking around the room, she noticed several people waking up. Soon, everyone was up, yawning and stretching their cramped arms and legs. Probably from laying in the same position for so long.

"Sleep well?" Skye asked her friend once she came over.

"Yeah," Kaya said, smiling. "I haven't slept so well in... well, in a while besides the time they sedated me. And strange enough, I didn't have any nightmares at all. Not that I'm complaining or anything."

"Glad to hear it," Skye said.

For a while they just stood there, until Kaya noticed the book in Skye's hand.

"What's that, love?" she asked pointing at the journal.

"Oh, my journal. I found one in the library," she said.

Kaya's eyes, obviously longing to have one as well, went from the journal to the library.

"Could you help me find one? I want to write about my experiences too."

"Sure," Skye replied, smiling. It would get her head off her nightmare, or even flashback. Because the nightmare felt all too familiar to her. Well, besides the beginning. The beginning was new.

"Let's go," Kaya said, leading the way.

Together they scanned every shelf, looked through every corner until Skye's fingers touched a worn-out leathery book.

"Found one!" she shouted so that Kaya could hear her voice.

Kaya came rushing over, and after looking at the book for a moment, she opened up the book. To both of their surprises, there was writing in the first couple pages. It was written very neatly, in beautiful handwriting. In fact, it was so neat and pretty that it almost looked like an art piece, a picture that was only meant to be admired.

"Hm..." Kaya began. "I can still use it, I'll just have to pretend like the beginning isn't there."

Then she giggled for a moment.

"Maybe I'll get some pointers on how to write in this thing," she said, raising it and shaking it. Then she giggled once again, this time Skye joining in with her as well.

Heading back to the group, they came face to face with someone all too familiar.

"Lovely to see you," 32 smirked, now in the middle of the group of people.