by T Swanepoel
WILDly
Copyright 2010 T. Swanepoel
For Clarissa
***
Preface
My heart pounded and my ears swooshed. I didn’t like asking questions in class, especially not a full philosophy class, but I had to make sure that I had heard correctly.
“But, Professor, do you really believe it is possible for the sun, a star, to be alive?”
I had to speak up above the buzz of voices from where I sat in the third row. No one was listening. They thought the Professor was just a big fat joke. And his overweight, wobbly appearance made him even more ridiculous, not to mention his bald Bozo-the-clown hairstyle.
He stopped writing on the board and turned towards the class.
“Who asked that question?” The noise level died down a bit. He had never spoken to anyone directly before.
I raised my hand slightly but enough for him to see me. He frowned before answering.
“It is not a question of whether it is alive. It is a question of form.”
The noise level from disinterested students climbed even higher than before.
I nodded and stuck my shaking hands deep into my pockets.
***
Chapter 1 - Trigger
I didn’t make any stops and the three hours flew by too fast. The sun had just about set when I turned into the parking lot of my new dorm. I slowed down, glanced into the rear view mirror to check, and grinned. I was satisfied with the long brown hair and unusually bright green eyes against the matching green sweater reflected there.
There weren’t many cars parked and after an indecisive moment, I picked a space close to the building. The long drive had made me weary, but I was also a little nervous at not seeing anyone around - or any other movement for that matter. I sat in my car for a while, closed my eyes, took a few slow breaths and concentrated on the music.
The next moment I almost leapt onto the passenger seat. It took me a panicked second to realize someone was knocking on my window. The radio was loud and I hadn’t heard any footsteps. My hand was still clamped over my throat when I peeked up through the closed window.
A huge grin beamed down at me, a grin that showed off a pair of heart-stopping dimples. Embarrassed, I looked down immediately.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” His voice sounded friendly and amused.
I didn’t know what to say, so I slowly rolled the window down. It turned out to be a mistake – the scent of his cologne only made me feel even more awkward. I attempted a feeble smile before I looked at him again.
He was tall and tanned, and his blonde hair and blue eyes worked magnificently with the baby blue t-shirt and beige shorts. The short sleeves of his t-shirt fitted tightly around muscled arms. It was definitely the type of look girls would fight over, and maybe that would include me!
I didn’t manage to get any words out, but I guess he took the opened window as an answer.
“Hi, I’m Alex.” He paused and waited for my reaction.
I couldn’t respond.
“Listen, I didn’t mean to scare you. I only came to warn you. The parking spaces closest to the building belong to seniors. I haven’t seen you around, so I assume you are a first-year?”
I realized I was being rude and he was only trying to be friendly, so I forced my brain to ignore my self-consciousness and answered with the first words that popped into my head.
“Yes, I am a first year.”
“Great news everybody! She has a voice!” he shouted teasingly, throwing his arms up into the air, as if playing to an audience.
“Hi Alex, I’m Valerie.” My voice sounded strange. I swallowed and tried again. “Thanks for the warning. I’ll move my car.” That came out better.
“Nice meeting you, Valerie. You’ll enjoy it here. Just keep a low profile for the first month or so and you’ll be fine. Do you need a hand with your luggage or anything?” he offered, looking into the back of my station wagon.
I considered the weight of the fridge and the microwave and nodded.
“Well… okay. That… would be nice.” I couldn’t believe my luck. Not only was I being offered help, but it came in a beautiful package as well.
He grinned at me.
“I’ll wait out here for you; you go find your room. Maybe it’s close to my girlfriend’s.”
The message was loud and clear: girlfriend; just being friendly; carry on. I was a little disappointed but reasoned that there were more where this one came from.
I moved my car far enough to be out of the way and resisted the urge to look in the mirror for a sneak peek at Alex again. Grabbing my coat off the backseat, I rushed inside, as I didn’t want to keep him waiting too long in case he disappeared. And I didn’t look forward to having to carry the entire contents of my trunk all by myself.
In spite of the fact that the hunk already had a girlfriend, I was happy at meeting the first new person in my new life. The feeling of aloneness faded a little. It was a better start than I’d imagined - meeting a friendly, helpful person instead of an infamous senior bully.
There was no one in sight and I looked around the reception. My first impression was hotel lobby, and not any old hotel - a fancy luxury hotel. Bright lighting spilled from the flight of stairs next to the reception desk curling up into the building. Different soft shades of blue and green coloured the room, giving me the crisp, clear taste of a freshly brushed mouth after breakfast.
In contrast, a homely little dining hall to the right revealed a luscious green garden beyond its high windows. The garden had a lawn about the size of a tennis court, with tall trees and colourful shrubs rounding off the edges and filling in the gaps to make it a delightful secluded area.
A notice board in the centre of the room flashed a colourful ‘WELCOME’ banner. A paper below this indicated the names of twelve newcomers, with room numbers allocated next to them. I was on the second floor in room five. I hesitated, but curiosity got the best of me and I decided to have a small peek at my room first.
The thick carpet completely dampened the noise of my steps as I ran up the stairs. I liked the white wooden doors and neutral beige colour on the carpet and walls, which also emphasized the hotel feeling. All and all, it had a very easy, welcoming effect.
The hallway was short, probably ten doors altogether and the second door to the left had a small, golden number five fixed to it. The key was hanging in the keyhole and I removed it before slowly pushing on the door.
The door was barely open enough for me to step through when I noticed a pair of feet. I was still focusing on the running shoes when a strong hand locked on my wrist and yanked me inside with a quick, forceful pull. I lost my balance, and as I fell forward, I heard the door close and lock behind me.
A wave of exasperation hit me as I started to get up, but it quickly turned to panic as I was pushed to the floor again and pinned down, a hand over my mouth. I squirmed and wiggled ineffectually to get loose from the strong grip, but my screams were too muffled for anyone to hear.
“Listen Valerie, I am so very, very sorry about this. I didn’t mean for you to fall down. Please don’t scream. I am not here to hurt you.” The male voice swallowed and whispered softly, sounding nervous and rushed.
Had he really used my name? I wasn’t sure if I had heard correctly, but the tone of his voice did calm me down a little. At least he didn’t sound like a kidnapper or harassing senior.
“Please, please don’t scream. I need to talk to you, very urgently. Please, just don’t scream.” He took a deep breath. “I’ll remove my hands; please just promise not to scream?”
I knew it was my one chance to get help and I sure was going to use it. I filled my lungs with air slowly so he wouldn’t notice and then gave a small nod. He turned me a
round and I stood up.
The expression in his eyes stopped the screams in my throat. An extremely tired, very stressed, yet somehow content face looked back at me, a strong, masculine, average-looking face, framed by yesterday’s beard. His eyes were a pale grey that created a sharp contrast against his black hair. Judging by his facial features, he was maybe a few years older than me.
His presence hypnotized me, so much so that I was startled when he finally spoke again.
“Valerie. Valerie! It is you. It’s really you. I’m so relieved to have found you. “
He closed his eyes and took a deep lungful of air, drawing breath to continue. But with the spell on me broken, rage boiled up in my throat like heartburn.
“What do want from me? How do you know me?” I screamed almost hysterically.
“I’m Duncan. Please just trust me and listen carefully.” His eyes begged. “Valerie, there isn’t enough time to explain everything. Calm down, calm down. Your…biological mother sent me. That’s all I can say. But we need to hurry. Please, they are after me!”
A spark of hope ignited. I would do anything to know my biological mother, to know why she had given me up for adoption. Maybe she could also clear up the mystery of my recurring dreams and the memories of being out in the wild. I calmed down a little.
“Hold your hands out to me, palms forward please. I need to give you something,” he urged.
It didn’t sound too dangerous and I was curious, so I opened my palms and held them up. He did the same. He didn’t have anything in his hands and I wondered what exactly he wanted to give me with empty hands.
As his fingertips got closer to mine, my hands were drawn to his, more and more strongly like two magnets attracting each other. The feeling was unexpected and I was suddenly nervous. This weirdo could be a science geek experimenting with funny viruses or chemicals, I thought doubtfully, or an organ smuggler or something.
I tried to pull my hands back, but they completely refused to obey. I tried a little harder but the pull towards him only got stronger and stronger, harder and harder. He must have sensed that I was trying to pull my hands back: I was sweating and my arms were shaking.
“Don’t fight it. You’re not strong enough yet, your body needs to adapt first.”
I went cold with fear. I should have screamed before. Nothing was stopping me from screaming, I thought. I ordered my mouth to scream, opened it, and only a small squeak came out. I knew it! I had no idea why I had trusted this person and now to top off a bad situation, I became aware that my thought processes felt slow, maybe sabotaged.
“Valerie, this might feel strange for a day or two, you will feel heavy in your limbs and probably very tired for at least a week or so. You might end up in hospital and a doctor might misdiagnose you with some type of illness or virus. But don’t worry; there is nothing wrong with you. This is part of who you are.”
He stared into my eyes and I knew he could see the panic there.
“Calm down. I won’t hurt you. You are very powerful; you just need to realize it.”
The next moment our fingertips touched. A cold shock wave blasted through me, and I felt it echo through his body.
I froze on the spot.
I couldn’t blink or swallow or even take a breath.
Then a strange warm sensation, almost like pins and needles, spread from my fingertips through my hands and arms into my neck and back and down into my legs.
His face was contorted, as if he was in a lot of pain, but his voice remained calm.
“Valerie, you will remember what is happening now and what I am telling you, although you will probably only remember everything over time, after you have recovered. A warning. There are people on the planet who know about this gift and will do anything to take it from you. It is very precious; it is immeasurable in worth. Beware. You cannot trust anyone. You need to be extremely careful, suspicious of every single person, no matter who they are.”
I could hear my heartbeat in my ears and a terrible gust of nausea hit me, but a weight was growing, pinning me in place. My eyes burned slightly and everything shone brighter and brighter, as if the sun was hanging right above my head. I tried to close my eyes against the light, but got no response from my muscles. Everything around me blurred as the world moved more and more out of focus.
I stared at Duncan. He looked straight into my eyes and it was clear that he was in a tremendous amount of pain. In spite of this, he went on, his voice faltering.
“Wha...are…yo…doi…to…me?” I forced the words out through my numb mouth.
“You will understand soon enough… I will contact you as soon as...”
“Teeelllll…meeeee…!” I tried to scream with the last bit of energy left in my whole body, but it only came out as a whisper.
“Valerie. Please take care of yourself… You are stronger than I expected. Don’t be afraid of this…”
He fell to his knees, but kept his eyes and his fingers locked on mine.
“The second change that you will notice is your resonance colour…”
He didn’t continue his sentence; he just looked at me, completely exhausted.
“Oh no! He is… here! Has it… been… eight minutes… already?”
He blinked slowly, dropped his hands and the force holding me disappeared. At the same moment, I heard someone banging on the door and trying to open it.
“Valerie? Are you in there? Are you okay?” a voice shouted.
Duncan’s eyes were wild.
The last thing I heard was the door bursting open. Then everything went black.
***
