Chapter 1: The darkness.
I saw it before I heard it. Unusual because normally I experience visions like a cutaway scene from a movie. Swish,clink! Flashes of darkness followed by streaks of blurry red. The raw emotion that accompanied the incomplete flashes was overwhelming. For weeks these flashes came, some in the middle of the night. They woke me instantly, as would a nightmare- but it's no dream. My mutation, my "gift" is sensory manipulation, and when it digs the claws into my brain, I'm just along for the ride. I can usually keep the peace in my brain, but once in a while the sounds,sights, smells, emotions and thoughts from someone else pry their way into my core.
When these new flashes came, I saw the darkness, and I felt the unbridled thrill of the stranger I still couldn't quite grasp. There were no thoughts, only motions. On an especially exhausting day at work, I made my way into the bathroom of my beautiful but small New York apartment. Champagne in the fridge, candles lit, I began to draw my bath. As I poured the silky bubble bath under the faucet I could smell the wonderful vanilla filling up the room and I smiled. I adjusted the water and headed out to the kitchen for my favorite black ombre flute and my peach Arbor Mist. I queued up my favorite Playlist and sauntered back toward the tub.
As the music started playing "Halo" by Starset I struck a pose and gave the empty living room my best serious Rockstar look as I started singing.
I sang out "I can see you running, running every night from the same darkness, it's coming, coming but you are not alone-" my breath caught in my throat. The voices swarmed around my head like a frenzy. Trying to grasp for a reality in the madness I clung to the voice which seemed loudest, and tried to single it out. In the years since I've discovered my abilities, the most unsettling is the ability to unwillingly hear someone else's thoughts. The uncomfortable knowing that you're tapped in to something that's not yours to have and the awkwardness of just that one other voice happening around you. This was different. I'd never heard more than one persons thoughts at a time! There were at least two voices, maybe three but I my head was swimming so I really couldn't tell.
The voices, all male, were having a continuous conversation about why it's unfair that women get to see men topless in public but not the other way around. Someone then suggested food, and the debate instantly switched to chimichangas or pizza (pineapple and olive? Gross!). The argument ensued and the nonsense diluted into an agreement that chimichangas were the answer for tonight. As I tried to grasp how it was that I was in three(!) people's heads at once, I noticed something that I hadn't before. The entire conversation was taking place in first person...what the hell? I thought. Barely aware that the voices were getting louder, I heard my bath running in the back of my mind. I snapped out of my daze and started to walk toward the bath when the next thing the voice said alarmed me-
"Does this rag smell like chloroform?" I heard not only inside head but whispered in my left ear as I dropped my glass and everything faded to black.