It was a regular Sunday afternoon. Roman was off in the dream realm, preparing Thomas' dream. Patton and Logan were in the kitchen baking cookies. Pranks and Missy were off in their room, probably planning their next prank. As for me, I was in the bathroom, attempting to file down the 4-inch long teeth and nails protruding from my mouth and fingers and plucking the large, dark wings growing from my back. I know that sounds strange, it was even stranger when I first noticed it. No, not strange, scary. I was terrified when I was in the shower, only to look down and see large spikes growing out of my face and hands.
This has been going on for around a month now, every day around 4pm, however sometimes it's later. It only ever lasts around 30 minutes to an hour. But, today was the worst possible time to start,
"Virgil, you almost done in there? The dream's about to begin" I heard Roman call from the hallway,
"Y-yeah, gimme a couple more minutes!" I shouted back, although I knew all too well I needed more than a couple minutes,
"Alright," I heard him sigh, "Come in when you're ready, we'll probably be at it for a good hour, so you've got quite a bit of time…" He walked away. I peeked out the door, I needed to get a different shirt as I'd got blood on my current one from when I was attempting to remove my wings, however, it failed. It was risky leaving the room when my teeth and nails were about 2 inches long still, but I couldn't bare to stay in a blood-soaked t-shirt for much longer. I crept into my room, which was conveniently right next to the bathroom. I grabbed a new shirt and attempted to take my current one off, I resulted in ripping it to shreds,
"Well done, Virge…" I mumbled to myself, only to hear another voice reply from behind me in the doorway,
"Wh-what the hell are you!?" It was Roman, of all the sides, why Roman?!
"Roman, calm down, I can- "He cut me off,
"Dear lord, you can talk!?" Roman's samurai sword appeared in his grip and the others rushed to his side. They all gasped,
"What the hell is that?" Missy and Pranks asked in unison. Logan pushed them behind him and Patton,
"I don't know…stay behind us, okay?" Logan said,
"Yes, sir!" They saluted in a joking way, but now was not the time for jokes,
"Guys, please, calm down! I can explain!" I yelled, but it came out scarily…different? I wasn't my voice, but sounded deeper and inhuman. Roman held his sword higher,
"Logan, go check on Thomas, make sure he's ok. Patton, take Missy and Pranks to their room, then go check on Virgil, he's in the bathroom!" Roman said, not taking his eyes on me. It dawned on me, they don't recognise me, they don't know it's me! I look down and realise that I've changed even more, I've become taller, lankier and paler. Roman took a step forward, then shut and locked my door behind him,
"What are you, foul demon?" He asked in a loud, confident voice, however I saw fear in his eyes,
"Roman, please…" Was all I could manage, I could barely recognise my own voice now,
"H-how do you know my name?"
"It's me!" I was scared, he didn't know me, oh god, how could he… Oh, wait… I'm not me, am I? I'm a monster now, I always have been. I've always been looked at as a monster, I've never fit in! I-I'm never gonna fit in, especially now... I began to cry, I fell to my knees. Then,
'Beep, beep, beep' My alarm on my phone went off. I set an alarm for when I might turn, and when I may turn back. Today, I guess, was my lucky day.
Roman ran forward and hit my arm with his sword. It didn't chop my arm off, just a deep cut. It hurt like hell, and caused me to cry more. He went to hit me again, and just as I shut my eyes to prepare for the pain,
"V-Virgil?" I heard Roman fall to his knees, and when I opened my eyes, I was back to normal. My nails were normal, no more long teeth, I felt my back and there was nothing there! I cried tears of joy, only to then be reminded by the pain of the cut. I grabbed my arm as blood crept through my fingers. I almost fell to my side, but Roman moved forward and grabbed me. His tear-filled eyes stared into my own, then I collapsed into his embrace. He continued to apologise and cry,
"My stars, Virgil! I am so sorry, I didn't know you turned into that…thing…I didn't know, I'm so sorry!"
"I-I'm sorry Roman, I should've told you and we might've fixed it! I-I was just scared that…that this would happen!"
"Virgil, I…" Roman leant closer into my shoulder and I returned it by leaning closer into Roman's embrace,
We looked up at each other. I didn't realise what I was doing, until it happened. We kissed. I ended it after a few seconds, when I finally realised what I was doing,
"Oh god, Roman, I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me, I- "He cut me off with a quick kiss on the cheek,
"It's no problem, my creepy cookie. I should be the one apologising, I should've helped, and…" He realised the blood on his outfit, "Oh god, we need to get you bandaged up, Patton!" He shouted, the others came rushing in and Roman explained the situation. All I remember after that, is everything going black, and Roman and the others shouting and panicking.
I woke up 3 weeks later, and cringed at the pain of my arm. I looked over at it and it was wrapped in bandages. I sighed in relief and got up. I pulled my t-shirt and hoodie on and changed my jeans.
I, according to Logan, hadn't turned into that monster for the past week. Turns out Thomas had been given a new brand of medication to help with dealing with, well, me. It had weird, negative effects on me. It did help with his anxiety, but it meant I turned into a monster.
I left my room and walked downstairs, the others were gathered in the living room, arguing about something. I heard my name, so it was probably about me. I noticed Roman wasn't part of the argument. He was sat on the floor in the corner. While the others argued, I walked over to him. He looked up at me with surprise, fear and guilt in his eyes. I sat down next to him,
"Virgil…I…" He whispered. I hugged him,
"It's alright, Roman. It wasn't your fault, it was all mine!" I whispered in reply,
"No, I should've shown more concern!" He whispered back,
"No, I should've told you!" We continued to argue in whispers,
"I couldn't have helped!"
"Yes, you could!"
"No, I don't see how!"
"Well, I know you could, because I believe in you, I always have. No matter how many times I argue and fight with you!" I stood up and walked over to the others, I gestured for Roman to follow me, and he did so. The others stopped arguing when they saw me, and I was immediately bombarded with hugs, well, everyone except Logan, who didn't really do hugs. He gave me a thumbs up and said,
"Glad to have you back, Virgil."
"Glad to be back…" I replied and hugged the group. Maybe I did fit in after all…