Chapter 2: Is This Reality?

More and more do I ask myself if I'm dreaming, but as each day passes, I become indifferent towards that possibility.

- Alyssa

The sun blazed hot as I ran down the empty road covered in the chemical. Would any passerby see me or will the chemical damage me? I needed to wash it off immediately! Maybe after I got all cleaned up I could then get a medical checkup to determine if I'd become infected with anything.

I managed to reach my temporary flat unseen. Good! My flat mates weren't there to badger me with questions about what happened. The chemical on me was now gelling and somehow was affecting my senses. My vision started to spin and my surroundings vibrated somehow. I seemed to see sound-waves, molecules and various colors, stuff impossible to see with human eyes. Maybe the chemical was some kind of L** or something and I'm tripping out! Don't panic, stay calm. I just need some medical help.

When I got to my flat's door, I paused. I could somehow see what was on the other side of the closed door and that there were people in some of the rooms. Luckily my roommate wasn't at home and the bathroom was currently unoccupied, the perfect opportunity to wash up and then make an appointment with the doctor. On the way to the bathroom, I could feel myself sink into the floor like my skin was melting off. I could feel everything in the room (even the inanimate objects) vibrating. I could even sense everything that I could touch with my hands, despite me not touching anything. My brain somehow told her what each object was, how heavy it was and what the texture was. What was happening to me? I felt lightheaded like I was going to pass out or even die. When I touched the door handle to the bathroom, I lost my sense of touch, but I could still see my hands wrap around the handle. What? Startled I, pulling my hand away, but I could still feel the handle as if my hand was still on it.

Panicking, I frantically stripped off my ruined dress and other clothing, jumping into the shower and turning on the shower spray (again not feeling my skin touching the handle). The water splashed onto my face and body. My skin felt really sensitive to the water that washed across my body, almost like it was acid stripping the flesh from me. Puzzled, I looked at my hands but my skin looked normal, still adhering to my body. It was all in my mind. I stood there in the pouring water, letting the strange effect and sensation wash over my body for several minutes before I then proceeded to wash my body and hair normally. I needed to get rid of every trace of the green goop. I rubbed shower gel into my skin and could feel my skin like normal, and washed shampoo into my hair. I hoped that my hair didn't fall out from the force of vigorous rubbing into my hair roots. Luckily no hair fell out. I was super-clean. I hadn't washed that thoroughly in years.

After relishing in the tepid water and regaining my composure, I stepped out of the shower and felt the cool air hit my skin. I wrapped a towel around me and then stood in front of the mirror, which was now fogged up. I wiped it clear and stared at my reflection. Hmm. I couldn't see any abnormalities or mutilations that the chemical might have caused, I looked normal enough externally. Huh, I made facial expressions, sticking out my tongue. Still normal. Okay. Did I act normal? I stood there acting like a movie character, reciting quotes from different movies that I'd seen. Okay, I'd never win an acting award but I still seemed normal. Maybe It was all in my head?

The Mediterranean sun wasn't kind to my skin type, and I was inspecting the moistness of my skin in the mirror when my reflection in the mirror altered. What the heck? My reflected image now looked like it was made from water rather than flesh. I was an aqueous figure looking right back at me, wearing the same shocked facial expression mimicking my own. I gasped in horror and pulled away from the mirror in shock hitting the wall behind me and then sank to the floor. The impact of my weight slamming against the wall caused an object on the shelf to my right to rock back and forth. It was a bottle of expensive perfume which belonged to my roommate. Numbed, I watched it fall off the shelf and felt a pang, knowing how devastated my roommate would be after it shattered on the bathroom floor. After feeling unable to prevent what was about to happen, I watched the bottle of perfume fall off the shelf and plummet to the floor. It seemed to fall in slow motion but before it reached the floor, it stopped midair and hovered motionless. This shocked me, but given all the other strange events, I just stared at it uncomprehending. The perfume bottle resumed falling slowly and gently hit the floor, undamaged. I was relieved that this accident was prevented but still wanted to know why this supernatural occurrence was happening right before my eyes. I wanted to hold the bottle in my hands and the bottle come towards me as if it was at my command. How did this happen and what made the bottle respond like that?

A movement in the corner of her eye caught my attention. Ugh, it was a big cockroach crawling towards me. I hate those things. I waved my hand at it to frighten it away, but suddenly electricity shot from my fingertips and struck the cockroach, vaporizing it. It was now a black stain on the floor with a small strand of smoke traveling in the air. Puzzled, I held my hand in front of my face, and trying to figure out why electricity shot out of my hands. Static electricity? I stared at my fingertips and thought of electricity emanating from them, and to my surprise, strands of electricity appeared and connected to each of my fingers. It was like that comic book character. What was that enemy of Spider-Man? Electro, I think it was! I was a real life Electro! The sight of the electricity flexing and buzzing around my hand was amusing, and I waved my hand around, tempted to shoot a bolt of electricity at something. Better not, I didn't want to vandalize anything in the bathroom. I'm a…a..electrokinetic? That's the right word, right? Just like the comic book characters. I wonder if I can throw lightning bolts like Zeus or Thor? I'll need to test that out later. If I can do that, maybe I can do other things too. I thought back to the odd bottle of perfume. Hmm. Maybe I stopped the bottle from smashing onto the floor and made it come towards me. How? I focused on the bottle of perfume that was lying on the floor in front of me, and decided to see if I could move it mentally. I stared at it and imagined it levitating off the floor. The bottle twitched slightly and then rose off the ground to float parallel with my eyes. Yes! I can do it, I can moved objects with my mind, this is great! I smiled at the levitated bottle. Feeling a little cheeky, I decided to borrow some in celebration. I mentally grasped the perfume bottle and then slowly twisted the bottle's top in the other direction. Yes, it slowly unscrewed and the top moved to the side. Keeping the bottle in midair, I moved it to the side of my neck to give myself a squirt. Oops! Too much pressure in the squirt. Wasteful. I'd need to wipe the excess. This is harder than it looks. I decided to put the bottle back onto its shelf, so I screwed the top back on manually and then floated it over to land softly back on the shelf. I now had an adrenaline rush, knowing I had superpowers and I was shaking with excitement. Maybe this wasn't the limit of my powers, maybe I had more. What else can I do?

I glanced in the mirror, which reminded me about my reflection when I turned into water. Morphing, that's the word used in the movies for shape changing, according to what my nerd-friends told me. If I'm a living liquid, can I change shape like some fictional character I can't put my finger on? Only one way to find out. I stared at the mirror, imaging myself turning into water. Nothing. Okay, maybe I'm pushing too hard. Keep calm and just think liquid. Nice and easy. My skin turned silver-colored but was still human-shaped. Just relax and go with the flow. Making facial expressions in the mirror, I could see my liquified facial muscles move accordingly. I stuck out my tongue and could see it was now water, even my teeth and the back of my throat was made out of silver-colored liquid. Now, let's think puddle. I suddenly felt myself sinking to the floor and seeing everything above me. Yes! I was now a shallow puddle of liquid on the bathroom floor. Oops! The wooden floor's surface wasn't watertight and I began sinking through a crack into the wood. Uh, oh. I realized that I was now inside the floor itself. I could not only see the bathroom from above but also the room below as I seeped through cracks in that ceiling. There were people occupied. From the ceiling of the room, I stuck out my liquid head and hung upside down, observing the occupants below. Fearing that I'd be spotted if one of them gawked up at the ceiling, I somehow pulled myself back up out of the floor and then into my normal self, staring at the mirror. The thrill of not discovering two, but a third power of being able to morph into water and shape-shift, was exhilarating. I laughed silently in the mirror. I could move things with my mind (can't think of the name of it), an electrokinetic and a morpher. The feeling was overwhelming. Awesome! Now what do I do? I need to practice these abilities and figure out how to use them effectively.

Feeling afresh and reinvigorated, I got ready to leave the bathroom. I'd entered a mere human but was now exiting as a superwoman. Hmmm. Maybe I should move things with my mind again. Mentally I reached out for a towel for my wet hair. When the towel floated over I visualized wrapping it around my head like a turban. The towel moved obediently and smoothly around my head, turning into a well wrapped turban. I opened the door mentally, as I stepped out and then realized I hadn't even consciously thought of that action. I was using it unconsciously like I'd always had it. The bedroom air was cool and fresh compared to the steamy bathroom I examined my dirty clothes scattered on the floor. Ugh, they were all stained, ruined by the mysterious green chemical that must have changed me. Evidence. I better dispose of them before anyone asked awkward questions. I got a bin liner out from the kitchen and bagged the ruined clothes.

Suddenly the front door swung open and Clarissa, my roommate, came in with her arms full of groceries.

"Hello Alyssa," she greeted, as she directed her attention to our refrigeration unit.

„Clarissa," I greeted her, hoping that she didn't notice anything amiss. My heart was pounding in my chest.

"So, how did the meeting with your friend go?" she said, focusing on unpacking and storing the groceries in the fridge.

"Very well, thank you. It was quite a memorable day," I answered politely.

"Really? Anything special happen?" wondered Clarissa, sounding more interested.

"Oh yes, very special." I had a sly smirk. This was a day I'd always remember. Huh, maybe that was a poor choice of words. I'd rather not have to lie about what happened.

Clarissa shrugged. "Well, you can tell me all about it after I've used the bathroom, Por Dios it's hot out there." She marched off into the bathroom with her voice fading when she closed the door.

Alone again, I felt my pulse rate slow down. Do I need to come up with a plausible alibi for her? Maybe she'll forget to ask me again when she's done. Hmm. While Clarissa was busy behind the closed doors this provided an opportunity for me to practice moving things with my mind.

I glanced at my discarded phone on the bedside table, still coated with the strange green liquid. Luckily Clarissa never noticed it. I'll need to wipe the phone down with a cloth…or do I? The phone floated up and paused while I mentally wiped it. The green liquid flowed off the phone and was a green glob hovering in the air. I opened the trash bag and the glob flew into it. Out of sight, out of mind.

I looked at the hovering phone and then down at the phone charger that snaked across on the bedroom floor. Can I handle two objects moving simultaneously? Lets see? Both objects smoothly rose into the air and rotated as I plugged the charger jack into the phone. Yes, duel cruise control, at least with simple tasks where I can see them. Now, can I use my phone without using my hands? The phone rotated to display its screen to me. Nice of it. Mmmm. The text message read.

I smiled at the thought of going out socializing. I could definitely use some friendly faces. Now, how to respond? I mentally visualized tiny hands on the phone's keypad and began typing away. Wow, much faster than typing it manually. I'd finished my written response in only three seconds, and with no mis-strokes! Everybody should type this way!

After I sent my response, I still needed to wait for their answer so I had time to kill. Maybe I should call a doctor now and schedule a medical checkup? Hmm, no, I better not. How extensively have I been altered physically? Is my DNA still the same or would testing it reveal my hidden powers? Don't raise the medical issue unless it becomes absolutely necessary.

After a moment's hesitation, I cancelled the notion of any medical tests. Lets see what happens next without them?

I lay on my bed and thought about far more important issues. "What should I wear tonight?"

To be continued…