Voices
Cloud Weaver
I was named on my last planet for the silks I spun. Soft as the clouds there. But on this new, strange planet, I was to be called Gregor. The body had seen sixteen years…and his memories were terrifying.
Though I had been warned my first memory was going to be his last, I was unsettled by it.
Run.
It was a decent enough idea at the time. No chance at being caught if I was already gone.
But if I was caught…what would Ali do when she found out? How would Maggie handle it? Ali would probably cry, and not stop until she couldn't form the salty tears anymore. Maggie was still trying to grasp the concept of death…hopefully she'd be okay. But my thoughts kept straying to the enraged look on Ali's face before I had left.
She had even asked me what to do if this had happened. I had been an idiot. Now I had to get away. I had to warn them, get to Ali and Maggie, and keep them all safe.
Ali? Was that the woman he loved? Was she still human, too? And who was Maggie? I tried to pull myself from the memory with no success.
My feet slapped against the wet ground of the abandoned laundry room of the old apartment building. It was so familiar—wait—I had lived here! This was my old apartment building…that meant I could get down there and tell them what was going on!
"We don't
want to hurt you!" The one who had taken Lizzie's body called
out. I growled and ran a bit faster.
I searched frantically for the last drier…or was it the washer? It had been so long since I had been here!
Another cried out "Stop! You are only damaging yourself! There is no where to run!"
'Don't stop!' I thought frantically and hope for the long-dormant rager sensation to kick in. Nothing happened as the footsteps drew nearer. Lizzie seemed to hold herself back, as if the girl was still there, fighting and taking control. The control only lasted a moment before the soul grabbed my arms while another came closer with a cloth in hand.
I struggle
violently, groaning and growling at the parasites. "Get away!" I
shouted, aiming a kick at the one with the cloth as he pressed it
over my face. Struggling even harder, it caused me to take a deep
breath in. 'No! I failed! Ali, Maggie, Luxa, all of them,
they're going to be alone! We're doomed.' I thought as my
vision clouded and my muscles went slack.
When would the sedation wear off? The memory was madness. How could a human be so insane as to look for a drier?
"…I think, poor soul must be as lost as Carves Cities was when she caught." A high, feminine voice registered.
"He tried to escape in a laundry room, Traveler From The Stars, of course Cloud Weaver is confused," the new voice was huskier and lower, male.
I let out a moan to inform them of my presence. I slowly opened my eyes and blinked once or twice.
"He's coming around," the female said excitedly. My eyes darted to her.
I guessed that she was a Seeker from her clothes and the way she carried herself. Her hair was curled in tight ebony spirals that were pushed back behind both of the strange ears humans sported. Her eyes were an electrifying blue with the faint silver ring around the iris that would reflect if light was directly on it. She was apparently short, from her footwear, high-heeled shoes that lifted her up about another three inches.
The Seeker wore light colors, her blouse was a faded pink, which stood out from her sun-tanned skin. Below that was a khaki skirt that cut off at her knees, below that she wore tights down to the strap heels that were a light gold.
A man stood beside her, clad in the blue-green scrubs my memory informed me that doctors wore. He let out a cough and cast an anxious look at the Seeker. The Healer was naturally tall and well muscled. His hair was crew cut and sandy blond. His eyes were a musty gray, almost the color of…of…what?
Storm clouds. My own voice supplied in my head. They look the same color as storm clouds.
The thought was not mine. It couldn't have been my thought I didn't have a clue what storm clouds were before. Could it have been Gregor's?
No, I thought, I'm Gregor. He is dead, and he isn't real.
Why am I still here, then? My voice replied again. I'm not going to leave like all the others. Not as long as they're human, not as long as they know I'm not there.
I struggled to find out who "they" were and where they were, but I hit a wall, only catching a small voice cooing, "Beeg bug" happily.
"How are you feeling?" the Healer said kindly.
I looked down at my arms, they were covered in scars, all rough or clean cut in some way. It was if the Seekers had dragged my body across a field of glass by my legs.
You're wrong to think this body yours.
Get out of my head! You're not real, you will fade away, you will give up! I thought angrily.
"I am…confused. What are these scars?" I asked, voice smooth and wary.
"We believe this host had them previously and for quite a while, perhaps it had sustained them in childhood." The Seeker said curtly.
"Yes," The Healer's eyebrows raised. "It won't be a problem, not to worry." He said, softening to a smile.
It however didn't soften me. The voice in my head was certainly not normal. I would have to keep it secret as long as I could. Until it left, until it gave up.
Never. Gregor hissed, determined to stay until I was the one to give up and left. I had a horrible feeling that it would be a while and I would not enjoy myself.
