Chapter 10 - Metamorphosis

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Disclaimer - I do not own anything except the plot and the aliens.

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Oh come on! I need some reviews here! I have no idea where this is going and I need

some suggestions.

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The next morning, Trin walked in to one of the guest bedrooms where his cousin

slept. His normally pristine clothes were covered in splashes of paint and sawdust,

which was unusual for him because he had never done a days work in his life. He

dumped the box he was carrying, that looked like it was full of brochures or

magazines or something and

looked down at Hilarity's sleeping form. She looked terrible, her eyelids were

darkened and her hair seemed to float in a static cloud instead of its usual uniform

straightness.

"Hils?" he whispered and tapped her shoulder. What was the point in whispering

when you were trying to wake someone up. She stirred a little and started whispering

in her sleep.

"No, Norman no! Move out of the way! Don't go on the motorway, you'll get run

over!!!" Trin knew something was bad now. Hilarity always dreamed about a suicidal

hedgehog called Spiky Norman when she was unhappy.

"Hilarity!" he said louder.

"I promise I'll be good. I'll leave you a saucer of milk every night!"

"HILARITY!!" he shouted and shook her until she woke up. "It's OK. You were

having a nightmare." Hilarity moaned and pulled her blankets over her head.

"That was nothing compared to the panda dream I had earlier." she said.

"Rough night?"

"More than you can ever believe. I don't know what's happening to me, Trin. Last

night, I just lost control and I purposefully hurt someone and I tried to stop myself but

I kept on talking and I destroyed her! I made her cry and I was sarcastic a-and rude

and arrogant and I destroyed her!" she suddenly burst into tears. Trin was shocked

by this and hated to see his own flesh and blood so upset. She was the happy one. Her

moods never lasted longer than half an hour and all you had to do to cheer her up was

tell her a good joke.

"Oh don't cry! It's OK, it's OK. You were probably just tired." he said comfortingly

and squeezed her hand. He still noticed that something wasn't quite right about her

and it disturbed him "Hils, have you had highlights put in?" he exclaimed.

"No. Why?" Trin handed her a small mirror from the dressing table and she gasped

when she saw that most of the left hand side of her head was dominated by a light

blond streak. "Oh dear! What's going on, Trin?"

"I have no idea." said Trin "Maybe the maze thingy doesn't think you're Goblin King

material so its turning you into someone who is." It was just a hunch but it was the

kind of twisted logic that made him hate this place so much.

"Trin! That's actually quite deductive of you. How did you work it out?"

"Well you're behaving like him and now you're beginning to look like him. It doesn't

take a genius to work it out." said Trin defensively. He was interrupted by more voices

and more crying which at the same time sounded a million miles away and

simultaneously less than a millimetre from your own skin. Hilarity groaned loudly

when she heard it and started crying again. "Look, don't worry about it, I'll take care of

everything today. Just go back to sleep until you feel better." said Trin and took the

crystal from her bedside table. Hilarity looked like she was going to protest but then

decided not to. After all, he wouldn't be able to do it any worse than she had done.

Plus, Trin could be a lot more frightening than she could ever be.

"OK. If you're sure it's not too much trouble." she said eventually.

"No trouble at all. I have to drop some things off on Earth anyway." he said and

picked up the mysterious box and left. Hilarity wondered what he was up to but then

decided that she didn't care anymore and rolled over and tried to get comfortable. Her

head ached like crazy, her eyes itched and her mouth had gone numb which was a

strange sensation. She blamed it on the dusty bedsheets that probably hadn't seen the

fresh air for centuries and also on the damp patches on the ceiling which seemed to

get bigger every hour. She just wasn't used to the unsanitary conditions of the castle

and although she had been there many times when she and Jareth would chat long into

the night over a bottle of Ricard she very rarely slept over. She suddenly felt

extremely homesick and wished that she was back at home in her large, airy room in

her antique, French bed that she and Danny had bought together on their travels. She

loved their room because it had an entire wall made out of one-way glass which

overlooked the city's skyline and the lush rainforests beyond which looked spectacular

both night and day. She missed Danny. She missed taking it in turns to make breakfast

in bed every Sunday and curling up with the morning paper and fighting over who got

the Culture section. Then Thomas would come in and curl up at the foot of the bed,

which was a little freaky at first but they got used to it as long as he didn't stay on

their feet for too long and give them pins and needles. With these happy thoughts in

tow, Hilarity drifted off to sleep.