Chapter 2: Awakened

John woke, but saw nothing. Complete darkness and his limbs were pinned so that he was curled into a tight ball. And yet, they weren't. He stood, blinded, but still somehow with the sensation of being trapped in a ball. He opened his eyes and had a similar sensation; he simultaneously saw nothing but darkness, and the inside of a wooded clearing. One of his sights beheld something rounded and black on the ground. He approached it and picked up the cool oval. He held it close to himself and felt his whole body warm. He felt excited, he wanted to move! He pressed hard against the bonds holding his limbs still and saw a chink of light appear. He pressed into it and he saw a chunk of the rounded oval fall off. He placed it hurriedly on the ground, unsure of what was happening. He pressed into the light, blinded at first, and saw a tiny dark colored creature fall out of its casing. He felt wet and cold and knew he had to find some way to dry the goop off of the tiny creature. He took off his sweatshirt and felt something dry and warm wrap around him. He touched, and felt the touch of something brush against his side, and something suddenly clicked apart, but not all the way, as if it were connected by a wire.

John felt dizzy, but was at last coherent. A tiny dark blue animal lay before him. It had four legs, and much of its head and longish neck was covered in light, black hair. There looked to be a small spike-like extension on the back of its head.

John couldn't explain why, but he felt connected to this newborn creature, like it was an extension of himself, even though he had no idea what it was. It turned and looked quizzically at him. He moved closer and picked the little animal up. It seemed to like the warmth of his arms. He felt dizzy again as a bit of the alien knowledge came back to him; something about contact between beings of separate dimensions causing double selves in each.

I'm not sure how that ties in to this little guy, but I shouldn't leave him here, something might come after him.

John remembered the fire breathing creature from before.

It had to be a funky dream, but I don't remember how I got here. Maybe those guys jumped me again and I got hit on the head?

He carefully placed the creature in his backpack, leaving it unzipped enough for it to breathe and carrying the books that once occupied the space. The little creature didn't resist as John zipped the pack.

One thing's for sure though; this thing definitely isn't anything from around here. I should get him home, and I'll work out what to do with him when I'm better prepared.

John looked around, and decided to head in an arbitrary direction. He eventually saw streetlights and walked toward them. He emerged not far from where he had seen the fire breathing monster/hallucination come from. It was almost dusk, and he hurried home, thinking only about the monster roaming the streets somewhere.

He made it home and knocked on the door. His mother answered it.

"John! Where have you been? You had me worried sick!"

She glanced down.

"What did you do to your other arm?"

John looked down. He hadn't even realized the dried blood caked on his previously uninjured arm.

So it wasn't a dream. He looked over his shoulder and hurried inside.

"It was them again, wasn't it?"

"No, actually. Mom, I think you should call animal control. I got bit by some kind of weird fire breathing monster!"

His mother just stared at him for a moment, then sat down on the couch and put a hand over her face, muttering something about her son being traumatized.

"Mom, I'm serious!"

He told her everything that had happened. She just looked back at him like he was losing his mind.

"Mom, I'm not lying, look!"

He unzipped his backpack, and the small blue and black creature poked its head out. His mother gave a short scream, and looked like she was trying to climb the wall behind her.

"What the hell is that thing?"

"Don't know, but I really like it for some reason."

"Don't touch it!"

John ignored her and lifted the small creature out of the backpack and placed it on his knee. It liked the warmth and curled up in his lap.

"Mom, I really don't think this one will be a problem, at least not right now, but that other one I told you about almost fried me, so we need to do something about that."

She slowly got up and went to the phone, watching the little creature like a hawk the whole time, but it had fallen asleep.

John heard his mother talking on the phone as she peered around the corner.

"No, this isn't a joke!"

"Yes, there's some kind of creature loose in the town, and it's very dangerous."

"I'd say significantly more than a bear."

"Will, you please just check?"

John spoke, "They didn't believe you, did they?"

She shook her head. "Never really expected them to."

"So what are we going to do?"

"Well," she hesitated. "I don't know." She was quiet for a moment, and then asked, "What are we going to do about that thing?"

"Well, I don't think we should let others know about it."

"John, you don't even know what it is; by what you said, it could be an alien or something!"

He gingerly placed the creature on the couch, careful not to wake it, and washed the dried blood from his arm, and cleaned the burn on his leg. When he came back, he found his mother right where she was before he left; staring at the creature like it was a huge rodent.

Something occurred to him. "Mom, last night, I heard a loud bang, like thunder but different. And now these weird animals start showing up. You don't think they had something to do with that, do you?"

"Which direction did it come from?"

John thought, then said, "The same direction as the edge of town by that run down old farm. The monster came from the same direction."

She thought, and then said, "John, I don't want you to go anywhere near there again."

"But what if…?"

"No buts. You're staying here."

Sighing in frustration, John settled back on a pillow.

She stayed with him through the night.