Chapter 3: Voices

I probably looked like a demented duck as I scurried around my room, flapping my hands like stubby wings, making small garbled sounds. I couldn't let her see me like this; I couldn't explain it so she wouldn't accept it. Who would? I had gone to school looking like me and now I looked completely different.

I looked back at the mirror, 'change back now? Please, please, please change back,' I squeezed my eyes tightly closed then opened them again, 'and change? Or not? Oh not good, not good.'

'Allison? Are you alright up there?' I heard my mother calling up the stairs.

'Fine,' I barked, too quickly, 'I'm fine. I'm just getting changed, I'll be down in a minute.'

'Alright honey. I just thought I heard you talking to someone.'

'Me. I was talking to myself,' I called back as I hurriedly opened my cupboard and began pulling out clothes that I could change into.

'Of course you were,' I heard her laugh.

I hopped around my room, trying to change at the same time as trying to find something to cover my hair. At last I whipped out a thick knitted beanie from my cupboard and wrenched it onto my head, tucking up my hair as if it was a swimming cap. That just left me with the problem of my eyes. I stared at the bright blue glow for a few seconds, desperate for them to return to the normal brown. When nothing happened I groaned and slammed my head against my mirror.

'Allison? Are you sure you're okay?' I heard my mum, this time outside my door, 'I'm coming in.'

I squealed as the door opened and as a last ditch effort grabbed my sunglasses off the table and slammed them onto my face. My mother stuck her head in the door and smiled at me, 'hello Allison. Are you okay?'

I nodded feverishly, 'of course I am.'

My mother frowned at me, 'why are you wearing that?'

'Wearing what?' I formed an innocent smile.

'That. Allison, isn't it a little warm to be wearing a beanie?' my mother sounded sceptical and suspicious.

I shrugged, 'my head was cold.'

'And the sunglasses indoors?'

'I-ah…I was just trying them on…' I blabbered out.

'You were wearing them yesterday.'

'Yes, but they felt a little tight then so I was just trying them on. I think I might need a new pair at some point,' I grinned cheerily.

My mother raised her eyebrows, 'Allison. Are you hiding something from me?' she asked.

'No, no of course not,' I shook my head so violently the beanie nearly fell off.

My mother eyed my sceptically, but dropped it, 'We need to head out soon to swimming. Get ready.'

She made to leave but I stopped her, 'actually mum, I'm not feeling to well at the moment. My head hurts. Can I just take the day off?' I asked hopefully.

It wasn't a lie, my head did hurt, quite a lot, and thankfully my mother was one who could always tell when I was lying and when I wasn't. She nodded, 'alright Allison. Make sure you take something for it.'

I nodded and she left, allowing me to collapse onto my bed with a sigh of relief. One disaster averted, for now. I couldn't hide this indefinitely though, I needed to find some way to reverse whatever the hell had happened to me because my mum would not take this well.

Slowly I pulled the beanie off my head, allowing the white locks to fall into my face. I twiddled one between my fingers, frowning deeply. Whatever had hit me on that path had done this to my outside appearance. But there had been those symbols, those vivid images which I had seen. I needed answers; I needed to know what was happening to me. The problem was, I didn't know where to start.

…

'What's with the beanie?'

'Who knows, it's Ally, does she need a reason to be strange?'

I made a point of ignoring the slight whispers from the back of the room, keeping my head down, scribbling insistently on the paper. I tugged my beanie down onto my head a little more, absently pushing my hair further under it. I had reasoned that morning that if I wore the beanie it would attract less attention than if I just came to school with my wonderful new hair colour. It didn't seem to be working overly well.

Such a weirdo.

I shook my head, swatting my temple to try to deter the small buzz which was ringing in the back of my head. Whatever it was it was going to give me a headache if it didn't stop. It sounded sort of like someone had left their television on, but had the volume right down, but not quite on mute. Quiet enough that you couldn't understand it, but loud enough that it was annoying. I shook my head again, and returned to my work, attempting to banish the noise.

Oh shit I forgot I need to meet dad tonight.

When would the people in my class a) learn to stop swearing and b) learn to stop talking? I grumbled quietly in my head. The buzz was getting just that little bit louder, to the point that I was craning my neck to check to see if the class room computer was on. Abbie looked over at my oddly and flicked me with her pen.

'What's up with you Eskimo?' she asked.

'Nothing, I just-nothing,' I smiled at her and bent my head to scribble earnestly on my page.

'Seriously though, what's up with the beanie? It's not that cold,' Abbie leaned over and whispered.

'I felt like wearing it so I will wear it,' I replied, trying to sound casual.

This was one of those times that I was very glad that Abbie was who she was because she pressed the issue no further, taking that as an acceptable answer. She just shrugged and went back to her work. I waited until I was sure that she was working again before I started looking around the room for the source of the humming. It was becoming insistently louder by the second.

Crap, I knew I should have done that homework.

I looked around for whoever had spoken. They weren't being subtle at all.

Why do these lessons have to go for so long? I'm so bored.

Oh no, I forgot to charge my phone. Mum's going to kill me.

I slammed my head against the desk, a lot harder than I meant to, desperate to make them all shut up. Almost everyone in the classroom stopped and looked up at me following the dramatic thump. I rubbed my brow crossly.

'Dude,' Abbie hissed in my ear, 'what was that for?'

What is her problem?

Such a freak.

I whipped around to face the rest of the class, 'I am not a freak!' I snapped.

All I got in return was a selection of blank stares and frowns, before one the girls at the back laughed quietly, nudging her friends who all nodded and smirked. I glared at them as the teacher came to the front, putting down her book.

'Miss Shorecoat, please get back to your work,' she said harshly.

I turned back around to my desk as the buzz started up again, softly at first, and getting louder and louder.

What am I going to do with this girl?

Freak.

She's crazy-

Nutcase-

I couldn't take it anymore. I stood up rapidly, knocking my chair over as I did with a thud. Again, the buzzing stopped as everyone looked up at me. The teacher frowned at me, looking annoyed at my second disturbance in her lesson.

'Miss Shorecoat?'

For a second I was silent, my mouth dry before I managed to get out, 'I feel sick…I have to go.'

Sprinting from the room I bolted down the hallway until I reached the nearest bathrooms, flinging myself into a stall and slamming the door closed behind me. Here I found myself sitting on the floor, gripping my head, rocking back and forth, breathing heavily, tears streaming from my eyes.

'I'm going mad,' I whispered quietly, 'no, no this isn't right. Oh God, help me.'

I buried my head in my knees and softly began to cry harder, confused and ultimately terrified of what was happening to me. I must have been in there f or longer than I had originally thought because I was jolted up by a little knock on the stall door.

'Ally, honey, are you alright?' Abbie asked timidly.

'Yup.'

'Liar. Come on out, talk to me,' she bent down to peer under the door, 'come on sweetie.'

Hesitantly I opened the door to see her holding out a tissue box. Gently she took me over to one of the changing benches in the corner and sat down next to me, 'what's wrong honey? Something's happened, tell me.'

I started out by shaking my head but she was insistent and eventually, and very gingerly I pulled away my beanie. Her face went pale as my now white hair fell out around my face. At the same time I pulled away my sunglasses and she backed away slightly.

'Ally…' she wavered slightly, 'what happened?'

'I don't know,' was all I could say.

'Your hair's white,' she stuttered.

'Yes.'

'And your eyes glow!' she confirmed and I nodded again.

'Yup.'

'How?' she looked and sounded just as terrified as I felt.

'I don't know,' again, that was the only answer I could give her, 'I was walking home yesterday and then out of nowhere something hit me! Seriously something fell out of the sky and hit me. Next thing I know I'm seeing these crazy, messed up symbols and images, my head is killing me, and then when I get home, I see that this,' I gestured wildly to my face, 'had happened.'

Abbie just looked scared, 'you were hit by something?'

'Yes. And just then in class, I could have sworn that everyone was talking,' I said earnestly.

'No one was talking hun,' Abbie sounded even more weirded out.

'Exactly. This is going to sound crazy,' I honestly couldn't believe that I was about to say this, 'but I think that I could hear what they were thinking.'

For a long moment Abbie stared at me, trying to take in everything that I had just said. To be perfectly honest I would have expected her to get up and leave so she could call a mental asylum. That's what I was thinking of doing myself at that moment in time.

Instead, she just gave me a look before saying, 'well shit.'

'Not approving of choice of language, but basically yes.'

'Oh my God. What are you now? Some military experiment? Or maybe it was Aliens,' she threw herself to her feet, 'maybe you're going to be abducted and taken away to some other planet. And if it was the military then maybe they'll take you away. You'll have to go into hiding so they don't find you.'

I shot her a blank look, 'you sound even crazier than me currently.'

'But it's true! Ally, we have to find out what happened to you!' she suddenly paused, 'how are you going to tell your mum?'

I shrugged meekly, 'I don't know. She'll flip, I know that. I was hoping to maybe fix it before I had to tell her.'

'You have to know what it is before you can fix it,' Abbie clarified for me and I rolled my eyes.

'I know, I know, but I don't know where to start.'

Pausing in thought, Abbie tapped her chin while I pulled my beanie back on, tucking my hair away. At last she spoke, 'internet? You said you saw symbols? You could draw them up and put them through an image processor or something, maybe it'll come up with something?'

Sighing deeply I pursed my lips, 'you think?'

'Worth a shot. Are you ready to come back to class? Have the,' she paused, 'voices stopped?'

I nodded wearily, 'for now. But that's probably because there's no one here.'

She led me out of the bathrooms with an encouraging smile, saying on an afterthought, 'you know, if you are psychic, you could totally open up your own business!'

'Really Abbie? You're taking this a bit too well.'

'Are you kidding, totally freaking out inside at the moment. But hey, I'm a conspiracy nut, I'll get over it very quickly.'