Mana Dissociation Read online

  He had the greenest eyes I’d ever seen! As I’d, not so secretly, confided in Karen earlier, I thought he looked cute whilst wearing those silly sunglasses. To actually see his face was a whole difference story. He was more than cute. He was gorgeous. The glasses changed the whole look of his face.

  “Wait,” I stammered as I sought to collect my thoughts, “You said something about albino something or rather?”

  “Ocular Albinism,” He corrected.

  “Yeah. That.” I continued as I desperately attempted not to lose myself in his eyes, “Doesn’t that mean no colour? All white? Like an albino?”

  Aiden chuckled, “No, not at all.”

  “Then what?” I murmured confused, “Your eyes look perfectly normal.”

  I wasn’t going to tell him that they weren’t just normal – they were amazing. He didn’t need to know about the girl crush I was quickly developing. In fact, I was hoping to be able to do something about that before it became a problem.

  “Wait a second,” he replied, leaning forward as if to whisper something to me. I almost shivered in anticipation. Stupid thoughts shot through my head. Was he about to kiss me? Holy shit! That would be awesome! He leaned forward so that his face was only a little bit away from mine and whispered, “Now look.”

  I couldn’t have torn my gaze away from his eyes to save myself. I let out a little gasp as my body seemed to undergo a fully body shiver as the green around his eyes began to expand in small tendrils to encompass the whites of his eyes.

  I was drawn into his world as his eyes expanded until they fully consumed the white. It changed his whole face. Where previously he had been drop dead gorgeous, he now looked different. Dangerous. Alien. Inhuman.

  I couldn’t help myself. I reacted on instinct. I gasped and tried to jerk myself away from his gaze, but found that I couldn’t move. The effect only lasted a few seconds before the tendrils of colour retracted back into his irises and his eyes returned to normal. But for a few seconds he looked like a monster from those old horror movies, except rather than his eyes being a shiny black, they were a brilliant emerald colour. The vibrant colour didn’t diminish the danger in his eyes any, if anything it made it worse. It took me several moments before I could talk. I found that I was physically trembling as if I was standing in a snowstorm without a jacket.

  Aiden quickly pulled his glasses back on and I wasn’t surprised to see that my reflection in the mirrored surface had gone white. I looked exactly how I felt. As if I had seen a ghost.

  “I’m sorry,” he murmured, turning away, “I shouldn’t have done that. I should have known better.”

  I couldn’t breathe. And I sat back against the booth in shock as my mind attempted to process what I had just seen. My brain totally shutdown and the only thing that I could think of was that this wasn’t some medical condition. It made no sense, but my primitive mind knew a threat when it saw it and it was sitting in front of me. In that one moment he went from my geeky co-worker to someone that represented a very real danger to me.

  We sat in silence for the next few seconds as my mind went through various iterations of trying to phrase the words “Dude? What the fuck?” through my stunned mouth. I wasn’t overly successful.

  “Are you okay?” Aiden murmured, obviously concerned that I still hadn’t responded. In fact he looked terrified at my reaction.

  “Uhh,” I groaned, as my voice slowly returned, “What…. Was.. that?”

  My hands were shaking so badly that I had to press them against the table to stop the trembling. I still couldn’t catch my breath properly which was coming out in short gasps. There was a good chance that I’d end up hyperventilating if I didn’t do something. Aiden was quick to explain about his condition and how he couldn’t control it and that it just happened, but I could tell he was lying. He was too insistent, telling too many details. I wanted to believe him. I really did. But the reality of the situation was that my mind had already come to its own conclusions, and there wasn’t a heck of a lot I could do about it.

  I gradually brought the cruiser bottle to my lips and let the sweet liquid pour down my throat. Big mistake. The drink caught in my throat causing me to cough and choke. I rubbed my wrist across my lips and took another gulp. This one seemed to help, and I was finally able to bring my trembling under control. I glanced up at Aiden only to see myself reflected in his glasses again. There was something off about my reflection, something that seemed wrong. I’m not proud to say it, but I panicked a little.

  “I should go,” I declared suddenly as I bolted up, the movement causing my drink to spill on the table. I tried to hurriedly right the drink whilst and at the same time slide from the booth. I was only partially successful at both and by the time I’d extricated myself from the booth, Aiden was already at my side trying to help.

  “No, no,” I waved him off, “I’m fine. I can walk home on my own. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  I was babbling and we both knew it. I made a bee line for the door at high speed without thinking about anything other than the fact that I simply had to get out of here. I didn’t know or care if Aiden was behind me or the fact that we hadn’t actually paid for our drinks. The only thing that was important was to get away from Aiden. Nothing else mattered. I didn’t hear the bartender yell at us or hear Aiden call out to me. I burst from pub and onto the street. The cold air outside helped some, but I was still almost deliriously intent on getting away from Aiden that it barely registered. I turned to see him following closely behind me and the urge to scream almost over powered me. Now that I knew what lay beneath the glasses, it was all I could see when I saw those stupid mirrored glasses of his.

  I turned and ran over the road to the hotel, doing a hasty check to ensure that no cars were coming. Unfortunately I was in a foreign county, a country where the cars travel on the other side of the road. In my panic, I’d checked for traffic in the wrong direction.

  The blaring of a horn was the only warning I had before I turned in horror to see a car careening down towards me. The headlights of the car were all I could see before I felt Aiden throw himself in front of me. I vaguely remember thinking that the idiot was trying to get us both killed, but somehow that didn’t happen.

  Time seemed to slow down and I knew in that second that it was impossible for the car to swerve or slow down at this distance. With the speed that the car was going, I was good as dead. There was no time for me to get out of the way. Somehow though, the car never hit me.

  My memories of the next few minutes are fragmented, and I’m not sure I remember what happened next in the correct order. I can vividly see the images of what happened, but it’s all disjointed and illogical as if I were looking at photos of the event and not a memory. I have no idea what was fact and what was my memory playing tricks on me.

  The only thing that I was sure of was that Aiden had saved my life. The problem was – I had no idea how he had done it.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The first thing I remembered was Aiden ducking down as if he was about to punch the ground. Then there was a horrible shriek and for some reason a flash of blue and a cracking noise. Then right as the car was about to hit us, it seemed to buckle and then it did an astounding thing. It stopped and began to tilt forward as the bonnet of the car seemed to collapse in on itself as if by magic.

  The impact sent the back of the car flying into the air majestically and then it just seemed to keep going. I don’t remember exactly when the car took to the air, but I remember clearly looking up and seeing in horror the car sailing just several metres over my head. Inside the car, I could make out the terrified faces of the passengers inside the car as it glided overhead.

  Aiden rose from the ground with his hands held before him. From my angle, it looked like he was almost trying to hold the car in the air. That was crazy though as the car was far too high in the air and there was no way he’d be able to lift a car like that. I stared at Aiden in confusion. His frame took on a blue halo and I could almo
st see every vein in his body glowing blue. It looked like lightning was passing through his body as he held the car aloft by strength of will alone. The effect only lasted for a second - just long enough for me to doubt that I’d seen it at all.

  Then, all at once, time sped up again and the car smashed down onto the road several metres behind us. The noise was staggering as the vehicle hit the unrelenting concrete road. The impact resulted in shards of metal and glass exploding out in every direction. I held my hands up in terror as the car had landed so close, I should have been cut to pieces by the shrapnel, but somehow nothing hit me.

  “Come with me,” Aiden murmured. His voice was strangely calm as he reached a hand down to pull me to my feet. I hadn’t even realized that I’d fallen to my knees in shock. It took me several seconds before I realised that we were still in the middle of the road and that I should give him my hand. I slowly raised my fingers and placed them within his. Big mistake! It felt like a lightning bolt had passed through his fingers into mine. I flinched as the pain passed down my arm and across my body. And a bright light blocked out all vision. The light surrounding me narrowed down into pin pricks of the light as I lost focus and for second I thought was going to pass out. I felt Aiden pull me to my feet and calling to me but it seemed that his voice was coming from a very long way away. I felt him put an arm under my shoulder and pull me to my feet. He seemed to be taking me from off the road.

  “That’s good,” I slurred deliriously, “Shouldn’t be on the road. We gonna get hit by a car.”

  My thoughts danced through my head like fireflies. I don’t know if Aiden understood me or was even talking to me. It took me ages to realise that the distance we were walking was too far for us to be on the sidewalk any more. It took several more seconds before my vision cleared enough that I could see that I was now standing in an alley. I could see the main street behind us as my head lolled backwards. At first, I thought he was taking me back to the hotel, but we were heading the other direction.

  “What? No! We can’t run,” I murmured, “Car accident. We need to wait around for the police.”

  “No,” Aiden disagreed. Strangely enough, I heard him clearly this time, “We need to get away, before they come for us.”

  I didn’t know who Aiden was referring to, but it was obvious from his tone that he wasn’t talking about the police. Aiden eventually leaned me against a wall and allowed me a few seconds to rest.

  “I feel funny,” I announced. I felt drunk, but that couldn’t have been the case I’d only had a couple of cruisers. I briefly wondered if someone had put something in my drink. That would explain the grogginess.

  “Jess!” I heard Aiden calling, but it sounded like it was coming from a long way away.

  “Open your eyes!” he ordered as he moved in closer.

  When I didn’t respond, I felt Aiden’s hands on my face pulling my eyelids open. I tried to pull away, but I couldn’t seem to control my head properly. He pulled my eyes open and the light was so bright that it was blinding. I couldn’t see anything through the light but I heard Aiden swear and then back away in panic. My vision slowly returned and I could make out Aiden’s form as he backed away from me. He looked terrified.

  “Shit, shit, shit!” He cursed eventually hitting the brick wall behind him and sliding down until his head rested on his knees. He wouldn’t look directly at me, and was beginning to shake.

  “No, no, no, no,” He kept repeating, “This can’t be happening.”

  What the hell was happening? He was acting like I’d been hurt or something. Maybe I had been hit with some shrapnel from a car or something? I didn’t feel pain, but then maybe I was in shock? I’d heard people could be horribly injured and yet feel nothing. I quickly looked down dreading to see a blood stain on my shirt from an injury or something, but everything looked fine. I was beginning to get a headache, but I expected that was a perfectly normal reaction after a traumatic experience - like almost being hit by a car. The grogginess seemed to be getting worse and my head felt like it was packed with cotton wool - everything seemed hazy.

  I was staring down at my hands, doing my best to ignore Aiden’s whimpering, when I saw a strange thing. A small particle of light was emerging through my skin on the underside of my arm. I stared at it in amazement. What the hell? It was slowly moving down my arm towards my hand. At first I had thought it was a trick of the light but it slowly became more and more tangible until I couldn’t ignore it. I stared at it in amazement and it circled around my wrist and I hastily turned my hand over to watch it pass across my knuckles and back around again.

  “I’m sorry!” Aiden murmured brokenly, “I’m so sorry!”

  I was about to look up and see what he was apologising for when he got to his feet and ran down the alley. I stared blankly at him not really understanding what was going on. It took me several minutes before the reality of the situation set in. He wasn’t coming back. It took me several tries to get to my feet. I felt like I was about to throw up.

  * * * * * *

  The door to my hotel room seemed to lurch out of the way as my light sparkling hand reached for it. In the time that it had taken me to get from the alley back to the hotel, the lights on my arm had doubled and then quickly tripled. Worse still, they had spread to my other arm and I had a sneaking suspicion that they were on my torso and back as well, but I couldn’t see that properly. I probably should have gone to the hospital or the police to report the car accident, but all I wanted to do was to sleep and hope that when I woke up the lights on my skin were gone and everything was normal again.

  Unfortunately, the lights were the least of my problems. The headache had also tripled in its intensity and it was now a hurricane of throbbing pain just behind my eyes. Worse still, it seemed that my stomach had decided that this was the ideal moment to deposit the contents of my stomach out into the real world and just hadn’t decided which end it wanted to take.

  It took me three more tries before I was able to grasp the door handle, but this was only the beginning of my problems. The latch wouldn’t turn. It took me several more tries before I realized that it was locked and that the keycard was in my purse. I can’t find anything in my purse at the best of times, but now it was nigh on impossible with my vision blurring and lurching like it was. It seemed like it took me a lifetime before I managed to pull out the keycard.

  My triumph was short lived however as my stomach had finally chosen a direction and vomit filled my mouth. Terrified of the prospect of throwing up on what I assumed was very expensive carpet in the hall, I clamped my lips shut and thrust the keycard into the slot. Desperation makes the best motivation for success and it only took me two tries before I was able to grab the door handle again. To my everlasting relief the door swung open and I was able to rush over to the toilet and empty the bile from my mouth.

  It seemed to take forever as I lay with one hand propping my hair back and the other clamped firmly to the porcelain seat. Eventually though, the world surrounding me seemed to settle and I felt that it would be safe to get up and maybe take a shower. I thought that I was going to fall several times as I removed my clothes. My balance was just shot to hell. What the hell had been in that drink? I was almost certain that someone had slipped me a roofie. It would explain everything. The only thing I couldn’t figure out was who had done it, and why. The obvious answer was Aiden, but why? I didn’t know. I could only hope that I’d get over this soon.

  A shower usually made me feel better, but this one lacked its usual relief. For one, I could see myself through the rapidly frosting window in the mirror across from the shower. I had been right in my earlier assessment. The lights were all over me. There must have been at least fifty of the damned things moving in a random pattern across my naked body. The water cascading over me made me at least feel a little bit cleaner, but that wasn’t doing anything about the taste in my mouth. Vodka cruisers are only tasty when they’re going down. Coming back up they’re nothing much to speak of. I reac
hed out from the shower and located my toothbrush and paste.

  Unfortunately, the moment I put the toothpaste laden brush into my mouth, it caused another round of dry heaving. This was annoying, but I assumed that it was only because I’d already thrown up the entirety of my stomach earlier. I tried again and was able to give my teeth a cursory cleaning, and although I doubted that I’d done a good job, the taste of the paste was a hell of a lot better than what had been there previously.

  Fortunately, the steam from the shower had obscured the mirror from my position and it wasn’t until I emerged from the shower door that I was reminded of the lights. The strange thing was that they weren’t the only thing that was different. I noticed it in passing as I caught a glimpse of my face as I made my way to the door. It was only luck that I’d seen it. The mirror had mostly fogged up too as I’d forgotten to put on the exhaust fan.

  I had to wipe the mirror clean with my forearm to clear up the vision as I stared deep into my eyes through my reflection. I stared at the mirror in horror. I didn’t recognize who I was looking at. It was like looking at a stranger.

  My eyes!

  I’d always liked the hazel colour of my eyes, but this was different. The irises now covered my entire eye. It was like staring into the face of a possessed person. I would have been totally freaking out at this point except that I’d seen this before. Aiden had had the same eyes when he’d lowered his sunglasses at the bar. My nausea rose and attempted to send me back to the toilet, but something held it in check. My rage. What had that sick freak infected me with? This wasn’t some drug slipped into my drink. This was something different. Something much worse.

  What the hell was happening to me? I made it to the bed before the darkness closed in and unconsciousness took me.