//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Finding Yourself In Another World // by Jest //------------------------------// “Help me, please you’ve gotta help me!” Tom woke up screaming, his body sitting bolt upright in the bed, his arm extended out before him. His fingers immediately sought out the holes made by the wolf’s teeth yet he couldn't seem to find them. There was only smooth, pale flesh and the thin light hair that covered him from head to foot. “What the heck is going on?” Emelia murmured. The woman sat up, rubbing her eyes as she stared blearily around the mostly dark room. Only a thin few slats of artificial street light pierced the shades of their bedroom window, though it was enough to see. Tom’s eyes adjusted a moment later, and his mind caught up with his body, reminding him that he was no longer a griffon. He was also not suffering from a severe wolf bite, nor was he lying bleeding on the ground in front of a cabin. Rather he was home, his arm was normal, and his girlfriend was looking at him as though he had just grown a second head. “It was a dream,” he muttered faintly. “It sounded more like a nightmare,” Emelia exclaimed. “Whatever it was, it's over,” Tom remarked, falling back to the bed and spreading his arms wide. “And thank god for that.” “What happened anyway?” Emelia asked. The woman laid on her side, arm extended and hand placed against her cheek. Tom merely shook his head as he stared up at the ceiling. “It was the craziest thing,” he began. “I fell asleep weirdly quickly and then it almost felt like I woke back up right away, only I wasn't me anymore.” “How many of those pills did you take?” Emelia pressed. “The recommended dose, nothing more,” Tom assured. Emelia hummed. “Maybe you had an allergic reaction to them or something. That might explain why you’re burning up.” “Maybe,” Tom admitted. “Either way I wasn't me in the dream, rather I was some kind of cartoony griffon from a kid’s show.” “That doesn't sound too bad,” Emelia muttered. “What happened after that?” “Well it started off normal enough,” Tom began, his hand rubbing the spot where the wolf had bit him. “I found out I had wings, and that I was in this mountainous forested area so I tried flying.” “Oooh, fun. You haven't had a flying dream in ages,” Emelia exclaimed. “This wasn't quite that,” Tom warned. “I couldn't fly, but I could glide relatively easily so I just kinda did that. Hopping from rocks and stuff or gliding down the hill.” “You didn't fly off a cliff or something did you?” Emelia asked. “That wouldn't come till later, and that was actually a good thing,” Tom replied, glancing over at his girlfriend. Emelia blinked. “That's… something. I’ll stop interrupting you then.” “It's fine,” Tom continued, turning back to the ceiling. “So I was jumping around this clearing as a griffoness when all of a sudden-” “I know I said I wouldn't interrupt but did you just say you were a girl?” Emelia inquired. Tom blinked. “I mean yeah. That's not really the focus here though.” “True, but that's kind of a big thing not to mention right away you know?” Emelia pressed. Tom shrugged. “It really isn't that important. I had dreams where I was a girl tons of times when I was a kid and with this starting off as a lucid dream I thought it was a return to that.” “Right, sorry. Continue,” Emelia offered. “Okay so I was flying and hopping around and stuff,” Tom explained. “Everything was just so detailed and I could even smell the flowers as I sprinted through this field. It was wild.” Tom lay there in silence, the fingers of one hand scratching at the spot where the wolf’s canine had dug deep into his flesh. After several seconds of silence, the man seemed to realize that he had been sarong off into space and shook his head vigorously. “Okay so I came to the edge of this clearing and saw what looked like a big dog, so I approached it right?” Tom murmured, his voice falling quiet. “Bad idea. That was not a dog, but a wolf, and that was not a normal dream.” “Did it snap at you?” Emelia whispered. Tom shuddered. “Worse. It bit my arm and wouldn't let go no matter how much I screamed or tried to run. It just kept shaking its head and biting deeper and deeper until I could feel its teeth hit the bone.” His face darkened, and his fingernails dug into his arm. “It was the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced. Worse than getting hit by that drunk driver when I was a kid. Worse even than that time I broke my leg at that soccer game. It was a million times worse than anything I’ve ever felt before.” “I mean this was a dream though, right?” Emelia whispered. “I don't know,” Tom murmured. “It didn't feel like any dream I’ve ever had before. It was all so real, and I could feel everything. His teeth digging through my flesh, my skin and muscle hanging off my body and dangling in the air.” “Maybe you should just move on to what happened next,” Emelia quietly prompted. Tom took a slow, steady breath and nodded. “Right, so I scratched the wolf in the face and ran away as fast as I could. Being down to three legs, and not knowing how to fly, I didn't exactly have a lot of options. I did my best, but I knew it was going to catch up to me eventually.” “Which is where the cliff came in, right?” Emelia asked. “Yeah,” Tom murmured absently, scratching his arm. “I just ran off the thing without even thinking, but it was like there was some little voice in my head that told me what to do. So I just trusted it and I straightened out in mid-air and began to glide down into the valley below.” Tom slowly shook his head. “After that things started to get fuzzy. I had lost a lot of blood and I could feel my arms and legs begin to grow heavy. I needed to land somewhere before I went into shock and possibly died, but thankfully there was a cabin nearby so I kinda fell there before passing out.” “That was… quite a dream,” Emelia exclaimed. “You’re telling me. It was the worst moment of my entire life,” Tom remarked. “But it was just a dream. Why I bet you’ll forget all about it in an hour,” Emelia offered in a hopeful tone. “I don't know. That kinda thing it… doesn't leave you,” Tom murmured. Emelia chuckled and punched the male’s shoulder. “Oh come on. Quit talking like you’re some kind of war hero. You just had a really nasty nightmare. If anything you should be focusing on the fact that you want to be a girl.” “I don't…” Tom sighed and glanced over at the woman. “I think the more significant thing was that I wanted to be free, and get in touch with nature again. I mean when was the last time we went for a hike?” “It's been years,” Emelia admitted. “Exactly,” Tom declared. “That has to be it. I can't want… that. And that couldn't be real. It would be impossible.” “Are you alright hun, you’re repeating yourself and…” Emelia sniffed the air, and after catching the scent of copper, glanced down at her boyfriend’s arm. “Tom, you’re bleeding.” “What?” Tom muttered. He glanced down at his arm, and immediately noticed the dozen or so deep scratch marks visible on his flesh. “I wasn't paying attention,” Tom whispered to himself. “Go,” Emelia commanded. “Get cleaned up, and pay more attention. You don't want it to look like you’ve been self-harming or something.” “Oh yeah. Of course,” Tom muttered. The man rose from the bed in a slow, robotic fashion, his movements clunky as he stumbled into a stand. Turning towards the door, he walked away, forgetting entirely about his clothes, or really anything save for the dream. He grappled with those memories with every step he took, reliving it over and over until each moment was burned into his mind. Emelia said something to him, but he was too distant to even notice and walked out the door. “Maybe a shower will help,” he thought aloud. “Yeah, that will probably do it.” Tom stood silently at the till his gaze unfocused as he stared out into the bookstore he was managing. A hand scratched idly at his arm, while the rest of his body was completely stock still. He didn't even blink, merely staring at what few shoppers were visible amongst the rows of books. “Hey uh, boss man? You okay?” inquired a concerned, masculine voice. Tom blinked rapidly, clearing his eyes off the slight burning sensation that had begun to set into them. He then turned towards the source of the sound and found that a tall, gangly teenager with long black hair was staring down at him. “Uh yeah. Just fine,” Tom murmured. “Really? Cus it looks like your jonesing for another fix,” pointed out the younger man. “Fix? What are you talking about?” Tom retorted. The youth raised an eyebrow and pointed down to Tom’s arm. “You’re scratching like a tweaker, man.” Tom blinked and glanced down to find that he had scratched open the recent scabs. Blood flowed down his arm and stained his work shirt. Cursing to himself, Tom rolled his sleeve back down and pushed his way past the new hire. “I’m not a drug addict. Just had a really bad nightmare,” Tom muttered. “Would ya watch the till for a minute? I’m going to get a bandage.” “Hey man, no judgment here. Whatever it takes for you to get through the day,” remarked the dark-haired male. Tom sighed and made a note to do a drug test on the young man, only to swiftly ignore that urge. Regardless of whether he was on drugs or not, he did his job well and seemed like a good kid at heart. No need to rock the boat. Tom thought to himself as he pushed his way into the back room. Once there he swiftly located the first aid kit, pulled it from the wall, and popped it open. He then grabbed a roll of gauze, the medical tape, and was ready to wrap his arm before his mind began to wander. “That can't have been real right? I mean that was all a nightmare,” Tom muttered to himself, gaze drifting down to his trembling hand. “I won't go back there when I go to sleep tonight, will I?” The question hung in the air for nearly a minute before the male unwound the spool and began to bind his wounds. Once that was done a few tactical applications of medical tape secured the large bandage in place. It didn't look very nice, but at least now it could be hidden beneath his long sleeve shirt, provided said shirt was not stained with blood. “Dammit,” he muttered. “This is never going to come out.” With a sigh, the man walked into the attached bathroom and began to run the taps. “This day just can't get any worse,” he remarked to himself. Cars whizz past the left side of Tom’s vehicle, though the noise was mostly droned out by some pop song coming over the radio. The man didn't know the words, nor did he care about the lingering smell of pizza that emanated from his passenger seat. It all just kind of blended together to create a background noise that he barely even considered as he continued to think. It was all so real, that can't have just been a dream. But those pills would explain everything, or they should. Would it though? I mean they are basically placebos so would they, or could they even do something like that? Tom thought, his fingers tightening around the wheel. No. There has to be something else going on. That kind of pain isn't possible in a dream. Tom reasoned, his mind going back to the dream he had as a kid where he got in a fight with a giant Lex Luthor robot. Even if I imagined myself as having the powers of Superman, I got punched through the empire state building and that didn't hurt. He knew that feeling pain in dreams was possible, but extremely rare, especially for him who had never experienced it before. He had all manner of dreams when he was younger, lucid, nightmares, even night terrors after his grandfather had passed away. There were even the odd adult dreams that he dare not speak about, nor even consider for more than a few seconds. Yet nothing could have possibly prepared him for just how painful those few minutes had been. It was horrifying, and every time he closed his eyes he saw the wolf’s head wrapped around his arm. It was enough to make him consciously stop himself from blinking, lest he get transported back to that moment for a single terrifying instant. He didn't even want to think about what it would be like to go back to sleep. Will I be transported back to that place? Will I relive the same moment? What if it really was a fluke? Tom wondered. Maybe I should take Emelia’s advice and go to the doctor. They could just as easily test if it had been an allergic reaction. He sighed. No, that would never be covered. The insurance company would probably just tell me that I was right for tossing the things and that I shouldn't have bothered with a test. But I mean what are the chances it happens again? Tom mused to himself. It's not like I’m being transported to some alternate world through magic or something. That's ridiculous. I’m sure that this is all just a product of stress, or maybe- The man’s thoughts were cut off when someone laid on the horn, alerting him to the fact that he had begun to stray into oncoming traffic. Tom jerked the wheel back in the other direction, setting him back on the right path, and out of the path of an oncoming semi. A few people honked in an effort to show their frustration but Tom was too busy panting desperately to even take notice. “Note to self, pay more attention to the road,” he muttered to himself. Tom paced back and forth in front of the door to his bedroom, a worried expression on his face. His hands occasionally balled into fists only to relax a second later when he realized what had just happened. “Just go to sleep,” he muttered to himself. “Chances are it won't happen again.” Yet despite his reassuring little pep talk, he felt absolutely no better about going to bed than he had a minute ago. Images of the wolf biting his arm returned, and this time they were not so easy to dismiss. Worse still, he could feel a phantom twinge of pain run up his arm, and he grabbed the limb tightly, his fingers digging into the gauze. “Hey hun, you out there?” whispered a soft voice. Tom sighed and pushed open the door to find Emelia leaning up in bed. “Sorry about that,” Tom muttered. “I guess I’m still a little worried about… you know.” “Turning back into a girl?” Emelia replied with a strained smirk. “That and the whole getting mauled thing,” Tom replied. Emelia smiled and pulled back the covers. “Come to bed. You won't know until you go to sleep and you will fall asleep eventually. At least if you try now you won't fall asleep while driving or something.” The memory of his near-miss with the semi earlier in the day came to mind and convinced Tom of what to do. “Right. Sorry, I’ll stop being silly now,” Tom murmured as he clambered into bed. As soon as he was settled, Emelia gently grasped his face and pulled him into a short, but intense kiss. “Don't apologize for feeling stuff,” she whispered. “S-” Tom bit his lip. “Sandhiwches sound like a great supper option tomorrow.” “That they do hun, nice save,” Emelia replied, squeezing Tom’s hand one final time. “Don't worry. I’ll be right here when you wake up and if I see that you’re having a nightmare I’ll wake you up.” “Thanks, babe. I don't know what I’d do without you,” Tom muttered, giving his girlfriend's hand a squeeze back before releasing it. “Lord only knows,” Emelia murmured before rolling over onto her side. Tom sighed, and stared up at the ceiling, silently wondering if he was going to have to face another wild animal tonight. He decided that he would prefer fighting something smaller, like a duck, or maybe a cat, but not a cute one. He could probably sock a real ugly tabby provided it was coming right at him, though Tom knew he’d feel bad about it later. If it came for my lasagna I could probably rock him one. Tom thought as he yawned. That's something I should make again. Maybe tomorrow after- He never managed to finish that line of thinking, however, as he had been swiftly carried off to the realm of dreams. Or at least that's what he thought was happening, as instead, he found himself in an increasingly familiar body. One that was trapped beneath a mound of blankets in a house not his own, with a thick bandage wrapped around one forelimb. “Fuck, not again,” he muttered as the pain from his injured limb began to radiate up his body. “Of course, I’m back here.”