I Am The Seeker

The feeling of something cold pressed against my back finally wakes me up, and I find myself in a daze. Even though I can tell I'm not where I'm supposed to be, relief floods my brain, as I can feel my arms and know that I'm not dead like I probably should be.

But then I try to sit up, and the relief fades into another feeling, one which I don't have the words to describe quite yet. Because protruding from my arms are tubes, filled with rainbow colored liquids that shoot little shocks up my spine.

Beside the bed--or table, I'm not exactly sure quite yet--stands three scientists, each with a pair of safety goggles pressed over their eyes, which are...purple. Purple. Why the heck do they have....?

Suddenly, the thought is pressed from my brain as a mere roadblock, because I find myself staring at a pair of shining blue wings--wings!--that stick from one of their backs. And as a simple panic moment, I throw my arms into the air, yanking the tubes from the flesh with a jerk, and throw myself off the bed.

And then I'm sprinting.

The sounds of shouting come from behind me, but I don't dare turn to see how close my enemies are. Because if I turn, there is a huge chance that I will probably trip on something like I have a tendency to do, and then I'm a goner.

The halls that I run through are more like the halls of a house--made of wood planks and covered in pictures all the way down, the floor decorated with antique rugs--than a hospital or torture room. I can't exactly decide where I am, so I decide to make it outside and then I'll turn around and see.

Well, the moment I burst out the front door, that idea goes out the window. Because in front of me, showered with feathers and scales and creatures I've never seen before, is a road. A road lined with cute little shops like you would see in a small little town in Wisconsin, not a huge place in Iowa where I'm supposed to be.

The people all stop what they're doing to stare at me, standing on the cobblestone steps with my legs and arms spread apart, my hair thrown everywhere, my eyes probably huge and crazed. So to break their gaze, I turn and sprint down the street until I reach a huge place with a book above the door.

Naturally, it's a library. And I find myself sprinting along the snug little rows of books, searching for a place to hide or a back exit. Thinking that maybe there is a reading corner somewhere where I could act natural, I throw myself around a corner...

...only to find myself tackling some kid.

It's a slow motion moment, where he kind of goes flailing, throwing the pencil and notepad he holds behind his head as he goes crashing to the ground in a heap. I see him long enough to recognize that he has jet-black hair and bright red eyes, and he's wearing a collared shirt with the same colors. I'm about to apologize when I see the hint of a white fang sticking from his mouth and I shut mine, jumping over him as he tries to process what has just happened.

The notepad lies on the ground behind me and I glance at it, just seeing the drawing of something that looks like a mermaid but is different in some way, and the gentle scrawl of his name along the bottom of the paper.

I have only the moment to recognize the first name--Seth--Before I'm back on my feet and diving into a reading corner, snatching a book from the rack before throwing myself into a beanbag chair and holding it in front of my face.

I don't dare pull it down to see if the boy has regained his footing, so I sit in the corner, trying to pull myself in further to avoid being seen, although I suppose I've just ruined it now.

I'm just about to peek around the corner when I suppose the medicine from those tubes decides to kick in. Because I suddenly feel something jerk in my brain and my eyes begin to droop, and I can't feel my feet.

And then I'm gone.