Eli watched as his body slumped down into the bath, the creature from before seeming to have lost consciousness.
"What the hell was that? And why was it so strong?"
His voice seemed to send blue ripples through the air. Noticing them, he stopped thinking about the lizard for just a moment and finally looked at himself. His hands were blue and slightly see-through, like a ghost.
That almost frightened him. Was he dead?
But then he noticed something stretching from his physical body to his floating body. It was a tiny bit of blue thread. Seeing it, his mind swung back to the description of his marble.
"Generates a peculiar energy that allows the mind to stretch beyond the body."
So this was the full extent of its power. He had only been using it for telekinesis. Now that he thought about it, how did the marble get stuck in his mind? It was a physical object. Was it possible that…
Just then, sounds came from the direction of the door. Jolting in surprise, Eli immediately "swam" back into his body.
A few seconds later, his eyes fluttered open, this time in a human shade, as he finally heard what was coming from the door.
"Eli, hey, are you done in there? Remember, I need to bathe too."
That was odd. Was his mother not the one who had driven him home? He was not sure how he had gotten into the bathtub, but he was sure his mother had driven him home, and in a panic too, after seeing he had a fever.
"I'm fine, Mom. Should be finished soon."
"Okay, don't say that and then take forever now."
"Yeah, yeah," Eli replied, slightly playful.
That was odd. Maybe he hadn't seen things right. Had he actually sleepwalked, or was that creature messing with his head?
After getting out of the bathroom, Eli looked over at his mother. She seemed to be sitting on the sofa, her body stiff and her attention focused on the TV.
"Hey, Mom."
She turned towards him, her body looking less stiff, and smiled.
"You finally done?" she asked.
"Yeah, but why were you rushing me? Weren't you the one who put me in the bath?"
At that, a strange, dull look came over her face before immediately disappearing.
"Was I?" Her hand went to her head, massaging it. "Sorry, kiddo. I have a migraine. I might have blacked out for a bit. Can't remember doing that. You sure it wasn't you who went in yourself?"
"Hmm." Eli frowned. "I don't think so. I had a fever and was knocked out, and I don't think I sleepwalk." His voice was searching.
Lorraine's fingers tightened into fists. Was it happening again? And what was this about a fever? How could she black out when her son had a fever?
"Ahh, yeah, it was probably me. Haha, sorry. I'm really tired and have a headache."
Eli looked at her for a bit before walking towards his room.
"I'll make some tea for you. Then you should try and get some sleep."
She smiled as he went upstairs. Then she turned her head, her hands shaking. Getting up from the sofa, she went upstairs to her room, then to the drawer right beside her bed.
Pulling open the drawer, she took out a pill bottle. On the label was: levetiracetam.
After putting on new clothes, Eli took up a new pair of black glasses and went back outside. Surprisingly, he saw his mother leaving her room, heading towards the bathroom.
Blinking a few times, he allowed his awareness to expand. Looking at her now, there was something definitely off about her essence. It seemed to be warped in on itself like a spiralling maze, and several spots in it were absent.
Just then, a blue light moved down from the necklace he had given her into one of the spirals, grasped it, and ripped it out. His mother seemed to stop for a bit, then shook her head and continued towards the bathroom.
What the hell? Was the mountain ash harming her? Should he take it back?
Suddenly, he noticed something strange. The holes in her essence were slowly healing, or more precisely, being filled up with "her." It was just very slow.
Was it removing something? Was it removing something supernatural…?
Eli's eyes stopped focusing on his mother the moment she went into the bathroom.
It seemed that the creatures of the supernatural world simply did not know their place.
Several scale-like features appeared on his skin as his glowing irises expanded to cover the whites of his eyes.
Deep in the Beacon Hills Forest Preserve, Scott woke up, crunching dried leaves in his hands.
Why were there leaves? And where was he?
Getting up off the cold ground, leaves sticking to his uncovered body, he looked around the forest. There was a small cave behind him. Was he sleepwalking or something?
Rubbing his hands against his biceps, he breathed out a white mist. He was really cold, especially because he was just in his boxers.
Stepping away from the cave, he looked down to see a slow-moving stream and more trees. The trickling of the water provided some comfort, but he was still so confused. Barefoot, he crossed the stream on the exposed stones.
Okay, so he guessed he had sleepwalked. Now, which way was home?
Slowly walking forward, he kept looking around. Maybe he would see a house or something familiar through the tree line.
As he was walking, though, he heard something strange. His feet were not the only ones crunching leaves. Stopping for a second, he looked around him. Then his eyes caught something in the morning mist.
The creature also stopped and looked at him. It was down on all fours like a wolf, with a body the size of a bear. Why was it moving like that?
Wait. Was it that thing?
From a jog, Scott sped up into a sprint. The thing followed him. He could hear its feet crunching the leaves just behind him.
Just as it was about to reach him, he climbed up a hill, then jumped over a fence into a wide-open pool.
Eli came out of a daze, his hands jolting away from a blue barrier. He was sitting on his bed, fighting sleep. On the ground, there seemed to be black powder gathered in a circle around his bed.
As if noticing he was finally himself, the barrier parted, and that blue thing surrounding him vanished.
It was time for him to get ready for school.
Moving with an unusual calm, Eli bathed, put on his clothes, then made some tea and waited for his mother to get up. Not too long after that, she came rushing down the stairs, keys and bag in hand.
She looked at him and smiled. He returned the smile, pushing a cup of tea towards her as his eyes glowed behind his shades. The twists in his mother's essence had almost completely disappeared, and the holes were slowly filling up.
"All right, hon. Let's go."
Now at school, Eli's mind expanded to cover it once more. This time, he was using a level-five mind potion. This was just at his limit. Another level, and he would probably break it.
The thoughts of all the people around him streamed into his head like a rushing river, yet he was not overwhelmed. His mind split that stream into countless threads, then read every single one as if a hundred people were reading one book.
Hey, it's that strange shifter kid they were talking about in the group. He doesn't look like all that.
Eli immediately turned towards the direction of the thought. The person, seeing Eli look at him, held his stare for a moment before turning away.
What the hell is that feeling? It's like all my secrets are laid bare. Was this that "he was looking at my soul" thing they were talking about? Could he read minds or something? Why did he look at me when I was thinking about him?
The person shivered, not noticing how close Eli had gotten after he looked away.
Eli stretched his hand out towards the person's shoulder. Before he touched him, another person came running in and pulled him out of reach.
What the hell is his problem? Are those his claws? Why are they out?
After seeing him, both of them ran in the opposite direction. Eli slowly came to a stop, then looked down at his hands. Several black talons had grown from his fingers.