Chaos and courage

by Willow Rose

  Her mother sighed. "This is different, I’m afraid."

  "But how is it different? You’ve healed people who were almost dead…?" she said.

  "Honey," her mother said and looked briefly at her dad, then back at her. "We already tried. Right after Jazmine went into her comatose state, we went to heal her using our blood, your dad and I, but it didn't work. Whatever is causing Jazmine to be in this state, it's not curable by dragon blood."

  "Because it's caused by magic and not a natural sickness or hurt," a voice said coming from the door.

  It was Aunt Tina. She walked inside and approached Amy and grabbed her hand in hers.

  "I heard what you did. I wish I could have been here to stop you, to tell you this sooner."

  "What do you mean?" Amy asked.

  She glanced back at Robyn quickly. "It was actually Robyn who guided me to the answer. She came to the house yesterday and told me her theory, that maybe what had hit Jazmine was something magical. A spell."

  "A spell?" Amy asked.

  Aunt Tina nodded. "Yes, it took me a long time to find what I needed in my sister's old books, but I think I did."

  "Y-you found a way to wake her up?" Robyn asked and stepped closer. "Are you sure?"

  Aunt Tina nodded. She pulled out a Yeti cup from her big purse. "A potion. I spent all night getting it ready. Now, if you'll all do me the honor and come with me into Jazmine's room, I think it's time we wake her up."

  Chapter Forty-One

  AMY!

  She was running down the corridor of the hospital, looking in through all the doors to search for her friend. Jazmine knew what she had tried to do for her, what Amy had done, and she wanted to thank her for it. But she couldn't find her, and after what felt like hours of constant running, the walls surrounding her had turned black.

  Jazmine stopped running and stared at the darkening walls, feeling how the light slowly vanished around her as darkness crept in.

  What's happening?

  There was green stuff, radioactive stuff running down the walls and Jazmine realized it was a dream as the green stuff gushed toward her and she began to scream.

  Usually, she would feel the radioactive stuff hit her at this point of the dream, but that didn't happen. Instead, everything went dark and quiet, eerily quiet around her and, as she opened her eyes, she was floating in what looked like space. There were stars; there were solar systems, or at least that's what she thought they were. But then there was something else—something moist and wet that surrounded her. It was in her mouth and soon it spread inside of her. She could feel it as it entered her veins and her bloodstream and, seconds later was flushed around inside of her body. It felt strange and uncomfortable, like a burning sensation all through her body, and soon she felt like she was burning up from the inside.

  Jazmine couldn't stand the feeling and opened her mouth to scream, then shot her eyes open and looked straight into those of her aunt.

  Her aunt's eyes were open wide, and a huge smile had spread across her face. In her hand, she was holding a Yeti Cup much like the one Jazmine had trapped Mr. Aran in. Some blue liquid was dripping from it.

  "Jazmine?" Aunt Tina said, tears springing to her eyes.

  Behind her, Jazmine spotted Amy, Robyn, and Amy's parents. At first, she believed it to be yet another dream, and she blinked her eyes several times to see if the images changed, but they didn't. It was still the same people. And it felt different than one of her dreams. Very different indeed. Jazmine lifted her head slightly, then put it down again. Her lips were dry and cracked, her head pounding.

  I can feel pain?

  Jazmine grunted happily, not quite sure she believed it yet, then lifted her right arm toward her aunt. It moved slowly but steadily.

  "She's awake," Amy said, standing behind Aunt Tina, holding onto an IV drip stand, and supported by her mother. She looked pale and weak, but very real. Amy grunted in excitement. Could this be true? Could it really be true?

  "She's really awake!" Amy exclaimed almost deafeningly. She let go of her IV and her mother, then threw herself at Jazmine and hugged her while laughing out loud.

  “She's awake; she's awake; she's awake!!!"

  The hug was painful but never had pain felt more wonderful to Jazmine. She had tears pile up in her eyes when the realization slowly sunk in. This time, it wasn't some other dream that she was going to wake up from inside of her dark prison. This time, it was real. They were really there, and she was really awake.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  "Jazmine is awake!"

  Jayden's mom stood in his doorway, almost crying. Jayden had tried to take a nap but couldn't. There had been so many thoughts that had rushed through his mind, and now they were doing it again. He couldn't quite figure out what was wrong with him, but he felt so out of place, so strange.

  He sat up in his bed. Once again, he didn't understand what his mom was talking about. Jazmine was awake? What was that supposed to mean? Had she been not awake?

  "What do you mean?" he asked.

  "They just called from the hospital. Jim and Carol. They were out there…because there was some incident with Amy and then…well, they managed to wake up Jazmine or rather Aunt Tina did. I can hardly believe it. It's a real miracle."

  "Amy? Something happened to Amy?" Jayden asked, confused. Why was his mother suddenly talking about his friends being in the hospital? What had happened to Jazmine?

  "Yes, but that's not the big story. It's Jazmine. She's awake; oh, Jayden how much we have prayed for this to happen. I can't believe it. We have to go there and see her. I have to find your dad and tell him too; he's in the yard mowing the lawn. Get ready; we'll leave in a few minutes. All your friends are already out there. Robyn too."

  Jayden looked up. His heart started to beat faster. "Robyn?"

  "Yes, Robyn. You know, your girlfriend," she said sarcastically. She stared at him like he made no sense to her. "Get yourself ready. We'll leave in a few minutes."

  His mother disappeared, and Jayden sat back in the room, completely taken aback, totally flabbergasted.

  Robyn? My girlfriend? Did my mom just call her that? What on earth is going on here?

  Jayden found his sneakers and put them on, wondering why everything seemed so strange and out of place. It was almost like he had fallen asleep and woke up in a parallel universe. He had read a book where that happened to the main character recently and thought of it as the scariest thing he could ever imagine.

  What if you woke up and you suddenly didn't recognize your own life? What if everything was suddenly different?

  No, that book is fiction. This is the real world. There has to be an explanation for this—a natural explanation.

  Jayden shuddered, then rose to his feet and grabbed his jacket while his mom called from downstairs.

  "Jayden! We're leaving!"

  He closed the door to his room, thinking that if he truly had entered a parallel universe, if he really was in a world where he was Robyn's boyfriend, then maybe—just maybe—he didn't want to find his way back to where he came from. Maybe he wanted to stay here.

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Amy couldn't control herself. She was so ecstatic that she kept fluttering around Jazmine's bed, dragging the IV stand behind her, crying and then laughing, then going back to crying again. Her emotions were running rampant, and there was no controlling them.

  She knew she wasn't the one who had ended up saving Jazmine, but that didn't matter. She would have loved to be the one since she wanted to make up for what she had done, but all that drowned right now in the happiness of having her friend back and of them all being gathered in the room at the hospital. Even Jayden had just arrived with his parents, who were hugging Jazmine.

  Amy stood next to Robyn and let out a deep sigh.

  "I can't believe it," she said, shaking her head. "Jazmine is back with us. The gang is back together again."

  "It's truly great," Robyn answered.

  "And you were t
he one who saved her," Amy said.

  Robyn cleared her throat. "What do you mean?"

  "You refused to give up. You were the one who kept believing that she was awake, that she wasn't brain-dead like the doctors said. You were the one who told Aunt Tina it might be a spell. You're the true hero here, Robyn."

  Robyn shook her head. "I…Not really."

  "You are a hero," Amy said. "I could never be like you."

  "I’m sure you could; it was nothing, really," Robyn said.

  Jayden turned around quickly and sent her a look before he looked away again.

  "How's it going with the two of you?" Amy asked.

  "Jayden and me?" Robyn said, then shrugged. "I don't know. Pretty good, I guess."

  Amy clapped her hands. "So, you’re dating now? For real? You're back together?"

  Robyn looked up at her, then nodded a little absentmindedly. Jayden kept looking at her, then looking away once she looked at him too. It seemed a little awkward to Amy, but she figured their parents still didn't want them to date, so they had to keep their distance when they were around. Yet there was something different about Jayden than what she had seen in him the past few weeks. After the kidnapping, he had been so confident and so sure of himself, kissing Robyn in the school hallway and everything, but now he seemed more insecure and a little dumbfounded even.

  The parents chatted among themselves, and soon Aunt Tina took the floor. "We are all very excited about having Jazmine back with us, but I do think she might need some rest now. She's been through so much. We should give her some peace and quiet and come back tomorrow."

  All the parents nodded in agreement and said their goodbyes to Jazmine. Jayden's parents had brought her flowers and balloons that they attached to her bed before they left.

  As they all said their goodbyes and started to walk out, Jazmine said to her aunt:

  "Wait. I…I need to talk to my friends. Can I do so…alone, please?"

  Her aunt looked startled, then nodded. "Sure. Of course. But not too long, okay? You need rest."

  "I'll make it short," she said and let go of her aunt. As all the parents had left, Amy and her friends stepped close to Jazmine's bed and sat down either on her bed or on chairs next to it. Jazmine gave each of them a stern look, then said:

  "We have a lot to talk about, but we have to make it fast. First, I want to tell you that your lives are in danger. I know who and what the killer is."

  Chapter Forty-Four

  "It was Jayden's picture that led me to Ruelle's house," Jazmine said, keeping her voice down so the parents outside the door couldn't hear anything. "He had shown me a picture of a page from a book he had seen in Ruelle's room one day, and when he asked her about it, she just said she had found it at the park. But I knew there was a page in my mother's book that had been ripped out, and that was it. So, I went there to find it and, as I did, she came home and attacked me. She cast a spell on me, actually a pretty common one that she had probably read in my mother's book too, back when she pretended to be my mother."

  Jayden interrupted her. "Wait a minute. Ruelle? You're talking about my Ruelle?"

  Jazmine nodded. "Yes. I went into her house, and she attacked me. Cast a spell on me that trapped me inside my body where I could hear everything going on outside of me, by the way."

  Amy gasped and clasped her mouth. "How awful."

  "It wasn't fun; I tell ya that much."

  "But…but," Jayden said, looking confused. "I don't understand. Ruelle attacked you? Why would she do that?"

  "Because she wasn't her to begin with," Jazmine said. "And that's when we come back to the page that had been ripped out from my mother's book. It speaks about a creature, a shapeshifter, who can make himself look like anyone he wants. That way, he can go from host to host and act on their behalf unseen. All he has to do is to get in close contact with his victims and look deep into their eyes. He then sheds his old skin, hair, and nails, and a new one grows out until he looks exactly like the person he wants to impersonate. He can alter his eyes, so they resemble their retinal flare. When a shapeshifter takes the shape of a person, they even access the thoughts of the person they are mimicking. They know all their memories and feel all the emotions this person has."

  "So, they essentially become this person?" Amy asked.

  Jazmine nodded. "Yes. I believe this creature took my mom and acted like her when he killed all those people and attacked Ruelle. I also believe Ruelle became a victim after she was attacked. And before that, I think Jayden's dad was it. Remember how we believed it was a wolf at first? I think it was because he was using your dad's abilities to make himself stronger. Just like he used my mom's powers. I believe the creature took out the page so that we wouldn't figure out what it was."

  "Was that why they all suddenly suffered from amnesia?" Amy asked snapping her fingers.

  Jazmine nodded. "Yes. According to what my mom's book said, the creature captures its victims and traps their memories, so they're stuck in their last memory before they met him. That way, when they wake up, they can't remember anything that has happened. Like my mom who sat out on the porch and didn't know where she had been. Like your dad, Jayden, who couldn't remember what had happened for months."

  "Like Ruelle," Amy said. "She couldn't remember kidnapping Jayden."

  Jayden got a funny expression on his face. "Wait…what?"

  Jazmine looked at him, then felt her heart drop. Amy stared at him too.

  "You don't remember being kidnapped, do you?" she asked.

  He shook his head violently. "No…I…what are you talking about?"

  "Jayden," Jazmine said. "What is the last thing you remember?"

  He looked confused. "I…I was at the abandoned house. Outside in the grass."

  "Just like Ruelle," Amy said. "She came running out from that same house and into the street. Isn't that right, Robyn? She even told you that she woke up in the abandoned house, right?"

  Robyn nodded. "She did."

  "It makes sense. The creature needs a place to keep the people he is using while they're trapped in their memories. The abandoned house would be a good place. My mom and Jayden's dad could easily have come from there too. What else do you remember, Jayden?" Jazmine asked. "From before you woke up?"

  "I…I…I remember going out. With Ruelle. She came to pick me up, and we went for a drive."

  "Where did you go?"

  "I…I…don't remember. I don't remember anything beyond that. Next thing, I woke up in the yard outside the abandoned house last night."

  "Jayden, what month are we in?" Amy asked.

  He gave her a puzzled look. "September?"

  Jazmine sighed. "Even I know we're in October now. And I’ve been in a coma for weeks."

  Jayden looked like he could scream. "October? But…but…"

  Jazmine reached out her hand toward him. "Jayden, you were trapped. It must have been impersonating you. Probably killing people while it was being you."

  "Carina Robinson," Amy muttered.

  Jayden looked anxious. He struggled to breathe in agitation. "I…I killed someone??"

  "Not you, Jayden. Someone pretending to be you. It wasn't you; remember that. You were somewhere trapped while this creature was impersonating you and lived your life. And no one knew, am I right?" Jazmine said looking at each of them.

  They all shook their heads. "That just goes to show how clever this beast is," she added.

  "But wait, this creature, this shapeshifter, you tell me it kills people, right? It killed all these people like Natalie Jamieson that we found in the lake. Why hasn't it killed any of us? Why hasn't it killed anyone that it has trapped and impersonated?" Jayden asked.

  "It doesn't kill its host. It uses the host to get close to humans, then kills them and feeds off the human's flesh," Jazmine said. "None of us are humans."

  Robyn lifted her hand. "I'm still human and so is Jayden last time I looked."

  "Which means you're both still in danger," Jazmine said. "
And no one in the neighborhood can be trusted, which means we can't tell anyone about this. With what we know about this creature, right now, it could impersonate any one of our parents or even…us."

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Two Weeks Later

  Chapter Forty-Six

  "I need to talk to you."

  Jayden was sitting on Robyn's bed when Duncan entered. It was late at night, and Jayden was really surprised to suddenly see Duncan standing there. Robyn didn't seem to be startled in the same manner; she didn't seem to want to talk to him either, much to Jayden's joy.

  Things between the two of them had been great lately. Since he realized the girls were right, that he had lost a few weeks of his life, he had slowly come back to his own life and enjoyed dating Robyn again.

  Not knowing who they could trust, they had decided to try and crack the case of the strange shapeshifting beast on their own. Both Ruelle and Jazmine's mom were still in prison for something they hadn't done, and they needed to help them, they had agreed. But they couldn't trust anyone, not even Jayden's dad since there was nothing in the book saying that the creature couldn't go back to one of its former victims and hide there. Not that his dad in any way seemed different, but they simply didn't dare to run the risk.

  Robyn's mom still didn't want the two of them to see each other, but they had found ways to meet without her knowledge. Like now, late at night when her mom was out hunting or meeting up with other vampires doing whatever her kind did at this time. They never came back until early morning, and Jayden would be long gone by then. It was strange for Jayden to one day be dating one girl, Ruelle, and then the next be back with Robyn, but he was happy. He realized this was where he belonged and had wanted to be all along.

  "What do you want, Duncan?" Robyn said with a sigh. "I’m kind of busy here."