Jessica started to feel ill.  A twisting magnesium bubble that would flood up in her throat whenever she tried to go to bed.  

 

Jessica wanted to sleep but every time she laid down she felt like vomiting.  If she even felt like leaving the living room to try and go to bed, her insides would wrench into a slothed gutter soaked with molding year old leaves.  

 

Her insides swayed to and fro as aggressively as a drunken bi-polar stilts-man.  Jessica’s internal temperature flux would’ve made a menopausal woman cringe.

 

She was in dire straights, apparently. A horrid way to spend your mid summer’s eve.

 

The urge to finally vomit and rid herself of the ghoulish electricity in her gut would only force her back to the couch in the living room.  And, eventually, push her further to the back door.

 

Every time she stood up to throw up, she was violently turned back towards that back door.  Whether it was against her will, or the will of her sickness, Jessica could not make it to the bathroom to vomit.

 

“Then why not?” she wondered, “Why not just throw up outside?”

 

She stumble her cramped core through the back door and onto the leave scattered porch.  With a quick toddler step, she made her way to the railing on her porch and leaned over.  With a conscious heave ho, nothing but a painful knot could be felt under her ribs.

 

Jessica turned to go back inside but that fucking knot was only part of her trouble.  

 

Her bubbling insides and constant short throat would worsen when she turned back to the house.

 

Sure she wanted to just throw up and be rid of her rotten gut;  but every time she tried to turn back to where she just was, the pain worsened.

 

“Walk it off” just like her softball coach said.  Just walking it off seemed to help.  But it only helped as she walked away.

 

Jessica tried to loop back towards her house but every right turn was painful.  And every left turn was nauseating.

 

She was moving, which made her feel better, but she was moving in the wrong direction.  If she walked away from home, she felt better.  If she walked in place, moving her feet up and down, she felt fine.  But as soon as she turned back to her house that was still only twenty yards away, she would cripple into herself.

 

Jessica fought her strange sickness, trying to trample past that bullshit illusion of what-not, but it forced her away, further and further from home.

 

Maybe not so much “further from home” as “closer to”.  Closer to?  Closer to whatever made Jessica feel less sick.

 

So she trampled.  Jessica trampled fromward, away from her illness.  Un-lady-like, she set away from that trigger reflex through the muck and mire surrounding her mountainous cabin retreatous home.  

 

Muck and mire to a city folk, simple stroll to a strong mountain lady folk like Jessica.  Her basic botanical knowledge helped her skirt those certain shady shrubberies, but at times, unable to stray from her apparent compelled path, she was forced to tread headlong into thorny bushes and those plants known to house ticks and chiggers.

 

Bless her heart, she was being driven against her will.

 

She could not turn back.  She could not turn away from this forced march through and to.  To what she didn’t know.  The internal pain was then less of a physical reminder and more a commanding voice instructing her to forge through and to.  Through and to.

 

Her legs were bleeding from the thorns and the pads of her house slippers were worn through.  If only she had thought to dress more appropriate.  If only she knew what the fuck was going on in the first place.

 

It wasn’t until about three hours into her journey, that Jessica saw “her”.  “Her” being another woman, also forging her way through and apparently to.  Another woman also tattered and cut.

 

Jessica tried to call out to that woman but the knot returned.  Crippling her topside.  Not affecting her bottom side which continued to trample through and to.

 

The woman did look over to Jessica, and nodded in acknowledgement, but did not speak.  In fact, she too seemed to bend at the core when she acknowledged Jessica’s presence.  So, onward they trotted.  Less than 30 yards apart, trying to communicate with that special language women have where they like talk with their eyes and stuff.

 

It wasn’t long after the two women first encountered each other when the other gave a grunting call.  A grunting call that was a mix of agony and urgency as she facially instructed Jessica to look the behind her.  There Jessica saw a man.  A man who was also trudging through the forest with the same look of pain and confusion.

 

When the man saw the two ladies, he meant to call out to them but was also crippled over in pain as he was force-ably compelled onward to what.  He grimaced and winced just like they did.  He wasn’t dressed like a man from the mountain, but a man who would commute through the mountain.  He’s slacks and shoes weathered from this unfamiliar adventure.

 

So still they all three trampled through and to what they did not know.  No one able to talk to the other, and all three becoming more and more anxious.  Not just anxious because of the pain and not just anxious because of the obvious fear they must’ve felt, but anxious because obviously they were being led to something and they were all anxious to know what.

 

And as the sun began to set, they could see a glowing white light some ways in front of them.  Presumably from a porch light or headlights or security fence or what.  Admittedly, Jessica should’ve known there was nothing in the valley they were approaching save the dirt road which led to the Anderson property, but she was not sure of much, considering.

 

As they approached, the light became more plainly white.  Whiter that any led porch light.  And as they broke through the tree line, they could see the light was just that, a light.  Illuminate and glowing there in the field with no mechanical or physical structure around it.

 

Force-ably compelled, they could not help but continue towards.

 

As they were maybe 50 yards from the light, which now just seemed to be a glowing orb hovering in the meadow, Jessica could see two more figures opposite her and the others.  And as they grew within steps, she could see it was two men, who also shared the same look of confusion and now awe.

 

A healthy person would’ve hesitated, but all five maintained a healthy stride toward to glowing orb of anxiety, reached forward, and touched it.   

 

Her body locked and her mind loosened. Everything went black. She could feel an electrical pulse grabbing her spine, keeping her from moving.  In the blackness a figure started to appear as it spoke in an excited, sinister, presentuous voice, “Behold now and bow before your all world time god, Festeris Ghoul.”

 

A second figure, sat upon an odd throne in between two empty thrones, started to glow forward from the darkness.  This figure spoke in an almost comforting, yet nefarious, deep rumbling voice, “Here she is, at her dawning, the twilight of Dimentia.  Come to me now sweet child, forsaking your future transgressions, and all will be forgiven.”          

 

Suddenly, Jessica was thrown backwards in a violent blast of hot, hot air.

 

Her vision was no longer black, she could see. But she did not see as she had seen before. The air was hot. Very hot. Not only did she feel the heat, she could see the heat mirage all around her. She felt as if the trees surrounding her were in flames, but she could see through the distorted air and all seemed normal, despite the extreme heat.

She struggled to get to her feet but could not.

 

Through the waving air, she could see the silhouette approach.  She reached out for help but when the unfamiliar took her hand, it burned like scalding water.

 

Now, you’d figure with how fucking hot women take their showers, “scalding” wouldn’t be anything more than normal.  Well, just imagine it was hot enough for a woman to scream in agony.

 

Jessica screamed and the strangers hand immediately withdrew.  Her endorphins kicked in, allowing her to focus.  The stranger, a man, was knelt in a non threatening manner in front of her.  He signaled for her to be silent as he pointed behind him.

 

Behind the stranger, Jessica could see men in suits.  Hazmat suits.

 

They were collecting the other four.  Those other four compelled to the light.  Two were kicking and screaming in absolute pain. One was hollering in absolute horror.  The fourth appeared dead; motionless and limp as two hazmat men picked up the body and through it into a van.

 

The stranger regained Jessica’s attention and motioned for her to follow.  She grenched to her feet and walked on what felt like hot coals to follow the stranger.   She didn’t know the man, she just knew she didn’t want any part of the men in the suits.

 

She kept her teeth clenched and grunted through the pain, following the man.

 

At one point he stopped and held his hand behind him to instruct her to stop.  She was too late in seeing his cue and walked into his fiery hand.  She did not yell, but she did let out a kind of yip.  The man did not hesitate to push her down behind the bushes.  It hurt her, a lot.

 

Just then, two hazmats walked by.

 

Hazmat #1, “I told you, I saw five of them walk up to it.”

 

Hazmat #2, “Then where did the fifth one go? Did he just get up and leave the rift?”

 

Hazmat #1, “I’m pretty sure its a woman.  I’m almost positive there was two woman out here.  Maybe she didn’t touch it at all.  Or maybe there wasn’t a ‘Flop’”.

 

The Hazmats continued past Jessica and the man.  The man again motioned for Jessica to follow, which she did.

 

They ventured through the brush.  Every tiny branch felt like a match being lit on Jessica’s arm.  Her squeals grew less frequent but more intense.

 

Finally, after what felt like to her an eternity, they reached the man’s car.  They quickly jumped in his car, with Jessica jumping in his backseat.  She just screamed for the man to turn on the AC.

 

“It’s freezing!  You mean the heater!”

 

“I’m fucking burning up!  I need air!”

 

The man complied as he started his car and quickly drove away.

 

Jessica would slip in and out of consciousness, mouth dry and profusely sweating.  At one point, she awoke with the sound of the car door opening.  Her rescuer returned with a much thicker jacket he retrieved from the trunk.  She fell unconscious again, a wet rustle in her ears.

 

She awoke again as the man was helping her from the car.  His hands were scorching.  It felt as if she was being lifted up by two hair straighteners.  She stood up on her own, feeling as though she was walking on coals.  They were at the mans house.

 

She began to stumble on her own to the front door.  The man ran before of her and opened the door.

 

Walking into the house was like walking into a burning building.

 

“Why is it so fucking hot in here?”

 

The man was obviously in a panic to try and help Jessica, “The thermostat, its set for 60. I’ll- I’ll turn it off.”

 

Jessica began walking to the kitchen, visible from the entrance.  She opened the freezer and grabbed a hand full of ice.  She chewed it, rubbed it through her hair and arms.

 

“It’s still too hot! Where’s the bathroom!?”

 

The man quickly opened a door down the hall and motioned for her to go in.  As Jessica went into the bathroom, the man closed the door behind her.  She went straight to the shower, turned on the cold water, and jumped in.  It was a relief, but not by much.  Though she was running cold water, it still felt like a lukewarm shower in summer.

 

“Excuse me.”, she inqusitioned to the stranger, “Excuse me… sir.”

 

The door cracked but he did not dare come in at the sound of the shower, “Are you okay? Are you- what can I get you?”

 

Jessica replied, “More ice.  I need more ice.”

 

The man obliged and returned with a tray of ice.  As Jessica peaked out the shower curtain she could see the man keeping his head low and walking by the corner of the wall.  She reached out and took the ice from him.

 

“Thank you, could you bring me some more?” she asked

 

“There’s no more ice, I don’t typically keep too much ice in winter.” he replied.

 

Jessica paused, “I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you over the shower.  It sounded like you said winter?”

 

The stranger replied, “Yes, I said winter.”

 

Jessica, “But it’s July.”

 

Stranger, “No, ma’am, it’s, it’s uhh, February.”

 

Jessica was confused, but a man with his dates wrong was by far the last of her concerns, “I know you’ve done so much for me already and I don’t even know who you are or what is going on, but if you could please, please bring me more ice?”

 

“There is a store about five minutes from here.” He said as he left, with his head still fixed on the ground.

 

As the man closed the door, she plugged the drain and laid in the tub, hoping the cool water would cool her down.  As of now, it was bearable.  But just barely.

 

The tub began to fill.  Jessica would let the water out slowly to try to keep the perfect balance of pooled water and raining water.  The man was taking longer than expected.

 

Finally he returned.  Without saying a word, he dropped three large bags of ice at the door of the bathroom.  Jessica jumped up, ripped open each bag and dumped them into the tub water.  She noticed for the first time a window to the bathroom.  She opened the window and climbed into the now icy water.

 

It was an absolute relief and she fell back asleep.  Now from the exhaustion.

 

She was awoken by the mans voice a few hours later, “Miss, are you okay?”

 

Startled, she tried to sit up and cover herself, “Yeah, yes I’m up, I mean I’m okay.”

 

The man, “Well miss, I’m not sure what happened out there.  I meant to call the police or an ambulance or get you some sort of help but I’m not sure that’s a good idea.  I don’t know who those men were, and I don’t think they meant to do you any good, but I also didn’t think you were in a good way.  So if you don’t mind, I called a friend over, and he’s a doctor, a real good man, and if its okay with you, I’d think it’s a good idea to have him take a look at you.  Maybe, y’know, see why you’re burning up?”

 

Jessica, “Yes, please. That’ll be fine.”

 

The doctor enters, “Hello, Jessica. I’m Doctor Fink. But you can just call me ‘Finklesworth’.”

 

Horrible silence.

 

Doctor Fink, “I’m sorry, that’s a horrible attempt at a joke.  Doctor humor, I know.  To be honest, no one has ever laughed at that joke.”

 

Jessica, “I’m in a strangers bathroom.  Everything outside of this room feels like fire.  I walked though the forest for miles and touched a glowing light that knocked me unconscious and left me burning and I don’t know whats going on and its fucking hot in here and I’m fucking scared, okay!?”

 

Doctor Fink, “Okay, I’m sorry.  We’re going to figure this out together.”

 

Jessica, “No I’m sorry, you and that man are just trying to help.  You don’t know whats going on either.  I’m sorry, I’m just scared and confused.”

 

Doctor Fink, “Well, speaking of confusion, Marty says you seemed confused about what time of year it was.  Do you think maybe you’re feeling so hot is because you feel it should be summer?  Maybe you’re forgetting this is the middle of February?”

 

Jessica, “It IS summer, what are you talking about?”

 

Doctor Fink, “Miss, its February the… let’s start again, I didn’t even get your name.”

 

Jessica, “It’s Jessica and its summer.”

 

Doctor Fink, “Jessica Summer?”

 

Jessica, “Yes, summer.”

 

Doctor Fink, “Well, miss Summer-”

 

Jessica, “No! My name is Jessica, and we are in summer.”

 

Doctor Fink, “Again, I’m sorry, but, Jessica, it is February.  The news even says it’ll snow tonight.”

 

Jessica, “That’s impossible, my horses shed their… the roses were… there’s no fucking school bus slowing me down in the morning!  And if its winter, why the fuck is it so hot??”

 

Doctor Fink, “That’s what I’m trying to figure out.  It is common for a person suffering from hypothermia to feel extreme heat.”

 

Jessica interrupts, “No, this is real heat. I can see the squiggly air.  I’m not imagining it.”

 

Doctor Fink, “I’m not saying you’re imagining it, I’m saying you’re too cold to know the difference.”

 

Jessica, “I had a friend fall into the river mid spring.  The water was below 40.  She went dumb, incoherent, within seconds.  Do I seem incoherent?”

 

Doctor Fink, “That’s actually a concern.  I don’t really know what’s going on with you.  I’m trying to explore all possibilities but you seem perfectly normal to me; other than you feeling hot.  And Marty out there sad you were cold when he found you.”

 

Jessica, “No, I’ve been hot ever since I touched that light and saw that, well I don’t know what it is that I saw.”

 

Doctor Fink, “What I meant, is that Marty said you felt like you were cold.  He said it felt like your skin was frozen chicken.”

 

Jessica, “Well, he felt like he was on fire when he grabbed me and saved me from those men.”

 

Doctor Fink, “You said something about a light?  You said you touched a light?”

 

Jessica, “I don’t know, there was this light in the forest and I and some other people kinda, just all touched it.”

 

Doctor Fink, “Like a lamp or something?”

 

Jessica, “No, it was like a… I don’t know what it was. It was a light. Just hovering there. And when I touched it, I saw, well, I don’t know what it is that I saw. I saw something. Like two men, or something like men. One was named ‘Fester’ or maybe it was ‘Flickerus’ or something.”

 

Marty spoke up from outside the bathroom, “Festeris Ghoul?”

 

Jessica, “Yeah, that’s it.”

 

The Doctor leaned back and looked at Marty around the corner who was remaining out of sight of Jessica to give her privacy. The Doctor gave Marty a quisitive head shake.

 

Marty, “She was mumbling when she was passed out.”

 

Doctor Fink leaned back into Jessica, “Are you currently taking any prescription or recreational drugs?”

 

Jessica, “No! You don’t believe me! Do you?”

 

Doctor Fink, “I believe you, Jessica. I just to find out what might be causing this.”

 

Jessica, “So you think I Methed up and hallucinated lights and monsters and what day of the month it is.”

 

Doctor Fink, “Well, based on how you said ‘methed up’ and that you believe that makes you hallucinate, I might think you don’t know much about recreational drugs. Or at least not much about methanphetomines.”

 

Jessica’s tone began to become irritated but still she cooperated, “The same goes for prescription drugs. I don’t take any.”

 

Doctor Fink, “I am just trying to find out what might be causing you to feel hot when you are clearly so cold to everyone else.”

 

Jessica, “It’s not hot doctor, it’s fucking burning.”

 

Doctor Fink, “Maybe you walked through some Poison Oak?”

 

Jessica, “No, Doctor. Poison Oak doesn’t grow around here.”

 

Doctor Fink, “Then, I really can’t think of anything other to do then leave you here in the tub until we figure out what might be causing your pain.”

 

The doctor left the room and began whispering with the man, Marty.

 

Jessica could hear them whisper.

 

Marty, “So what do you think it is?”

 

Doctor, “I don’t know, she seems perfectly fine besides the burning.”

 

Marty, “Well, what do you think is causing it?”

 

Doctor, “I have no idea of knowing here. Let me take her to the hospital and we can figure it out.”

 

Marty, “No. There were men out there looking for her. I don’t think she’s safe at a hospital. There were others out there. Like her, in pain. They were wrapping them up in bags and throwing them into vans. She’s not safe.”

 

Doctor Fink, “Look, I don’t know whats going on. I don’t know what you saw. But I can’t help that lady in there until we get her proper care. I’ll go to my office and do some research. Better yet, I will go to my resident office at the hospital. I’ll keep my ears peeled for anyone that might seem like they’re trying to find her.”

 

Marty, “Thank you, man.”

 

Doctor Fink, “But you have to promise me, if it doesn’t seem like someone is out to get her at the hospital, you’ll let me take her.”

 

Marty, “Of course.”

 

 

The Doctor left the house.

 

Marty was still outside the bathroom in the hall.  Jessica could tell by the shadow being cast onto the towel cupboard.

 

Jessica, “I’m not crazy.”

 

Marty, “I know, I believe you.  I saw those men out there.  I know something weird is happening.”

 

Jessica, “You don’t have to stay out there.  I have the curtain closed.”

 

Marty, kinda chuckled, she could see his hands scratch his head, “No ma’am.  I was raised a little different.  If my mom found out I was alone with a woman in the house, she would hold me down and beat me with the preacher’s shoe.”

 

Jessica, “Well, regardless, thank you for all you’ve done.  You didn’t have to go through all this trouble.”

 

Marty chuckles again, “No ma’am, I did.  If my mom found out I left a woman out there all alone with those men, she’d hold me down and beat me with the preacher’s other shoe.”

 

Jessica did that head twisty tilt we all do when we get annoyed by something we shouldn’t.  Y’know, that grimace we get when we’re mad and don’t want to acknowledge that thing that would make us less mad, maybe even happy.  So, instead, we catch that feeling in our jowls and subconsciously fling it to our left shoulder.  Outta sight, outta mind.

 

Marty went back to a serious tone, “Hey, listen.  I pretty much already bought up all the ice in town.  There’s nothing left.  There’s one more bag in the freezer for you, as a reserve.  But, it is forecast to snow tonight.  And even if it doesn’t, the temperatures will be below freezing.  Go outside if you need.  I even turned off the heater.  I set up a space heater in the guest bedroom for myself so I can be warm.  There’s clothes here for you if you want to be decent when you go outside.”

 

Jessica acknowledged his courteousness and thanked him.  Marty went further down the hall and she could hear a door close.

 

Jessica stood up and felt the air coming from the bathroom window.  It was bearable.  She knew she had to get out of the water.  Her skin was so shriveled, it began to split, causing paper cut like pains on her hands and feet.

 

She stepped out of the tub into what felt like your grandmothers house.  Marty had left socks and slippers.  Those she put on first.  Then the loose sweats; then a loose “Gore Lieberman” shirt.

 

She found her way through the house to the backyard, grabbing a laptop from the living room coffee table on the way out.

 

It was the feeling of walking from the hot summer parking lot into the anti fly blowing mantrap breezeway before a supermarket.

 

She didn’t get to feel the cool refreshing AC past that metaphorical breezeway, but at least she was out of the metaphorical parking lot.  

 

And it was at this moment, Jessica learned that heat stinks.  I don’t mean to say that she learned heat sucks, I mean to say that she learned there is an odor to heat.  That oily ooze from the ground.  That dry dirt.  Slow cooked hair in a brick oven stench.  And almost as a basic instinct, she registered that stench in her brain, like how you know the stench of death after seeing your first dead mouse or dismembered body.

 

Marty had a single sun chair sitting behind his house.  Covered in leaf stains and fox-tails hanging from old spiderwebs.  Jessica found a stick to clean up the spiderwebs, reclined in the chair, and turned on the laptop.

 

As she waited for the laptop to boot up, she realized two things.  First, laptops are incredibly hot when atop your lap; and second, it was starting to snow.  It was snowing, in July, or what she thought was July.  The questions of how this was possible grew.  Maybe it was her shock from the earlier events that she was willing to accept it was a cold summer night.  Maybe she convinced herself that she was truly experiencing some illness made her feel extra hot.  Maybe she, to this point, believed this to all be a big hoax.  But the snow was undeniable.

 

She quickly moved under the porch awning to protect the laptop.  From there, she Googled the date.  February whatever-teenth.  That couldn’t be right.  So she asked Jeeves, who also declared it was the middle of February.

 

Obviously, something may have been amiss the past couple hours, but now that the internet was mistaken… Jessica’s suspicion grew to Clifford proportions.

 

She couldn’t believe her Googling.  She started to search for her symptoms: feelings of extreme heat, hallucination, loss of time… massive amounts of time lost.

 

“Massive amounts of time lost!”  she thought to herself.  There must be a missing persons report for her.  She searched her name.  It turned up a bunch of women that were not her.  She tried checking her social media.  She couldn’t find any of social media accounts.

 

She looked up the school where she teaches.  Her name was not on the website.  In fact there was another teacher in charge of her class.  And, judging by the website, that teacher had been teaching that class for years.

 

Did she loose years of time?  It was almost as if she had never existed at all.

 

“No, not possible.”  She thought,  “I am because I think I am!  or something like that.”  Fuck, how did that famous philosopher guy say it??

 

What about that hallucination?  Where did she go when she saw that, that man, or being, or whatever he was.  Festeris Ghoul.  Who was that.  She searched the internet but nothing.

 

She continued to scour the internet through the night until she had fallen asleep again.

 

She was awoken the next morning by Marty.  The snow had fallen more than expected, but he assured her it was going to warm up through the day and she should probably think about going inside before it got too “hot.”

 

Plus, he had a surprise for her.  Or a gift.  Or whatever it is called when you give something to the strange lady you rescued from strange circumstances.

 

It was a crude, makeshift robe, made out of those freezer cold packs you use to keep your lunch cold for work.  He made two so that she could freeze one while she wore the other.  She was grateful and immediately put on the new, gawdy garment.

 

Marty,  “Bad news… Doctor Fink says he can’t figure out what is wrong with you.”

 

Jessica,  “I figured.  It’s not just me feeling hot, either.  I really did loose time, or something.  I mean, it truly was the middle of summer when I touched that, that thing.  That light.  And now I’m sure it’s February like you said.”

 

Marty,  “It gets worse.  The doctor say there have been unfamiliar faces snooping around the hospital.  Men dressed as doctors.  Men not from the hospital asking questions that would suggest they know who they’re looking for.”

 

Jessica,  “So, what does that mean?  What can we do?  Can he still help me?”

 

Marty,  “He says he emailed a friend about it.  Another doctor he trust.  But this guy deals more in mental psychosis.  He thinks this guy can help you.”

 

Jessica,  “Mental psychosis??  You saw those men.  You felt how cold I am.  What psychosis explains that??”

 

Marty,  “I know, I know.  But maybe there is something else going on.  I don’t want to sound like the bad guy, and lord knows I’m doing my best to actually help you, but maybe those men were from a mental health facility.  Maybe, I mean since even you’re saying you’ve lost time, maybe you were in a – a place that was helping you with, well, like mental health.”

 

Jessica,  “Then why do I feel so hot??”

 

Marty,  “I don’t know… maybe psychosis stuff.”

 

Jessica,  “What the fuck do you think is going on with me??”

 

Marty,  “I don’t know!  I don’t!  But I am trying to help!”

 

Jessica,  “Look, I know you’re helping.  And God knows how grateful I am.  I truly am.  And I’m sorry for yelling, and maybe you’re right, maybe there is something going wrong with my head, but that can’t explain why I am so hot or that, that hallucination.”

 

Marty,  “What do you remember about that hallucination?”

 

Jessica,  “Just that I saw two men, or what I thought were men.  Monstrous men.  One was named Festeris Ghoul.  But I didn’t remember that until you told me I was mumbling his name.  He said that if I bowed to him, he would forgive me of my wrong doings.  I mean, it was all so fast and so unworldly, I couldn’t make heads or tails of it.”

 

Marty,  “What about where you were?  What did you see around you?”

 

Jessica,  “Not much, he, or it, was sitting on a strange, I guess you would call it a throne or something… I mean, if this was a hallucination, why does it matter what I saw?”

 

Marty,  “Just tell me.  Maybe we can figure out what’s happening.  What did the throne look like?”

 

Jessica,  “I don’t know exactly how to describe it.  Almost the shape of a whine glass, with the stem resembling some sort of bird arm and talon.  Exaggerated in length, no way something could climb into it.  At least ten feet tall.  And he sat inside what would have been like the glass part, but it was shallow and surrounded with carvings of animals I’ve never seen before that he rested his arms on.”

 

Marty,  “And how many were there?”

 

Jessica,  “I told you, there were two of them.  Two men like monsters.”

 

Marty,  “No, I mean thrones, how many thrones were there?”

 

Jessica,  “There were three thrones, two were empty….” just then, Jessica became uneasy.  How did he know there was more than one throne.  “Why did you ask that?  How did you know there was more than one throne?”

 

Without saying a word, Marty stood up, walked passed Jessica, retrieved a hair dryer from the a plastic bag near the front door, and plugged it in.  He walked back to Jessica and without hesitation kicked her square in the chest sending her across the room into the wall.

 

Jessica slammed against the wall and lost all breath.  As she struggled to breathe and get to her feet, Marty grabbed her by the hair and dragged her to the hair dryer.

 

He sat atop her chest, turned on the dryer, and blasted her face.

 

Marty began screaming with a demonic rasp,  “Its you!!  You’re the one he’s after.  You’re the one he uses to destroy them.”  Marty raised his hands and head up, exclaiming,  “Interitus, Conruptus, Putredine!  Feel her pain, feel her fear, feel her!  Feel her, and feast on it!”

 

Jessica struggled.  She threw everything she had at Marty but she more or less just flailed about as it felt like her skin was melting from her face.  She tried to scream but the wind had been knocked out of her.  She tried to kick but the cooling robe was restricting.  Eventually she landed a punch, and boy was it a doozy.

 

She landed a punch square on Marty’s chest which sent him flying back.  And when I say flying back, I mean as if he were kicked by a horse.

 

Marty slammed against the front door and he clutched his chest.  His clothes were frozen.  There was a patch of ice on his shirt right where Jessica had punched him.

 

Marty took off his shirt, rubbed his chest, and went back at Jessica.

 

He flipped her onto her stomach,  “Now that’s not going to happen again.”  and he began to strip off the robe he made her,  “Let’s see that same fight when you’re not so cold.”  He then punched her in back of the head, nearly knocking her unconscious… again.

 

There was a separation of mind and movement.  She tried to fight back but the extreme heat, the fucking painful heat of Marty’s hands, drew all of her focus.  All she could do was feel pain.

 

He grabbed her by her feet and started to drag her back to the hair dryer, “Fucking bitch, my fucking chest is frozen.  You’re not supposed to be this strong… yet.  Doesn’t matter, I’m about to fix that.”  He straddled her again while she lay face down, blasting the hair dryer on her back and neck, “Oooo, the rest of you is still cold.  Just like fucking a corpse.  Its not the first corpse I’ve fucked.”

 

Just as it began to become more and more clear that this was not going to end well, things, at that moment, seemed to get worse.  Marty was knocked off her back and attacked by two men, men in hazmat suits.  The two men stomped on Marty mercilessly shouting all manners of anger.

 

Jessica was then again being pulled back by her feet.  She was limp and her arm flopped heavy as they rolled her over.  It was more men in hazmat suits.  Out of the frying pan and into the fire.  Saved from one fucked fate by another.  Anxiety convulsed up her throat and she began to vomit from the fear.  Two men were beating her attacker while three more were manhandling her naked body.

 

She could hear Marty giving off a disgusting, bitch ass cry.  She should have felt some sort of pleasure or justice in that.  But the fact one demon was being fucked up by multiple more demons brought about a terrifying realization that she was even more fucked.  Like, by the count of it, five times more fucked.

 

This realization did help though, it helped bridge the gap between her brain and brawn.  She began to fight back.  First she kicked the hazmat man closest to her feet.  He too, like Marty, looked as if he had been kicked by a horse.  She then was able to break free her left arm and grab the hazmat man who was holding down her right one.  She squeezed his wrist with all her might, trying to dig her short finger nails into his skin.

 

Hazmat man exclaimed,  “She’s freezing my arm.  Make her stop!”  He began to yell at the two hazmat men stomping Marty, “Hey, fuck that guy!  He’s done.  Come help me hold her down.”

 

The other two men ran to his defense and helped to hold Jessica down, as did the other one she kicked across the room.  Jessica tried to fight it with all her might.  She tried to squirm free of the five man grip.  But they held her even tighter.  Her breathing went from scared and confused to angered and determined.  She huffed and she puffed, drawing in strength and exhaling fear.  She let out a roar as her body flexed.

 

Muffled conversing:

 

“She’s starting to get really cold, she’s starting to shift.”

 

“No shit!  Someone check her pulse, make sure we still have a shot at this.”

 

“Lets put her outside in the snow, try to cool her down.”

 

“No, that’ll just speed it up and give her more strength.”

 

“How the fuck do you know??”

 

“I don’t, that’s just what he said would happen.”

 

“Look, if we’re going to stabilize her, we need to keep her warm, no matter how much she screams.”

 

“He’s right, she wont die, she’ll just wish she did.”

 

One of the men let loose her shoulders, crawled to the hair dryer, and turned it on.  Jessica screamed in agony as he fanned it back and forth as if he were spraying paint on a car.

 

“Someone go grab the Dymo Wrap so we can carry her to the Pod.”

 

“I’m on it.”

 

One of the hazmat men ran out the front door and returned within seconds, “The van is gone!  That asshole must’ve taken it!”

 

“What?”

 

“The van is gone!  The van with the Pod.”

 

“I fucking know what it means.  Okay, give me a second… alright, go and get the Dymo Wrap from the other van, maybe we can keep her stable in a bathtub or something.  At least long enough until we get the van back or have them bring another Pod.”

 

“That’s a long fucking time trying to stabilize her.  She’s going to try and kill us.”

 

“I know, but its for her own good.  She’ll thank us if she doesn’t kill us.”

 

They picked her up, still kicking and fighting, and began taking her to the bathroom when they noticed smoke coming from down the hall.

 

“That asshole set the house on fire too.  He knew we couldn’t save her without the Pod he knew we couldn’t stabilize her without the tub.”

 

“It’s too late, you know that.  Either she shifts or she dies.  And I am not going to let her die.”

 

“He’s right, stopping her from becoming Dimentia is one thing, killing her is a whole nother.”

 

“I know, best we can do now is make the shift as quick as possible.”

 

The men in hazmat suits took her outside and dropped her in the melting snow.  Jessica tried to get to her feet but they urged her to stay down.  Pleading with their hands out in a non-threatening manner.

 

“Look, we’re helping you, please just stay in the snow.”

 

Jessica screamed, “Fuck you, you burned me with the hair dryer!”

 

“You have to believe us it was for the best.  Now we just need you to be comfortable in the snow.  It’s too late to stop you from becoming… well its just too late.”

 

Jessica lashed out in rage.  An almost whip like distortion in the air struck one of the men, again throwing him backward, stricken with an icy trunk.

 

“Look, let us help you.  You’re burning up, let us put snow on top of you, keep you cool.”

 

“No!” Screamed Jessica and she swung her arms again.  And again, whip like distortions in the air that left icy trails.  But this outburst proved to be too much and she again was feeling faint.

 

Her legs spaghettied beneath her and she fell into the snow.  The hazmat men wasted no time and began to cover her with snow.  One man even using a snow shovel to really pile it on.

 

“Lady, this is all about to get very weird, try to stay calm.”

 

It got real weird.

 

She snapped into being.  She snapped out of being.  A shockwave would thrust her free and from her body, then slam her ass back to the physical realm.  She would go weightless just before her body felt like it was being crushed under its own weight.

 

Even weirder, she started to feel cold.  Cold for the first time.  She was no longer hot.  She was freezing cold.  

 

Nope, false alarm, it got hot again.

 

Then cold again.

 

She could see through multiple dimensions.  Strange new colors and shapes.  Snapping to and fro through layers of dimension and realm.  

 

She saw aliens, and dinosaurs, and alien dinosaurs.  She saw time.  She saw pathways to and through infinite possibilities.

 

Then, she snapped back.  Hot and covered in snow, she gasped and she came to.

 

One of the hazmats ran up to her, “Can you hear me?  Whats your name?”

 

Jessica acknowledged him and told him her name.

 

Hazmat guy, “She’s lucid, she’s going to survive.  Get on the phone and tell him we have a super hero.”

 

Other hazmat guy, “Or a super villain… *they all looked at him*  What??  For all we know, she’s a cunt.”