Bang!
I gasp for breath as I shoot up in bed.
"What the hell? Where am I?" I was just in my room and now I'm sitting in a strange bed surrounded by stone walls. I look down at my right hand which is now empty and weirdly small for some reason?
GO AWAY!
A crushing headache accompanies the screaming voice in my head.
LEAVE ME ALONE! GET OUT!
I wrap my tiny hand around my head as if to hold my skull together and focus on the voice.
A presence lashes out at my mind as I search for the intrusion.
GIVE ME BACK MY BODY!
A torrent of thoughts race through my head as I struggle to get a grasp on the situation.
"I'm sorry if I'm causing you problems, but I don't know what's going on either, so please just tell me how to do what you're asking."
...I don't know, just leave.
"How?" My question throws my assailant off balance long enough for me to catch my bearings. I'm apparently in someone else's body which appears to be in a medieval room, based on the stone walls and straw bed beneath me. I continue speaking now that there's a lull in the conversation.
"I don't want to be here any more than you do but if you don't tell me how to leave then there's not much I can do."
Give me back my body.
"Okay, I'll try." I focus on the foreign consciousness in my mind and try to approach it. My limbs go numb. the next thing I know, I'm looking out someone else's eyes, as if I were set back deep within their head. I can only imagine how terrifying it must have been for the other guy to suddenly find himself in this position and unable to do anything about it.
I've got to say, it's pretty roomy in here. Are you sure you don't just have a tiny brain or something.
"Shut up, I read all the time. My mom says I'm really smart for my age."
Right. Well, that's a lot to unpack but we'll just leave it for now.
"What do you mea-"
'Bang!'
The door slams open and a largish woman comes running in.
"Sweetie! Are you alright? You've been asleep for two days now1"
"I'm okay." The kid replies. I was worried he would immediately tell his mother about me but he doesn't seem sure about how to bring it up. I can feel the uncomfortable smile he's holding on his face.
"Carroll, I told you Nick is going to be fine. He was just tired, isn't that right, buddy?" A man says as he enters the room. He has a stern disposition and a much leaner physique than the kid's mother.
"Y-yeah, dad." Nick stammers as he looks away from his father.
"Vincent!" His mother frowns at the nonchalant attitude of her husband as she cradles the kid's head in her arms.
"He's a little young to be getting his seal and the priest told us he might be a little tired afterwards."
"A little tired?! He was asleep for two days!"
"Yeah, a little tired." Vincent shrugs. I can see a vein throbbing on his Carroll's forehead as he speaks.
With perfect timing, the door opens and another woman walks in.
"Young Master, I brought you some snacks. I'm sure you're hungry after resting for so long." Easily slicing through the tension in the air, she places a tray of food by our bedside.
The young woman appears to be in her early twenties and is wearing a vintage maid outfit.
"Thank you, Marie. At least some people around here know how to be considerate." Carroll glares at Vincent, who seems blissfully unaware of his wife's ire, as he browses the bookshelf by the door.
"Thanks." Nick says in a weak voice.
"Why don't you eat and get dressed and we'll wait for you downstairs?" Carroll says as she runs her hand through our hair. Her gentle touch feels uncomfortably foreign.
After yelling at Vincent again, Carroll corrals everyone out of the room. Silence.
"Thanks for not selling me out."
"I was worried what my parents would think if I said there was a person living in my head."
"True, that does sound pretty crazy. So, now what?"
"I don't know..."
I sit in silence behind the kids' eyes and watch him finish off the tray of food.
"So, where'd you come from?" Nick starts.
"The United States of America."
"Never heard of it."
"I thought that might be the case. What's the name of this planet?" I say after having a glance around the room.
"Gaius."
"Yeah, I'm from earth."
"You're from a different planet? How'd you get here?"
"I'm not sure, I just woke up in you head or whatever."
"Like you just fell asleep in your world and woke up here?
"Well, I didn't really fall asleep, per-say."
"What do you mean? Did you pass out?"
"..."
"Or maybe you were just going about your day and bam, you're suddenly here?"
"..."
"Hello?"
"I killed myself."
"What?"
"I said, I killed myself. I was really depressed and took my dad's gun to my room and..."
"..."
"I'm sorry. If i was stronger then I wouldn't even be here right now. I'd be back in my own world and none of this would have ever happened. It's funny, now that I'm saying it out loud it all seems so dumb; what was I even thinking? It's as if a terrible fog has been lifted from my mind; I only pulled the trigger a couple minutes ago but it already feels so distant."
"Oh, I'm sorry." Nick responds after a short pause.
"It's all good, you don't have anything to apologize for."
"Hey, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, what's up?"
"What's a gun?"
Sigh..