Double M is My Man

~ 9 ~

I thought this is the moment when I leave the dream world and come back to the real world. l expected to wake up in my queen size bed, under my bed sheet and two blankets. I was even looking forward to seeing the suns rays escape through some cracks in my blinds, lighting up my light blue room but that didn't happen.

My mind didn't want to wake up just yet.

The darkness had moved me to another memory. This one not as memorial as the previous one. In fact, this is the moment in the past I tried hard to forget.

Reece's and mine first fight.

We were back in the white infirmary but I knew something was off immediately when I noticed there were dents in the bed and holes in the walls. The white room had a few brown and grey dots all over them now.

My eleven year old self couldn't believe what she was seeing as she first walked into the room. She woke up bright and early as always to come to her best friend's side. She even brought a deck of cards thinking a round of Goldfish would cheer up Reece in no time but as soon as she laid eyes on Reece, she knew that today wasn't going to be a day of playing cards. 

The eleven year old Reece was no longer laying in his bed. He was standing beside a freshly made hole in the wall, glaring at the scared, young girl. "When were you going to tell me?" His angry voice comes out sounding more like a growl. 

Just like my younger self, I take a step back feeling the same fear as the eleven year old girl, seeing her best friend behave like this for the very first time. "W-what do you mean?" She stutters, subconsciously straightening out her t-shirt. 

"This!" Reece exclaims, bringing his arm out and punching another hole in the wall but with his fluid movements, he made it seem as if he was punch through thin, weak paper. 

I watch helplessly as the little me takes yet another step back, staring with wide, fearful eyes at her best friend. She knew she was busted and yet, she didn't know he possessed that much strength. I remember fully well being in her shoes. I remember thinking to myself that what Reece had just did was impossible, especially for his age but then I recalled back to what my father had told me. He said he would be different when he woke up and that was an understatement. 

The eleven year old boy standing before the little girl was a stranger. His pupils were once again shaped like a predator with his lips pulled back in a snarl. "Why didn't you tell me, Zada?" He spat at her, his voice laced with hurt and betrayal. 

I know what the little girl is thinking. She can't seem to accept that the inhumane boy glaring at her is the same boy who held her hand two weeks ago as she promised him she'd never leave his side. From then on, everything was going fine. Their father's were doing their routinely testing on him and she suspected that they were getting closer to bringing the old Reece back.

Turns our father's were making Reece stronger, more compatible with his changing form. 

I wanted to close my eyes from the events unfolding before me, the first wedge to come between us. It was inevitable all because I decided five years ago to hide the truth from him because I didn't want to believe it. 

"I...I was trying to...to protect you," my twelve year old self tries to explain to the pissed off Reece. His predatory eyes seem to glow as they never wander away from her small frame. 

"Protect me from what?!" In frustration, he punches another hole in the wall, "myself?!" 

From where I'm standing, I can see a tear escape the helpless girl, slipping past her black framed glasses. "I'm sorry Reece. I thought that-"