Dreamchasers

Chapter 9 (1)

Sweat was dripping from Julianna's forehead to the ground in front of her. The photo that she took from Beth was lying on her side. She lifted her arms to see if her sense had been withdrawn from her. As her hands reached out to the photo, she noticed blue lights following the trace of her fingers and forming a circle around her. But before she could think more about the blue lights, her eyes were about to shut down. Little by little, her consciousness was about to disintegrate. Touch started disappearing from her fingertips to her whole body.

Right around the moment when Julianna was about to snap, a warm sensation surrounded her.

Something was lying on her lap.

A glowing blue and silver rifle decorated with coral patterns appeared in front of Julianna's eyes. As her fingers touched the gun, a strong wind blew in the direction of her face, inducing a force that covered her body with blue mist. She was not wearing her usual hoodies and converse shoes anymore. Her new outfit consisted of a transparent cape with red dots, a luminous red-blue gradient dress with frills on the bottom, as well as blue shoes with glitter straps.

Is this magic happening to me? Why does it have to happen at this time?

Right outside her house, Beth and Simone were busy fighting against emotional monsters. Monsters that were created by her. Julianna rubbed her eyes, sat up, and intuitively picked up the rifle. It was heavy. Her hands slipped as the rifle made a turn in the air. She tried again, barely managing to get hold of the rifle. She opened up the cartridge on the rifle and found a glass bullet with blue, purple, and golden liquid. The monsters were already making noises outside of her house. Barely did she notice that the living room chandelier was shaking, and a giant jellyfish was just thrown onto the window.

Beth pushed open the door.

'Jules, are you alright? Where did you get that rifle?'

'It's my magic. I am trying to see what this rifle can do.'

'Stay here, okay? Don't fight together with us at the moment.' Beth pushed Julianna backward. 'Simone is outside with the monsters. I will be guarding the house. I can't leave you alone!'

Beth rushed out of the door, with her golden pen in her hands, and her shield on her back. Julianna, curious about what her monsters looked like, stood up and leaned towards the door. The outside had been transformed into an underwater city. Giant jellyfishes were swimming in the sky, gulping air into their transparent mushroom-like cap. Paragraphs of words with serif fonts of different sizes were alternating on the cap, as well as the monsters' long, tangling oral arms. Tentacles that resembled electric LED wires were connected to the bottom of the cap; these tentacles were shooting out waves of laser toward Beth and Simone. A couple of octopuses were also found near the jellyfish, but none of them looked like the octopuses from scientific illustration books like Discourses on Marine Biology or Animal Anatomy.

Julianna's eyes lit up as she pondered the forms of these grotesque monsters. These monsters completely defied the theory of evolution. In the theory of evolution, all life was branched out from the 'tree of life', and followed a consistent path of evolution. However, the monsters were imaginary creatures that had random features assembled together like collage artwork. Is there a reason why I produced those monsters that look the ways they do? Do the monster's forms say something about my thoughts and emotions? Julianna had to know the answers to those questions by herself. She didn't feel like staying in, especially since the monsters had vivid colors and forms for her to observe.

As she walked around, trying to spot Beth and Simone, the tips of her fingers run across the trigger of her rifle.

Phew! A glass bullet sprinted out from the rifle, generating an upward trail into the air. A big blue bubble blossomed in mid-air as the bullet shattered into dust. Upon noticing the bullet, a violet-colored jellyfish sprouted out of the ground like a sharp dagger piercing out of a paper box. As soon as the monster touched the air, it lifted all of its tentacles, shooting laser beams like the dripping fireworks, leaving smoky traces on the ground. All the other jellyfishes clogged together and turned their directions towards Julianna.