Chapter Three: Visions of Dreams & of Nightmares
[Hazel POV]
Hazel watched, in dream form, in the audience of a middle school gym as a hazel-green 14-year-old boy makes an impossible leap, dunking the basketball through the hoop.
"And Derek Hale for the last minute score!" an announcer's voice sounded throughout a mostly empty gym, followed by cheers of a crowd unseen.
And as Derek let go of the ring of nets, Hazel slowly clapped as she made her way down the stairs of the stands, garnering young Derek's attention as all sound within the gym was removed — all sound except for Hazel's clapping and gradual footfall as she made her way down the stands.
She was appearing as she would when she'd turn 14 — or, at least, what she instinctively felt she would appear as at 14, anyway. Honestly, it's a bit strange, but she had a feeling that she was pretty spot on — As if, on some level in her subconsciousness, her appearance was foresighted and turned into an instinct for her to unconsciously draw her dream appearance from.
Her cream coffee brown skin was smooth, unblemished and youthful; her brown eyes clear, clever and calculating. Her black hair was tied back in a ponytail and she carried herself with a certain level of sureness.
Derek watched, eyes wide as if star struck, as Hazel walked up to him. "W-who are you? I've never seen you before. I'm Derek, by the way."
He outstretched his hand to which Hazel raised a brow but shook nonetheless. "You can call me… Madison."
"Hi, Madison… Are you real?" Derek asked, clearly an enthusiastic extrovert.
'Hmm… Pre-Tragedy Derek is truly… unbroody,' Hazel thought privately, outwardly humming as she circled a confused Derek. "That depends."
"On?" Derek quirked a brow, his hazel green eyes pouring into Hazel like puppy dog eyes.
It was absolutely adorable. Hazel had to mentally remind herself to keep her composure.
"Hm… Do you always dream of basketball hoops, a standing ovation and so much… um, sweat?" Hazel gestured to all of Derek, who was covered in sweat. "Also, how do you sweat in a dream?"
Derek paused before giving a smooth grin that could melt the fires in Hell to water. "I take it you are real then…"
"Uh-uh, answer my question first," Hazel denied.
"Yes to your first question and I don't know about your second one," Derek admitted. "Basketball is my safe spot, even in my dreams. I can't imagine a world without it."
"Is that so?" Hazel smirked. "Well, if you're even half as good as you are in a dream, you must be pretty talented."
Derek hid his bashfulness with a cough, to which he covered with a fist. Hazel and Derek chatted, before Hazel began vanishing.
"It looks like our time together is short," Hazel said, waving Derek goodbye. "This was fun. Bye, Derek."
"Wait!" Derek asked, panicked. "Will I ever see you again?"
"Perhaps," Hazel grinned. "Maybe one day."
And with that, Hazel vanished, leaving behind a very distracted Derek…
The next dream Hazel's vision took her to a creek — specifically, the wooden bridge of one, where a 8-year-old Theo Raeken leaned against the railing, wearing a bored expression… At least, until he spotted Hazel, who was now in her normal, 6-year-old self.
"You're new. Who are you?" a young Theo Raeken asked, showing minute hints of curiosity. "This place is never visited, even in my dreams… Well, at least not by people."
'Such an intense but vacant pair of eyes,' Hazel dully noted. 'They're… odd, even a little startling on a child. Still, I suppose someone who's destined to become the Chimera of Death would already have to have something wrong with them mentally to even be a candidate to take up that mantle as the First Chimera.'
"I am… Madi… I am Hazel," Hazel waved, corrected herself. "And… you are?"
"Theo," Theo looked bored again. "I am—?"
A series of clicking noises stopped Theo in his tracks, causing him to turn sheet white pale.
"Damn, they're here already," he sounded mildly panicked — more annoyed than anything, as if he had just lost a toy he liked. "You should probably hide—" But when he looked up, he noticed the girl had already vanished. 'So much for being considerate.'
Suddenly, three shadowy, form-flickering beings had appeared before Theo, whispering in a language of clicks and ticks that didn't sound very human despite their humanoid forms. That was before, in a mechanical synchronicity, they spoke:
"Potential candidate, subject plausible."
"Potential candidate, subject adaptive."
"Potential candidate, subject special."
"Potential subject, heart condition: Terminal."
Of course, Hazel had no bloody desire to watch the blatant grooming occurring directly before her. She had used her psionic abilities to mask her appearance and presence, so she was watching how the doctors were buttering up the 8-year-old like Epstein.
'I thought I wouldn't intervene too much on his behalf…,' Hazel thought, de-invisibilizing herself, surprising not just Theo, but also the doctors as well. 'Unfortunately, even in my last life, I've always held a weak spot for Theo — A place of relativity. He wanted to be free from a world of 3 insane doctors who ruined his life before it even began; I wanted freedom in a world so deeply governed by the elite. Two sides of a dice, and now such scenarios are occurring once more.'
"Get away from him!" eyes glowing a brilliant white-blue glow, Hazel surged forward, thrusting a hand before her. "You aren't welcomed here."
As if in response to her emotions, the birds and animals in the surrounding forest panicked, turning and flying away in all directions as a great wind forced the three metal heads out of Theo's dreamscape without hesitation.
As the world died down and the animals settled, Theo was looking at Hazel shocked and open-mouthed.
"What?" Hazel asked, feeling a light flush at the boy's oogling gaze. "I'm psychic."
"Noted," Theo commented, schooling his expressions. He let out a heavy sigh. "You saved me… for now. What about my heart though…?"
"I'll cure you!"Hazel blurted out, startling Theo, who instantly looked upwards at Hazel. "I can heal others. I'll find you — Tonight. I'm much stronger at night, anyway."
"You… want to heal me?" Theo's brows were raised, surprised for a second time. "You sure you can?"
"I wouldn't offer if I wasn't," Hazel rolled her eyes before thinking of something. "Where exactly are you, though? This setting, though a dream, isn't necessarily a precursor to your actual location, you know."
"You're the psychic," Theo smirked a lopsided smirk. "You tell me."
"That would be rude," Hazel frowned, furrowing her brows. "Not that I can't, but peering into the minds of others is a direct violation of personal space."
Theo seemed amused by this response as he seemingly thought over all of this. Then, snapping his finger, the two was transported to a hospital room — or, at least, before the room #118.
Inside, hooked up to various machines that monitored his vitals and, more importantly, his heart, was a pale version of the boy beside her. An oxygen mask was stuck through his nostrils and the only family beside his bedside was a 9 year old Tara Raeken, looking at her little brother somberly.
'Its a shame she died in the original series,' Hazel thought, noting, briefly, how Theo was discreetly observing her reaction. 'Now I see how her death must've been one of the triggers for Theo's homicidal nature to rear its head, especially if even their parents weren't here like that, too.'
"Now, tell me," Theo finally spoke, gesturing to his unconscious form. "Can you heal this?"
Before Hazel could even speak, her form began fading. Quickly, she turned to Theo, her voice urgent. "I'll find you, and I'll heal you. Just be patient."
Walking up to Theo's dream self, Hazel placed a hand on either side of his head, psychically creating mental shields to protect him from the doctors as well as intricate packets within his mind that allowed him to temporarily escape in difficult or impossible situations.
"What did you do to me?" Theo groaned, rubbing his head.
"I helped put shields on your mind," Hazel said, already more than half disappearing. "They shouldn't bother you anymore, and, if they do, there's pockets in your mind you can escape to; its where the shields are heaviest.
"I don't have much time. Just know that I will stop by tonight to fulfill my promise."
And with that, Hazel found herself in a different environment…
The skies were red and the occasional lightning was yellow. Monsters flew through the air with leathery wings and sharp monstrosities on four limbs walked the planet with curled sharp-ended tusks. Various sketchy smile demons with the lower bodies of snakes and the upper bodies of humanoid humanoids, slithered alongside ghastly dog-like beasts. There were countless monsters everywhere — And not even the surface of this world was reminiscent of Earth, with its crimson-black dirt and trees as gnarled and twisted as thorns and nightmares.
"Wha-what is this place?" Hazel sensed she was no longer on Earth. "Where the fuck am I?!"
Unfortunately, her outbursts garnered the attention of a herd of giant, tusk-possessing monsters at least 50 feet tall, massive and robust, armoured in hide tough enough to tank a barrage of missiles — They came running her way, at impossibly swift speeds given their sizes.
"Shit," Hazel muttered beneath her breath, heart racing as panic began to set in. "I need to get out of here. Come on legs. MOVE!"
Her legs refused to obey her commands quick enough, and, as she looked up, she saw a giant foot the size of a building, coming straight atop of her. It was gonna squash her to paste, she just knew it. Shielding her face from the inevitable end, she mentally braced herself for the experience — An experience that she, by some twist of fate, never received.
GASP!
As the sensation of her dream self disappeared, she found herself gasping awake, sweaty and heart racing. She found herself awoken to the setting sun sinking below the horizon as depicted behind the curtains of her window.
There was only one thought going through her head, though, and that one though was…
"What The Hell Was That?!"