Chapter 2: The Wrong Body
266 Words
When Alice opened her eyes, she knew immediately—
Something was wrong.
The silence was wrong. It pressed in on her from all sides, thick and oppressive, broken only by distant echoes she couldn’t place. The air was heavier, thick with unfamiliar scents that clung to the back of her throat, earthy and sharp instead of sterile and clean. Stone pressed cold beneath her palms, rough and uneven, nothing like the smooth, polished surfaces of a hospital rooftop. Panic flared as she tried to push herself upright, breath hitching as her body resisted.
Her body felt… off.
Slower. Heavier. Each movement lagged behind her thoughts, as if her mind were issuing commands to a system that didn’t quite recognize them. Her balance wavered, knees buckling as unfamiliar muscles struggled to obey. The disconnect sent a ripple of unease through her chest, sharp and immediate.
This was not her body.
The realization struck hard, sharp enough to steal her breath. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears, too loud, too fast, echoing through her skull until it drowned out everything else. She looked down at her hands—broader, rougher, faintly trembling—and nausea rolled through her in a sickening wave.
This wasn’t shock. This wasn’t hypoxia. This wasn’t anything medicine could explain.
Before she could orient herself, footsteps thundered closer. The sound echoed harshly against stone, too fast, too deliberate to be imagined. They were coming from somewhere behind her.
A shadow lunged from the darkness—fast, aggressive, unmistakably hostile.
Her thoughts scattered.
No plan. No diagnosis. No calm analysis.
Only danger.
Instinct took over.
- Writer
