#adfdruidry

Chapter 7

Screams. Screaming. That's all he heard. It echoed in his head, shrill and unrelenting. More screams, the same screams. It hurt, pounded at his skull, crushing it, pushing in, pushing out. It was agony.

There were hands on him, but they seemed to quake. They gripped him harder, shook harder, and he could almost feel his brain rattle in his abused skull. The held such intensity, he wondered what for.

He tried to say something, to work his jaw into movement, but it was stuck. Already open. Struggling to close it, he found the wails dull as his jaw slowly fell closed. When his lips met, it turned to a rough vibration. Was he the one screaming?

A voice could be heard now, barely over the shrieking in his mind. It was familiar, a light in the darkness of screams and pain. Why was it so dark? His eyes are open, he swears. He blinks. Nothing changes. His vision is shrouded in black, a scream pushing against his throat.

What is wrong. Why can’t he see? Why won’t the screaming stop?

A muffled cry can be heard, so close to him. Yet it seemed far. As though it were underwater. Or he was? It was strange, like he was being pulled under into something, yet he could breath fine. Feel… fine. His mind was being pulled. It must be.

A whisper scratched at his ears, “What a treat this is, to have you here.”

It grated on his nerves, wracked through his body in an unpleasant shiver. The hands on his shoulder seemed to tighten, yet they felt farther than before. Each experience was conflicting, as if he were feeling things from two separate bodies. Which one was he in?

Another cry, this time more familiar, drawing closer. But wasn’t that the same voice? Who was it? He tried to focus on it, but it went quiet once again.

“I didn’t think we’d be able to meet so fast,” the other voice came back, crawling along his skin. It made him feel sick. Like his insides were being pushed and twisted, shoved aside for this presence to get through. To get to him.

He heaved, a choked noise that was something between a scream and a retch coming from him. The voice, the good one, came back stronger this time. In some twist of irony, the more the jarring utterances came to him, the more he was pushed back into reality. Or was he pushing himself back? To escape. There must be some irony there.

A hand caught his face, gentle yet demanding. His eyes strained, trying to catch onto any piece of detail. Blackness, blackness, blackness… there must be something. Where was it?

There. He squinted harder. It seemed far away, but there… some sort of spark. He tried to reach out, but his body didn’t move. Yet, it looked as though he was getting closer.

The feeling it gave off was familiar. But it was strange to see it. Why did it feel so much like what he just left? What was the similarity? Why could he see it?

Just as he had before, he tried to get a grasp on it, his… his mind stretching out. He brushed against it, and for a moment, he felt things in double. Unlike before, when he got himself stuck in the predicament full of screaming, this happened slower. Like he was meshing into whatever was there.

‘Calm down Tom.’

His body jerked, but a strong hand-- his hand?-- kept him in place. At the same time that he could see nothing, he could see himself. What was happening?

‘Tom, I need you to relax. This won’t get better unless you relax.’

Jitters were running through him, but he could feel his shoulders slack. Or were they his? Everything was too confusing.

‘I know just about as much as you. But Tom, you are in my head. At least, I think you are. I… wasn’t exactly expecting that.’

Your head? Whose head? How?

‘Mine. Nade? The person still sitting in this room with you as you try not to scream? You look like you want to keep screaming.’

How do I get out? How do I get in my head?

‘Um, think about going back? No, wait, that could be bad. Um, stop thinking? Block everything out? I guess at some point your mind would be drawn back to you.’

You don’t sound too sure.

‘Look, I’m pulling solutions from my ass, just, just try it.’

Tom made no reply. It wouldn’t help to. He could hear himself take a shuddering breath as he worked to block things out. The room still felt painfully loud despite the growing silence. Their hearts echoed like drumbeats in the quiet, refusing to be blocked out. So he focused on the mostly steady rhythm.

It was slow, it was halfway thunderous, but it was consistent. It didn’t stop. Sounds beyond that seemed to fade. He could feel his own eyes slipping closed.  

His breathing fell in time with each thump. Slow, easy movements saw him relaxing, settling more comfortably into the floor. For a few moments, he just sat there, listening.

“Tom?” Nade’s voice rang out, this time into the stillness of the room.

He peeked his eyes open, grimacing at the brightness that came with the action. Adjusting, he opened them all the way, getting a clear view of his companion.

Blinking a few times, he muttered, “what the hell was that?”

Nade let out a breathless laugh, “Hell if I know, it was scary at shit! You just randomly started mumbling and full on screaming man. When you opened your eyes they were all glazed over, unseeing. What the hell happened with you?”

The fledgling shook his head, “I was reaching out, like you said, and I felt something? And then I could have sworn I was in Alice’s house again, but there was some person… and everything went dark. I panicked. Did I get in her head?” His eyes widened, “I got into yours didn't I?”

“Hell if I know. That what it seemed like,” Nade sighed, before continuing, “We should stop for now. If you want to do anything with that, we’ll want Dianite here.”

He took a quick sweep over Tom, noticing the exhaustion lingering behind his eyes.

“C’mon, let's get you something to eat. There might be some good stuff to drink on hand, but you might prefer Dianite instead,” Nade finished, wiggling his eyebrows.

Pushing into his feet, Tom scoffed, “You’re just jealous.”

Rolling his eyes, Nade got up after him, taking care to make sure his friend didn't collapse.

~

Tom was happily munching on some tacos, in the strangely empty room when the first of the hungry clan members pushed through the cafeteria doors. An unexpected wave of noise hits his mind, making his head ache. He groans, rubbing his hands over his face, ignoring Nade’s concerned look.

Unlike before, he doesn’t feel the pull, doesn’t seem able to touch their minds, even as them feel as though they are brushing past his, almost as close as Nade’s. All that they convey is static.  Each brush gives a murmur of thought, but no one holds the connection long enough to even notice. He wonders if this is because he isn’t trying to get into their mind.

“Hey man, you aren’t looking too good,” Nade jumps in, disturbing his inner ramblings, “Do you want to head back up to see Dianite? It may help.”

Tight lipped Tom nods, having already given up on food. The constant wave of pointless sound, the subtle touch each mind that comes near, in whatever way they could possibly draw closer, throws off his senses. At one point, he may catch a glimmer of what someone sees, only to be caught in the snippets of someone else’s conversation, to then be forced to smell from someone else’s perspective. He could only imagine that what he was experiencing was what he had already seen and taken account of, but it seemed so… different from their view. As though the way other’s perceived things was inherently different.

Nade gently grabbed Tom’s arm, ignoring his startled jerk, and carefully guided him through the growing crowd. A few sent worried glances towards them, but the majority were either to enraptured in what they were doing, or simply assumed it was a side effect of such a recent change, to garner too much worry. The confusion and dizziness in Tom’s head didn’t lighten until they had made off into a quieter hall.

Letting the fledgling settle himself for a few moments, Nade silently led him towards the stairs. Though it was likely not the best option for a dazed being, it was a better option than going towards the elevator, where not only would they find more people, they could get stuck with a few in the elevator. Besides, it would be less weird carrying Tom up the stairs to Dianite’s room than into the elevator.

Once the duo found themselves in the stairway, Nade whispered to the younger vampire, “Are you feeling better now?”

Thinking better of simply nodding his head, Tom mumbled back, “Yeah, a bit. There was just… so many minds. That sounds weird doesn’t it?” He sighs, placing a shaking hand on the railing. “It’s like, now that I seem to have exposed myself to getting into people’s minds, I can’t stop? But, for some reason, I wasn’t pulled into their minds. I just got, I don’t know, bits of what they were feeling?”

He receives a shrug from his companion, as they climb the steps. The going was slow, the ache in his head forcing Tom to take it slow, the occasional dizziness making him grimace. It was a relief for both of them once they managed to make it to Dianite’s level, in which Tom had to sheepishly smile at Nadeshot, having not brought his key with him.

The older rolled his eyes, swiftly turning to go back down the stairs, so as to get a spare one, otherwise known as: Ask Furia for his. After what was a decently long time for a what he was tasked with, Tom could hear Nade return to the stairwell, trying to be quiet as he made his way back.

“He is rather bitchy today, I would say,” Nade said upon his return, “I wonder why.”

Tom gave him a shrug, having no answer for him. Nade just took that as a cue to unlock the door, holding it open for Tom to enter. Once both made it through, he turned to lock it once more, before following Tom, who had made a hasty retreat further into the suite. He wasn’t surprised.

When he made it into the room after Tom, he watched him curl up next to Dianite, a low purr coming from him. It was likely he didn’t realise he was purring. The Lord happily draped an arm over his lover, pressing a light kiss to his forehead.

“Did you have a nice time out, love?” Dianite asking cheerily, nosing into Tom’s hair.

The fledgling gave a quiet hum of confirmation, seeming as though his head no longer hurt. He did have a natural mental connection with Dianite, after all.

The Lord turned his head to look at Nade, “How are you today, Nade? I assume Tom didn’t because too much trouble?”

He shook his head, a small smile gracing his lips, “No Sire, we decided to help get some of that extra energy out by testing to check out his powers.”

The man perked up at that. “Oh, and how did that go? Has he displayed any pyrokinetic abilities yet? I don’t smell any smoke or burnt anything on him.”

Here, Nade paused.

“No, he hasn’t as of yet. Though, we did explore a bit into his special abilities.” He supplied his Sire, who gave him a raised eyebrow as a signal to continue. “We aren’t… too sure what it is. But something happened. After a rather, well, strange occurrence, in which I can tell you nothing about, since I have no idea what happened, Tom somehow managed to… get into my mind? It was strange, but we could share thoughts, and I felt as though I was sharing my senses with him. I don’t really know to what extent this goes, and have no idea what the power is.”

Dianite settles his back further into his seat, considering this. Closing his eyes, he sighs.

What a peculiar development.

“Thank you Nadeshot. Is there anything you need today, or are you good?” Dianite inquired, turning his focus back onto his older fledgling. It was his job, after all, to make sure his clan was in a good standing.

Nade blinked for a moment, before assuring, “No, I’m good My Lord. Thank you for asking though.” He smiled, admittedly happy that Dianite cared enough to ask. “I should go return Furia’s key. Tom seemed to have a bad reaction to being near a lot of people. He said something about how he could feel their minds brush against his, and it seemed to really take a lot out of him. All dizzy and dazed.”

He eyed the couple, before giving them a small smile, “Well, I leave you two for now. I bet you would like to have some nice alone time.” Sending them a wink, he strolled out, presumably to give Furia the key.

Dianite just mumbled against Tom’s hair, “Oh what am I going to do with you.”

Oh what indeed.