Chapter 10: This Is a New Feeling.
I wake up to the feeling of something not being quite right.
As my eyes flutter open, adjusting to the dim morning light filtering through the curtains, I notice them immediately.
My parents.
Standing in the corner of the room, their faces stretched into eerie smiles, lips moving silently whispering something I can't hear. Their eyes bore into mine, dark and endless.
Then, in the blink of an eye, they're gone.
I sit up abruptly sudden fear lacing through me, running a hand through my hair. "What the hell? Haha, great. I'm losing my mind now. Fantastic." I sigh, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. Maybe it was just a trick of the light. Or maybe getting three Marks made me a special kind of crazy. Either way, not worth dwelling on because that will only lead to actually driving myself crazy.
Stretching, I roll my shoulders, testing the way my muscles move, the way my body feels - refreshed, stronger, complete. There's an ease to my movements now, a power thrumming beneath my skin that hadn't been there before. The very act of standing feels effortless, like gravity has loosened its hold on me.
I make my way downstairs, feet light against the floor, every sense heightened in a way that makes the world feel both sharper and slower at the same time. It's weird. Good, but weird.
By the time I push into the kitchen, the scent of fresh bread and roasted meat hits me like a brick wall, and my stomach growls in response. I'm starving. But before I can even reach for something to eat, I notice the way the servants look at me.