~*Strange Happenings*~

Part three of "First Encounters" Enjoy! PS- these are all rough drafts. when the story is finished, I intent to go back and fix things/ make improvements, so if you have any thoughts, please leave them in the comments.

Ross awoke blearily to the blinding light of late morning, a moment of confusion engulfing her for a moment, the trappings of an unfamiliar room filling her vision as she squirmed up the cushions to get a better view. The couch she had woken on was situated against the back wall of a long room in which a number of peculiarities lay scattered about.  Directly in front of the cushioned bench, a large blank viewing screen strategically blocked her view of a third of the room. Above and behind its shiny black surface, the nagging yet cheerful sunlight spilled in from three pyramid-style windows. To the right of the laughably primitive piece of tech (How do I know that again?) she counted three doors, one of which she hoped led to a quick escape. At the far end of the room, a table and chairs stood on a patterned blue rug in front of a cooking station of sorts. Pushing a heavy but constraining blanket onto the floor, Ross readied herself to jump up and make a dash for the nearest door, but a clicking sound caught her ear, and, as she slowly rose from the couch, the sight of a messy brown-haired youth brought back the few memories she now possessed in an mid-boggling instant. The clicking continued for another minute or two while the disheveled boy sat at a desk, wedged between two overflowing bookcases, staring intently into a smaller viewing screen, as his fingers raced along at lightning speed over a bank of buttons and controls from which the noise emanated. Ross hadn’t realized she was staring, but he must have sensed her curious eyes for his fingers paused in their earnest quest and the boy, Alex she recalled, slowly swiveled in his chair to face her.

Ross attempted to disguise the awkward moment as she quickly averted her eyes to the intriguing pattern of the blue rug in the dining area of the room. She pointed in a feeble attempt to cement an interest in the rug and broke the silence, “Interesting pattern. What planet is that from?”

One of Alex’s eyebrows rose in bemusement. “Uh, Earth?”

“Oh. Fascinating. Good choice.” Ross was already regretting the rug diversion. The look on Alex’s face clearly stated that he thought it an absurd subject.

                “Okay,” he said, “Well, are you hungry? I already ate but there are tons of leftovers. I usually cook for myself and my flat mate, but he’s out of town for a week and old habits die hard, so…”

Finding the room a bit chilly, Ross grabbed the blanket off the floor and wrapped up in its still warm loveliness. Considering his proposal of food, she discovered that her stomach was practically screaming at her for something substantial. “Actually, that is the best idea in the universe. I am starving.”

“Knew it,” he said and stood, gesturing for her to follow him to the far end of the room. “plates are up there” he pointed to a cupboard, “I’ll get your food from the fridge.” He opened the door on a large white box and produced a bowl of an odd-looking mixture. “Scrambled eggs with sausage and veg.” he explained. “Oh, and there’s the microwave and silverware drawer. You can eat wherever, just don’t make a mess.” He turned to go back to his previous distraction, but three steps in he turned back. “And, sorry if I seem a bit occupied, because… well, because I’m a bit occupied, really. I’m at a critical point in my, um… paper, and I can’t stop until I get past it. Just so you know.”

“Okay, sounds good.” Ross thought it a bit odd that he would need to clarify this but didn’t ask as she reached for the knob on the cupboard door. Pulling her selected plate from a stack, the departing clay disk disturbed a gaggle of glass cups, and, almost as if time itself slowed to a crawl, she watched as one of them teetered on the edge of the wooden shelf then cascaded gracefully down only to shatter into a mess of pointy shards on the counter below. Somewhere between trying to catch the doomed cup and shielding herself from the blast of glass missiles, one of said missiles succeeded in slicing open her right palm. “Ah, Rassilon’s rod!” she cursed, wondering where exactly the choice of words came from, as a stream of blood trickled down to her fingertips. Alex, about to settle into his chair again, heard her cry and rushed back over, nearly tearing his jacket off as he ran to use as a makeshift bandage.

Before he could yet again try out his limited first aid skills, an odd familiarity stopped him dead in his tracks. He and Ross stared in amazement as the same golden energy that had exploded from the injured woman only earlier that morning began spewing and swirling out of Ross’s cut palm. Yellow-orange dust surrounded her hand, and in a matter of seconds it was gone and where the deep gash had been only moments ago showed perfectly renewed skin, a few drops of blood still clinging to her fingers the only evidence of the injury. Ross continued to stare in wonder and slight horror at her miraculously healed hand, Alex slowly backing into a chair and sitting down. “…Holy crap,” he finally said, an insane idea forming in his head. The woman was injured. Ross was injured. The same thing happened to both of them, only on much tamer this time. What if Ross was the same woman who he had rescued from the space craft? Perhaps her kind, whatever she was, could rapidly heal, even change their whole body if they were hurt badly enough.

Ross spluttered before attempting to speak again, “I—I—I … I don’t, um… I don’t know what just happened.” She held her hand out as if it might spontaneously combust at any moment. “Alex, what’s going on?” A hint of fear slipped into her voice as her forehead wrinkled in worry.

“I’m not sure, but I think I have a theory.”

Half an hour later they were sitting in the corner of an artsy coffee shop talking in hushed voices about the events of the morning and the possibility that she might be a bit different from the ordinary person. “Hang on. Are you saying I’m an alien?” Ross glanced around to make sure no one had heard.

                “I don’t know. Maybe? Well, probably not… I mean, aliens don’t exist, right? Has to some other explanation.”

“But, Alex, you said that the woman you saved sort of exploded with that same energy and then I took her place, but people can’t just trade places like that without someone noticing. So if I am her and she—I crashed in that space ship thing, maybe that’s why my memory’s gone. From the shock of the crash. That or from the… change. And, what do you mean, ‘aliens don’t exist’?” She shifted uncomfortably in her seat and took another bite from a cheesy bagel. Somehow she still felt hungry, despite having already eaten three.

Sipping his coffee, Alex’s eyes lit up with another idea “Or maybe it’s government testing. You know, missing people really being used as scientific experiments. Wipe their brain and they never know where they’ve been or what they’ve been doing.” He sat back and nodded as if he had just solved the mystery. Ross however was not convinced in the slightest.

“Oh, come on. Now you’re just being absurd. What kind of government would have that kind of technology? I gather that this is no common occurrence on this planet, yes?” Without waiting for an answer she went on. “Well, then, apparently I’m something different. A different species, if you like. The only question is, what. And how did I end up here?”

Alex boggled at her for a moment. “Okay, except that’s impossible… isn’t it? I know there’s something a bit odd about you, but you certainly look human.” He took another sip and nearly choked  as another brilliant idea swam into his mind. “Oh, My god! What if you’re a mutant and the healing thing is your super power!? Like in X-Men!” Her response came in the form of a blank face and two raised eyebrows. “…What? …it could happen.” He said trying to hold on to the little credibility his argument possessed.

“Okay,” she said spreading cream cheese onto the other half of the bagel, “so, thus far what have we come up with? Alien species from a distant planet or galaxy, a subject for a top-secret scientific test sanctioned by the government, and a mutant who somehow comes with a package deal of super powers. Are those our brilliant ideas then?”

Before he could answer, the door to the café opened with a jingle as his two friends Devin and Paul made a beeline for their table, only slowing when they saw Ross sitting across from Alex. “Ah, crap.” Alex muttered under his breath and stared into his coffee. How had he forgotten about café breakfast on Saturdays? Well, considering all that had transpired this morning, it really shouldn’t surprise him. The new arrivals faltered for a moment before sidling up to the table, fixing Alex with pointed stares that seemed to ask, “You have company? And we don’t know about it? And it’s a girl?!”

Alex stared back just as meaningfully trying desperately to convey that now was not the best of times. One of them, the taller of the two with a mop of blonde hair which kept falling into his grey eyes made a “What?” face at Alex and spoke, “Okay, dude, can you stop looking at us like that and introduce us to your, um… friend?” Alex accepted defeat as they crammed into the booth next to him, practically smashing him to the wall. Devin, who qualified as blonde in both senses of the word and just as reckless and blunt, chuckled gesturing over to Ross. “So, you’re the new girlfriend, huh? Thought he’d never recover from that thing with April.” Ross tried to smile but was too confused to have much success.

“Um, hello, I’m Rosslinchaequentenoa?” The introduction sounded more like a question than anything else.

“Wohoa! No kidding?” He nodded reverently as if she’d just told him she was a wise shaman then gave her a blank look. “You’re a what now?”

Alex let out an exasperated sigh, “Ross these are my demented friends Devin” he gestured to the confused blonde, “and Paul.” Paul, dark-haired with glasses and wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, gave her a shy wave and a mumbled hello. Alex now addressed them in an attempt to clear up the confusion. “Ross is just visiting for a while, and she is not my girlfriend… Oh, and just so you know the ‘thing with April’ was never a big deal.”

Paul nodded unconvincingly, “Uhuh.”

“Okay… so you’re a ross-lincher-what?” Devin still looked pathetically confused.

Ross smiled pityingly at him and said, “My name. You know what? Just call me Ross. Everyone else does.” She paused, now confused herself. Who was everyone? The only person that she recalled using that name for her was Alex, and she hadn’t even known him for very long. “At least I think that’s what everyone calls me…” She knew that somewhere in her mind was hidden the memories of a whole life before this morning. But where was it?! She could feel the shadow of the past baring down on her, but no matter how hard she tried to drag it into the surface and into the light, any vague clue would just slip into another dark corner, like something in the corner of the eye that disappears every time you turn to see it. I wish I could remember already!

Devin went on not seeming to notice her odd moment. “Yeah, awesome. If everyone calls you that then I’m good with it too.” He shifted his attention back to Alex, “Um, so, we were going to tell you about this party thing up the mountain tonight,” his eyes slipped briefly back to Ross, “but, you know, if you’re busy, I understand.” Paul elbowed him in the ribs.

Alex narrowed his eyes slightly and curtly replied. “No I’m not busy, and neither is Ross, and I’m sure she’d like to come. Ross?”

Ross wasn’t sure why they were getting so snappy but didn’t bother to ask as much bigger questions were on her mind. “Yeah, why not? I’m not busy, like he said.”

Devin’s face broke into an insane grin, “Okay, awesome. Yeah that’s great. Well, hey buddy, I sent you the info on facebook, so whenever you want to come up is cool.”

At last the timid Paul spoke up. “Yeah, well, it was really nice to meet you Ross, but uh we have things to do, so…”

“Oh, dude, you are so right.” Apparently Devin had just remembered something important. “All right, catch you guys later. We’ve got to run.” Ross watched as Alex’s two very odd friends quickly shuffled out of the booth, unpinning Alex from the wall, hurried to the exit and hopped on two wheeled transport contraptions and rode off into the city.

Alex watched until they turned out of sight then let out a puff of air. “I hope you don’t mind going to this party. They’ll never get off my back if I don’t go and end up spending the night alone, erm… with you.”

“Odd thing to be upset about,” Ross mused, “It’s not like I have anything to do anyways besides, you know, worry about who I am and such.”

Alex smiled. “Well maybe it will take you mind off it for a while.”

“I doubt it.” Alex pulled a small rectangular device out of his pocket. A glowing screen appeared as he tapped a few small buttons. “What’s that?” She asked. Though she had never seen a device like this, it seemed familiar.

“Hmm? Just my cell phone. Checking the party info on facebook.” After a moment he slipped the phone back in his pocket and stood. “We have the whole day. You want to see the town? Also we should probably find you some new clothes.” Alex had very politely asked his lady neighbor if Ross could borrow some clothing as her own were still mud stained and damp, and despite being a bit suspicious his neighbor had agreed.

“Only if you can find a way to keep us dry.” Ross cringed at the memory of getting completely soaked early this morning. The sky was mostly clear now except for a few mischievous clouds lurking around the horizon. “The thought of walking anywhere in the rain is not sounding very appealing at the moment.”

Alex lead the way to the dish drop bin then headed for the exit. “Hey, this is Oregon, and if there’s one thing it knows how to do, it’s rain. Trust me, we all know to have a few umbrellas on hand no matter what season it is.” Alex said as he opened the door. As he did, a cold gust of wind swept down the street, causing Ross’s hair to fly up into her face. Startled by the sudden onslaught of air and wild strands of crimson, she stepped into a patch of sunlight. The late morning sun nearly blinded her as it peered through the gaps of the tall, square buildings of downtown Portland, but she was too stunned to care as the view gave way to another image. It came and went in a millisecond, and yet the colossal city that flashed before her eyes was so real, so familiar, she knew it must be connected to her past. Towering spires, gracefully sweeping curves, balconies which appeared to have been grown from the walls, walkways and sky bridges at dizzying heights arcing gracefully from one tower to the next, a ruby red sky in which two fiery orbs blazed a rosy hue over everything, silver leafed vines determinately snaking their way up the finely carved architecture, marble statues shining in the suns, and the distant glint of shimmering forests and snow-covered mountains.

Ross held her breath as the afterimage faded from her retinas. Where have I seen it before? She desperately grappled at the image, trying to remember. Alex walked past her, figuring she was admiring the city immediately in front of them. “Really something, isn’t it?” he said looking up at the skyline.

“Yeah” Ross said quietly, though referring to an entirely different, more majestic city. Alex glanced back to find her standing stunned, eyes wide and staring, and mouth slightly agape. She looked  as if she had just found out what it was like to be hit in the face with a brick. Sure, the city was pretty this morning, but not that pretty. He cleared his throat noisily in an attempt to snap her out of whatever trance she had fallen into. Blinking, she slowly lowered her eyes to where he stood in front of her. “Ross,” Alex could tell she was only half listening to him by the distant look in her eyes, “what’s wrong?”

Ross shook her head, trying to focus on the present and what Alex had just said. “I saw… a city.” Sighing Alex nodded bemusedly and pointed at the buildings behind him. “Yes, very good, Ross” he said in a tone that bordered condescension, “that is a city.”

“No, but---” she tried but was cut off.

“So where first? Shopping for clothes or Voodoo Doughnuts? If you choose the doughnuts, you have got to try this bacon maple bar. Wow. You’ve not lived till you’ve---”

“Alex!” she nearly shouted at him. Unless the conversation was redeemed, she feared the image of the glorious city would slip away and be lost once again.

“Alright, if you want to go shopping, we can do that first, but if you consider---”

 “Just shut up a minute and listen.”

Now he was confused “…Okay. Um, what…? Did I say something?”

“That” Ross said pointing at the building “is not the city. I mean it’s not the one I saw. What I saw was… it was” she grappled for the words “Well, it was huge to begin with. It had buildings that could easily miniaturize these. And the sky was different, it was…” already she could feel the image receding into the shadows. Like watching an artist work on rewind. The colors would go first. Then the fine line and detail would fade until all that’s left is blank canvas. She closed her eyes, hoping that blocking out distractions would bring it into focus. Sure enough the image with its spires and balconies flew back to front. “Red! The sky was red.” She opened her eyes to an even more confused Alex.

He opened his mouth to speak but closed it again as he wasn’t quite sure what to say yet. He turned to the buildings then back to Ross. “Okay… explain please.”

“A scene from my past just flashed before my eyes. Looking at this one must have triggered it. Pulled it out of my memory.”

“Is it possible you could have imagined it?”

“I’m not that imaginative, and with all the strange stuff that’s happened today, do you really think it could be that easy.”

Alex nodded thoughtfully. “Okay, you’ve got a point there.”

If only there was a way to preserve it. I can’t let it slip away. Then an idea hit her. “Alex do you know anyone who paints?” If the memory wouldn’t stay in her mind, she would make sure it went somewhere else she could see it. Ross hoped she had been artistic in the past. She was about to transfer thought onto canvas.