Worrying about strangers that I knew I would never meet was not unusual for me or most of the people I knew that watch TV or use the internet in one way or the other.
But that time around it felt real. I wasn't just sending my empathy only to forget it the next moment.
I had only known Sky and Hassan for hours maybe but watching them as life drew farther and farther away from them wasn't pleasant at all. It felt as though I was staring at my death's door as it came closer.
Surviving there would definitely be impossible without them; this fact was evident by what had happened already.
As I looked at her and watched as her expression turned from confusion to 'searching for answers around' and then to a pure look of horror I wondered why she suddenly jerked upwards and fell on the ground.
That was when I remembered that I was still in the terrifying creature's point of view.
From Sky's point of view, she woke up to see a strange creature that was terrifying as heck and so that was a totally normal reaction.
'Hey. It's me, Jess.' I tried to say but the words only came out as thoughts and Andy let out a short growl making the situation even worse than it was already.
Sky was on the other far end of the room pushing her back strongly against the wall as if she wanted to be swallowed by it.
At that moment there was no other way to calm her down than to leave the creature's mind.
'Leave the creature's mind? How could I even do that?' I thoughtÂ
I had no idea how I was able to shift minds or even why I was able to shift minds, but I didn't have to wonder for so long.
In a matter of moments, I was in the vast darkness and then back in my body. That was the strangest thing I had ever experienced.
The pain in my right leg was still there. Before leaving my body to Andy's it didn't feel as excruciating as it did when I returned to it.
Maybe I had gotten used to the pain then and completely forgotten about it in Andy's P.O.V.
There was also a new pain; in my shoulders. It might have been due to the fall I had earlier when my mind transferred to Andy. It was nothing next to the pain in my right leg.
'Time to regain mindfulness: 5 minutes '
That was what a floating rectangle said. Something was trying to remind me...
No, not something but some people; some organizers of this madness. And somehow I understood what they were trying to say.
It was a warning that in five minutes I would be dealing with something worse than a frightened girl; a terrifying creature that wasn't supposed to exist.
"Hey, Sky! It's just me Jess!" I said as I stood carefully leaning on one of the carts for support.
The pale girl had somehow gotten even paler than she was in the wooden cart as she stared at the terrifying creature lying motionless on the ground.
"Please you have to understand! I don't have any time to waste explaining things again and again." I said also wasting time that I didn't want to be wasted.
Panic was beginning to set in, almost drowning the pain from the injuries I had gotten.
There was no way to face that monstrosity if it woke up.
Andy waking up will mean our death in a matter of seconds without us even realizing that we were struck. The only thing faster than Andy was my mind transfer and I didn't fully understand it so I wasn't going to try to find out how fast the mind transfer was compared to Andy's speed.
"I have this ability where I could transfer my mind to weird creatures like that one and I know it sounds crazy but everything here is and In four minutes it will wake up and kill us all if I don't get my mind back there. Please understand or we are all going to die! "
I had never spoken as fast as I did. The last statements seemed to immediately change her mind.
With everything weird that had happened, it wouldn't be so hard to convince someone that you have mysteriously acquired a strange ability.
She wasn't trying to create a huge distance between her and the rest of the room and was a little bit relaxed with the usual undertone of restlessness and fear. That was what I was aiming for.
"So, where are we?" she asked completely forgetting that there wasn't enough time to be wasted.
"I don't know but this place is filled with creatures like that... Some of them are even more deadlier than this one."
" We got attacked by one of those things," Sky said as she walked towards Hassan to feel his chest.
" I want to kill the strongest of them" So many questions filled my mind. Questions like 'How did we get attacked?' 'Why were you out cold for long? ' 'Do you know why Hassan is still out cold? '
All these questions seemed trivial at the moment and deep within my mind my plan seemed like the dumbest mistake.
"Why would you want to do that?" Sky asked her voice rising more than it was the whole time, distracting me from my confusing thoughts.
"I'd like to create a distraction. Maybe killing the top creature will cause that. And we can find a way to escape"
"We already have an escape plan right here. "
"What?"
"The creature... All you have to do is to walk out of here with a wooden cart, with us in it covered in whatever these things are.
There's nothing suspicious about that. Who knows if you'd survive the fight with the strongest creature? "
Somehow after a few fast-paced conversations with Sky, I gained new wisdom about how risky and stupid my plan was.
Earlier on I had thought of doing what Sky said but it didn't seem like it would work. There were many variables.
Then again facing off a creature supposedly a thousand times stronger than Andy was foolhardy; something only an unintelligent and stupidly brave creature or person would do.
'Time to regain mindfulness: 2 minutes 4 seconds '
Looking at Sky again, I was filled with a momentary sense of warmth. I never thought I'd ever be glad to just be with another human...