My eyes slowly opened as the room was full of morning light; I was thankfully relieved that no cryptic nightmares arose last night, given yesterday's circumstances. But my relief turned short as I began to look around my surroundings. I prayed that I would just wake up back to my original room, hoping I was somehow living through the IRL version of Inception. But shifting my head just a bit only to be greeted by the balcony slide door proved otherwise. For the first 15 seconds, my mind felt like I was home until my brain started working again. You know that feeling of waking up where your brain doesn't realize you're awake? Shortly after, I realize I'm still in this new room, staring directly into the TV screen before me as the little reflection it showed from its matte surface bound back. Waking up was the easiest part for me. It was having to deal with the fact that I didn't know what to do and why I was here that was the bigger issue. And more importantly, the fact that if I could even live here. An alternative life of mine was jarring to me, something only TV shows or those "manga" comics Stella used to show me could display, but living through was... How could anyone go through that?. What other things was I doing in this world? Who do I know? Do I have any other friends in my life? Hearing about Naser's… accident… tells me this world is a lot different in more ways than I can imagine. But isn't too far off from my own. Saving for humans not existing, of course… What about this band of the battle's thing Trish talked about? Did our band go big in this world? Do people here actually really like our music? Maybe I'll ask her later what's that about. I distinctly looked around my bed and found my phone sticking out from one of the pillows. I grabbed it, checking any notifications and messages that were sent Trish Sun 09:42 Hey… Morning... how r u? I click to reply to text her. "Hey… Feel a bit better from yesterday." "I'm Glad! ^_^ Do you umm… want to hang out with us. Me and Reed? " "I… Idk… "Oh…" "I mean… Maybe… Idk Trish everything just so…" "I get it. You just need some time…" "No I just… its hard…. Everything. Not just u. I'm trying to come to terms… You'll understand soon… I'll text you if ur still down for hanging out. " "Okay… I'll text you later then. Take of yourself plz *heart emoji*…" Even though I don't know this version of Trish that much… She is still my best friend and wanted to see if I was doing alright. Since yesterday's emergency meeting turned out to be disastrous, I need time to adjust to everything. Maybe even some distance for the time being. I still can't come to terms with... the incident at school… even when I try to put it out of my mind. I still can't stop thinking about the loud gunshots and screams…. My brother, Naomi, and Anon… The countless others… Could I ever come to terms with that? Knowing that I murdered and massacred people? Whether they believe me or not, they will never know how bad things really were… Could I even accept living with myself for what I've done? The sins I committed? My heart rate starts beating faster as my anxiety flares up, gripping my heart tightly even thinking about it. I… can't. All of this was because of me… I inhale deeply and exhale. I lift myself off the bed, stretching out my wings and muscles to let them finally work after a long nap. Maybe a shower is a good change of pace for once. … If only I knew where the bathroom was… Looking around this place, I noticed a drawer to my left on the other side of the bed. I walked towards it and began to look for anything worthwhile to wear. Here, I found a long white T-shirt and some undergarments, this could be good enough for the meantime. I walked towards my door with clothes in hand. Finding myself in the upstairs hallway, I worked on the logic of it being like my own home. So, if I'm right, the bathroom must be down the hall and on the left door. I approached it, opened the door, and was relieved enough to see a fully lavished bathroom. Though it was different from what I've remembered. After taking off my boots and garments, my body was now exposed to the elements. I turned on the shower first so as to not be blasted with sub freezing ice-cold water. After a few seconds letting the water warm up. I went inside. The warm water completely enveloped my body, hitting my snout and wings to wash out all day-old gunk out. It was nice finally being able to clean myself after the literal nightmare that was yesterday. The shower faucet sprayed warm water into the porcelain tub, the sound of water running off my body was prominent. I began to grab one of the freshly scented shampoo bottles and poured a nice little dollop into my hand. I started working around my hair as my hands and long silver hair began to foam. A nice smell of coconut filled the room as I scrubbed the best I could. There was a moment of thought where I began to contemplate to myself all the questions I had about why I'm here. Maybe some sort of test or challenge from a higher being? If that was the case then it explains a lot of things. But there's nothing to really indicate that being the case. Some type of purgatory? I didn't really pay much attention in church, so I don't know what constitutes for purgatory. Maybe even punishment? Well, I'm not being flailed alive by demons or in some scary lake of fire. It's not like they have warm showers in hell. Well, I don't know. Maybe there are warm showers of lava down there…. What about my room changing? I mean clearly, I was in my original room in the morning yesterday as if nothing happened, and I was suddenly given a completely different room right after I came back from the hospital, just magically out of nowhere. It's likely that room was from my alternative self. Either I've gone full schizo, or there's something more to it. None of this makes any sense…. Even then, how do I carry on? I know nothing of this world or the life I lived here. My friends, on the surface look the same, could be completely different. Naser seems to be mostly the same, despite how the incident of his wings changed... What about my parents? Are they the same? Could I even call them my parents? There must be a reason why I'm here. All of this can't be a coincidence or some random chance. Maybe that's the reason to continue forward, to find that reason. Maybe get out of this situation somehow. If I got here somehow, there must be a way back, right? I guess… I'll have to find out… I reached for the body scrub and poured a good portion of stuff. A hint of cucumber and mint I smelled from it and began scrubbing the upper part of my torso. Working around my arms as I rubbed the gel on my forearms and bipeds, next was the area was my breasts and abdomen, working down to my thighs and legs. Being careful not to heavily grind against the more… sensitive areas of my body… Next, I worked to both of my wings, being articulate to scrub my feathers as some loose dirt and grime could sneak in between the crevices. Once that was done, I worked up to the face. Letting the water wash away any leftover soap, I worked around my body to remove any remaining residue. After a good minute or so, I determined that all the soap was gone and finally turned off the shower. The bits of water drip off from my snout, hair, and wings as I open the curtains to see a clean white towel hanging from a rack. I grabbed a towel and began to dry my body off, ensuring no water was left on me. I grabbed the long T-shirt alongside the undergarments and started dressing up, draping over the long white T as it was long enough to cover almost my knees. I went to the sink, looking directly at myself in the mirror. I look around the sink to see a toothbrush holder containing two toothbrushes, some toothpaste of a brand I never heard of, and a soap bar on a soap dish. Now, the tricky part is which toothbrush belongs to me. Both were two generic-looking toothbrushes, one black and the other orange. Part of me wants to say that the orange one is Naser, but I wouldn't know for certain unless I ask him. Then again, there's a 50/50 chance I can choose the correct one… Should I ask? Maybe I should… Reaching my phone on top of the sink, I opened my phone and scrolled for the Messaging app. Scrolling through the various "Where R U?!" from the day before, I began texting him. Hey… awkward thing to ask…. Which ones ur toothbrush? After a minute delay, he begins to replay back Its uhhh the orange one Thanks… Figures… I grabbed the black toothbrush and applied toothpaste to it. After a few minutes of scrubbing, I rinsed my mouth with water and spat into the sink. From there, it was just routine hygiene from here on out. Mouthwash, drying my hair, brushing, lotion, etc. You know the deal. After my personal affairs were in order, I put everything neatly in the bathroom and returned to my room. In the hallway, I could see Naser just closing his door as I opened the bathroom door. He looked at me, an expression somewhat mixed between neutral and concerned. I didn't know what to say then, only waiting for him to say something instead of awkwardly walking past him without saying anything. At that moment, he spoke. "Hey… Morning…” Naser said "Uhhh hey…" I said... My mind didn't have words other than mixed emotions that plagued me. I didn't want to make the scene awkward, but… What should I say to him? "You doing better?" "Yeah… I just need to freshen myself up because of yesterday." "Well, at least you're a bit better now. I uhhh was gonna make some breakfast… If you want, I could fry something up…" he said while he placed his hand on his neck. I haven't really eaten anything yet at this point, but my mind wasn't thinking about eating right now. "Its fine. Thanks though." "You sure? I mean, after everything yesterday." Maybe something small wouldn't hurt… "Is there any cereal?" "Yeah! We do, I could pull you a bowl if you want." “Sure… Thanks…” His expression changed quickly because I agreed to get something to munch on. Seems that his concern for me runs deeper than I originally thought. We both head downstairs and back to the main hallway. I followed suit as we entered the Kitchen. When Naser approached one of the kitchen cabinets, he pulled out two bowls and placed them on the island countertop. I proceeded to check inside the refrigerator to find milk, and there I found a 2-gallon jug of milk besides miscellaneous condiments and other perishables, with a good quarter missing since it wasn't brand new. I grabbed it and placed it next to the bowls where Naser already found a plastic container box filled with color-assorted sugary cornflakes. I grabbed one of the bowls and plastic container, pouring the contents into it where Naser had already got two spoons out for me and him. He handed it to me, and thanked him for that. Opening the milk jug and pouring some into the bowl. Sloshing the cereal around with the spoon to ensure the cornflakes were fully incorporated with the milk. We both chowed down on some cereal as we awkwardly stayed silent. Only crunching sounds filled the Kitchen. I could tell he wanted to say something but didn't know how to conjure it without feeling he was poking around. Maybe I should break the ice? But then, yet again, what should I say to him? Without warning, he spoke again. "So… you got any good sleep last night?" "Sort of… Just got a few hours that's all, at least no coma induced nightmares this time." "Nightmares? "Yeah…" "What happened?" “…” I didn't want to relive the horrific moment when his dead corpse was trying to grab ahold of me. But it's better to talk about it than hold it in. "It was… weird… say the least… when I passed out. I was standing in sort of a black void where it looked like it expanded for miles. I walked around a bit till I found… a sort of memory. It was me and you or rather… the other you…" "What kind of memory?" "I… it was a bad day at school… it kept me up nearly all night that day, and I haven't really had anything to eat since the previous day so I went down to the Kitchen to get something to eat, warm up some dino nuggets and… I was thinking a lot earlier that day… We went to practice after school for the upcoming auditorium play, but… someone decided to mess with our stuff when we left our equipment in the music room. Both me and Trish found our bass guitars fucked up, strings cut and covered in ketchup and mustard, half of the cables for the audio equipment were snip to pieces, and Reed found his drum set tossed around and destroyed…" "Trish was so angry she practically went on a one-manned manhunt for anyone remotely involved, Reed was really bummed out but said he had a spare set of drums and cables back at home, so it wasn't a total loss. And me… I didn't know what to feel… I wanted to be angry, like I wanted to tear everyone responsible a new one, but… I wasn't… "I felt… torn... because they would do something like that… like if no one wanted to see us even. I always want to prove to everyone who doubted us wrong but… I realize at that moment… I felt as I will never amount to anything…" “…” "So I went home, didn't tell anyone what happened, and just went to the room." “… and then what…” "I was… preening." "O-oh…" "It was bad that day… nearly took a good chuck of my feathers too. I made sure to clean up so that Mom or Dad or you didn't get suspicious and stay in my room all day. When night came, I didn't sleep so I decided to make myself a late-night dinner. That's when you came down, to ask if I was alright when I was mindlessly staring at the microwave thinking about everything that day." "What happened then…" "I… told you to "fuck off". But you were just concern with me that's all… So you got Dad, he told me to throw the plate away and go to bed, and I didn't want to… We argue back and forth until he just grab the plate and threw it in the trash. That's when I just… went off on him… I scream and shout at him... at you… I just… couldn't take anymore. He couldn't take anymore of my shit, so he yelled back, threating to throw my instruments into a woodchipper if I didn't stop." "Dad said that?" "I mean… my dad, so I just left… whispered to myself that I hated him and went back to my room." “…” "So back in the void, it was like my mind was reliving that moment, afterwards I continued walking more into it, it got me thinking about you and the incident… Why you nearly died and your wings were like that. Convincing you as a joke that we could fly…" "I never forgave myself for that… but I never left your side after it happened, I slept beside you while in the hospital, nearly everyday until you got better, went to every physical therapy session even if I didn't need to go, but… I always felt… I deserved to be hated by you. But you didn't…" "So, I push you back the best I could. By pushing you away… I could… Make you stay away from me… As part of me still cared for you but… another side told me if I didn't… I was going to hurt you again…" “…” "And I did…" A subtle but noticeable tear dripped from my eyes. Trying not to cry, I wipe it away quickly. 'I did, this time It was permanent… I didn't want but… I didn't know why I did it…" His eyes suddenly looked down briefly, contemplating what I just said. "So… I got to the next memory, this time me and Anon." "The human guy right?" "Yeah… I invited him back home because finals were coming up and I asked him if he wanted to study with me. He did and so we went upstairs to my room, I didn't really care for studying at that point, so I just played on one of my guitars and I offer to teach him it." "I taught him a few chords and he was getting the hang of it. It got me in the mood to play a song I was thinking, but I never really showed it to anyone at that point. When I played it, it was like I'm revealing part of me I never shown to anyone in awhile …" "He loved it, and I hugged him at moment because it felt like if he was the only one who understood me… Who like me for who I was…" "I remember just crying at that moment when I saw that. Like I messed everything up, I had someone who loved me, who cared me… And I just… threw it all away…" "When I walk further… I saw someone… got closer and… it was Anon… he was covered in blood, I ran towards him and he was cold… I pleaded to stay with me, telling him I was sorry for everything. He whispered to me in a weak voice… tell me why, they died for what…" "Died for who?" "You… and Naomi… both of you were on opposite sides, covered in bullet wounds and blood… both of you came closer while you stuck out one of your arms. I held Anon to me and close my eyes… whispering myself… saying I was sorry… over and over again… And then…" "And then I woke up…" “…” Naser at that moment, couldn't really find words to say. Only his expression spoke for himself. It was like he was speechless. His eyes looked down slightly, and he tilted his head downwards. There, he had what he wanted to say. "I… I don't know it was this bad… All these stories, the way you felt for so long. I don't know what to say… I’m… sorry… for everything…” "I don't know either too. I don't know why I'm here, whether it this is going to be my new home or something like that. But I wished… I wished I could start all over …" Again, a couple more tears sneak along, but I had to pull strong. "Maybe… its not about starting all over. If everything you say is true then, you're here for a reason. Its… like I said before, you can't change the past no matter how bad things got, you can move forward and become better, you are who you are, we are our own choices. But… we can always choose to lead ourselves to a better future. So, all I could say is, no matter what, you're here and so am I. And I always be by you because you're my sibling, and I love you." “…” I lean closer to hug him as I grip his body so he does the same, trying my best not to let an avalanche of tears fall from my face, but eventually, a couple of them inevitably slip by. I promised I would be better for him, for everyone. … As we let go, we realized that the milk had already been combined with the cereal to make a slurry of semi-lukewarm soup. We have been talking for so long that we didn't know the cereal had already gone soggy. "Oh, umm.. I'll just clean up then." I said. "No, no I got it.." He takes the bowl from me alongside his, heading towards the sink to place the bowls inside. While he washed, I took the milk jug, returned it to the refrigerator, and headed back upstairs. As I walked towards the main hallway, something peculiar caught my attention. Something I haven't even noticed since being acquainted with my new home. A picture frame. But one that stands out from the rest. Two older pterodactyls standing side by side. A woman with Naser's color scheme, a greyish hue, and an orange-tipped beck. She had a long, sliver strip of hair running across her right side and fiery red eyes. Her attire was in business casual. To the left of her was a man with white hair with a similar scale color to mine's. Only that he had a black-and-yellow scheme going on for him for his crest and wings. He had lighter orange eyes than me and wore a business shirt and tie. Are these... my parents? There's a great possibility that it is, but... I'm not 100% sure. Maybe ask Naser probably? "Hey Naser?" I said. "Yeah?!" He shouted from the Kitchen. "Come over here for sec." A few seconds later, he was beside me. "Are these... our parents?" "Yeah... They are." I realize I haven't actually seen them. You would think they would be there immediately if their daughter was in the hospital. "Where are they?" "They're on a trip to Isla Nublar, you know work-related stuff." "Oh... How long have they been gone?" "About a few weeks. And another few more afterwards I think." "What's their names?" "Well... Our mom's name is "Sabah" and our Dad's is "Sabeed." "Wait, they're middle eastern?" "Middle what?" Shit. Pangea. Forgot about that. "Never mind..." "So... What do you remember... about your parents?" "Well, our or... my... Dad's name is "Ripley." And my Mom's is "Samantha". He's got more brownish scales and is covered in scars. He even has a chuck of his crest taken off." "Wow... Uh... What did he do to get them?" "Long story. Trust me. I'll save it from another time though." "And Samantha, she's like me. Only imagine more petite and with blonde hair." "And those were our parents from your memories." "Yeah. I'll explain more about them and Volcandra Bluffs. But... I'm just going to back to my room. Maybe get some more sleep..." "Well, okay then. I'm going to clean up a bit so.. get some sleep..." I nodded and walked towards the staircase and back to the upstairs hallway. Back in the room now, I got a notification on my phone. It was some sort of group chat under the not-so-subtle bold capitalized letters that spelled out "DINOGANG". Clicking and opening my messaging app, I assumed this was how we talked to one other. Stella "Hope ur doing alright up Fang.... *heart emoji*" Trish "I texted them this morning, seems they need some time to rest..." Rosa "I hoped they're doing alright *Sad dino emoji face* Sage "*Sad dino emoji face*" *heartbreak emoji* Reed "Give it time. Fang just needs to get some space in the meanwhile." Trish "Hopefully we'll see them tomorrow at school." Sage "I'll make sure to bake a big batch of my specialty cookies just for them!" Stella "Wellness Cookies! Yum!" They all seem to care very much. Seems this world's Fang had people that really liked and cared for her or... rather them, I guess... Shit... I completely forgot about school. Should I even go? This world's Volcano High is different from the one I went to. Well, better to keep up with the formalities than just simply say "fuck school" as much as I want to. Well, I guess we'll wait to see...