Kendra looked at him in confusion. Her mother is just her mother. But she had to admit that lately, she had that strange feeling around her. What is it?
''Yes, she is. Now may I ask you a few questions. What is wrong with me having a kind, lovable, silly mother? Why could you tell I was... cultivator? And what worms are you talking about?'' She touched her wound and saw just a red scar and nothing else.
''You are it seems under the impression she is your mother, but trust me on this, you aren't. I can tell as I have some light powers as well. And the worm you can't see or feel as they probably numbed your sensors. The spot you are touching now is complete without scars and I can feel the creature's energy. I think it was implanted not long ago and its duty is to give you hallucination of the good life.'' He pointed ta her eyes.
''But if that is true, then what about you? How can I accept your words if everything is a hallucination? Your logic is quite weird.'' Kendra looked at him while pointing at obvious.
The man nodded. ''Understandable. I think it is as it was implanted shortly. Maybe a few weeks ago. And the worm has no consciousness yet. So it cant stop you completely from seeing normal stuff and talking to normal people. Or it would have stopped you to talk to them.'' He started pacing and then stopped. ''That organization... Go to them. They would definitely fight this. It seems that you were approached on purposE by that woman. If you have a mother, I fear that they took her away to replace her with this person. You need to call the organization and tell them about all this. There is a phone, hurry. I will watch the door.''
Kendra could see his face covered with cold sweat as he peeked through the window. She calmly called the number and an older voice answered. ''Yes?''
''Sorry Elder for calling you, but I have just a strange situation here. There is a man that is talking about some worm in my body and some hallucination. I don't know how to react.'' She was truthful with her words.
''Where are you?'' His voice became a pitch louder. ''Quickly, give me the man on the phone!''
Kendra turned around and called him. ''Uncle, Elder wants to talk to you.''
He rushed to the phone and explained everything in a few sentences.
Kendra could hear Elder telling him something but couldn't hear what. After he put down the phone his face became serious. He glanced through the window and looked ta her. ''Smile. Your mother is coming. Elder will send people here. Don't let her get ideas.''
Kendra rolled her eyes and smiled. ''Whatever.'' She looked at cute pink dreamcatcher as her mother came in. ''Mother, look. This is cute. Can I have it?''
Her mother nodded and smiled. ''Of course. But why pink?''
Kendra shrugged. ''I have no idea. It's cute. I saw the others there as well. But they were not this cute. Look even pink pearls and feathers are on it.'' She pointed at the few things that were attached to the dream catcher and smiled.
''Fine. Pink it is. Shall we eat something now? I am starving.'' She patted Kendra's hair and now she understood something. Now she understood what was wrong. The touch was no more warm and her favorite color...
Kendra lowered her head as coldness spread through her body. If this is imposter, where is her mother? She needs to calm down and not let her become suspicious. She held her hand and smiled cutely. ''Hmmm. I am hungry as well. I saw diner not far away. Can I have a hamburger and fries? And pancakes?''
She saw her mother smiling brightly. ''Sure. Let us eat some proper meal for many days. I got sick of all the green fodder.''
At that moment Kendra knew that she was for sure not her mother but still smiled brightly while in her eyes coldness appeared. ''Let's go, mother. I am sure you must be starving.''
The woman couldn't see any difference but the man stepped back as he felt coldness suddenly spreading out this child's body. Such a cute smile but such ice eyes. That woman, no matter who she is, is doomed as it seems.
As they ate she enjoyed the hamburger and fries but felt woozy after while, so she excused herself and went to the bathroom. She opened a shirt and concentrated on the shiny things that were floating in the room. One of those came closer and she stood up and pressed her chest to it. Suddenly a screech could be heard deep from her body and she felt nauseous.
She started puking and the big squirmy thing was lying in toilet water still screeching. But she pressed the water and it was flushed away. She washed her face and slowly looked through the door. Looking at the woman's face that stood there and showed bunch of food into her mouth, she knew that this must be 'mother'.
With soft breaths, she controlled her emotions and sat back at the seat. ''Are you ok?'' The woman just glanced at her and continue to eat like crazy person.
Kendra smiled and nodded while eating salad on the side. ''I am.''
The night fell upon the quiet place and just sounds of bugs and night animals could be heard in the stillness of the night. Kendra opened her eyes and smiled at the woman that laid on the big bed completely sprawled. The amount of alcohol she inhaled would have knocked an army of people but she still was on her feet. Just when she drank about the tenth bottle of tequila she felt a bit drunk and went back to the van.
A slight knock could be heard from outside. Kendra stood up fully clothed, opened the door and went out. The elder stood there and patted her head. ''How do you feel?''
''I killed the worm if you ask that.'' Kendra had a completely straight face when she said that making Elder change his expression.
''How...'' He was about to ask how when he saw her summoning a fireball. ''You know how to use your powers?''
Kendra nodded. ''The place you are sending me to is filled with cultivators as it seems. Isn't it better if I know the use before?''
He shook his head. ''That world is too dangerous. If you show your powers too early they might kill you in fear. Even tho they should actually protect cultivators. Listen. Your mother...'' He pointed at the van. ''She is not a bad person. All she did is giving you a good memory of happy days. Only bad thing is, you can't control the worm. Worm controls you. Those creatures appeared a few hundred years ago and almost killed half of the people on Earth. Greedy little things. We are fighting them for so long. Shortly we found out there are parallel universes and in one of them, the main culprit. The Big mother worm must exist. Your duty, like other people's duty, is to kill it and stop this insanity. Or our world will perish.''
Kendra nodded. ''I understand.'' She turned her head towards van and coldness around her disappeared while she sighed. ''Parents sometimes make bad decisions. I do not hate her. Let her live comfortably. f possible. Erase her memory.''
Elder nodded and smiled at her. ''From this moment on, I will erase yours as well. You will regain it when you are strong enough. Let's hope we will see each other again.''
Kendra smiled and suddenly darkness enveloped her...