Marina

Marina woke up with a start. Feeling for her bed lamp switch she bumps over her water bottle and lets out a scream. Switching on her light she looks around and finds no one around her. Her breathing still fast and uneven. Moving off the bed she cringes when pain shoots through her bones. “What the hell?” trying to get up again the pain subsides, and after a couple of seconds, she moved around like there was no pain at all. Frowning she looks at the clock and sees it is nearly time for her to get up anyway. Before running a bath, she decides to make a cup of coffee. Staring at it for a minute she thinks about the week that has passed. This has been the strangest week ever. First the dreams, then the craving for coffee but the constant quarreling with her inner voice has been non-stop. It is like she has changed into a whole new person, well voice.

Her inner voice has been with her since about her 12^th year but being a foster child, she never dared tell anyone about it. She was already being teased enough about her eyes being too big and she actually enjoyed having someone to talk to. At first, it was a bit weird when her inner voice would answer her back, but it was when they started fighting that she knew she was mad. She tried to ignore it for days, but she ended up feeling too alone so she decided that that was a part of her, and she would not change it for the world. Even her team of Seismologists have come to know her for talking to herself……a lot.

Sighing she rinses her cup and places it back in the cupboard. She was never one to leave dishes in the sink, not even a single cup. As a foster child, she learned to always keep her dishes clean, that way no one could force her to clean all the dishes. Looking at the clock, she jumps and runs to the shower. “see what happens if you are day-dreaming and guess what……mmmm…. You should have packed last night, now we are going to be super late…” and as if on cue her voice woke up and was testing her patience so early.

“Can you stop it? I know I, like me by myself, might be a little late. You are just here for the ride. It’s not like you have a body to show yourself….”

A loud growl and an image of a wolf with green eyes flashes before her eyes stopping her in her tracks nearly making her slip on the bathroom tiles. The image that she saw was the same as the image of the wolf that has been haunting her dreams for the last two nights.

“I will soon”

Those words left her ice-cold and for some reason, she looked into the mirror. The green eyes that were staring back at her were beautiful but cold. The green eyes that are now replacing her very own blue eyes are staring at her as if to warn her to be careful.

Only after her phone rang for the second time did she look away, but before answering, she looked back and found nothing out of order. She kept looking at herself in the mirror as she answered her phone, examining her face, waiting for those green eyes to pop out again. Only when she heard the familiar voice on the other end of the call did she turn away and forgetting completely what just happened.

“Mike, yes, hi! I am on my way. I should not be too long……” Before she could explain Mike, one of her seismologists, started talking very fast and she had to shout at him before he calmed down. After 5 minutes on the phone, she ran to her room and packed everything she would need for at least 12 days. She intended on going away for only 5 days, but Tyros just changed his plans causing her to change her.

On her 13^th birthday, she was taken in by a family who taught at the local school and had 3 boys. She didn’t have a lot of toys but loved doing experiments with the boys, It was when they did a project about volcanoes that she decided to become a volcanologist. Her interest was pulled to a volcano that formed almost 100 years ago and after her studies got a job studying it. Volcano’s formed over 1000’s years, but according to record, Tyros just popped up one day but has never made any significant movement and Marina was getting rather bored with it. Until now.

After a 5-hour flight and 2-hour drive, Marina was back in her tent going over the information she was given. In the last 24hours Tyros has gone from a completely dormant volcano to an on the edge of an erupting volcano. What was strange was that there was no ash present. The top of the volcano was opening at a very slow rate but was opening none the less. There were small tremors that got bigger and bigger with every blast that came out of the top. Almost like someone was trying to punch a hole through the top.

Marina pulled her hand through her hair as she walked out of her tent towards the mountain. That is when it happened. Tyros exploded and everyone just watched as a big ball of lava flew from the top of the volcano. Small streams of lava ran down the mountain, but then everything stopped. No more tremors, no more lava, no more volcano. Everyone was running around checking their equipment and rechecking it. They all came to the same results. Tyros had lost all and any indication of being a volcano. Now it was just a normal mountain.

It was Mike that asked the question that everyone should have been. What was that ball that shot out of the volcano and where did it land? A question Marina was now set on answering.