Rows of lights in the ceiling burned my eyes. Giants stood over me, dressed in lab coats, protected by masks. They were all pale and bald. Witches.

I wasn’t in any pain, surprisingly. I was dressed in a hospital gown, and my hair was brushed and cleaned. I felt renewed, and healthy.

“Ah, you’re awake.” a Witch turned to me. She looked like the others, but she had pale green eyes. Her co-workers turned towards me, all seemingly happy to see my awakening.

The first Witch spoke again.

“So you are a Human,” she said, reading from a note-pad, “But you have a disease. A virus. Nothing I’ve seen before. It seems like a brain tumor, but I can’t say much because your species is entirely new. You seem to be female, and a child, maybe twelve years old, in your years.

“You have no trace of Mardaug or Personio blood. You’re a completely different creature. You seem to have similar body parts to Witches, but you are adapted differently, and your lifespan is different.

“Human, tell us about yourself: Where do you come from, How did you get here, what are you?”

I was at a loss for words. I came from a hospital I didn’t remember the name of, I was a Human as far as I knew, and I just woke up here, like every other time.

It seemed I’d paused for longer than I’d thought, because the Witches were getting impatient. One came forward.

“Hurry up and tell us,” she ordered, “Or we’ll do this the hard way, which could end with you being very unhappy, both mentally and physically.”

I had no intention of getting on the Witches bad sides, or finding out what bad things they could do, so I asked a reasonable question.

“What do you want with me?”

She hesitated, whispered to the others, then turned back to me.

“We are Witches. Mardaugs. One day we will rule over all other species, but we will not get there by killing pitilessly. We will get there by science.

“Animus is full to the brim with uncontrollable magic, which we want no part of. We will rule this world by science. We will find out all species’ weaknesses, and conquer them.

“So, Mariel (we found out your name through a recent memory scan), we want to investigate your-interesting-species, in order to conquer it as well.”

I paused, knowing I should respond, but couldn’t think of what to respond with. But the Witches had no patience.

“Back to our question.” One said.

So I told them, again not wanting to be on their bad side, my story. From when Rachel died until now. Why I was telling them, I had no idea. Something about them just made me want to do what they asked. Like a spell, or a power.

All the time they nodded along, taking notes in their language, and occasionally whispering to one another. When I finished, the first one who had spoken said:

“Well, Mariel. That tells us a bit more than what we found out. Good, good.” she turned to the other Witches, and whispered something in her language. A few questions and comments were raised, and when they finished the attention was back on me.

“More operations must be done on you, Mariel. You have two options: do what we say, and you might be released when this is over, or disobey us and when we’re done you will be terminated mercilessly. It’s up to you.” the same Witch spoke again. She seemed to be the boss.

“What are you going to do to me?” I asked shakily.

“We’re going to explore your insides, put it that way. But no worries, Human, for you’ll be asleep, and only when you wake up you’ll feel pain. But if you’re good now we’ll give you some medicines that will put you at ease.”

What would I do? My best option was probably to do what they said, and I’d be free later on, but what if Witches were liars? What if at the end of whatever I chose, they killed me? But they said they didn’t kill. . .but they told me their plans! Or maybe those weren’t their plans, or everyone knew that, and they just wanted to gloat.

Even if I asked them, they could be liars. I was back to square one. So what was my best option? Escape or obey? Fight or be operated on for the millionth time? What should I do?

The Witches were impatient creatures, for they were anxiously twiddling their long, elegant thumbs, tapping on the bed, muttering, rolling their eyes, waiting for me to do something.

“We have scheduled the operation for 2:00 p.m, in your time. So hurry up, Human.” the boss said, holding in her frustration.

Another minute passed.

“If you need help to decide, I suggest you just do as we ask. A healthy patient is always more likely to survive.” one of the Witches said; I couldn’t tell which.

Even if I chose to escape, I had no way out. I had to do what the Witches said.

I nodded, and they all seemed to know what that meant.

“You made the right choice, Human. You will feel minimum pain.”

They gave me a sour pill, put a mask on me, and soon I was fast asleep. Unfortunately, it wasn’t dreamless.

White. That’s all there was. I looked down, and didn’t see myself. Somehow I knew that I was not a physical thing, in this dream. I was just a soul, floating in endless white. But I didn’t feel like I was floating, I felt still, empty. But all the same I felt anxious, worried, scared.

“Mariel.” an anonymous voice called. I didn’t answer. I was too afraid, even in this supposedly calm state of mind.

“Mariel.” It repeated. Reluctantly, somehow knowing this was important, I answered.

“Hello?” I called into the empty space. There was a slight shimmer before me, like the air itself was bending. It was like a watery mirror.

“Mariel, it’s me, Karym.” the voice continued. It was monotone, making it hard to believe that its owner was Karym.

“How can I be sure it’s you?” I asked suspiciously.

“You can’t. You just have to trust that it’s me.”

Another shimmer in the air.

“Is that you?” I asked.

“Yes. But I can’t take my form in your dream.”

“How are you in my head, then?” I asked, not noticing I was dreaming, even after she’d said it.

“Because I’m dead.” She paused, and then, “When Personios die they have two days to themselves. They can make calls into people’s heads, but if that person fights it then you can’t speak to them. We can also visit people, but they won’t see or hear us, only we can see and hear them.

“But when Mardaugs die they only get an hour alone, with the same rights as us.”

“So you’re dead?” I asked, and in my dream state I felt no sadness or surprise.

“Yes. I couldn’t handle the heat. But I feel better now. I feel free. I’ve met lots of others who are newly dead, like me, and I’ve met many other creatures. I like it here more, for sure.”

“So why did you call me?”

“Because now I know more about Personios and Madaugs. I always knew that Mardaugs were bad and Personios were good, but now I know more. I don’t know how to explain it. But what I wanted to tell you was to not trust Mardaugs. They are liars and cheaters, and most of them would do anything for power. Even some Personios are evil. But that’s rare.

“I just wanted to warn you. You see, here we can kind of see glimpses of the future. It’s because when you die, if you were a Personio, good or bad, you change worlds depending on what you did in your life. In the world I now live in, we can see bits of the future.

“Now, I can’t tell you much of what I saw; I’d be stopped before I even knew I was going to say that. But I can tell you this: You shouldn’t be in Animus. But you have a purpose there. LIke-like you're a part of it, or it’s a part of you. Even I don’t understand it fully. But you’re not supposed to be there, but you being there was meant to be.

“Now, I know this sounds crazy, but you have to hear me out.”

I felt no emotion at this, but I understood what was going on. But even dreaming, my sense of curiosity was still there.

“How do I get back home?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I’m honestly not sure if you’re supposed to go home at all.”

If I were awake, this would have knocked the breath out of me. But nothing happened here.

“Mariel, I have to go soon.” Karym announced, “You’re waking up. But I can only visit you once, so our last goodbyes are now.”

“Thank you for being my friend, Karym.” I said to the monotone voice that came from nowhere.

“Thank you for the chance to leave the Elf society. I’m much happier here.” responded Karym.

The white around me shimmered, and tore away like paper. I was in the hospital I grew up in. No, this couldn’t all have been a dream!

But then I realised that the hospital was the dream I was supposed to have, that Karym had intercepted.

And then that world melted away. My last thought before waking up was a sad one.

I lost Karym like I lost Buddy.