My name is Ophelia

Chapter 2

There is darkness inside my head and I am drowning in it. Suddenly my heart started beating again and my lungs brought in my first shaky breath. It is cold and I am covered in my own blood though I do not remember how I was wounded. My flesh is healed no longer bearing any signs of damage or of who I used to be. I have new arms, new legs new face and no memory of who I was. I am a new person a different person. I look around at the deserted street trying to find help. Nothing happened, it felt like the whole world was still and empty and I knew that no help would be coming for me. I know that I am expendable and that I only have one mission though I do not know how I will fulfil that mission. I know that I am not a fighter. As I looked over my new body I notice that I am short and built more for stealth rather than fighting.

I stand up on my shaky legs and start to walk. I have no idea where I am or where I am going. I feel a pull in the back of my mind compelling me towards some unknown destination. I have no choice and I certainly have no better options, so I walk towards the source of the compulsion. As I walk I start to feel better. The cold no longer bothered me and my body has stopped shaking. My mind has also calmed I start to feel a deep calm settle over me as my new identity started to form. New pathways opened up in my brain and a new identity was born.

I stopped walking in front of an ordinary looking building. The walls were clean and the grounds were neatly kept. It was the type of building people walked by every day without ever noticing. There were no lights on and the building didn’t look particularly inviting but I am not sure that I can feel fear, so I walked to the door. As I reached for the handle the door silently slid open to reveal a dark hall. I knew that there was no possible light source but I didn’t have any trouble seeing where I was going. The same compulsion told me where to go from here. I walked through deserted silent halls. The tiny hairs on the back of my neck sold on end and I started to feel uneasy.

I walked down several flights of stairs to a big iron door. I reached out a suddenly shaky hand towards the door. I touched the cold metal with my fingertips instinctively feeling the strength and weaknesses of the metal. There was no doorknob and I examined the door quite carefully trying to figure out how to get the door open. Voices from the other side of the door whispered to me in some strange melodic language. It felt like something out of a dream, if I can dream I am not quite sure that I have the ability to dream. It was more like a deep relaxing trance. My entire body felt the most relaxed it had ever felt, well I say that as creative licence because I don’t remember what has happened to my body in previous regenerations. My mind was also very relaxed and I seemed to forget that the door that I had really carefully examined and had deemed to be very strong and solid iron was well solid. Without hesitation I walked right through the door. It tickled a little and I was somewhat surprised that I was not hurt but I quickly dismissed that thought as the room on the other side of the door came into my view.

“There you are” came a voice from within the shadows of the room. That startled me out of my trance and I frantically looked around trying to find the owner of the voice. “I am over here my dear.” The voice said again and a soft glow eliminated the farthest corner of the room. As I turned towards it I saw to my utter surprise there was a kind looking old man sitting in an old leather armchair. He smiled at me and any Fear I might have had instantly vanished. He seemed so, I am not quite sure how to describe the feeling of complete kindness and calm that came from this man. For whatever reason deep down in my artificial soul I have sincere respect for this old man like I have known him since my beginning.

“What is your name darling,” the old man asked looking my blood covered body over.

“My name is Ophelia,” I said calmly knowing that wherever that came from was right. The name sounds so beautiful and when I said it, it felt so right. It’s like my heart recognised the word and just hearing my name in my new voice cemented my new identity. I am not whoever I used to be, I cannot remember them. I am Ophelia now.

“I am the Alchemist. I was the one to create you all those centuries ago. I am quite surprised that you have regenerated again this soon. Charlotte regenerated only nine months ago.” The old man said and then he hmmed several times before he got out of his chair.

“Um, excuse me, sir, who is Charlotte?” I asked. Man I am nervous. Why am I nervous all of a sudden? I don’t think I have ever felt like this before, or have I, damn I am starting to hate not being able to remember past regenerations.

“Charlotte was the name of your previous regeneration. From all the blood and damage to your clothes I would be comfortable saying that she died quite violently. She was quite a passionate fighter with a terrible temper and subpar people skills. She was a great asset to the cause and she will be missed professionally speaking but personally most people you will have to meet will prefer her dead and gone. Now let’s discuss a more cheerful topic.” He hummed for a moment then said, “Perhaps it would be better to continue this conversation after you have had a bath and got into some clean, dry and better fitting clothes.” He chuckled and I looked down in dismay to realize that my clothes were at least four inches too big on me and were completely drenched in my blue-black blood. The halter top that must have been at my best guess a green colour was slowly sliding down my too small frame to show way too much cleavage than I was comfortable with. My skinny jeans were no longer skin tight, they were baggy and like the top were slowly heading for the floor. My pants must have been the most destroyed part of my entire outfit. They were ripped and in places there was still something that resembled broken glass stuck in them, and if I had to say what colour they were originally I would guess the pants to be a white colour.

“That would be nice of you, if you have anything in something close to my size to wear I would be very grateful.”

“Oh come now Ophelia, of course I have something for you to wear I brought you here so that I can help you figure out who you are and set you up with money, a place to stay and most importantly your mission.” 

He handed me clothes that he assured me would be to my liking and showed me down the hall to a bathroom. I turned on the water in the shower and carefully peeled of my destroyed clothes. Due to my regeneration there was not a single scratch on my body, which I guess would have been weird to see considering the state of my clothes would suggest that my legs and torso would be severely damaged. Regeneration I would assume is always confusing. Anyway I sighed gratefully as the hot water washed my new skin clean. As I got out and looked at my reflection in the mirror above the sink I made the observations that I was incredibly small and pale. I put on the clothes and stood in front of the mirror analysing my new appearance with interest. You see I don’t think I know where my face came from or if I have always looked like this. The only thing that I know about Charlotte is what I have been told by the alchemist and of course looking at my pants I know that she was so much taller than me. I sighed as I wished that I was just a little bit taller. Oh, well. What did disturb me was that my body looked like it would last about ten seconds in a fight with a human and even less if it was a fight with a supernatural creature. Unless I have some superpower that will help me fight, I guess that it could be possible.

I finished making myself presentable and walked out and down the hall back to the alchemist, where he was still sitting exactly where he was when I walked in to the room. He appeared to be sleeping peacefully but as I walked in to the room silently, his old and knowing eyes opened. He smiled at me and if I had any doubt that magic existed that smile would have wiped away any doubts. His smile was kind and reassuring and left me feeling completely calm and free of insecurities. “Ophelia come sit down. I would of for you some tea but as you are not quite alive in the strictest sense. You physical body does not require food or drink to function properly.

I nodded and sat down. I could not have told you that what he said was true when I regenerated but as he said it I knew that it was true. My body was not human it had different needs and food was not one of them. Funny I didn’t even feel tired or in need of an energy boost. I should have been shaken or traumatized but I wasn’t apparently fazed by being killed and turning in to a completely new and different person. I guess that humans would not understand why I am not having panic attacks.

“What is on your mind?” the alchemist asked looking at me. He seemed to know exactly what I was thinking.

“I know that my purpose is to keep the supernatural world a secret but looking at this particular body I don’t think that it would survive the fight.”

“Ophelia” he said sternly, “This is not a war. We do not need to fight the humans. They are slow and easily lulled into a false security, and the supernatural community doesn’t mind following the rules. We have little need for fighters anymore.”

I looked at the alchemist in disbelief, not because I thought he was lying, I’m quite sure that the alchemist would not lie. I stared at him in disbelief because he just said exactly what I wanted to hear. Maybe it is what I needed to hear. To be honest I kind of doubted. “But sir, Charlotte was a fighter and you needed her.” I retorted not meaning to be as rude as I was being.

“We do need fighters but we don’t need an entire army. We need people skilled at deception and keeping our world secret and I believe that you have such abilities. I have a hunch that your powers will be much more special and better suited to the particular situation.” The alchemist said before abruptly standing up and walking to a small table that had a big leather bound book resting on it. He gingerly picked up the book as if it were incredibly delicate although to me it would seem that the book would be very heavy. He sat back into the chair and resumed his former position. There were so many things that I wanted to ask but I found myself oddly unable to speak. Every time I figured out the perfect way to phrase the question and opened my mouth to talk I could not make any sound. The only thing I could do was watch as he slowly flipped through the book. He looked as if he were looking for a particular page or passage.

My attention, I am ashamed to say started to wander and I took to looking around the room. In one corner it seemed like any modern office with a desk and cables for a computer. There was even a filing cabinet sitting in the corner. The other side of the room was more like a Victorian study with walnut bookshelves and antique looking books. There were several leather wingback chairs haphazardly shoved in to the corner. The rest of the room was so dark that even my eyes, which I’m sure are much better than human eyes, could not see what secrets hid there. I sat there looking curiously at the shadowed corner almost obsessively and methodically trying to figure out what could make shadows like that.

Unfortunately, or fortunately whichever the case may be, my attention was recalled back to the alchemist when he unceremoniously coughed loudly. As I looked back the alchemist seemed genuinely happy and excited. I looked at his face and had a weird feeling that I didn’t want to know what made him that excited. His face was overjoyed and proud at the same time. I have no idea how that is physically possible but he did it. “Ophelia, I have looked through the records of your powers throughout your regenerations and I have reasons to believe that your powers that you have now are exactly the powers that you need to have.

 I took in every word that he said and I couldn’t really get my head around what he said. I knew that I had powers, I mean how else would I do my job without powers?  I did not know that whatever powers I had would be needed. Actually I don’t know what powers I have or how to use them. Thinking about it like that I wonder why I wasn’t worried about not knowing what to do. Maybe being stupid confident was one of my powers or it might be a side effect of not being able to die. I mean do I really care about my life when I get injured it heals and if it is fatal I just regenerate. I was lost in thought again, when the alchemist had another attention getting cough. “Are you going to pay attention? I am going to explain a few things that you are going to need to know before I let you go.” Once he was satisfied that I was listening again he continued to talk. “You, Ophelia, have great powers of persuasion and illusions. I believe that you will be able to manipulate emotions, sounds, and project your will in to the minds of others. I also think in time you will be able to change your body in o the likeness of others and maybe if you work hard and practice you will be able to split yourself into many different versions of yourself. None of this will come easily for you and you will need to practice even if using your powers isn’t related to your mission.” He paused to pull something out of his jacket pocket. He handed me a key. It was small and very ordinary and I really had no idea why he was giving me a key. I should have been able to guess what the key was for but, well, I am going to use the excuse that I have had a long day, who knows how early Charlotte woke up. She probably was one of those people that wake up ridiculously early to run eight miles or something strenuous like that. I know that I will never do anything like that. “This key is to your apartment. You might have to clean out Charlotte’s stuff I really don’t know what kind of house keeper she was. Here is the address and where you will report to tomorrow.” He said and handed me two pieces of paper.

I took the two papers and had the feeling that I was being dismissed. He looked back to the book and I quietly got up and left the room. I walked back to the solid door and wondered if I would be able to just walk through it like I had done before. I didn’t feel like stopping to consider what would happen. It’s not like there were people watching and m pride would get hurt. That reminds me to figure out if I have pride. I might have no pride at all, it could have been considered useless when I was being made. So what the hell, I walked through the door. Oh, and in my random assortment of my memories I have found that I can swear, in several languages, I think, oh well I guess if I can manipulate words and emotions swearing could come in handy.  I wandered through the halls and again had the strange guiding force that led me in the right direction. I am not sure if that feeling was one of my powers or if the guiding feeling was something that the alchemist was doing to help me.  I managed to find my way out of the building without any problems but I was very concerned about finding my way through a city that I have technically never been to before now. As I was walking I noticed that the strange feeling was still with me I guess it is one of my new powers. I was guided down dark empty streets. Before I got to my intended destination I took a wrong turn and ended up in a dead ended alley. Unfortunately, I was not alone in that alley. There were several very uninspiring mostly pathetic vampires. I have no idea how I knew that they were vampires or that they were not very dangerous. Both vampires looked up from what they were doing. I looked from the body of what appeared to be a homeless man to the vampires that had faces covered in blood. Apparently the vampires were both completely not scary and were messy eaters.

“Hey dude this girl can see us for what we truly are. You don’t suppose that she is a Watcher, do you?” One of them said to the other.

“I believe that she must be one of those stupid peace keepers, but she doesn’t look so tough like they are said to be.” The other one said.

I looked at the two vampires not quite sure what to do, and more than a little offended. “I can hear you, and yes my job is in essence to keep the peace, but I can understand your low standards and your horrible manners.” I have no idea where I got the confidence and authority to say that. I almost scared myself.

“So what are you going to do about it?” the first one asked. It would have been intimidating if he was well, intimidating.

I felt all of my fear go right out the window. Yes I can now use metaphors, tremble in fear. “The primary objective in my existence is to keep the humans blissfully oblivious to the existence of people like you. You are compromising that objective and really starting to piss me off. Now I know that your needs do come before the needs of humans and if you need to kill a few to survive then by all means survive but you could make more of an effort to mask your killings.”

“Exactly what are you saying, miss?” The first one asked looking confused and unsure of himself.

“I am saying that when you need to kill try very hard to make it look like something other than a vampire attack. When you don’t I will have to make the problem go away using any means that I can. Am I understood?” I asked seeming to scare both vampires. I lifted my hand and the body that the vampires were feeding on started to glow softly and when the glow subsided the fang marks that were around the man’s neck were gone, in the place of the wounds there seemed to be a very large gunshot wound in the man’s chest. Somehow I knew that I could do that and it seemed easy and natural for me to make what I would guess was a very cool illusion that would fool every human that saw the body.

Both vampires looked at me with new respect and I could tell that I scared them. “We will be sure to be more careful,” the second vampire said looking at his companion, probably to see if he would say something stupid. He remained silent and I walked away. I felt like such a badass. My name is Ophelia and I am a watcher and my job is just beginning.  

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

A very good chapter. Will there be more?
"Both vampires looked at me with new respect and I could tell that I scared them. “We will be sure to be more careful,” the second vampire said looking at his companion, probably to see if he would say something stupid. He remained silent and I walked away. I felt like such a badass. My name is Ophelia and I am a watcher and my job is just beginning. "
I liked the above ending. A wide open ending for the next chapter.
Coyote

[Kyle Wynn]

Very interesting story, I liked how we were learning who she was as she was, it gave it some realism to it! And it is a very interesting idea! I'm excited to read more!

[Tomoe Tellez]

You know I could actually feel Ophelia growing as character from being a blank page to who she decided to be. I do like very much where you're going with this story and the way narrate from Ophelia's point of view is entertaining and interesting because as readers we are like we don't know anything about that world but at the same time it is good that she gets "this feeling" that guides her like a conscience so she can guide us through the story. I also like the way you are describing the alchemist, he is an intriguing character and seems to act like his age and like the wise man of this story. Great job! Keep it up!