Chapter Text
In the time it took to blink, she was somewhere else.
A bedroom, decorated in brown with various space posters, Disney princesses, and a computer, stared back at her as she found herself ontop a bed.
Her first thought, spoken aloud, was “Who the hell decorates using vinyl stickers?” referring to the various vinyl spaceship stickers plastered on the walls, and the second thought was that's not her voice.
It was too high pitched, nasally, and suggested there was someone young behind the sound.
That's when she stuck her hand out to move the sheets tossed around her and noticed that wasn't her hand either.
Stunned, her brain tried and the re-tried to load what was happening with no such luck.
She had been working late on an animation, went to get some coffee, then dosed off.
Could someone have drugged her?
No, was the obvious answer.
It was too surreal, too lifelike of an event to be hallucinating.
Besides, her coworkers Jeff and Katrina were too much of pushovers to do something like that.
Deciding she needed to figure out why she was in some kid’s bedroom in another body, she attempted to locate a mirror.
Attempted, because she was currently a mess. The hormones running through her system made her feel anxious, and the fact that she was disoriented seemed to impede her from moving faster than two inches per hour.
Was she having a weird fugue moment? Fever dream? Amnesia?
She didn't know. None of it felt like any of those. She remembered clearly where she had been just a few seconds ago, and she remembered where she was now. There had been no hazy transition, just a blink and she was here.
It didn't add up.
She never got to the mirror. Footsteps sounded down the hallway and the bedroom knob turned as the door flew open.
“Hey Katie, Mom says dinner will be ready in a few so you'd better stop whatever you're tinkering on and wash up!” A boy, no correction, a young adult had entered the room smiling, looking for all the world like the interaction between him and whomever this Katie was, was normal.
He paused, his light brown hair strands sticking in his face for a few moments as he moved and looked at her quizzically from where she was huddled up on the bed.
“Are you ok? Normally you'd throw me out of your room by now.” He joked, taking a few steps in closer as she realized the young adult male was talking to her.
She had to do something. He clearly thought she was the girl, and she couldn't handle any more surprises at the moment.
“Fine.” She managed to say without choking, as she scrunched her face up and pretended to look angry instead of scared. “I'll be down in a few, just leave.” She said in a huff. A few minutes would give her time to present herself and… Do something.
Instead of having the intended effect, her words seemed to concern the brother more as he let go of the door knob.
“Are you sure Katie? You look upset. It's not because of the Kerberos mission is it?” He was climbing up the ladder now to the bed.
Well, she certainly she didn't know what the hell this Kerberos mission was, but she didn't need this guy worrying about her.
She flung a pillow from the bed at him, effectively knocking him down.
“No doofus! It's hormones! Get out!” She shouted, trying to sound playful while inside she was breaking.
Leave, please… She silently begged.
“Alright! Alright! Sheesh! Girls are impossible to understand!” He chuckled, as he got up and moved back to the door. “Just remember dinner’s about done. If you don't stop brewing, good old Matt might eat your share.” He winked as she felt herself laugh anyways before he shut the door.
She waited for a few seconds until his footsteps went away down what sounded like stairs before she lost it.
“Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit!” She hissed, throwing the covers off herself and bounding down the bed towards where a mirror stood behind the door.
The girl in the mirror was not her.