Open Your Eyes

Spiritual Awareness Quest
* Requires 750 words
Quest Ability: Spiritual Awareness (passive) - allows a human the ability to see and interact with spiritual beings.

My plans for the day are done, so now I'm ready to have some fun. I send out a mass text to my friends that we're going to have a "Quiet Party" tonight to celebrate the rep agreement that I just got today. One of my former classmates tells me that she's hanging out with some college friends at the Umbrella Mall if I'm free. I agree under the condition that she helps me pick out an outfit for tomorrow night. She agrees and I head over to the mall.

Driving over to the mall, I start to get a headache that I figure is due to the stress of dealing with my family drama. Something I love about this mall... the valet! Parking is generally a pain whenever my friends don't want to valet their cars. I walk towards the entrance and stop as I notice the headache getting stronger and sharper. I stop in the food court and get a kiwi strawberry smoothie to hold me over until we go get food. I call Paige and ask her where she's at. She tells me that they are at Bath and Body Works and I chuckle. Heading over to that side of the mall, I find them inside checking out the new line of scented lotions and bath oils that has just been released. The headache gets stronger and I start thinking that perhaps the scents are bothering me, so I tell Paige that I'm feeling lightheaded so I need to step outside. She nods to me and they make their purchases quickly. She gives me a hug and introduces me to her friends. One of them stares at me for a while and I tell her that I just have one of those familiar faces. She giggles and apologizes for staring. I tell her not to worry about it and we keep walking. Paige asks if her friends can come to the party tonight and I look at her quizzically.

"Are any of them journalists?"

She laughs and shakes her head in the negative and I tell her that they are all welcomed. Paige asks which club I want to go to and I tell her that I can't party in the Lower Commons while this current transaction is being handled. She tells me that we can go to this new club in East City at the Casino. I tell her that we all got in trouble the last time we went to the Casino and she covers her eyes while shaking her head. One of the girls notices a sale at a store they like and Paige tells them that she agreed to help me pick out a new suit for tomorrow. Half of her group goes to check out the sale while she, the staring girl, and one other accompany me to the tailor shop. My family has a tailor, but I refuse to go there. I subject myself to slightly lower living standards in order to distance myself from my father and brother.

When we reach the tailor store, the girls excitedly separate to play dress up with me. While I'm waiting to see what they come back with, I scan the room and I realize that the headache is obviously affecting my vision and I tighten up to keep from twitching when I notice some ghastly figure in the mirror but when I blink nothing is there. The quiet girl walks over to me first with an outfit and I squint because I swear that I can see something furry sitting on her shoulder. This time though it's still there. The small furry creature seems to be moving its mouth. I don't hear anything from it, but suddenly she draws in my attention and things look completely different around us. I look at her and my headache is gone. Everything is dark around me, but I can feel multiple presences around me. I find myself slightly worried by this. I feel a hand touch me then shriek. As this happens twice more, I beg to try to escape from the darkness, but I can't see where I'm going and there doesn't seem to be much light in any direction. I call out for Paige, but I don't get a response. The girl speaks to me and tells me that I am shrouded in a deep haze because I refused to accept the fact that the spirit world does indeed exist and that the headache that I've been feeling is my mind finally starting to awaken. I ask her how she knows about the headache and she tells me that "all of us" seem to endure it. The haze begins to retreat and now I am more worried than ever because all around me, I can see things that cannot be real. The world seems to have a different light to it as well. What in the world just happened to me and what is causing me to hallucinate? I head over to the quiet girl looking for answers and she smiles at me. "Now is not the time, but one of my sisters will be at the mixer tomorrow night. Make sure to attend and look for a young woman who matches you perfectly." She hands me a black and gold suit and I decide to go try it on.

937 words - Quest Complete
187 words of overage

The condo... a luxury townhouse in East City that my father likes to send his staff to "inspect" on occasion. Thankfully, I helped with one of his inspectors through a rough divorce and provide her with the evidence needed to keep her children, so she informs me when they are coming by for a surprise inspection. The purpose is to ensure that the wayward son is not mishandling the condo. If I was found to be doing so, I would be forced to move back into the manor on the far side of Northern Heights where residential prices are lower... that place is hell. Wealth and sophistication is abundant but it also boring and everything is micromanaged by my father. My brother may be content with being a puppet but I am not. I normally keep my bedroom, the kitchen, and living room clean since I entertain guests often, but the second bedroom is generally a mess until the maid comes by to clean it.

I wake up in my bedroom at the condo confused about how I got here. Even more than that though, I feel myself restrained, but I don't see anything around me. This damn headache is returning. Shadows begin to move about the room and I think that I need to reach the phone so that I can call for security, but something is still holding me down. I turn my head to my left and some apparition is staring at me with their hands on my arms. My eyes widen greatly at the sight and I struggle to free myself. There is another holding my right arm and there is some sort of creature that has my legs bound as well! "Let me go!" Suddenly, this very grotesque apparition appears and it approaches me. I can see my pending doom in the visage of this creature yet for some reason I don't feel fear as I should. My shirt is seared open and I feel a strong pain in my chest as the fabric is burned away. My vision begins to blur as I find myself feeling very weak. Suddenly, a golden aura fills the room and the apparitions, or whatever they are, are burned away from me. There is something going very wrong with me if I can see these creatures and even now the fire is dancing around me. I see several different images that reminds me that remind me of something... The golden aura retreats from the room, but there is still a lingering radiance about the room that comforts me as I fall back into unconsciousness.

I wake up the next afternoon refreshed and ready to attend the cocktail mixer. I shake my head to clear out the cobwebs created by the heavy partying and those weird dreams from last night. Tonight will be much more relaxed though... I hope.

500 words

Part 3: The Cocktail Mixer
Primary Objective: Seer Possession
Secondary Objective: Building an Organization

I finish with my errands and return to the condo to get ready. Stepping out of the shower, I notice something on my chest that somehow I never noticed before. There is a symbol on my chest in the center of my solar plexus. Looking down at it, I don't see anything. When I look back at the mirror though, it's there. What the hell? I just ignore it and walk out into the bedroom. I find a suit bag laying on my bed with a note. When I open the note it reads:

"I'm looking forward to meeting you tonight, Psyre Prince. Things will make more sense by the end of tonight."

It is not signed by anyone, but the most pressing question that I have is how did someone get into my condo without me hearing anything. I walk around the condo and nothing is out of place or missing and the door is still locked. What the hell? Why is all this weird sci-fi stuff going on around me? I turn on some music to distract me and get me in the mood to party. I open up the garment bag and it's the gold and black suit that Paige's friend picked out for me yesterday at the mall. Could she have? She's a college girl. How could she have snuck into my room? At this time, I figure that this is just a matter of paranoia and that having so much going on is probably making me spazz out.

I put the suit on regardless because I can't lie, it does look good. Once I'm fully dressed, I head downstairs to the car and call my friends to find out if we're meeting up first and a few them tell me to meet at my boy's house and then we'll caravan over because we will not be carpooling like last time. I pause for a moment then burst into laughter because I remember EXACTLY what he's talking about. It wasn't my fault though. I got pulled away while he was still dancing or doing whatever. The boys told me that it was time to go and so did the female that I was with. Damn that was a good night! I start the ignition and pull out of the garage headed for Northern Heights...

410 words
(continued...)