I was able to muscle through and power past any of the pain of the headache the next few days, but after…maybe two days of the persistent headache, the only thing I could think of was the fact that that entire time was plagued by persistent rain; I’m talking like thunder or lightning every five-ten minutes, roads constantly almost flooded as all of it rushed off down the sides of the hills, not a drop of sunlight…that kind of rain. The headache merged to body-aches, the chills changed to strung together chills and hot-flashes, the itchiness had shifted to an intense almost burning, buzzing itchiness that made me feel like…like my skin wasn’t my own.

              Apparently, I looked ill enough that on the third day, my mother looked at me and told me to go back to bed. I just walked downstairs, she looked at me then pointed back upstairs and said the word, “bed”, that’s it. Growing up with a doctor as a parent lead to me taking a signal like that as something a bit serious, so I just turned on my heels and went back upstairs towards my room. Luckily, all my exams and things are online, I was already able to send my professors emails telling them the possibility of me coming down with something and getting access to do the emails online through the school and they were fine with it, one wasn’t at first, but after I talked to them personally the other day, they came around. So, I had timers on my phone set so when the exam is unlocked, I’ll be able to get them done and just…go back to bed. I feel like all I’ve been wanting to do recently is sleep; I’ve not even really had that big of an appetite. No fever or anything and I did ask Mom is I should make a doctor’s appointment and she told me that she doesn’t think it’s necessary, so I didn’t, but I could have sworn that one day…my skin nearly looked blue, but when I blinked next, my skin was back to its usual colors, so I chalked it up to just a peripheral vision thing or the way the clouds have been making everything look darker and cooler toned.

              As I stared at my bathroom mirror, I could see myself that I was pale, but other than that; same as always, barely five foot, barely hundred pounds, naturally tanned skin that was more freckle than not, dark eyes that look like I lost a fight with two black-eyes from how often I go without enough sleep, hair that’s the mid-point between my parents being a dark brown with some blonder highlights to them, so thin people tell me if I turn sideways I’ll go 2D or people randomly telling me to eat a cheeseburger or something or asking me if everything was alright home-wise. Graphite smears on my fingertips from doing some notetaking and math for an exam, random pencil I was using tucked behind my ear as usual. Same old, same old, though…my eyes were painfully bloodshot looking which told me that Mom was right and that I should just get back to bed.

              As I laid in bed, having finished all my exams, I looked forward to not having to wake up early again as I pulled the blankets around me tighter and hid myself in them further as I wrapped my arms around a pillow and buried my face into it as I tried to go back to sleep. I was eventually able to fall back asleep, but it was one of those uncomfortable sleeps that you get when you’re a bit ill, where you’re constantly waking up and falling back asleep, you’re tossing and turning like crazy, and you just don’t feel like you’re sleeping properly. At one point, I was in the bathroom getting violently sick, my entire body felt…weird and wrong, my skin didn’t feel like my own, my bones felt like they were breaking and twisting inside my body, it was like my blood had turned acidic with how much pain I was in…I could have sworn I could see my bones shifting under my skin, or my veins bulge as they almost seemed to glow like my blood was the goo inside a glowstick. I tossed and turned as it felt like my bones had become liquid and were shifting and sliding in my body, rearranging themselves in unusual ways as my senses were consumed and filled with nothing…but that same glowing grid pattern. My vision swam and swirled with that grid even when my eyes were open when I would try to get to the bathroom. I couldn’t take anything because the idea of eating or drinking something was enough to send me back into the bathroom to get sick again. I don’t know if I’ve ever sweat that much, everything felt like it was on fire and frozen at the same time. All of the cells in my body simultaneously being shocked, frozen and melting, my head felt like something was trying to get out of me if that makes sense, the pressure of the headache wasn’t like someone pressing their fingers against my head, it felt like something inside was trying to get out…right at my temples and it was enough to make my vision white. I don’t know if I fell asleep deep enough to ignore it or…it’s possible I even passed out from the pain, but nevertheless…I did get to sleep somehow.

              I rubbed my temples as I rolled over in bed before reaching out and slapping my phone to turn the alarm off before yawning as I pushed myself up to my hands and knees and got out of bed, but…something felt weird as I did so. The rain was much, much lighter…breaking and the headache was gone, but I had that weird lingering feeling of when a bad headache breaks that just kind of leaves you a little numb feeling, everything felt…kind of cold too. I raked my hand back though my hair as I walked out of my room into the bathroom, but…the moment I looked in the mirror…I couldn’t do anything, other than scream. I stumbled back and tripped over my own feet as I hit the tile floor hard.

              “That…that…that’s not me” I muttered to myself as I tried to pick myself up, but the sight of how my arms looked make me collapse again.

              “Herc!” Dad shouted as I heard his footsteps coming up the stairs and before I could do anything, he threw the door to the bathroom open. “Oh…” was all he said as he looked at me, surprise, but…an expected surprise if that makes sense. “Well, your mother is going to want to talk to you about…all of this.”

              “What do you mean!?” I asked, panicking, “What happened to me?” I asked

              “Nima, it happened!” he called out over his shoulder, I heard Mom laugh before her footsteps came up the stairs.

              “Told you so!” she called back before her footsteps on the stairs, “Headache, itching, all of those are signs of it happening. I didn’t go through all of it because I’m full, but everyone I know who has a mixed childlike Herc has this happen…little late, but at least it happened” she explained further

              “Mixed? What does me being mixed have to do with this?” I asked

              “Not that kind of mixed, Herc” Dad said as he walked over to me and started helping me up.

              “Thankfully it happened at least…I was worried that you were never going to have it in you.” Mom said as she walked up the stairs and stepped past Dad, just dressed in matching maroon athleisure set, her dark hair messily thrown back and a smile on her face. “Please, stand up, Hercule, there is…something I need to talk to you about.” She said with a kindness as she held both my hands in hers, but…something seemed wrong about Mom, when she took my hands, it felt like there was a live wire between our hands, almost so intense that I almost pulled my hands back, but I knew better than to do that as Mom walked me out of the bathroom and down the stairs of the house, a lightness and happiness to her gait that while was there often, I had never seen her in this state, the only word I could use to explain how she was would be…giddy. My mother is a profoundly serious person, the fact she would act like this would probably make some of her co-workers loose respect for her, but…how happy my mother looked was enough to make me feel a little better, but not much.