Chapter 1: Welcome to My Life
Hello to all who are reading this in hope that you are one of us. If you are, turn away and run. Live on in ignorance. You don't want the life that my friends and I live. It is no pretty picnic at all. Trust me. If you're reading this thinking that its a good story, read on and be glad that you don't actually believe that any of this happened.
My name is Joe Gilligan, the last surviving member of my family. I was an only child, but with a large extended family, but for some reason they all died off one by one, even my parents, until only I was left. The circumstances of their deaths were ranging, and very bizarre. They ranged from maiming to just dropping dead of no accord whatsoever, no trace of any kind of killer. My parents were the only ones to actually get old enough to have a kid, but when I was ten, they died just like the others.
I have great memories of my parents. They loved me and wanted me to have the best life possible, but they were always paranoid about me, like I were some fragile being that could break at any instant. We went on some pretty memorable trips and did some pretty memorable deeds, but when I woke up to find them both dead in their beds, blood splattering the ceiling and the sheets, well, my life has never been the same since. I've always wanted to find my parents' killer, but I know that it will never happen because I have no idea who or what it was.
I live at the New Jersey Institute for Homeless Children, or, as most people call it, the Institute. The place is a huge victorian mansion near Elizabeth, so we have a good view of the ocean from the top roof. The Institute is massive, with six floors filled with hundreds of rooms. Most of them have never been explored, as we are restricted to the bottom three floors, but that never stopped me. The complex in the top three levels is huge, and I mostly use the space for my own experiments and inventions, as no one can get hurt if they're not supposed to be there.
I am a budding engineer and scientist, so having the extra lab space is awesome. The school I go to, Elizabeth High, offers me all of the old lab equipment, and I take it in. Sure, it usually needs a little fixing, but when I'm done with them, they're good as new. I get chemicals and elements from shop in the major city of Elizabeth. I'm a regular there and the store manager, Mr. McConnel, gives me discounts on all sorts of supplies for being a regular customer.
I don't really have a whole lot of friends, as I'm not what you would call a social person, and I have a...strong personality. I have about four people that I would call real friends of mine, Aaron, Maggie, and Mary. They're all troublemakers, but they mean well, and we all share a good laugh at the end of the day. In fact, they are some of the few who actually accept me, everyone else just writes me off as a freak, nothing more than a nerd who spends his days doing math problems. I think it's mostly because they're about as weird as I am, but that's besides the point.
Aaron is about my height, maybe 5'8", with a crop of curly brown hair on his head, and deep, sea green eyes. He loves nature and hiking, hell he even has his own garden, which I help him with on occasion. He is a total fantasy buff, and is really into the Percy Jackson Series and Heroes of Olympus Series. Well, I mean, all my friends are. I know almost everything there is to know about the series, but I never believed it. I figured that it was just another good story, just like all the others. Boy was I wrong. Aaron also loves swimming, in fact, he goes swimming in the lake just behind the Institute every morning. I prefer a morning run, but hey, I'm not judging.
Maggie is almost a head taller than me, with long brown hair that hangs down to about her chest, with hazel eyes. She is an extremely talented artist, and I mean like professional grade. Her paintings are extremely lifelike and beautiful, its breathtaking. She's smart, nearly as smart as me, which is saying a lot. Her height gives her obvious advantages in basketball, and she loves the sport.
And then there's Mary, who is no girl with a little lamb, let me tell you that. She is an extreme prankster, always up to some trick. Most of them are hilarious, you know, so long as they aren't aimed at you. She's smaller than me, with brown hair that hangs down to her shoulders, and dark brown eyes. Her mischievous attitude has gotten her and us in trouble plenty of times, but either she or I always manages to find a loophole.
And lastly, me. I have dirty blond hair, cut short, and gray-blue eyes. I love science and math, as well as literature and writing. I do a lot of projects for school, and I am a straight A student, extremely disciplined, unlike my friends. I'm one of the only ones out of my group of friends who is in any way organized at all, and if you saw our rooms you'd know what I mean. I am very enthusiastic, more so than would be appropriate, but heck, when did a little enthusiasm hurt anyone?
All of the high school kids walked to the bus stop situated in the front of the Institute. We sat there in the warm spring air, all anticipating the last few days of school when we could enjoy our summer in peace, without the work of school. It was a beautiful morning, but it was spoiled when I heard a voice behind me.
"Hey nerd! What are you going to do today, sit in your room and do math?" I just sighed. Enter Bill Hasslehoff, easily the most obnoxious freshmen at Elizabeth High. If you want an image, imagine a weasel drenched in raw sewage and cleaned off with a dirty gym sock, you'll get a pretty good picture, as well as a good scent.
"Why yes, maybe I will. What's it to you?" I asked calmly, trying not to let my short fuse of a temper burn out. Adrenaline makes me do stupid things, just ask any of my friends about the Bridge Street fight and you'll know what I'm talking about.
"Oh, nothing, just wondering how you were going to be antisocial and friendless today," sneered Bill.
"You know what, you're right. But you should be able to sympathize with that well wouldn't you, hotshot? Seeing as most of your friends are only friends because you pay them," I said, using my wit just to see what would happen.
Bill looked like he was going to explode, his face growing red.
"Take that back!" he yelled.
"Why? You know it's true."
"That's it punk!" he yelled and dropped his backpack and charged me. I simply held my ground, waiting till the last possible second before jumping up as hard as I could, letting my backpack drop low enough to hit him square on the head.
I fell down to earth, and landed holding my backpack out like a cape and shouted, "Olay!"
Bill, disoriented from smacking into my backpack, got up and tried to come at me again, going slower this time. When he was within punching distance, he swung his arm around, trying to hit my blind side. I just sighed. This was too easy.
I let the punch come until it was almost at my face before deflecting it with an easy arm swing. I felt the arm go past, and gripped it tight, twisting it around until it was pinned against his back.
"You know that I'm on the track and football team for a reason, right?" I asked Bill. He just whimpered and I let him go. The much taller, much stockier kid limped off to grab his backpack, while I, the scrawny, shorter kid, just brushed the dirt off of my green shirt.
"You know, no matter how many times you do that, it never gets old," said Aaron, smirking at the bully. Being a freshman was hard, but when you had reflexes like me and my friends, fights don't pose a threat. I swear, it's like all of us have a sixth sense or something for danger, like we can feel it before it comes and react.
The bus came and took us to the school, and I chatted with my friends on the way. We were all excited for the end of the school year, and we had plenty of ideas for places we wanted to go and things we wanted to do over the summer. Seeing as none of us had families, we could do whatever we wanted. Of course, we all had small jobs that we did over the summer, but we still had most of the rest of the day and the weekends. I worked for a mechanic, who was also a crazy inventor. Aaron worked for a gardener, Maggie did work at an art museum, and Mary worked for an electrician. I'm telling you, she has a thing for electricity that is uncanny.
The school day was fairly ordinary, just getting ready for finals and such. After school, I got my things out of my locker and headed for the track for practice. I got changed and headed to the supply closet to get a starting block for practice. I walked into the supply shed and flipped on the light, only to find Bill sitting there, picking the dirt from under his nails with a bronze knife.
I jumped out of surprise, not expecting to find him there. He noticed that I had come in and gave me an evil grin.
"You know, you've got spunk kid. I thought you might be one, but now I know. You're coming with me. My mistress will reward me nicely," said Bill.
"What are you talking about?" I asked, slowly moving my way toward the area where the spare golf clubs were kept. I gripped a broken nine iron and held it behind me, hiding it from his view.
"It's not important. Just come with me, or I'll have to use force."
He looked down again at his nails, and I saw my chance, swinging the club shaft at his head. It hit him and impaled his ear, making him howl in pain. Don't underestimate the power of a broken nine iron. That thing was wicked sharp and balanced pretty well. Bill just yanked the iron shaft out of his ear, and I saw that he wasn't cut, not even scratched.
"You should know that only Celestial Bronze can kill me, hero," said Bill, smirking. I don't know about you, but I wasn't feeling too heroic at the moment. He fingered the knife, and then flung it at me with all of his might. I just managed to dodge, but the knife caught my shirt and pinned me to the wall. I clawed at it, trying to grab the darned thing, but it was just out of reach.
"And now I can take you out," he said, and before my eyes, I saw his eyes glint yellow, something growing behind him, like a pole riddled with spikes. And then I realized that it was a tail, loaded with spikes. I saw his face grow more catlike, his grin turning really creepy.