Fan Fiction:
Prelude January 2020.
Lucie leant on the counter staring at the sliding doors that led into the shop, feeling nothing but boredom and self-pity. It was 7.30 in the morning and the nights still hadn't started pulling out yet, so all she could see was the darkness that lay beyond the lit doorway. Sighing she clicked on her computer to see if any orders had come through during the two minutes she had spent since she looked at it the last time. Nothing had popped up, it was another quiet morning in post-Brexit Britain. She heard footsteps coming up behind her and flicked her head around, letting her dyed red hair whip her in the face.
'God I'm so fucking bored…' it was Tim and his blonde hair bounced on his head while he talked. He was a couple of years younger than her but they got on quite well, besides neither of them was each other's types although she did think he might have been attractive, if she leant that way.
'You're telling me… I can't believe it's only half an hour in and I'm so fed up I already want to claw my own eyes out!' she replied. Smiling, he leant back against the wall letting out a flamboyant sigh. She looked back to the screen and refreshed it, hoping a new order would pop up. It didn't and she looked back at him as he rolled his eyes.
'We really shouldn't be open this early any more, what we get five customers an hour nowadays anyway? It's bullshit, we should open up at nine like every other bloody place out there. How much more money do we want to lose?' Lucie sighed and pushed her glasses up her nose. He had a good point but moaning about it wasn't going to cheer her up today. She noticed a spider moving slowly down the wall towards Tim and she stiffened up. She hated them, she hated spiders but so long as they stayed away from her, she wouldn't have a nervous breakdown.
'Might want to move…' He cocked his head sassily.
'Why?' she pointed above him and he looked up and let out a shriek before darting over to her.
'Holy shit that's a big one!' he gasped. He patted her shoulder frantically. 'Thank you!'
Behind them the doors opened and a rush of cold January air whipped against her cheek. Looking around, expecting to see a customer she tried hard to cover her disappointment as Harry, oblivious annoying grin on his face, moved in with his Black Labrador, Boris, on a leash. He had used to work in the store but was made redundant last November but as a habit he still walked to work with his dog, just to have a chat with everyone. He was the most annoying person that Lucie, and dare she think it, Tim, had ever met. Although in saying that, she still felt sorry about him getting the chop, he had been a good worker. Tim sighed loudly and Harry moved over with a wave.
'Hello my beautiful's!' he said, annoyingly chirpy. Tim sighed and looked away and Lucie forced a feeble wave before ducking down to pat Boris. He was a lovely old thing and had always been happy to see her. He ran to her and she ruffled his ears as Harry said something she didn't really listen to as she was distracted by the dog.
'Who's a good boy then, hello Boris… Hello Boris!' she said in the stupid voice everyone uses when they're fussing a dog and as he licked her Harry pulled him back hard on his leash.
'No don't distract them, they're at work.' He said.
'You're right Harry, we are!' Tim mumbled bitchily. Lucie pulled a sad face to Boris before looking up to Harry who grinned vacantly at the two of them. After an uneasy silence he looked around the store almost comically, he always seemed to act like he was a bit special
'Ooh it's quiet today isn't it?' Tim sighed again and Lucie just stared at him, feeling what joy about seeing the dog had given her slide away into oblivion.
'Yes like you said yesterday and the day before that and the day before that…' she mumbled. Harry laughed.
'Well you know me, I have to come and say hello to my beautiful people!' he turned to Tim and started singing, an uncomfortable habit of his was to serenade people and whether he realised it creeped them out rather than amused them or not Lucie still didn't know. 'Kiss me in the morning, cuddle me in the evening, love me…' he started when suddenly Boris began to howl.
Both Lucie and Tim burst out laughing as Harry turned, almost in offence, towards the dog. Lucie looked at him holding his head back and suddenly other howls started to drift in from outside and birds started squawking like mad. Boris howled harder, more furiously and Lucie and Tim had to cover their ears as Harry knelt down and pointed at Boris.
'No, no bad boy! You don't howl in shops! Bad Boris!' The dog howled even louder and now the sound tore through the air, it sounded like he was in pain. Lucie and Tim looked on in horror as Harry shook the dog's shoulders that were tensed and twisting in agony. The howls mixed with gurgles and whimpers and suddenly blood started seeping out of the dog's eyes and mouth and rear. Lucie screamed as Harry cried, tears in his eyes, trying to stop the dog from howling. Tim backed up against the wall gasping and Lucie tried to gather herself. The Dog bled more and suddenly the skin ripped and black fur, and rows of bone covered in blood ripped out of the dog's flesh. Lucie stumbled back to Tim who held her and Harry fell onto his arse in front of them screaming. Blood dripped out from around the counter and both she and Tim were hyperventilating.
'Boris… Boris what are you…' Harry started but suddenly a large black doglike creature, its skull pushing through its fur leapt down at him, huge teeth clamping down onto his jaw. Lucie and Tim backed up against the wall, wanting to run but both frozen in terror. The creature with burning, lizard-like eyes ripped and tore into his face, crunching his bones between its fangs. Harry screamed in pain and the creature yanked its head up, wrenching the bloody, mangled jawbone from the base of Harry's head. Blood sprayed out everywhere and splattered Tim and Lucie. Harry's tongue and neck flopped out of the gushing wound and the creature violently twisted its head back and forth and tossed the piece of his face to the side. Lucie could see Harry's blood covered eyes rolling wildly in his head and suddenly the creature drove its teeth into Harry's chest and pried his ribs apart with horrific snaps and more sprays of blood. Tim vomited and collapsed over Lucie.
Struggling to hold him up, feeling her own stomach churning and her legs turning to jelly, a shadow descended over the top of her face. A steaming gunk splashed down onto her shoulder. It steamed as it hit her clothes and she looked up in fright to see two huge insectoid eyes looking down at her, eight legs, three feet long each spread out from the huge red creature, and two huge fangs, glistening in the fluorescent light, loomed over her and Tim. He opened his eyes at the sight and was about to scream. Lucie beat him to it, letting out such a howl that her throat burnt in pain. She knew the pain in her throat was going to be the least of her worries now. The giant fangs shot towards her face and the world turned to shadows.
Part 1: December 2048
Chapter 1- The Egging - Will.
The River Trent lashed up against the bank, causing the reeds to bend from its force and a spray of foam to float in our direction. The icy wind had been blowing non-stop since I had arrived at the tree with my best friend Remi and both of us huddled in our tracksuits over our school uniforms, both wishing we had worn more clothes. The tree had always been a place of wonder for us from Lower Trent Academy as over the other side of the river we could see the collapsed and overgrown ruins of Old Nottingham. It had been devastated in the war and was crawling with ghost, vermin, murderers, terrorists and thieves. The old bridge upriver was guarded by a couple of the newer recruits of The Pangea Army Force (PAF- for short) the men and women who defended the city from raiders and made sure people entering came with good tidings and respect.
Remi shuddered and pushed up next to me blowing onto his gloved hands. His dark skin was almost turning grey from the frosty breeze.
'Are you sure the others weren't just setting us up to get beaten up by the Preppy Pricks?' he asked, worry crossing his brown eyes. The preppy pricks- preps for short- were our rivals. There were two High Schools in New Nottingham, Ours- The Lower Trent Academy, and theirs- Nottingham's Public School of Excellence. Though neither of us had any serious run-ins with the Preps, our friend Gary, School Prefect, Captain of the football team and a ladies man always seemed to find trouble with them. He had apparently dated one of the Preppy girls a couple of years ago but at that time Remi and myself had been out of his social circle. This last year however it seemed that most of the grade was friendly with one another, it seemed to make sense as we were all eighteen or near enough now, so were practically adults.
'Why would they do that?' I asked, pulling my collar up from under the tracksuit and glancing up to old Nottingham Castle. It towered above the old ruins, a bright spotlight aiming up into the grey sky. I had travelled there once with school and under escort. It was our local Pokémon Gym, and home to the Clay family, a long line of local trainers who had established themselves after the war and used the power of rock to reign supreme. Though a mile or two walk out of town, through the old ruins, it was the local gym and I had been lucky enough to actually get the autograph of Doug Clay, the original gym leader, who had been killed in a terrorist attack a couple of years ago. His son Dan had taken over control and although nobody in our grade had seen him since he became the leader quite often we had seen trainers travel into town to test their mettle with him. The last person we had known personally who had beaten him had been our previous Prefect, Clair Davison, now an up and coming star in the Pokémon league whose image had been splashed around the town like she was the President, in fact her image was used in town a lot more than his even. I didn't mind however, she was beautiful and had always treated me well, in fact I would say we were borderline friends before she graduated. Did she ever discover my true feelings for her?
'I dunno, maybe they thought it would be funny. Gary's sense of humour can be malicious.' Remi pointed out.
I frowned and shuddered moving back towards our bikes, full Torchic egg cartons attached by wire to the front. Looking at my phone I could see it was half seven. The Preps started at eight- we didn't start until a quarter to nine. If we were going to do this the others had to hurry otherwise we wouldn't get back in time for assembly, and as it was our last day at school, ever, we didn't really want to miss it.
'Lads, hey up here!' came a cry. We looked up to see Gary and a dozen of the others from school, mainly the football team, on the bike path just behind the tree all kitted up and wearing tracksuits over their uniforms too. 'I meant wait near the tree not bloody well under it!' The others laughed at us and I could feel my face burning slightly.
'Told you!' Remi muttered under his breath. I ignored him and we pulled our bikes back up onto the path to see the troops. Gary beamed at us.
'Glad you boys made it though this is going to be absolutely wicked!' he said. 'Now the plan is, we ride up into the park near their school and then when we see the most of them there we egg the shit out of them!' he said, his wild grin spreading further. I nodded like an idiot, it was great to be hanging out with the cool guys again. Remi looked at me a little less enthusiastically but then turned back to Gary with determination.
'Yeah man we're going to smash them!' he said. Gary placed a hand roughly on his shoulder.
'That's what I like to hear. Now we need to get moving on unless we want to get spotted by the fuzz and thrown in lock up.'
'For egging someone?' Remi quizzed sceptically. Gary just laughed and started pedalling away. The others followed swiftly and Remi and I struggled to keep up.
The large group of us weaved through the other cyclists, pedestrians and the very few cars that were allowed on the streets and we got a lot of funny looks, some of them reaching for their phones. I saw Remi look to me with concern.
'What if they call the cops?' he asked. 'What if they arrest us? I'm set to win the Smartest award tonight, I can't have that hanging…'
'Oh quit your whining!' I snapped, 'It's just a bit of fun, nobody is going to get hurt are they? Just a bit messy right? Besides we'll be in and out lightning fast yeah? Nothing to worry about.'
Gary led us into the park and we saw a few of the younger Preps there look at us with concern but Gary sped past them, causing them to leap out of the way in panic, some of them slipping in the wet grass and mud. I could hear Spearow's calling through the trees and felt a little concerned, one had pecked me when I was a kid and almost taken out an eye. The egg cartons bounced over the cobbles and I was worried they would shoot out all over the place but Gary kept the pace going and turned back to us.
'Ready guys?' he demanded. Everyone let out a battle cry and he laughed maniacally as he picked up an egg from his carton, still moving swiftly. We all followed suit and we shot out from the edge of the park. 'CHARGE!'
We sped over to the front of their school where a bus was letting people off. There were a couple of hundred people hanging about and Gary shot towards them, with us in tow and heaved a large egg right at the closest kid. It smacked him right in the face and he fell to the ground covered in sticky goo. Remi and I shot to the right with a couple of others and all of us hurled an egg each at a group of preps our age, splattering them with the yolk. I howled with laughter as people started screaming and we aimed up again.
'You bastard scrubbers!' came a cry and a handsome young man, running with a freckled red head and a beautiful Murkrow-haired girl, her cheeks flush with rage ran towards us. Gary skidded his bike in front of us.
'That's the one! Take her down!' he cried and hurled an egg right at her. The egg missed as she ducked it. Gary looked irate but suddenly she reached into her pocket and yanked out a pokeball, much to all of our shock. The other two followed her lead.
'Go Eevee!' she screamed.
'Go Growlithe!' the guy piped in hurling his.
'Go Pid…' the redhead started but an egg smashed her in the forehead and she coughed and spluttered, dropping her pokeball. I panicked and saw the Eevee appear in a flash. Eggs splattered around the guy and the Murkrow haired girl as well as their Pokémon as the other half of our group, oblivious to what was happening to us, were peppering the younger kids. I could feel the panic build up in me as the Murkrow-Haired girl pointed to Gary.
'Eevee BITE!' she screamed. The Eevee charged for Gary and leapt in the air towards him. I must have panicked because I hurled my egg straight at its open mouth. The egg sailed down its gullet and exploded inside. The Eevee flipped back with a gagging sound and crashed hard onto the concrete into a coughing spluttering mess.
'Fucking yes mate!' Gary cried but the girl howled in anger and sprinted towards me.
'Growlithe flame-thrower!' the guy cried and suddenly flames shot towards Remi and the others. Remi fell off his bike and another wave of eggs cracked against the Growlithe, covering it in scrambled, burning egg.
'They aren't allowed to do use Pokémon! How are they able to do that?' Remi squealed, looking like he had made a mess in his pants. I had no time to help him up though as the girl was only twenty feet from me but suddenly Gary whistled and a wave of eggs headed for her. They struck her all over and she fell to her knees, dripping with yolk and shell.
'Just you wait until my…' she started but Gary hurled an egg, with all of his might right at her face, knocking her hard back onto her arse with a squeal. I looked at him in shock as a frightening grin crossed his face. It didn't seem so funny anymore. The guy ran towards him but I turned and hurled an egg at him as did a half dozen others and although he didn't go down with the strikes, as he forced himself forward he slipped over in the yolk. Gary whistled again and the guys started riding off, after offloading another wave of eggs at the preps.
'These little preppy bitches need to know their place, daddy can't always bail them out!' he cried. 'Come on let's go!' Remi hurled another egg a determined smile crossing his face as he hit a teacher and we put foot to pedal and sped off whooping, howling and cheering with joy, it had been such a successful raid. I looked over my shoulder and turned to see the dark haired girl picking up her coughing Eevee. Her dripping hair hung over her face but her cold blue eyes glared at me through the fringe with a hatred I had never witnessed before. Maybe we should have just gone straight to school that morning.
Chapter 2: Assembly – Hazel
I looked out towards the front of assembly, my dark- brown hair catching on my glasses, feeling nothing at all. The Principal, Mr Head was standing awkwardly at the front of the thousand students, well almost a thousand students, a large number of the A level students, my classmates were missing. If it had been one or two he would have carried on but as it was the prefect, that smug arrogant prick Gary, it had to be postponed. Glancing to my left I saw an empty chair and beyond that a couple of the girls, Hayley and Marie, were talking and giggling between themselves.
'… oh they totally did it didn't they?' Hayley whispered, the tail end of the conversation floating into eavesdropping range.
'He's so bad,' Marie whispered. Hayley smiled and cocked her head.
'So bad and so hot too, do you think he'll ask me tonight to…' she replied and then noticed I was looking over at them. She stiffened up and glared at me, Marie turned to face me as well and a nervous wave rippled through me. The two of them, proud members of the netball team, had played tricks on me throughout our junior years and even now if they got a chance to get a cheap shot in at me, they would. There was no reason for it whatsoever, they just all needed that one girl everyone could pick on, the one girl all the boys avoided like the plague, it just happened to me.
'Anything to say Hoot Hoot?' Hayley snarled. I turned away, ignoring them was the only way I could cope with them since she had left. She had managed to keep them on a leash but as soon as she had gone I was fair game and they came back at me with a vengeance. As soon as I showed a weakness they would be on me in seconds, I had cried before them all once before. It was never going to happen again.
Looking around, noticing another few empty seats to my right. I could see a few other students sneaking into the assembly trying to avoid Mr Head's gaze. The Principal and football coach had always ignored my pleas of bullying. It was harmless fun, character building, and attention seeking from a snowflake. His first name was Richard. The only satisfaction I got from looking at his bloated, wrinkly and always flushed face every day was amusing myself by calling him Dick Head. Who said that people weren't defined by their names? Maybe the only more accurate name for him would be testicle face. Hayley was saying some other things behind my back but I had relegated her to white noise. Looking back to the front I could see Dick Head whispering to the Netball coach and Pokémon Studies teacher Miss Bright. I hated her too for she bred the bitches that made my life at school a living hell. I had to survive the next 24 hours then I could leave, never return.
My father never realised the amount of grief I got, after losing mum so many years ago, I couldn't let him know that his only daughter, his pride and joy, was a waste of space, a bottom feeder. He had always thought the world of me, it was a fiction I could hold onto for another day, just for him, the only love I had ever received. I couldn't let him see my struggles whilst he had to deal with so many of his own. I knew money was tight, but he never complained, just grew wearier by the day.
The empty chair to my right made a scraping sound and it broke me out of my distracted gazing and I looked in surprise to see Edward Young, himself a nerdy, bullied student slump next to me. I barely talked to him but he looked to me as soon as he sat down and was about to speak when Hayley must have said something to him. He looked to her and leant over me with a cocky look.
'You know what, I wish that abortion was still legal… because you're the biggest argument I've had the displeasure of knowing in favour of it.' He said boldly. My mouth dropped and Hayley and Marie stared at him, their own mouths agape. Abortion, or termination, had been outlawed right after the war, as had anything else that was seen to hinder repopulation. Apparently the world used to have seven and a half billion humans before the war. Now it was closer to one and a half billion. I still couldn't get my head around how the planet could have possibly catered for that many people back then, it seemed like a fiction to me.
'Just you wait until the boys get here you freak, then you won't be smiling. They'll batter you for that!' Hayley snarled. With that they stood up and stormed off sitting a few seats down from us. I looked back to Edward, struggling for words and he shrugged and leant back in his seat.
'Look you don't have to thank me or anything, I've been wanting to shut them up since year eight!' he said. I smiled politely and gave a half nod, pushing my loose hair off of my face.
'I still want to…' I whispered. He nodded his appreciation and looked back to the front, waving his arms over the rest of them.
'All this shit, come tomorrow, won't mean anything. It won't mean anything at all, their little world, their popularity contests their petty squabbles… none of it will exist tomorrow.' He announced.
'Yeah, graduation.' I mumbled in agreement, if only he had been as bold and communicative throughout the rest of High school, perhaps I could have someone that I could call a friend. Edward winked and pushed up his glasses.
'Yeah Graduation!'
'I don't think I'm going to be going…' He gave me a slightly surprised look. It wasn't a full lie, My father had bought a dress for me, a beautiful one at that, but the idea of standing by myself, getting bitchy barbs sent my way by the IT crowd did not sound like fun. Dad would be so disappointed if I didn't go though. He thought the world of me.
'Really, well I mean. Maybe it's a good idea, who wants to be there anyway? These pathetic creatures with their puny minds and useless ambitions won't matter after graduation. Nothing will, the real world is going to swallow them whole and spit them out. It will destroy them.' he looked out over them and a faraway look crossed over his eyes. 'It is going to destroy them all.'
There was a gaggle of loud voices from the back of the auditorium and both Edward and I turned to look at them. Gary moved in with two of his cronies under his arms. The others moved in laughing behind him and to my surprise, I saw Remi with them. He was the only one that actually talked to me like a person, he looked around nervously as his idiot friend Will, a self-proclaimed class clown, put his arm around his shoulder. He was fake, not a bully or anything but not a real person, just someone who latched onto the popular kids and tried to always brown nose them. It made me sick and Edward scoffed at the sight.
'Speaking of pathetic creatures here comes the football team and their orange slice boys.' Edward said, spitting through his teeth. 'I hate them, I hate them all so much.'
'Ah Gary you and the team are finally here!' Mr Head called out to them, a smile appearing like a crack over his ball sack of a face. 'Now we can finally start! Your prefect is here everyone, give him a round of applause.' He clapped and three quarters of the people clapped and cheered, the others just stared blankly. I sympathised with them. Edward beside me however was moronically cheering and Remi looked over to us, seeming to be a little uncomfortable with the situation. Gary and the others lapped it up and Gary pushed his friends off and stood in front of them.
'Thank you all! Better late than never I guess, bet you all missed me, huh?' he asked, pointing to Hayley and Marie. They went all girly and I wanted to kick them both in the face. He was such a vulgar creature.
'Dare I ask where you've been?' Mr Head chuckled as the group of lads slumped into the chairs.
'Oh you know, studying…' Gary called out as he slipped in between Hayley and Marie. A wave of laughter went over the lads. Remi forced a smile. What was he doing hanging out with them? He was far too intelligent to be hanging around those idiots. I just wanted to shake him and snap him out of it, but then again, why bother? It's not like he would hang out with me anyway. Mr Head laughed and rubbed his hands together.
'Anyway… should we begin everyone? A Level Students welcome to your last day at the Lower Trent Academy…' Mr Head started and I tuned out as he waffled on and on about how everyone had made him proud and that our football team had actually managed to defeat the NPSE (Nottingham Public School Of Excellence) twice that year a feat never before done in our entire history. I didn't care, they were all idiots and Edward looked like he fell asleep during it. I felt my eyes going heavy but Edward pushed me.
'Oh wait it's the exciting bit now… he's announcing the special guest tonight for graduation. Who do we think it could be?' he asked sarcastically. I looked at him with confusion.
'Umm… was that an actual question?' He laughed and looked back out to Mr Head.
'Just listen…' he mumbled, shaking his head.
I glanced back out over the restless assembly and the principal cleared his throat. He seemed to shake with excitement as he took in a breath, preparing himself for what was to come.
'So now the moment you've all been waiting for it's time for me to reveal who your special guest is tonight.' He said. A creepy air of anticipation hung over the crowd and Edward just scoffed at it. He mouthed a few words to the sky but even I could feel the excitement in the air, and I hated them all too. 'This very special person is a former student here,' he started and a buzz of excitement vibrated through everyone. 'Some people even think they might be destined to be the next leader of the Pokémon League,' suddenly squeals and shakes of delight started ejecting from the crowd. I felt a nervous shudder run up through me too and looked to Edward who stared at me, almost with disappointment. I couldn't help it, it had to be her! She had to be coming, my protector. I looked around to Remi who was looking to a very excited Will with a suggestive look. Gary stood up slowly 'Now you all know who I'm talking about! 8 gym badges in less than a year! The one, the only, Clair Davison!' he yelled out the last bit and moved his hands to the side. Everyone shot up in excitement, even I glanced around to look for her and suddenly Mr Head burst out laughing.
'HA had you! She isn't here yet!' everyone shouted, laughed or swore. I looked to see Remi pulling Will down as Gary and the girls laughed as if they had known all along. 'But she will be here for your proper graduation A-level Students! Now go and enjoy your final day and keep yourselves out of trouble! Assembly, dismissed.' I put a hand to my heart, it was beating hard and Edward frowned at me shaking his head.
'After all you've been through, you still want to be one of them?' He growled. I looked at him in shock and he shoved his chair over. 'You're just as stupid and pathetic as… no actually you're worse, they've treated you like shit but you still want to play their game. You're a cop out. I thought you were different Hoot Hoot… I'm so disappointed by you. I guess you are just a hopeless loser.' I stared after him, my mouth dropping, feeling something inside me crack. What had just happened? I struggled for breath, my head was spinning. Why did he turn on me? What did I do? What did I do to deserve that? The people moved around me, a haze of uniforms and excited chatter but I stood there, lost, tears in my eyes. What had I done to get Edward to speak with such venom?
Floating through the crowd, but not being seen by any of them, my despair had gripped me. I was a fuck up, a complete and utter loser. Nobody would want me near them, nobody could ever want me as a friend, not even Edward a loser I thought, like me. I sniffled back tears. All I wanted was a friend, male, female, a Pokémon. Anything, anyone! I collapsed through the toilet doors and stumbled into a cubicle. I slammed it shut behind me and slumped onto the toilet. I couldn't hold it back anymore and sobbed, punching the cubicle walls. Why? How? How did I deserve this? I fumbled in my pockets and pulled it out. The glitter of steel reflected the luminescent lights, my fingers trembled. My friend, you were my only friend.
I pulled up my sleeve and placed the sharp edge onto my wrist. It could end, it could end so quickly, all I had to do was yank it along, yank it along the right way, down the vein, not across. The other scars had all been across, I covered them with my sleeves, with gloves, my father didn't even know. Only one had caught me doing it to myself and she had saved me, it was the turning point, the girls stopped after that, she made them but never told them my secret. I hesitated, she was kind to me when she discovered the truth and I had a chance to see her again, a chance to thank her. I would see her one last time then I would go away, I would go away for ever. I sobbed and dropped the blade and it clattered across the tiles. Clair, please save me again.