The Boy Who Melted & The Nameless Island

by jaa8121

Johnny Woodward has spent the past year trying to find out who or what he is really is and if there are others like him. He has discovered an Island far away from his parents home on Gerogia. But not everyone who who can re shape themselves in the rain will use their power for good and some of them are out for revenge.

The Boy Who Melted

The Nameless Island

Prologue

The Girl Who Melted

It was in Georgia that my life changed completely for better or worse. I stood there terrified of the boy standing right there before me, the boy who melted, John Woodward, only he was no longer the ugly monstrosity from which he had first appeared, in fact I could hardly recognise him, he was even handsome now, different something new seemed to have awoken in him. I fucked him in the rain that night, I watched him melt before my eyes and yet here he was before me, not only alive but cured from his disease. Mitch and Jenny were dead and I was the only one left.

DON'T KIL ME I said, only in my head but this boy could read minds.

"Kill you," he said to me shaking his head, "Kill you I wouldn't dream of it. After all, you didn't really kill me, did you? No, you let the rain do that." At that moment I could hear the rain pouring hard on the roof. Who was he? He was a freak, he killed Mitchell right in front of me. Mitchell had saved my life once, where was he to save me now?

"My dear Laura. You really should have enjoyed that kiss more. It was your last." His lips had been cold and wormy, but what did he mean?

"But you said you wouldn't kill me."

"Oh I won't kill you, dear. But you see, it's still raining out there and the roof is going to miraculously disappear in exactly..." he looked at his watch, so casually, there was no mercy in his eyes, "...thirty two minutes. Isn't that just a shame? After all with that kiss you just became the girl who melted."

"NO!" I screamed but he seemed not to hear me. I cried and cried as he walked through the house ignoring me completely, and as the door slammed and he had left the house it happened, the roof disappeared. The rain came at me so suddenly, it was as if a thousand knives were coming right at me at once, it burned me I watched my arms melt away, until my eyes were gone, the pain was excruciating, I cried and screamed, hoping someone anyone would help but quite soon I was begging for death, begging for this all to be over. My fingers were the last things to go I thought just then that everything would be over, that I could just die right then and there but of course not. I felt as if I had fallen into a nightmare, visions of my childhood seemed to come right before me. My dad, the way he used to beat me as a child, the way he would beat my mom, my sister and brother.

"You fucking slut, get off the ground and fight back. You Fucking whore!"

"Please," I said, "Just let me go I don't want..." I was fifteen years old that day, he would take me down to the cellar and beat me over and over, he was a drunk, he liked to beat us all for fun. My mom had been having an affair behind his back and now he was taking it out on each of us one my one. I was bleeding, dyeing, he didn't seem to even know what he was doing, he just kept punching and wailing on me.

"GET UP AND FIGHT!" I did as he said, and I tried.

"Mike, wait!" My mother had tried to intervene but it was then that he started beating her, I watched in horror as her blood spilled out on the floor, but this was the easy part to digest. In his pocket he always kept a small swift army knife, he took it out of his pocket and...

"DAD NO!" I screamed, calling for my older brother or sister to come down and help me. I wanted to help her but I was so afraid, I ran as fast as I could back up the stairs towards the house.

Upon coming back up the stairs I was back in the present, but what was that, I saw only darkness, I heard nothing. Was this death? I could sense something, a form, a body. What was it the little fuck had told me? He'd put himself back together and even discovered new abilities, that was how he cursed me. Could I do the same? Could I bring back my body and give myself those powers? Or better yet become ever more powerful and take revenge on those who had dared to harm me or anyone I had ever loved. I would turn myself into a lethal weapon and swear revenge on the boy who did this to me. I would take everything he cared about and make him suffer in the way that I had suffered. My name is Laura, and I'm the girl who melted.

Chapter One

Johnny

One year later...

Not for the first time I found myself returning home not my true home but to the nameless island. It has no name, not anymore but it was here where I had always hoped to find the answers I had been looking for. I went home, to check up on my mom, I had hated her for so long, hated her for using me, putting me on all of those talk shows but now... I not seen her in so long. But I made sure that she never saw me, everyone had known me to be dead, to have have melted in the rain, it would have made perfect sense of course. My dad had never truly cared for me, he had spent his entire life using me, he never gave two shits about my disappearance but with my mother there was something at the very least. I could fly to the island and back, it had taken me quite sometime to get used to my new powers but I did. The rain no longer had any effect on me, it was as if the process only needed to take place once and then I would be free from my curse. I wore a red hood whenever I returned home, it was important for me never to be discovered. It suddenly occurred to me that today was the anniversary of my true birth, the day I discovered my abilities, the day my stupidity made me think that she actually loved me, Laura. A part of me still wanted to believe it even now, she had used me for her sick and twisted games but the person she has been pretending to be, the fictional character that she had been playing, a part of me wanted to believe that she had really existed. What did it matter now? I had killed her, let her melt to death in the rain, and she had deserved it. Hadn't she? Did anyone deserve that agony?

After I had left Laura to die I did go home at first, my parents were still on their way to Rome, so I knew I could at least have somewhere to stay for a while. I could not let my parents see me whole again, they would never understand what had happened. I would use my power for good, to help people. And that was exactly what I did whenever I returned home but now I needed something more than that. I needed answers. Who was I? I had spent so much of those last two weeks pouring through books and graphic novels hoping I could use my power to becomes some sort of super hero, I think I got pretty good at that but it was getting difficult to keep everything a secret. I needed answers, I found an old book in my office called Tales of The Nameless Island, which told of a legend of a different race of humans that were shunned by their own society for being different, many of them were forced to live on the island in exile and had supposedly remained their to this day but I had never found any of them, except for one.

"You're late back," said Cho meeting me by the shore.

"Yeah, I had a lot to take care of."

"Your mother,"

"I hate her, but I worry about her too I guess." She smiled at me, quite pitifully.

"Did you find anything out? You have been away for a month."

"I might have found out quite a bit," I said, "Are you sure that this is the island that was mentioned in the book?"

"I am certain," she said, "I looked into into the past and I saw a storm, a whole species melting in the rain on this very island to be reborn, stronger and faster than before."

"So look back into the past now," I said, "Find out what happened to them."

"I have told you so many times that it doesn't work like that. My farther created the same gift for himself, we can only see images and we don't always choose what we see."

"My powers were perfect for me."

"This is much more advanced than flight or invisibility."

I had met Cho when I arrived on the island, her farther had the same gift – or curse. They had both been melted in the rain early in their lifetime and died and recreated themselves immediately. Her farther had trained her to reshape herself, she had been able to figure it out much faster than I had, and she had thought hard about the powers she was going to choose. My only focus at the time had been to take my revenge on the fuckers who had caused me to melt in the first place. But she had thought long and hard about what she wanted her powers to be like. She had taken a lot of time in developing her speed ability, so she was faster than me, she had turned herself into an expert archer, she never missed a target, she was quick with her bow, and could fire her arrows quickly and with more power than any normal human would be capable of. But on top of that she had trained herself to look back into the past, she had explained to me countless times that all she could see were images. She had spent weeks preparing her new form where I had spent half an hour at most. Like I said my only thought was to take revenge on Laura and her friends.

"So did you learn anything?" said Cho.

"If this really is the island that the book mentions then our species are all dead, we are the only two left I think."

"I know you don't truly believe that."

"Maybe that's because I don't want to. But there is something else on my mind. I mean our species are born naturally right? Two humans cannot produce one of our kind?"

"No, they can't. How is it that your parents never had this condition?"

"I don't know," I said, "But I am starting to think that they may not have been my real parents."

"Then you will have to ask them."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"Why don't you look into my past?"

"Because I can't, you are telepathic, maybe you could try reading your mothers mind."

"I just got back."

"You did, I didn't ask you to go immediately. We should head back into the cave."

"Yeah, the rain might not affect me in the same way anymore but it still haunts me to this day."

Chapter Two

Laura

It was an entire year ago today that I had died and shaped myself back together, I was powerful but nothing would ever be the same again and I could never rest until the mother fucker who had melted me down in the first place was dead. But I had more on my mind than him at the time, I hated him with every part of my being but I hated my dad more, much more. I came to New York less than a month after I had discovered my powers, there's a secret league of assassins which I knew would be glad to use skills such as my own. I had been so weak before, so vulnerable but not anymore. I was stronger than I had ever been, faster, my senses were heightened, I could spot things from a mile away, I could smell and hear things outside the city. But still I was no warrior, John's powers could be just as effective though he would no longer be able to read my mind unless I allowed it. I could have made my way to the island he was hiding on any time I wanted or simply wait for him back in Georgia, and quite soon I would but I needed to train. I couldn't risk him killing me again. It wasn't even death that scared me but the pain that came with it, the flashbacks from my past, there were some things I just wanted to forget. I met Shadow shortly after my arrival in New York, he's the head of the league of assassins, he accepted me for what I had become and even celebrated my powers. He taught me how to fight. It was on that day that I stepped upon the roof of the old abandoned building and looked up to watch the sunrise, wondering when the day would come for me to leave the order and take my revenge.

"I thought I might find you up here," came Shadow's voice from behind me. I stood still, staring over the city.

"It's been a year since I got my powers, you still don't think I'm ready to do this?"

"Laura," he said sternly, "Killing this kid will not bring you peace, we could make use of him."

"He would never become one of us, he's not a killer."

"You told me once that he murdered your boyfriend and who was that other girl?"

"Jenny," I said trying to show as much as I could that I really didn't want to discuss that night, "But he's not a cold blooded killer."

"Neither are we, we only kill those who deserve death. Have I taught you nothing over the past year? Some might say that you deserved what you got that night."

"Don't!" I shouted.

"But now you have been given a second chance to live, to make things right. You managed to get him to trust you last time, maybe you can do it again."

"He killed Mitch, he saved my life when I was a kid. I would have done anything for him, yes even murder. He told me what we were doing was a mercy, after all what sort of life was he living?"

"That does not give you the right to do what you did. Here our goal is to save more lives than we take. Remember that. Speaking of which I have a task for you. One of our old assassins has left the order, a skilled fighter who like you did not seem to agree with our code of honour, he left and goes around killing for fun. As you fulfil your duty remember the reason why this task was assigned to you. Make sure you don't go down that same path, you might have been no better before you came here but now... Well that remains to be seen."

"Who is he?"

"His name is not your concern, he left the order shortly before you arrived. He often likes to hang out around the times square, see what you can find out." He gave me a picture and left me on the rooftop to think on everything that he had said. I had seen his face before and I had no intention of going down the same path, I was not evil. I had been homeless before I discovered those dark corners of the internet, I could remember only too well the day I ran away from home.

"Get back here you fucking bitch!" I had reached the top of the stairs, climbed out of the cellar and ran back through the house. My brother and sister must have been upstairs because I never saw them again, I've always supposed that they must be dead too by now. I could hear him coming up the stairs, but he was drunk, slow and always found it hard to catch up with me. I unlocked the front door and ran, as quickly as I could down the street and away. Could I call the police? No, I had a criminal record, they would believe my dad's word against mine that I had killed her. I'd been locked up for violence before, sometimes I might have deserved it, other times it was always my dad, they always believed his word against mine, always. Where would I go, what was I to do?

I had become a runaway, a ghost in the shadows, I would break into peoples houses to steal food. I become a drug dealer, a prostitute, anything that would give me enough cash to last another day. But I never killed anyone, I couldn't I swore to myself that I would never cause harm to anyone. But some of us simply have no choice. I had been living on the street for so long, I was so hungry, sometimes I preferred going to prison for a short time, at least I could get a decent meal and a bed to sleep in at night. On one particular day when I got busted for possession of drugs I was taken to one of those rare prisons that have limited access to the internet as oppose to none at all, I met Mitch online, he often spoke to me online and asked me if I would be interested in taking a job he had on offer involving film and videos. He told me everything, I was desperate, I was homeless I needed money. He sent someone to bail me out and I was taken to meet him in Seattle along with Jenny, a friend of his who I had also spoken to. They would be committing the murders, not me. That's what I kept on telling myself at least.

Mitch seemed pleased to see me when I arrived, "You'll do fine?" was the first thing he said looking me up and down. The girl next to him, Jenny smiled at me, almost cruelly. But enough about that, they were both dead now and I should have died with them, but here I was alive with only one purpose, revenge.

I made my way to the Times square, getting there without being noticed was easy, the city was so busy that no one even looked at me, so long as I stayed in the shadows. But once there I came into the light, a few males seemed to turn their heads at me, I had learned that attracting male attention always had it's uses, even with my new power I could never kill anyone out in the open, I would risk the identity of the league of assassins and that would cost me my life. I saw the man from the picture on a small wooden bench. He would not know my face but I had seen pictures of him countless times, he enjoyed killing women for fun, I hated him for that but he would pay dearly for it soon enough.

I could only hope that he would not move from the bench as I made my way into a public toilet to change my clothes, to change into the same revealing outfit I had worn when I screwed Woodward, the boy who Melted. Why he would be eighteen now, a whole year living in caves and on rooftops, he would have changed, he was no longer the broken boy with the melted face, he was a fighter a warrior and Mitch's killer. I made my way back towards the Times Square and perhaps just in time, my target was just making ready to leave, I followed him. People around the city seemed to stare at me as I walked, undressing me with their eyes, I was used to that. I tried to walk as quickly as a could until at last I finally caught up with him.

"Hey baby, you wanna have some fun?" He looked me up and down, a look of delight coming into his eyes, he would try to kill me the moment we were alone I knew that, I would have to be quick.

"And what sort of fun is that then?" he said, he had a common cockney British accent, I knew he was from London but he had lived in New York for most of his life by now. I put my face closer to his, teasing him slightly.

"Wouldn't you like to know honey. Why don't we go somewhere private and I might show you if you're lucky."

He took me back to his car. He drove for a long time. That ass-hole had gotten sloppy in his old age, I could see the knife in the pocket of his jacket.

"So, I ain't seen you around before."

"I'm new in the city," I said, "I love your accent. You're gonna love me when we get back to yours baby."

We talked for quite some time, and he drove on and on, I would take my time. I could kill him right then and there if I wanted. But not yet. Not if it could be helped. I would slowly make him suffer, I would shame his honour and let the world see him for what he truly was. As I had guessed we didn't go back to his place, it was getting dark outside and we seemed to be outside of the city on some country road, there was no one around, no other cars no nothing. He pulled up into a garage. Got out the car and closed and locked the doors.

"So, you wanna have some fun do ya girl?"

"Oh I can't wait to rid those clothes off you." He always killed his victims after he was done with them, he was sick and twisted in every way but I would be his last victim, or perhaps he would be one of mine. When it was over. He got hold of his toruses fumbling about for the knife.

"Looking for something honey?" I said twisting the elegant object between my fingers, there were runes of some sort on the blade.

He made a move to snatch it off me but I was faster and stronger than he was. I stabbed his left hand first and as he kicked and screamed in pain, this gave me time to create an illusion, making it appear to the idiot that there were two of me in the same car as if I had cloned myself but it was just an illusion, but it was this illusion that had screwed him, not me. I was never in any danger, not any more. I had changed back into my normal clothes by then. I used my strength to hold him down and tied up his arms and legs him. The illusion disappeared.

"I hope you enjoyed that baby," I said this without any sense of affection this time, "Just wait until you see what's next." I had this killer, tied up within my grasp. I began flaying his finger in his left hand, he screamed but there was no one around to hear him. I flayed his entire hand and moved down to his arm and legs, hours had passed but to me it felt as if no time had passed at all, he eventually bled to death, I felt no regret, not this time.

Chapter Three

John

It was cold and wet that night but Cho refused to let me go back into the cave, sometimes I wanted to give up the whole idea and leave the island for good. I could go back to my parents house, telling them that I had become whole again. But no, I was stuck here. I had come to this island seeking answers but I had never found any.

"When can we go back, I'm sick of this journey."

"When we find a clue to all of this," said Cho.

"What are we even looking for?" I asked, trying my best to be heard in the wind and rain, "honestly, what are you hoping to find?" She looked around the island, her carrying her bow that she kept with her at all times. "Maybe it is just a legend, just a story but we were both victims to the rain, we melted by it's very touch. There are others like us still I'm sure of it. Other that are still alive. You survived after all."

"I lived in Georgia though, you know as well as I do that this island is completely empty."

"What if we could find out what happened to your parents?" said Cho. "Go if that's what you want, there must be some trace of our species somewhere."

"You really believe that?"

"There were more of us once, we can't be the only ones," she said sadly.

"Why has no one ever come here before?" I couldn't understand her motivation. She looked so pretty even after countless years of living in the wild. There were times when she reminded me of Laura, not the 23 year old girl who had tried to murder me but the person I thought she had been. But then in some ways they could not have been more unlike, Cho often spoke as if she was from another time, I even wondered if she was sometimes and that we were immortal or at least lived longer than humans. She used a bow, and never seemed to understand technology whenever I tried to explain it. I knew that she had been stuck on this island for longer than she was letting on, that in itself seemed clear from the start.

"There is so much that you are not telling me."

"Yes, there is much. I will tell you everything when the time comes but in the meantime we should be getting back."

"How can I help you if you won't tell me what to search for?"

"I need to learn something from you first. But never mind that now."

"Lean something from – You're impossible." She sniggered at me. It was nice to see her laughing.

"I could just read your mind."

"I know you've tried that before, that won't work on me, neither will your invisibility or – well any of your powers really. I can resist simple powers such as these."

We began heading back towards the small cave where we had been staying, I was so tired that night I could have fallen asleep on the spot but I wanted to stay awake for as long as I possibly could we stepped into the cave, it was very dark in there, it lit only by our torches, it was never warm in their, or anywhere on this island really, another reason why I liked to return home so much. On the floor there was one sleeping bag and a pillow, I had brought those – well I had wanted somewhere relatively comfortable to sleep after all. Cho never seemed to sleep, or at least I had never seen her sleep, she was wide awake when I closed my eyes and by the time I awoke she was often out in the woods.

"I'm so tired."

"Drink this," said Cho handing me a lot of lemon juice which she had made herself. She knew when I was thirsty or suffering, even though I tried not to show it.

"Thank you," I tried to say while drinking out of the pot at the same time. "Cho, there is something I – well." I wanted to tell her that I loved her, I had only ever been in love once with Laura and that had ended badly. I was sure that lightening could not strike twice, I was certain that I would be safe this time. "Over the past few days, well weeks, well really months I've just been, I think I like you. I mean – I'm sorry." What the hell was I saying, I felt like an idiot, no one had ever looked at me in that way before, the only girls who had ever stared at me only noticed my face, my old melted face, my missing hand. But I was whole again now.

"I know," she said.

"You – you know?"

"If you knew who I truly was you would never have said that." No, I thought, Please don't say that please.

"I sure wish Laura had told me that," I said out loud not thinking about what I was saying.

"You are still devoted to her."

"How can I be – wha!" to my great surprise I found that she was kissing me and I was kissing her back, I'm not sure how long it had lasted for, we were holding each other, flashbacks of Laura started coming back to me but I drove them out of my mind. When we had finished we seemed to stare into each others eyes, as if we had some sort of understanding, we were both freaks. That was something that Laura had never been, had never understood, not until the very end.

"Sorry, it's been a while. Was that – was that okay?" She nodded and smiled.

"You're friend Laura," she's still alive, I've known ever since you told me the story and if she's learned our secrets and chosen the right powers, you could be in terrible danger."

"You brought that up now?"

"No more secrets, there is more I have to tell you but much of it will have to wait."

"But what do you mean she's still alive," I said waking up now for the first time.

"When you kissed her you didn't only give her your curse but you gave her your gifts too, by now I am certain that she would have learned how to re create herself into something new and powerful. If she finds out where you are, you could be in great danger."

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" I said, feeling slightly hurt.

"I have told you very little. I have been betrayed before, I always suspected that you would go and find her, try to kill her, or that your love for her would make you want to bring her over to our side. I know now that it's not true."

"Not out of love, but maybe out of survival for us both."

"It could be dangerous when you go back to your home, but we need that book. I can't back to my home, it's not possible. Once we have the book I can explain but for once I might leave this island and come with you."

"No," I said sternly, I have to do this alone. Maybe I want to see my mom again, for the last time. To let her know I'm alive."

"There is something else I have never told you, she is not your mother. I knew your real mother, I grew up with her. I'm sorry. I told you. I don't age or die." This was what really shocked, me that day. "So how much more have you been hiding from me then?"

"Just bring the book back, you were right. There are none left alive here. Maybe I was waiting for someone."

"Waiting for who?"

"Go home, see your mother and bring the book back to me."

Chapter Four

Laura

"It is done Shadow," I said standing there before my master, "I have been killing strangers for long enough, I want my own revenge."

"You do not join the league of assassins for your own selfish reason Laura, if a day ever comes when this friend of yours should start using power for evil, not unlike your own intentions I might add, then by all means you will be the one for the job."

"But that is the only reason I joined, you said you would train me"

"To control your powers, here by killing a few we save millions. By killing this boy I do not believe that we would be helping anyone at all."

"You don't understand what he is capable of."

"Then I'm sure when the time is right you will be able to kill him yourself."

"What so you want me to just wait around until he becomes a danger to society?"

"Now since when did you care about that? You want your revenge, I understand. You've come to the wrong place."

We were standing in the middle of the chamber, we were not alone, Shadow always had his guards protecting him. I should have been the leader by then already, I was more powerful than Shadow, I needed him in order to learn to control what I had but I could control it now. But Shadow was not like all of my other victims, they would sleep with me first, or think they were and then they would pay brutally for their crimes. Not Shadow, I was more powerful than him but he knew it, he would set all of his guards on me, I had not constructed my power as well as I could have, I had been scared and confused. I had just wanted to get out. But in some ways I never did, I still got flashbacks from my past, all of the time. I needed to act.

"So you won't let me leave, is that it? You know I could kill you any time I want." I noticed even then a hint of fear in his eyes but he seemed to be trying to keep as calm as in control as possible, this was so typical of him, but I had never found anyone else who would have accepted me. I didn't need him now though. I knew now that the fear was not for his own life but for mine.

"Don't be a fool girl, you would have no where else to go." He was right, I had always had trouble keeping my power in control, sooner or later someone would find out what I had become, no human would take me in like this. But I would have died if it meant that I could finally get my revenge before hand, or I could even die trying. What was I now? Could I be killed?

"What makes you think you can kill me?"

"Laura, please enough of this."

"You can't control me anymore, fuck this!" come at me and see what happens and you're as brave you make out!" I was not sure if I was quite as brave as I was making out, it was like asking to be killed really.

"Very well, guards, deal with her. Keep her alive if you can, wound her."

"Coward, you are too scared to face me yourself!"

"Well, by all means being as powerful as you are you should have no trouble at all in defending yourself from these men should you?"

"And after that you will be dead along with them!"

"We shall see," he said.

At that very moment the men sprang at me from all angles, I knew I was safe I was faster and stronger than any of them, I an and grabbed my staff. I created an illusion for them making it look as if there were ten of me, none of them knew where I was, it was over within minutes, they were dead.

"You knew I would handle them easily didn't you."

"As a matter of fact I did,"

"So what, are you going to come here and kill me yourself then?"

"No," that is not my intention, "This ends here!"

"You're scared," I said, "You're afraid."

"I'm afraid for you," he said with warning in his voice, "Let this go."

"Stop me!" I yelled. He took up his staff and flu at me instantly, even with my power he seemed to be just as fast as me, even stronger than me perhaps, my cloning trick did not seem to work on him, he knew exactly which one was me.

"Stop this now!" he said, "I possess all of you're powers and more, I am one of the rain gods, Slaters as we are called. But you – you were not born but made by the boy you are trying to kill, the one who created you, made you what you are today!"

"The one who cursed me you mean," I shouted. "He tried to kill me! He's a freak and so are you!"

"And now you are one of us," we do not kill our own own kind unless it is very necessary! Is that understood?! There are so few of us now, we need to stick together!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Take a seat Laura, I will explain everything!"

"I'd rather stand!" I said.

"You will do as I say," Shadow spat. And to my great surprise and horror I found myself doing exactly what he wanted, against my will. It was as if he could control my entire body without any effort at all.

"Why didn't you just use that when we were fighting?"

"Because it would not have been a fair fight," he said.

"Many of those guards were under my control, I could have killed you anytime, but I must admit I was impressed. I may have been lying to you before however about many things. I did not start this organisation to save the humans race but to destroy it, and to take revenge on those who have killed my species"

"Johnny, the guy who killed me, he wants to protect them!" I said.

"And you, you were one of them," he said sternly, I had never seen his eyes look so hard and cruel before. "But no longer, you are one of us now. So prove your self worth, I had to test you're patients before but if this boy could be a threat to our plans then he must die and soon!"

"Then let's go," I know where he is.

"As do I,"he said, "And I know exactly who to look out for. It was me who raised him growing up, I who married the bitch foster mother of his, to watch over him. Do you not, recognise me after all you're impressive research? He grew up thinking that I was his farther Laura, I killed both of his parents, they dared to stand in the way of my plans. I thought I could make him understand, but he is as weak as the pair of them."

"Well, give me some credit, the chat shows only focused on him. Why didn't you just melt him yourself, stick him out in the rain for a few minutes?"

"I tried, when he was just a baby, I had to try in stages or it would look like murder."

"I hardly think that would stop you, if you are who you say you are!" I said.

"I had to play my part well, I had to raise him, to make him understand. But his foster mother has softened him too much, he hated her for putting him on all of those chat shows but he hated me more, blamed me for promoting our race, thought I was using him for money. Money is good, killing off the human race is better!"

"What did they do?"

"Very soon you will know," said Shadow.

"Well then before we go, there is one more human I need to take care of."

"And who might that be?"

"Oh just an old man from some time ago, my dad or so he liked to call himself."

Chapter Five

Johnny

The Nameless Island was a long way away from my home, I was fast but even so I left at what would have been four o clock in the morning in Georgia and I had now just arrived at three o clock in the morning the next day. I wore a red hood to hide my face but sometimes I wondered whether or not that was really worth it, I was whole again now, the police had given up all investigation. But still, Laura was out there, she had seen me and if everything Cho said was true then she would never forget. My mom would still be sleeping, it was funny I hadn't seen my dad the last time I had visited. Neither of them would have needed to work, before my death they had made enough money to last them for the rest of their lives, maybe he had gone to prison as a suspect for my death. But I had never managed to find out anything about him. I could look into that later though, I needed to find this book, Tales of the Nameless Island it had been in my office for as long as I could remember, I had spent all of my childhood and teenage years ignoring it. I had read a lot, it was all there was to do, but for some reason it had become one of those books that's just sitting on your shelf and something makes you reluctant to pick it up over something you have already read. It always always strange returning to the house, Laura been inside it slowly raping me round her finger making me fall in love with her, I felt as if a hole in my heart had been filled but it had all been just a game, to film some pornographic crap for the internet, killing me in the process. I had always hated it here, and now I hated it more than ever before. There was nothing for it though, I slowly began to make my way in.

"Who's there?" came a voice I knew only too well. Oh no, what had I been thinking? "John?" I had half of my face in the moonlight, and half of it in the dark.

"Mom," I said in a whisper, "I can explain -" She ran over to me and hugged me tightly bringing me into the light.

"You're face, you're hand," A look of joy came over her face, maybe she had not been using me for money after all. "You're – I'm sorry I. You're alive. You – you're whole."

"There is so much we need to talk about. Where's dad? This is very important."

"John, you're farther, I don't know where he is. After you disappeared he just wondered off, said he was going to find you, I never saw him again. Where have you been?"

"You are not my mother," A look of despair came over her suddenly. "Maybe you were, when I was growing up, you raised me as one of you're own. Who are my real family?"She was silent for quite some time.

"I don't know," she said at last, "You're farther brought you home, said he found you washed up at shore. Neither of us knew what had happened to you, where have you been for so long?"

"I'm whole again Mom, I was murdered forced out into the rain, I recreated myself, I'm not of this world. That's where I've been trying to find out where I belong. I know it's not here. I'm sorry."

"Don't be ridiculous, I don't know where you were getting this from but I'm sure there is a simple explanation for the cure. Where have you been?"

There was nothing for it, I vanished right in front of her, she gasped in astonishment, as if she had seen a ghost. To her it must seem as if she had, everyone believed me to be dead and here I was whole again before her, I was a ghost in some ways. I reappeared.

"I am what I told you, now please. You have to help me. Is my office the same as when I left." She was petrified, I thought she was going to faint.

"John, what are you?"

"Mom please answer the question, I don't have much time."

She nodded in answer.

"Thank you."

I ran back up the stairs leaving her, I felt terrible, it was not what I wanted. What did I want? I wanted to explain things, to help her to understand, but Laura would be looking for me and that would mean that my mom would be in danger too, I would grab the book and then I would have to get her out of here, bring her back to the island with me. I could explain things then.

"Mom, you need to come up with me, you are in danger, stay close to me."

"But -"

"There's no time, I will explain everything soon, just please stay by my side." She did as I had asked, she was certainly less shocked than Laura and her friends had been, maybe it was because she had raised me, seen me melt in the rain for reasons that doctors could not explain, she was confused certainly but She knew me as her son, or her foster son perhaps. We crept up the stairs in total silence, I could hear her shaking beside me. I remembered the way to my office, I took a deep breath before going in. As I came in, well everything was as I had remembered it, I saw my computer at my desk and a manuscript of my story lying beside it, I would have much more to put in there now, everything that had happened with Laura, coming to the island. The walls were covered with books and graphic novels, and I could not truly remember what I was looking for, it was like finding a needle in a hay stack.

"Mom, there is something I need to find, a book. 'Tales of the Nameless Island'. It's very important that I find it. Please you have to help me."

"I don't understand any of this," she said.

"I will explain everything to you soon," I said quickly, "Now please you have to help me."

"Perhaps I can help you with that," said a familiar voice menacingly. I turned in horror, Laura was standing there before me, she was carrying a long staff and was dressed in black leather but that was not what had scared me, it was not her voice that had spoken. I could see another shape, a dark shape standing in the background, a shadow among the walls, he stepped into the lightened room.

"Dad?"

"So you finally discovered the secret did you?" he said, "With the help of this lovely young lady I see." My mother ran over to him, as if she had not heard anything he had said and hugged him tightly, kissing him.

"Laura, gag her if you would, bind her hands." A look of confusion came over my mothers face as she was dragged down to the ground. She was gagged before she could say another word, flashbacks started coming into my head, I remembered Mitch and Jenny all too well but they were dead now.

"Bring out our other guests if you would."

"Let her go," I yelled being unable to control my anger, Laura your friends are dead because of a choice that I made, she did nothing wrong!"

"Well then I'm sure you will make the right choice won't you," my dad said, "Laura bring in our next prisoner, if you please."

She left the room.

"Who are you? I am more powerful than you," I turned myself invisible. He did not appear to be very shocked. "I put myself back together after the rain melted me, I've killed and I can kill try." I had turned myself invisible, my mother was clearly unable to see me. But this guy who I had always thought was my farther, he kept looking straight into my eyes."

"Shadow is the name I chose for myself, I like it. And if you think any of those powers of yours will have any effect on me you are gravely mistaken my friend. I am just like you, the rain melted me too as if does with all of our kind, Slaters as we are called. And we are not of this world."

"So then you are my farther then?" I said.

"I killed that bastard long ago and your whore mother."

"Why?" But at that moment Laura brought in an old man, covered in blood, he looked terrible as if he had been beaten and tortured for decades.

"Excellent he told her, now the last if you please," Laura left the room again, she did not normally seem like one to take orders from anyone but she seemed to be enjoying this a great deal. "Your farther was my friend, our race were banished from our homeland and we came to that island you seem to have spent so much time on. I swore I would take revenge on those who had harmed us but you're farther – well, he stood in my way and your whore of a mother protected him. A tragic death but nothing must stand in my way. This book will tell you much he said holding it out now before me, it was a red leather bound volume, it was old and thick, there would be much I could lean from it if I could get it. He placed it onto the table. Laura came back with the last prisoner.

"Cho! Laura no, please, please don't do this, let her go I will do anything, Laura please. PLEASE!"

She smiled but said nothing.

"Oh don't worry," said Shadow, "She does not have to die, the choice is yours my friend. Why by all means I hope she does live, I don't wish to spill anymore Slaters blood. The choice is yours, who lives and who dies? This women who has been lying to you all your life or one of your own. But pick quickly because in fifty seconds this will happen to both of them. Laura held up the old man on the floor and struck a dagger through his throat.

"That was my old man," she said, "Just imagine what I could do to her." There was no emotion in her voice or the look in eyes. Cho was crying as they gagged her and dumped her on the ground, blood was pouring from the old man's throat.

"Time to choose, fifty seconds, if you can't choose they will both be executed and the book will be destroyed, choose and one lives and you will be granted the opportunity to fight Laura for it. So pick quickly."

What was I to do? I had argued with the Cho the last time I saw her, she had held back so much from me but now that I saw her there, I knew I was in love with her, I could never let her die, I needed her. But my mother and she was my mother, she had raised me and taken care of me since I was a baby, I had grown up thinking that she was my mother. I had hated her for a most of my life, she had lied to me but she had not used me for money. No that had been Shadow's game or whatever his game was it was malicious and he had killed my real parents.

"Thirty seconds." Time was rushing by.

"Please, stop this, take the book. I will help you destroy the human race if I have to, just let them both go."

"Just as I thought," said Shadow, "You are just like me. Fifteen seconds."

"Wait!"

"Five seconds." I didn't know what to do, I was panicked and only had a few seconds to -

"Three, two, one."

"No!" I said, in front of Cho protecting her from harm, Laura would have to kill me first.

"Excellent choice," said Shadow grinning, "Laura would you do the honours." I don't want to talk about how I felt at that moment, seeing my own mother murdered right in front of me. I will not speak of it again. It's enough to say that she died, Laura cut her throat but it was me who had chosen, me who had murdered her.

"You let the Slater live," said Shadow, "We are all the same, we need to out for our own. Side with us, you and your girlfriend."

"You killed my mother," I yelled.

"You chose," said Laura, "And it was not the first time, you murdered Mitch and Jenny and then you tried to let the rain swallow me."

"And you didn't deserve that?!"

"Shadow laughed, aha, revenge. Very admirable, so what makes you think that you are better than us. Really?"

"I made a choice," I said, "Let Cho go now."

"Take her back to the island," said Shadow to Laura, make sure she never leaves but do not harm her." Laura did as she was told without hesitation, she put her left hand on Cho's forehead and they vanished. I understood what was going on, Laura had forced her to use her teleportation.

"I thought you wanted me to fight her."

"You can fight me," said Shadow, "I left that book in your office years ago, and never once did you think to even glance over it. It's from our world, our history and all of our records of how we landed in this world in the place known we called The Nameless Island."

"Looks like you'll have more to add to it when you kill me then," I said.

"Indeed," said Shadow. I felt as if I was meeting him now for the first time in my life, but I had lived with him for along time, perhaps there was at least some hope for me.

"So," said Shadow, "Shall we begin?"

"You wanted to destroy it not so long ago, keeping secrets now Shadow huh?" Before he could say another word I ran and snatched up the book from my desk. My hands burned the moment I touched it, "Ow!"

"Nice try kid, you did not seriously think I would leave it there for you just to snatch away. My powers are far superior to yours."

"Then it's not a fair fight," I cried.

"I won't waste all of my power on the likes of you. But you're invisibility won't work on me. So let up BEGIN!" He came flying at me at that moment knocking me to the wall, an entire shelf of book clasped on me. If it were not for my super strength I was sure that alone would have killed me. I ran and punched him hard in the stomach with my super strength but it seemed to have no effect on him whatsoever.

"I can't hurt you, that's not a fair fight."

"You want that book?" said Shadow, "Join me and I will teach you all there is to know. Your girlfriend will be siding with us quite soon. You'll find that Laura can be very persuasive as I'm sure you know from the night you fucked her, the night you got those powers of yours."

"Shut up!" I yelled, "This one won't betray me, I know."

"She was forced onto the island just like the rest our generation. You really think she'd try too hard to save the human race? You really are an idiot!" Said Shadow, he was laughing at me mockingly, he wanted me to suffer before he killed me. "Here take this kid, he threw me a short sword from his belt. He was unarmed. "Tell me it's not a fair fight now. I'm still going to kill you though." I had never used a sword before in my life and unfortunately I didn't have much time to think about it since he came charging at me at full speed knocking me to the floor. I could feel the blood trickling down my face.

"What are you doing? Fight Back!" I ran back to him him using my strength to attack him with the sword but it was useless, he was too fast for me.

"Laura, she was the one who always wanted your blood since turned her, I'd say it was a gift."

"Well come and fucking finish it then. Let it end!" I yelled.

"There is no easy ending for you," said Shadow. He picked me up and threw me out of the window, had it not been for my super strength the fall would have surely killed me. I fly back into my office but Shadow was gone. And I saw only my dead mother on the ground.

Chapter Six

Laura

The nameless island, a part of me had always hoped I would never have to come back here again. This was where so many of our kind had been stranded for years, many of them had died here. I speak as if I am one of them, I am no longer human, not anymore. I was either with Shadow or I could hope that the humans would accept me now that I had changed. What would Mitch and Jenny have thought of me now. I had Cho tied to a tree, she was covered in blood. I could never understand why she didn't want to help us, I'd been cursed with my power, she was truly one of them. It was getting dark, I had been told to keep watch until Shadow returned but I was so tired by now I just wanted to fall asleep on the grass. I had been up for days, plotting my revenge, his bitch mother was dead. I wanted to kill the bitch on the tree too but Shadow always had his codes on honour, ha just a way to justify murder the way I saw it. It was not long before I realised I was laying down and falling asleep.

"Aha nice one baby," said Mitch. It was thirty minutes past midnight and I had just killed a man and not for the first time in my life. The truth is that I didn't really know how I felt about what I was doing, I had always heard that it would haunt me for the rest of my life but the truth was that I had always enjoyed the experience, I needed the money. I handcuffed him to the bed once you had taken all of his clothes off and we flayed him but by bit until he had died of blood loss.

"How much is something like this worth on the internet?" I asked Jenny who seemed to deal with all of that. We were not friends, I hated her but she knew her stuff.

"It's hard to say!" she spat, "How should I know?" Hmm I guess not.

"We'll make a fucking fortune on this one," said Mitch delightedly, there was an evil stare in his eyes. That had scared me once but not now. I'd known him for the three years by the time, I was in love with him though I often wondered whether or not he felt the same way until later that day when I came face to face with my my so called dad again. I hated him for reducing me to a life of crime, as I hated Johnny in the present.

We passed my home town in the car and I had wanted to look around for a while, and before long I saw him there, alone, drunk and homeless, probably on crack. In his pocket I saw the knife he had used to murder my mother, he had not seen me yet but I could not take my eyes off of him.

"Who is that creep?" asked Jenny noticing me looking at him for the first time.

"He's a fucking ass-hole. He's also my dad." Jenny laughed at that, I hated her even more at that moment, she didn't understand what I had been though."

"Fuck off," he killed my mom, "I'm going to kill him."

"You?" said Jenny, "You are just a slut, he's got a knife what the fuck are you gonna do?"

"Enough Jenny," said Mitch, "She has proven to be much more use than you over the last few months, you can either speak to her with respect or you can get the fuck out!" That shut her up, she didn't say another word at that point. I had so much respect for Mitch for sticking up for me like that, no one ever had before in my life.

"YOU!" My dad had spotted me, he had the knife in his hand. For the first time in quite a long time I felt terrified like I was just a little girl again, seeing him murder my mom. I supposed my brother and sister were dead by now, he would have killed them too.

"What do you want from me you bastard!" I yelled trying to sound brave, my fear had started to turn into anger, I was angry with him for what he had done. But I had killed, those people would have had families too, was I any better than he was now?

"Where are they? Jack and Emily? You know my brother and sister. What did you do to them?! He laughed and cold high laugh, he didn't care who he hurt, who had killed. He came at me with the knife and it was Mitch who dived in front of me and got himself stabbed in the gut so that I could live. My dad fucked off as soon as he heard the sirens coming. An ambulance parked up to take Mitch away, but I wouldn't leave him. I was scared of the police if ever they found out what it was we were doing..."

"Oi!" Yelled Shadow, he had returned but Johnny was not with him, "What did I tell you about going to sleep. If she'd wanted to escape we would have lost her, the rope was loose. She wanted to make sure the kid was okay I guess. I've tightened to rope now."

"So when do we get to kill the little brat?!" I said maliciously.

"All in good time my sweet," muttered Shadow, "All in good time I'm sure."

Chapter Seven

Johnny

I laid my mother's broken body on the ground outside the house, the police would have to find her. There was nothing I could do, if I called someone then people would know I was still alive and would think that I had killed her, in some ways I had killed her, I had chosen to protect Cho and now the closest thing to a mother that I had ever had was dead. The book was still lying on the table in my office, I was not sure why Shadow had not taken it with him but I found that I was able to pick it up without being in any pain, I hesitated at first but with Shadow gone the curse upon it seemed to be broken. I had to get back to the island soon, I was reluctant to go but by the morning and perhaps even before then the police would be on their way here. Laura and Shadow would be there but they had Cho, there was nothing I could do for my mom, I could not berry her or even attend her funeral.

I went back inside the house and up the stairs into my bedroom to grab a backpack. I'd always been home schooled since I could never go outside and I really had no need for a backpack, maybe I'd simply hoped in would come in handy one day, maybe I'd hoped I'd be able to find a cure for my disease and now I had, or I'd discovered who I really was. I put the thick heavy book into my bad and jumped out of the window with it on my back, took flight and began making my way back to the island.

Even at full speed it always took me hours to make my way back, it grew light and began to grow dark again, I made my way back with only one thought on my mind, revenge. I would avenge my mothers death and save Cho. I felt like every day for a year trying to figure out who or what I really was, but there was clearly more to it than just finding out what we really were, that book meant something more, Shadow had been keeping it safe in my room the entire time, hoping I would see it's contents, it was only a year ago that I had glanced at it for the first time. I already knew I was another species from another world, what I didn't know was what it could really do.

The island was almost pitch black by the time I made it back apart from the fire, and I could see Cho from here, tied to a tree, still covered with blood, in pain but alive, she was a live at the very least. Shadow came to the end of the shore to greet me as I made it to the end.

"Ah I wondered when our guest of honour would be showing up."

"I've got the book," I said, "You let me take it. Why?"

"It's time for you to learn the truth," said Shadow, his eyes fixed on my backpack, "Before you die."

"Let her go," I whispered, turning my eyes up towards Cho.

"And why would I do that?" said Shadow.

"We had a deal, you made me choose, the closest thing I ever had to a mother is dead because of you. You told me you would let her live."

"And I did, I let her live for another day and if she is willing to join our cause she will be alive for a very long time. You will be the one to die first my friend." I took out the he had given me and tried to attack him, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me to the floor taking the sword back for himself. "Here catch!" he said throwing it to a young girl who I had never seen before, though she reminded me of Laura a great deal. I wasn't stupid enough to try attacking him again. He took the bag from me and pulled out the book.

"Good, it's about time you learned the truth about yourself, go and stand over by your whore girlfriend and we'll begin."

I was interested to see where this going and, all the details would at least buy me some to time to think of a plan for me and Cho to escape. I stood beside her and took her hand, I could forgive everything she had been hiding from me now, now that I saw her like this.

Shadow gave me the book. "Here kid, read it." I paused for a moment trying to decide what to do but before long I began to read since Shadow seemed to be getting angry with my silence. Cho closed her eyes as if she were in some sort of trance as I read.

The Nameless Island as it is now known was once used in medieval times as a prison, a prison for a new species that had risen to power and had become know to society as not being quite trustworthy. The humans named these creatures Slaters, creatures that were born as humans and lived a very sheltered life up until their coming of age where they would be sent out into the rain. This was not a pleasant experience, their entire body would melt before their eyes, burning their flesh until their was nothing left. However after such an unpleasant experience begins the process they would spend their entire childhood preparing themselves for. Slaters as they were called, could reshape themselves literally into anything they wanted, many of them would give themselves the power to turn into animals, to fly or give themselves as much strength and power as they desired. There was nothing these creatures could not do which such an opportunity. In their home world of Atlanta the Slaters used their powers to protect the human race, and could forge themselves into warriors or give themselves the intelligence and capabilities to cure diseases and discover new things about the world that no one had ever discovered before.

It was not until the great rebellion in 1425 that many of the Slaters realised that they could use their power for personal gain. There had always been attacks by small numbers but it was in that particular year that the Slaters decided that they should rule over the human race and that their society would be better for it. Many humans were killed when they refused but in this very book in which I have recorded all of these recent events, a portal was opened leading to some sort of other world, something we had never seen before. It was this that allowed the human race to banish the Slaters, all of them but myself, I kept my identity a secret for many years.

"He was my grandfather," said Shadow, "The man who wrote that, they killed him when they found out what he was. But not before I had taken the book off of his hands when he'd finished recording it's latest events. I brought it into this world hoping to save my friends, our species but I found them all dead. Perhaps your little girlfriend here could could tell us more about that." Cho opened her eyes for the first time and looked back into Shadows. He un-gagged her, "Speak."

"Fuck off!" she yelled.

"You will speak!" Said Shadow firmly. He turned towards me, "This one's been keeping secrets."

"Fine," muttered Cho, "What do you want him to know," She wouldn't look at me, I felt as if she hated me right now, there was nothing but cold malice in her eyes.

Chapter Eight

Cho

560 years earlier

It was here, on the Nameless Island itself that I'd been born, I had never known anything else, I could never dream of what I never had. I awoke that morning dreading what was coming, my coming of age. It meant nothing anymore, it rained so often, and there was so little shelter on the island that so many of us had been forced to re grow ourselves before our time. My farther found shelter in a cave, A place a could be safe for the most part but for a few burns, he'd been training me all his life. He taught me how to use a bow, how how to hunt. He told me what I would need to study and what to become in order to save our race. He'd take me out on sunny days to hunt but all to often the rain had caught us by surprise, I will always remember the melting flesh on my bones. Today was the day I turned eighteen, normally our kind would have to wait until the next rainfall to gain our powers but by the sound outside it seemed that I was in luck. I could hear the rain pattering on the cave. I was so nervous, so frightened. I didn't feel ready for this, I did not feel trained.

"Cho," I could hear my father calling, "I know you are not sleeping, the rain falls today. Your time has come."

"Father, I'm not ready for this, help me," I pleased.

"Your eighteen years of age, your time has come my dear." I had to remove my clothing before I could leave the cave, I felt weak and scared. My farther had left to join the ceremony. The sooner I stood out into the rain, the sooner I could gain my powers and never feel pain again. No my farther had always taught me that one could never be invulnerable. I would remember my training and become the thing that I had always promised I would be.

It was the second most painful experience of my entire life, walking out into the rain but it was over within minutes, I screamed until everything was melted to the ground. I put myself back together slowly and careful, taking my time to make sure each string of power was exactly what it needed to be, I re created myself into the skilled archer that my farther was and tried to stretch that even further if that were possible, I became stronger and invulnerable to any weapon that had been invented at the time, I could look into snippets of peoples past, I would never age or grow old, I could teleport and I was faster than any of our species had ever been. It was said that those of us who were trained properly become stronger with every generation as we were always pushing the boundaries of what we could forge ourselves into. Before I knew it I was back inside the cave, I could feeling the power channelling through me. The pain was gone, I dressed back into my green, leggings, boots and black hood, I carried out my fathers bow and presented myself to our kind. There were roars of cheering when they saw just how skilled I had become with a bow, how quickly I could move and read into the past. But my farther had always taught me that my training did not stop here and that this was just the beginning.

For a whole year he taught me how to control my powers, we always had a vague hope of making it back to Atlanta, the world that I had never seen one day but in the meantime my only hope was to help lead out species off of the island. My father had been the chief of our tribe and as his only living daughter it was up to me to find a way off of this island and start a new life elsewhere. I could teleport now, I could leave this island any time I wanted but I would not abandon any of my friends here to die, I never left the island until my best friend, Maria came of age, she was a year younger than me.

The rain melted her but she failed to to recreate herself properly, making her even weaker than before. She became sickly and vulnerable. I brought her to a place called London, in England to keep her safe on my fathers orders.

"We can take you to a healer," I said, "You didn't gain any powers, they won't discover what you are."

"Cho, ah – I'm afraid."

"I will have to go back to the island for a while. I'm sorry, but I will be back and we'll find a cure, find a way for you to be given another chance. It is possible for humans to turn into us with something as simple as a kiss. You will do well once I bring the rest of our species into society."

"And what makes you think that this society will respect us any more? If they learn what we are they will kill us," said Maria.

"I have faith," I said quietly, "Come on, we need to get you to a healer, they will take care of you until we return."

How very wrong and delusional I had been. Upon coming back to the island I was horrified to see four military ships surrounding the island. We had been discovered. I saw my farther lying dead on the ground at my feet, our entire tribe were dead, they would have killed me if they could but I was invulnerable to them. I took up my fathers bow and killed them all in anger, the fight did not last long, these were humans and they could do nothing to hurt me. But it was not the humans that I was angry with, it was myself. If I had been there to protect the settlers on the island my father and all of my friends and family would still be alive. Maria, she was all I had now. I went back to London, invisible as I was carrying a bow. I was responsible for what had happened. For the death of everyone. I often wondered if there had been any survivors which is what led me into going back in the end but I was wrong and in the meantime my heart belonged with my best friend.

Through many centuries I stayed with her and lived with her as the world grew. I managed to pass on some of my power to her, keeping her alive and youthful but still very weak. There were times when I wondered whether or not it would be kinder to take that away and allow her to die but we were the only two left as far as I knew and I could not bring myself to do it. In time she married and had a small child which she named Johnny. But when he discovered what we were he killed her and tried to kill her son, I shot him with my bow but the child was left motherless.

Upon returning to the island I found one survivor, only one, Shadow himself.

"Maria has been killed, don't know what to do with her son."

"I will take the boy," said Shadow, he seemed so willing to help, "Does he have a name?"

"Johnny," I told him, "Or John I suppose that is what everyone will call him. How long have you been here now?"

"In this world over a hundred years, on the island I have only just returned. I am married now, my wife will be pleased to take the child in I think. I meant to bring our tribe back to Atlanta but with all of them dead that leaves only the two of us. I want revenge on the bastards that did this."

"No need," I told him, "They are all dead, the men who murdered our tribe."

"Not all of them," said Shadow.

"Your wife is a human, I suppose."

"Yes, I will need her to keep my cover. He must believe that he is one of our own, the first of his kind, that it is an illness. I can't allow the boy to risk the exposure of who we are until we are strong enough to fight back."

"I will not say that I think what you are doing is right, but maybe there is no other way," I said sadly.

"You need to stay on the island, I will keep the book safe. Once he has come of age we will all go home back to Atlanta and we can train him here on the island when he is eighteen."

"But there are only three of us, the humans will kill us the moment we walk through the portal."

"Maria's son will need to be trained well. I'll keep the book close by for him, perhaps he will discover it as a story."

"Very well, I'll remain here until he returns. Don't let the rain touch him." You should go, back to your wife, teleport and get him inside. It was dangerous to bring him here, it rains all the time."

"Right very well then," said Shadow, "I'll take the boy, you need to stay here."

"Goodbye Shadow, take care of yourself and of him."

Chapter Nine

Johnny

"Is that enough for you?" Cho spat.

"Plenty my sweet," said Shadow, "Now your young friend here knows the truth."

"You planned this from the start?" I asked.

"I had good intentions," said Cho flatly, "What would you have done in my position? I didn't plan on killing anyone, I just wanted to get home."

"And then kill the humans in Atlanta or what ever the hell you call it."

"They abandoned us here to die!" yelled Shadow, "And now you want to protect them? Join us kid, we could use you on this. With a little training you might not be a bad fighter."

"So many of you tried to invade them, they were trying to protect their people, Cho you know that!" She shook her head and turned away.

"So is this how you want it to end boy, right here on this island?" Said Shadow.

"You're going to need me alive if you plan on fighting this war."

"So you are joining up with us?"

"The humans judged me, all of those chat shows, none of them really cared about me. They deserve to die. But you killed my mother. I can fight this war alone. I don't need you."

Shadow laughed, "And what do you plan to do about it kid?"

"I need you," I told Shadow, "But Laura, she's the one who killed her. A fight to the death between the two of us seems fitted. The winner joins you on your quest for to destroy the human race and the loser can die here. Laura is part human, she was born human. She has no place among us."

"I like that," said Shadow.

"What?" said Laura startled.

"You always wanted to kill him and now is your chance."

"But, you'd place a bet on my life? You said we were in this together." She looked horrified and heartbroken, but I didn't care she had caused so much pain for me.

"So Laura," I smirked, "Shall we begin? It's easy really. I gave you your power in the first place, taking it away is just as easy." I walked over to her and took her trembling hand and kissed her, she seemed shocked by this. It was at that moment that the rain began to fall.

"What no!" she yelled, she screamed though tears of pain, "I can come back you know, I'll get my revenge of this. You won't win! You or Shadow!"

"Of course you will," I said calmly, "What would be the fun in just killing you, I've always enjoyed a good fight Laura, let's see what powers you come up with next."

"Johnny!" Yelled Cho, "Don't do this, he's a monster, he could betray you too!"

"Shut up!" yelled Shadow, "No I think not. I could use this one."

We watched in silence as Laura melted to the ground.

"You didn't kill her," Said Shadow.

"And she has never managed to kill me. She's got nowhere to go now the humans will never accept her. Let Cho go, she can make whatever decision she wants."

"Look here kid you don't give the orders," said Shadow, jabbing his sword at me. I grabbed his wrist in anger, crushing it. Shadow screamed. Even Cho looked shocked.

"How are you doing that?"

I was never going to tell her the answer to that, I was freeing her, what more did she want? But I knew, the one thing I had done right, whenever I was defeated in battle but survived my strength would triple theirs for the next round. I hadn't understood much when I was putting myself back together but I knew there would be others out there stronger than me and now I was stronger than Shadow.

"You got Laura to kill your wife, my foster mother. But You saved my life as a child, I will allow you to live and you will serve under me for the rest of your life. Even when we are back in Atlanta, you will remain my personal servant. Is that understood?"

"I don't take orders from you kid!" I broke his arm and listened to him cry out in pain. "Do we understand each other?"

"Go to hell you little shit!" I twisted his arm further and further.

"I'll ask you again Shadow. Do we understand one another?"

"Yes," he whispered through the pain.

I cut the rope and allowed Cho to leave myself.

"Laura's going to need you soon, leave this island and find her. I can kill you both together." Cho grabbed her father's bow and teleported away, but to where I did not know.

Epilogue

Laura

The rain had melted me much more quickly this time, it was much less painful, maybe because I knew what to expect this time. That kid who melted in the rain, he would never have had it in him to do what he did to me. But he was no longer that person, not anymore. I was not sure exactly what he had done, it was as if his kiss had stripped me of all of my power and he had caused it to rain all of a sudden when I would be vulnerable to it again, whatever he had done he hadn't cursed me and made me human again. But at last as was beginning to understand what it was that I had done, I had spent many years killing innocents for money and for fame over the internet. I didn't even know how I justified it to myself but I hated myself for it now. But I'd had nowhere else to turn, after so long by the time I turned 23 we had begun making our plans to kill Johnny himself the boy who melted.

"Right," said Mitch, now fully healed all those years later, "That's enough talk, this boy, John Woodward, The Boy Who Melted as they call him. We could make a fortune on him."

"If we're gonna do this we need to plan our every move on him very carefully," I told him, "He's much smarter than you realise. But he never leaves the house and I'm sure I can persuade someone like him to trust me."

"You'll need to be careful," said Mitch, And we will need to be sure that his parents are away."

"They are going to Rome in a couple of months," said Jenny speaking for the first time. We'd started to become friends over the last few years, we came from a similar place, though her dad hadn't murdered her mother right in front of her.

We planned out every move as carefully as we could but we needed reason to show up at his house out of the blue.

"He usually orders pizza," I told Mitch, "We should be perfectly safe with that and I'm pretty sure it's gonna rain tonight."

"It had better," said Mitch looking very displeased, "I'm putting a lot on the line for this kid, make sure he sees the pizza website won't you Jenny."

"We already have his order."

"Perfect," said Mitch, "Laura, get your uniform on and start making the pizza, you will need to smell of pizza if we want to seem genuine."

"I'm not wearing that," I spat.

"Just for a bit, you can change back into your jeans later on. Make sure, you get invited back."

"Fine."

I drove over to the house in Georgia in what had once been an old beat up car, we'd had it styled to look like a pizza delivery car. I made it to the house and rang the bell. I had seen pictures of John Woodward before but as he answered the door, I was looking at the ugliest monstrosity I had ever seen in my life. Killing him would be a kindness. I smiled at looked into his eyes.

I knew now that the moment I walk through the door was the moment that I had stopped being human, he'd killed me later that night, perhaps for good reason. But this time, he and Shadow were planning to destroy everyone on the planet. I had to put myself back together properly this time, I could make myself human again if I wanted, there was so much of me that wanted to go back to that. But I couldn't, I needed to become powerful and to have enough power to protect the human race and to destroy John and Shadow once and for all. I was so ashamed of everything I had done in my old life but that didn't matter now, I could change my face, I gave myself blond hair, blue eyes and a completely different face, they would never recognise me now. Once John and Shadow were dead my old memories could fade away and perhaps I could live out the rest of my life in peace. I awoke to a familiar face leaning over me.

"I hope you make the right choice this time." Cho held out her hand and brought me to my feet, I felt so different this time.

"How did you recognise me?" I asked intrigued.

"I can track your thoughts now, I know all of your powers. It's not enough to defeat Johnny, not yet."

"But how and where are we?" I found myself stand on a mountain top over looking a mist of cloud for miles."

"Atlanta," said Cho, "I was able to make sure you woke up here. I snatched the book off of Shadow when Johnny set me free, I had a replica made many years ago. We will be safe here. So the choice is yours, you can either stay here, not use your power and live your life amongst the humans in Atlanta or you can come with me and save the humans from your world." I gave this some thought, I was a new person now. I could put my past behind me and get a fresh start here. But even if I had changed my face I was still a murderer and that would haunt me for the rest of my life unless I could save the human race.

"I'll need to train I suppose."

"You will," said Cho.

"So, when do we begin?"