Everything Changed (Logan Dex)

Normal is a big understatement to how my day was going at that moment. My sister Kailey and I were out for a fun day before she headed off to SPD Academy in two days. Sure it sounds normal, but it was just Kailey looking at the street shops while I kept my eyes glued to the pavement. Even though I wasn't looking at the store clerks, many of them bored their eyes into me, some whispering that I was probably a follower of Satan, possessed, or had a terrible case of pink eye. Well I hated to break it to them, but none of those were correct; I was unlucky enough to be born with blood red irises in the sea of white that made up my eyes. People in school shied away from me because of it, convinced that I must have been evil or something completely inhuman. Which is quite an archaic instance of racism in this day and age, where cat-human hybrids, cyborgs, aliens, and whatnot walk alongside human beings. Great huh?

Kailey thanked a store vendor for letting her look and she said we could start walking again. Thank goodness for he was scratching his bald head at the mishmash sight of my sister and me.

"Logs," she began, "I know your eyes still bother you. But honestly, you shouldn't let it get you down."

I shrugged as I kicked a bottle nearby. "But you're normal, Ley," I replied slowly, "Something went wrong when Mom and Dad had me. I just know it. And you've seen how Mom tries not to cry whenever she looks at her youngest daughter."

Kailey shook her head and disagreed with me. She was pretty with green-blue eyes and mahogany brown hair. I was a disaster with red eyes, frizzy mud-brown hair, and pale skin. Some dweeby kid in kindergarden called me a Bloodsucker Bat because of these physical traits. And it didn't help that many vampire literature works described these figures like so.

"Ley what am I going to do without you?" I asked her woefully.

Kailey put on a brave smile and reassured me that everything was going to be okay. "Besides," she added, "I'll be here in town-its not like I'm moving to Siberia for heavens sake! I'm sure you can write me letters and maybe visit once in a while. It's going to be great, trust me."

I nodded happily, for once. Kailey had applied to be a new recruit at the SPD Academy and had gotten in, beating hundreds of applicants for a spot in the latest group. After several forms, payment fees, packing, and double-checking, she was set to go for Orientation in two days. Once she left, it would be just me in the house until a few more years of high school. Dad seemed to think that college could be my next step while Mom thought I was probably going to work as an assistant sensei at the local karate dojo I went to. So in short, my future was looking pretty futile in terms of earth-shattering and life-changing like Kailey's.

"You know what Logs," Kailey spoke up all of a sudden, "I'll buy you something. Look around and if anything catches your eye, I'll buy it for you as a sort of good-bye but not really good-bye present. How does that sound?"

I brightened a little at her words and lifted my eyes from the cracked portions of the pavement to the window displays of fashion, trinkets, and whatnot. But then, that's when I saw it reflected in the window of a shop following us. I stopped short, scared a little and Kailey caught up with me.

"Logs what is it?" she asked worriedly as she brushed away a strand of hair.

Then it cackled from behind us, making us turn around to face it. Kailey's eyes hardened and she took a defensive stance.

"Stay behind me Logs," she ordered me urgently as she raised her fists. "Who are you?"

The monster held up its arm and scanned Kailey all of a sudden. "Kailey Dex. Just accepted to SPD Academy. Training: first black belt," it mechanically noted.

Kailey stared back, stunned for the creature had just revealed her stats in less than five seconds. Then the creature summoned Krybots from out of nowhere and directed them to fight me. As the goons rushed toward me, the monster approached Kailey who was still shocked by what it had known.

I thanked my lucky stars that Mom had let me enroll in karate too as a young girl for it proved quite useful when battling the Krybots. It was easy to duck under them then attack because they moved slower than me. One of them tried to grab my arm but found itself being punched roughly and then stumbling backwards, thanks to a direct kick in the chest. As the swarm of Krybots began to dwindle down, I spotted Kailey trying to fight the monster, dodging its attacks with ease. That is until it caught Kailey by the arm and threw her back several feet.

She screamed as she flew back toward a brick wall, a loud cracking sound hanging in the air after the impact. I gritted my teeth and did about the stupidest, most spur-of-the-moment thing ever: I ran as fast as I could toward that thing and gave it my best tornado kick. The monster stumbled back a few feet, clearly surprised by the amount of strength I had. Then it aimed a beam of light at me, sending me flying toward my sister. I managed to land on an old springy couch near the dumpster, with less injury than Kailey. I coughed heavily and gasped for air.

I looked around for Kailey and gasped in horror as she was unconscious and sitting against the wall limply. I struggled to my feet but found myself falling again. I cursed my luck and grimaced as the creature walked slowly over to where I was lying. Then, that pounding sensation began to settle in and I closed my eyes as I tried to ignore the painful throbbing in my head. My vision flickered before my eyes from clear to faint. And the last thing I saw was a flash of silver light to my left.