"Antonio, don't stray too far from me."
Antonio, age 11, nodded eagerly as he eyed shelves upon shelves of candy in the convenience store. The delightfully colorful wrappers glistened like jewels in Antonio's eyes and soon any promise he had made melted under the influence of his favorite chocolates and sweets. Without a backward glance, Antonio skipped down the aisle and grabbed his favorite marshmallow bar between his stubby fingers. Turning around to show his mother his find, Antonio was confused to find her standing very far away at the other end of the row. He called out to her," Mama-" but suddenly stopped when he saw her tense. Like a young cub, Antonio's instincts kicked in and he shrank away, hiding himself onto an empty lower shelf. His green eyes locking onto his mother's wary and fearful expression, Antonio held in a cry as he saw a strange man clad in black approach her. His mother's eyes flickered about fearfully and finally landed on Antonio. In a silent gesture, she held a finger to her lips and then quickly whipped around the face the man clad in black. The man smirked maliciously at her and started to make easy conversation. Suddenly, the man seemed to have said something that angered his mother. She roared at him as she pushed him away and cried out," Antonio! Do not come out!" Then, all the lights flickered off and everything was blanketed in darkness. It was a shred of terrible fate that no one else was in the store.
His eyes adjusting to the dark, Antonio felt a terrible shiver run through him as he heard the man laugh. Even in the dark, Antonio could see the man take out a small device from his pockets. Within seconds the man leapt upon Antonio's mother and pushed the device to her skin. Antonio looked on, horrified, as he saw his big, strong mother crumple to the ground. The man continued to laugh as he took out a metal bat. Mumbling under his breath," Now we can see your real form," the man raised the bat high above his head. The bat came down with a sickening crunch onto Antonio's mother's skull. Again and again as Antonio physically held back his screams and felt tears seeping down his cheeks, too shocked and terrified to look away. It was then his mother's form started to shift. Her long brown hair, the same shade as Antonio's, shifted to lighter colored fur and her face contorted as fangs protruded from her mouth and whiskers started to grow. His mother was no longer his mother. In her place laid a jaguar with a bloodied skull.
The sudden realization that she had transformed caused Antonio's own skin to feel incredibly tight. He unconsciously shifted until he too felt the strange tingling heat of a transformation. He looked down to see his hands were replaced by tiny paws and he felt strange all over.
" Antonio.~"
A falsely sweet voice called out to him in the dark as heavy footsteps started to approach Antonio's hiding spot. Feeling his breath stop, Antonio was too terrified to complete the transformation and quickly reverted back to his human skin. The heat dissipated from his flesh. Suddenly, he saw the man stop and grin right at him," Come out, Antonio. Uncle Nightwalker has some candy here for you." Light thuds echoed as Mar Bars and chocolate pieces dropped from the man's hand and fell on the tile floor.
Finally, Antonio gathered his courage and barreled out of his hiding place. He dove away from the man's looming hands. His feet slipping as he ran, Antonio's chest heaved as he made for the door and escaped out and away into the equally dark streets. Antonio could hear the pounding of the man's feet gaining on him and as he felt his legs tremble with fatigue, Antonio started to panic,' I don't want to die.'
It was then, he felt a strong hand grab him and pull him away into a hidden alleyway.
" Ah!"
Crying out, Antonio struggled blindly against the firm grip until he was shoved to a warm chest and a hand muffled his mouth. Eyes widening, Antonio saw the man in black sprint past their hiding place.
"Shh, dumbass! You're going to get both of us caught!" His captor hissed in his ear.
Antonio looked up to meet eyes with a wiry teen who had the most magnificent pair of hazel eyes. Eyes that seemed to understand Antonio, the same eyes that Antonio always imagined when papa told them Mother Mary was watching over them with her gentle eyes. 'This must be my guardian angel,' Antonio thought as relief flooded his veins. With a child's curiosity, he reached out to touch the face that the eyes were set in. His captor started but remained still as he tilted his head in confusion," What are you doing, stupid?"
Antonio squeaked out," Eyes! Eyes! Your eyes!"
"So?"
"uh-uh!" Antonio couldn't think of anything else to say so he simply stared up at his captor and smiled cherubically.
"Whatever, I'm Lovino. You better remember that name, kid, I just saved your sorry ass."
About to reply, Antonio's smile vanished when he suddenly heard the crunching of boots come near and a sickly sweet voice called out to the duo," Antonio~. Come here to uncle, Antonio. Thanks for finding my boy, sonny."
Antonio's captor bristled as he pulled Antonio behind him and tried to appear more menacing," Did I say you could call me sonny, you son of a bitch?" Antonio quaked behind Lovino.
Nightwalker chuckled with a low edge to his laugh," Quite a feisty one, you are, but that's my kid so why don't you hand him over, huh?"
"Not on your life, he's not your kid. He's terrified of you. Just because he stole some candy from the convenience store doesn't give you the right to menace small children, you sick bastard."
The man stopped laughed and almost looked confused," You think that…oh well then." His face split into a smirk," He's not some thief that I'm punishing. I'm not the convenience store owner. That kid is mine. Antonio is going to come home with Uncle and his mom."
Antonio felt his blood boil at the terrible statement and he couldn't help shouting out," Yo-you murderer! You killed her!"
Lovino seemed stunned," What? He did what?" while Nightwalker sighed exasperatedly as though he had to deal with an ignorant child," Antonio and his overabundant imagination. Come Antonio. Let's go." The last statement was growled out as the man stepped closer.
Antonio looked to his captor pleadingly as he backed away. Lovino appeared to understand as he shielded Antonio from view and growled back," That kid isn't going with you. "
"Who's going to stop me? You? Get lost, punk."
Without a warning, Lovino dashed forward and heaved a kick straight at the man's chest. The man fell back at the impact with an 'omph' and a dangerous glint appeared in the man's eyes," You're going to regret that, punk."
"The name's Lovino, you asshole."
Unfortunately for Lovino and Antonio, the fight was a heavily disadvantageous one. It didn't last for more than a few minutes and Lovino received most of the blows. The man was stronger and more experienced than Lovino and Lovino soon lost his ground. Blow after blow, Lovino was driven back as he cried out in pain at the welts and bruises that soon appeared on his body. As Lovino was driven into a fetal position on the ground to defend his most vulnerable parts, Antonio felt a clenching numbness and anger consume him. Fear was soon driven out as he watched Lovino be beaten into a ball. He had to do something, anything. But his body refused to move even though he was no longer paralyzed by fear.
As Antonio finally took a step forward to help Lovino, strange men appeared at the mouth of the alleyway.
" Hey! What do you think you're doing!"
The man in black cursed as he quickly stood," Shit, I can't get caught." He looked down at Lovino who was cowering on the ground even as he tried to hold back his cries of pain," I'll come back for you, Lovino brat. You're going to regret ever helping that thing." The man then fled into the darkness, soon vanishing like mist. The last thing to disappear was his sick smile, flashing in the dark.
As the strange men who turned out to be police officers helped Lovino to his feet, Antonio with tears in his eyes ran over and clung to Lovino's side.
"Is the kid your brother?"
Lovino looked down at Antonio emotionlessly before answering," No, I don't know him. You should take him to the police station."
Antonio felt an unexplained dread creeping up as the police officers tried to coax him away from Lovino's waist. He didn't want to leave his guardian angel. He shook his head and tightened his hold but Antonio's resistance was futile as Lovino reached down with his bruised hands and pried Antonio off of him. As he held Antonio's wrists firmly, Lovino handed him off to the officers' who escorted Antonio back to the police car and shut the door.
It was then Antonio started to cry out Lovino's name as he watched Lovino start to walk away from the car window," Lovino! Lovino!"
The police officers were puzzled by this but they couldn't question the teen as he had already walked far down the street and soon disappeared into the dark.
Antonio was delivered to the station where he sat forlornly in a single chair as he waited for his father to show up. Sitting alone in the chair and staring at the dusty floor, Antonio made a quiet vow to himself… he would not fail to protect the ones he loved…. He vowed something like this would never happen again. He vowed he would find Lovino again and protect him this time because... he knew that horrible man in black would return someday.
His mother's death left a profound impact on Antonio. He developed an encompassing hatred to most candies and never dared to go inside a convenience store by himself. Eventually, time, even if only a few months had passed, somewhat dulled the pain. Life from then on was kinder to Antonio. But what had a bigger impact was the discovery of his identity and why his mother was killed.
"Antonio. Come here."
"Si, papa." Antonio came and sat in front of his father with twitching fingers. Did he do something wrong?
"Antonio. I am going to explain to you what you- I mean.. what we are."
Tilting his head, Antonio's eyes reflected a fogging confusion.
"Antonio," Antonio's father spoke firmly," You know… that sometimes Papa likes taking trips up to the woods with your uncles and aunts."
Antonio nodded. He remembered the yearly family trips up to an obscure mountain. Usually, Antonio was left behind while all the adults went. His cousin Joel went last year when he was deemed an 'adult' by his parents.
Antonio's father continued,"…We go up to the woods because we sometimes need to release our animalistic nature. We're..," he paused," Therianthropes. We are people who have the ability to change into animals."
Antonio blinked," …Papa, I already knew."
His father looked surprise and his lips grew thin in worry," Did you change in front of someone? Did anyone else see you?"
"I saw mama change after she was killed.. Why was she murdered Papa? Who was that bad man? " Antonio had not dared to ask until now, too fearful of hurting his father's delicate emotional state.
An unsettling quiet fell before Antonio's father answered.
"Antonio, when we change we become exactly like that animal. But we become in a sense the paragon of that animal in terms of our physique and a challenge to hunters. A long time ago alittle after our ancestors were cursed, there was a group of hunters created exclusively to deal with our kind. Their reward was our valuable fur, which they can only receive if we died. Our fur is extremely rare considering the circumstances, and it is a luxury only the sickest elites wish for. They become wealthy the more of us they catch. That's why mama died, that's why you must keep your identity a secret. No one, not even papa, know for sure who's a hunter and who is not."
"Cursed? What do you mean by cursed, papa?"
"We are therianthropes because our foolish ancestor angered God. Our ancestor brought back a jade jaguar statue from the new world and started a cult. There were a few followers he gleaned to help him worship that idol. He and his followers worshiped the jade jaguar and in turn angered God for they had turned away from him. He fittingly punished them by having them become jaguars themselves and put in them part jaguar souls forcing them to act on instincts… but God took pity on them and allowed them to shift in-between bodies and keep their minds. We as their descendants inherited the curse."
One last question remained on the tip of Antonio's tongue," Are there others like us, Papa?"
"Yes, but they all came to be in different ways. I hear there is a fox strain in people from East Asia who are descendants of a Kumiho who turned human but it's descendants remain foxlike. There are also others who have animalistic ancestors who acquired their traits."
That was more than 7 years ago….
Leaning back and resting against the back of his chair, Antonio sighed and listened to the teacher's droning voice. Turning his head, he briefly glanced out the window at the blue sky and wondered what Lovino was doing right now. His green eyes flashing, Antonio smiled as he thought,' Soon, Lovino I will find you. Mi guardian angel.'
well then, I really should stick to finishing stuff I already have xD.
It seems as though Antonio has put Lovino up on a pedastal, doesn't he?
I wonder what will happen when he meets the actual Lovino?~~
I hope no one is too confused. Thanks for reading.~(^^)
( Side note! I have changed my pen name because it amused me to do so. This is aniloverji12. ^^ Just call me ani~~ )