Am I crazy for uploading two fanfics in parallel? Maybe, but oh well.
I'm considering doing character crossover from my other fanfic-in-progress, but I'm not sure about that yet.
Anyhow, please enjoy the first chapter of Parallels.
In case it wasn't obvious, don't even think of pulling the stunt John does with the knife; you could get in more trouble than you can imagine. Seriously, no matter what, don't do it.
Anyway... on with the story.
Chapter 1: Fight and Flight
"John, what are you doing? Pay attention!"
John had been doodling in the corner of his notebook again.
Damn teacher, he thought. When am I actually gonna need to know about Shakespeare's family or whatever it was she's talking about? Honestly…
He pretended to pay attention for a few seconds, until the teacher turned away. He went back to doodling. He was drawing a small dragon in pencil near the corner of the page. The bell rang and he was dismissed to leave.
John walked home; he was only a few blocks from his school anyway. He thought for a moment, then doubled back to take a roundabout route. Twice last week he got jumped by a couple of older teens. He didn't even know why they did it; he had never seen them before in his life. Unfortunately, his detour tactic didn't help.
He passed by an alley and was slammed to the ground from the side.
"Give me your money."
"I don't have any on me!" John said shakily.
The air quickly left his lungs as he was punched in the stomach while another boy stomped on his most sensitive area. A third boy walked closer and stomped hard on John's wrist, producing a noticeable crunching sound. John curled up on the ground. He couldn't even yell out in pain.
"You'd better have money tomorrow."
The small group of boys left before John could get a close look at them.
Like that would help, you'll still beat the stuffing out of me, he managed to think through the blinding pain.
Tears leaked out of his eyes. He couldn't understand why these people kept doing this to him, but he knew he wanted some payback. When most of the pain had subsided, he tried to stand up, but when he placed his left hand on the ground, his wrist exploded with pain. He groaned, and slowly stood, cradling his broken wrist in his undamaged arm. He limped back home.
"Hey Mom," he croaked as he entered through the door.
His mother looked around the corner, took one look at her son, and said, "It was those boys again, wasn't it?"
John nodded shakily. The first time it had happened, his mother had promptly called the police, but it had now happened three more times and they still hadn't been caught because John never got a good look at them.
John sat down and his mother looked him over, particularly his wrist. She used to be a nurse by profession, but had recently retired.
"You got lucky; it doesn't look like more than a fracture. Even so, we're going to the hospital for X-rays."
After spending half of the day in the hospital, John finally returned home, sat down on the couch, and turned on the TV, gingerly positioning the sling his arm was in. He decided to blow off his homework; if the teacher didn't like it, it was her problem.
BANG!
John cringed with pain as he suddenly sat bolt upright. He glanced at the clock. He must have dozed off in front of the TV; it was 3:20 AM.
What the hell was that? he thought. It sounded like a combination of loud thunder, and a car accident involving a large truck.
He looked out of the living room window and saw that it was drizzling outside. Shrugging, he went back to sleep.
He woke up the next morning feeling unrested. He ate breakfast, and got ready to leave for school. His mother had her back turned, and John seized his chance. He quietly grabbed a kitchen knife and concealed it carefully in his pocket and under his T-shirt.
Let's see those guys mug me with a knife in their leg, he thought.
He walked toward school, alert for anyone around him, but none came. He hid the knife stealthily in his locker when at school, and placed books on top of it. He started regretting bringing it almost at once.
I could be expelled for this, he thought. But if it keeps me from getting beat up again…
After another day of not paying much attention, John reclaimed the knife from his locker and left, feeling relieved.
They're almost definitely gonna try something today.
To try and avoid the situation, John took an even wider detour to avoid them. He went all the way to the edge of town, where there was still swaths of forest and an old abandoned farm. He walked along the sidewalk toward home, but heard something big moving in the trees. He stopped. There wouldn't be bears this close to people would there?
A figure emerged through a bush and looked around, with a confused expression, as far as John could tell. It was on all fours, but as John watched, it rose up to sniff the air, into a sort of hunched sitting position. It had dark, almost black fur on its back except for a few bright red blotches between its shoulders, and had pale, beige colored fur on its chest and underside.
John was more confused than anything, then thought, Oh I get it, I must have fallen asleep in class again and I'm having some kind of weird dream.
The animal sniffed the air again. A gentle breeze blew toward it. It sniffed once more, and its eyes snapped to John. It looked directly at him and John looked back.
Hang on, is that thing… drooling?
The creature looked hungrily at John and stood up on its hind legs, took a wide stance, and roared.
John unconsciously started backing away from the animal, but ran as it charged at him on all fours.
Bad dream, bad dream!
He turned a corner and was facing a chain linked fence in an alleyway. The creature stopped as it reached the alley and slowly turned to face him.
Instinctively, John took the knife out with his uninjured hand, but nearly dropped it as flames erupted from the creature's back. It opened its mouth wide and John saw a slight glow come from within it. He barely dodged in time as an inferno whipped past him, igniting a few bits of garbage in the alley and torching a hole through the fence. John got up, groaning as he realized there was a blackened burn on his right leg. He squeezed through the hole and limped away as fast as he could.
He looked back and saw the creature sprinting toward him, jump cleanly over the fence, and continue to pursue him.
What kind of dream is this? It's really hurting me! That burn feels pretty real to me! But is has to be a dream, this thing can't be real, and where is everyone anyway? Still at work, maybe, but I have to be dreaming!
John whipped around the corner as fast as his wounded leg would allow, and waited, planning to ambush the creature with the knife as it left the alley. Seconds later, it tore out of the alleyway and John slashed at the creature. The next thing he knew was pain on his uninjured forearm, and being slammed to the ground.
The animal stood over him, pinning him to the cold sidewalk, and holding his arm clamped tightly in its mouth full of pointed teeth. The creature smelled very faintly of sulfur.
OK, John, you need to wake up now! He told himself, panicked.
But then the creature released him. It was shaking its head like it was being bothered by flies, and John scrambled away. He glanced at his arm. There were a series of bloodied holes in his am where the creature had bitten him. The creature looked at him almost… apologetically?
He tried to run, but instantly felt dizzy, and he collapsed against a brick building several feet from the creature. John felt a tingling in the bite, and it was like he was being pulled out of his body. Stars rushed past, there was a bright flash of light, and he saw a world that looked like Earth, but with the continents completely rearranged and melded into bizarre shapes.
Strange thought which were not his own whipped through his head. Bizarre emotions, unfamiliar sensations, and alien knowledge – deep understandings of time-space, parallel dimensions, alternate realities.
He felt himself being drawn back the way he came, and abruptly clunked back to his own sensations. He felt a little nauseous. He looked down and saw a large pool of blood on the sidewalk where his arm was. He passed out.