Kur released his hold on my neck before grabbing me by my shoulders, pinning me against the stone walls of the chamber. "That's a lie!" I choked. "That's impossible!! You're lying!!!" Slowly, Kur twisted his head as he pressed himself against my body, whispering in my ear, "You want answers?" Defiantly, I shouted, "I want the answers!!!" Kur repeated, whispering again, "You want answers?"

Again I murmured, "I think I'm entitled. Because I want the truth!!!"

"You can't handle the truth, Zak Saturday!!! No one can," Kur grinned maniacally before leaning down. I could feel his ragged breaths on my neck. Kur unhinged his jaw, his fangs glinting in the low flames of the torches that hung on the walls. I gasped, crying out as Kur bit down upon the soft tissues of my neck.

I felt paralyzed. There was nothing I could do as the cryptid administered his treatment, blood trickling down my shoulders and arm. Kur was a blood thirsty monster!! I collapsed, clutching my two puncture wounds. "You're mine now, Zak Saturday. Don't try and fight it!" Kur laughed again, his hand pinning me up against the walls once more as he continued evilly, "The Mark of Kur is permanent; soon, I will have complete control of your weakling body." I gasped, struggling for oxygen as I choked, attempting to rip his fingers from my neck. Slowly, Kur's image faded away like dust. In the back of my mind, just before I fell unconscious, I heard his demonic cackle.

The monotonous beep of the heart rate monitor in the infirmary of the Saturday Home woke me. With a relieved cry, Mom and Dad embraced me. Fiskerton whooped, dancing with Komodo, who scowled. I winced, the touch of my puncture wounds in the soft tissues of my neck sending a shiver up my spine. I recollected the events before I fell unconscious in The Temple of Kur. "We were so worried, Zak," my weeping mother. "What happened in there?" asked my curious father. Should I tell them? Should I not?

I felt betrayed. Maybe Kur wasn't lying, maybe there was more to me than I had ever hoped or known. Mom and Dad, maybe Fisk, Komodo, even Zon, what if they were keeping a secret from me? My family probably were keeping secrets from me, was it to protect me from the truth? I squirmed; it felt so weird to have another person living inside your body. Why did Kur need the Kur Stone? I had questions, but no answers.

"Get some rest, okay honey?" My mother placed a kiss on my forehead. "Ugh! Mom, I'm not four!"

"Oh, but you're still my little baby in my eyes, and you always will be!" The lights dimmed as I rested my head on the soft pillows. Immediately, I began to regret ever having those negative thoughts about my family.

Night came as quickly as my sleep. I felt weightless and hot, like when you had a fever. Headaches and migraines came periodically, but I stifled them, not wanting to disturb my family. A vast empty void lay before me as I floated. My sense of direction was gone. Then, I found myself face to face with my nightmare. Kur smiled devilishly, slowly choking the life out of me as he unhinged his jaw, bloodthirsty.

I was holding The Claw, walking down the halls in a dream – like trance. It was like watching television, I had no control! Except there were no tasty snacks. Into the Artifacts section I went, and inside I found our piece of the Kur Stone on display. It was like I was two people, one part of me screaming bloody murder, the other wanting to take our piece of the Kur Stone. With a forceful blow, I shattered the glass case, disarming the alarm system as I did.

Could it just have been a nightmare? The Code Red alarms woke me as I met in the Artifacts section of the house instinctively. "Doc, did you get a blood sample from the broken glass?"

"Running it through the database right now," replied my father, who was at work. Shattered glass with traces of blood streaks littered the floor; my mother began to sweep them up. My eyes widened as I gasped, "What happened?"

Angrily my dad said, "Someone broke in and took our piece of the Kur Stone. How's the fingerprint scan going, Drew?" She shook her head. "None of them matched to our database." Dad nodded, "Same on blood. Nada for Van Rook and Doyle. The rest seem very unlikely." A tingling sensation woke me from my thoughts as I stared at my hand, horrifically covered in healing scars. "Something wrong, honey?" Immediately, the scars on my hand began to fade away. Frowning, I shook my head. "It's nothing. Who would do something like this?"

Mom and Dad glared at each other, coming upon a final hypothesis. "Doyle." Fisk gave a yawn, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Guilt overwhelmed me, I didn't know what to say, what to do. Twice I blinked; Kur was standing in front of me, juggling the Kur Stone fragment. Was it a hallucination? In the back of my mind, I felt his aura, his presence, his voice. Kur was laughing, mocking me.

"I'm going to look into this," both Mom and Dad said aloud in unison.

My plate of eggs, sausages, and bacon sat cold and untouched; I was sick to my stomach. "What's the matter, Zak? You've barely touched your breakfast." Dejectedly I glanced down, sighing. "It's nothing. Can I go?" Dad nodded.

In Mom's garden, I sat alone. With a twig, I drew stick figures in the dirt, hoping that a solution could pop into my mind would solve my dilemma. The doorbell rang faintly. Were we having guests?" I dragged my feet along to the elevator, trudging my way to the living room. "Hi Uncle Doyle," I mumbled, the energy dying out my voice.

Mom and Dad were arguing, no, shouting. So was Doyle. "I'm out of here!" snapped he. "Get out of my house," roared my dad. I was running, trampling down the stairs. Doyle snorted, "I didn't do anything!"

"I know," said I, saddened. Dad snapped, "Back to your room!"

"Can you believe your old man?" Off Doyle flew on his jetpack, furious. I had to speak up, I had to say something. As I opened my mouth, I felt my body go limp. What was happening?! My body was moving on its own, and I had no control. Kur whispered in my mind, "Told you so…" Kur was taking control of my body! In the lavatories, he glanced into the mirror with a grin. The differences between our appearances were obvious enough, weren't they? Somehow, my canines had enlarged themselves so as they were almost hanging over my lower lip. Along with that, the Mark of Kur stood out on my neck in the form of a tattoo, almost. Already, my eyes began to change into a faint crimson blood redness, the pupils slightly changing, hinting towards slits. Even the whites of my eyes were bloodshot.

"I don't fail to deliver, Zak Saturday," Kur declared. I mentally screamed, begged in the vast empty void that I floated in, "Give me back my body!" With all the will power I could muster, I fought against the dark forces and aura. Kur began to weaken on the inside and outside. Sweat beads began to slide down his face. Kur washed his face with a confident smile before he grunted, groaning loudly. Yes! Yes!! He was losing control over my body.

All at once, I felt complete control over both my mind and body return. Kur scowled, his image and essence fading away. My knees bucked, I felt weak, and my breath was ragged and harsh. Maybe just a splash of ice cold water, yeah, that's it. With a sudden shock I felt the freezing cold liquid soak my face and shirt. As I glanced into the mirror, I gasped in shock and horror. The changes were already taking place, what could be worse? Curious, I touched my canines. Oh no, they were already beginning to grow, coming from my upper jaw and they hung there, like stalactites. I gulped, swallowing, tasting an irresistible craving for blood lust, tempted to attain it soon.

The night was dark as I exited the zeppelin on Dr. Miranda Gray's landing pad, throwing and catching the concussion grenade in my hand. Why was I doing this? No! The young Secret Scientist was in for a surprise. We can't do this…! Swinging upon a drainage pipe, I crashed into the large glass windows of the cozy home. The alarms blared. "What the - ?" gasped the puzzled scientist. "Zak Saturday, what on Earth..?!" I pulled the pin, exiting the destroyed home clutching close to my chest another fragment of the Kur Stone.

I hated these nightmares. They felt so real. I yawned, stretching my arms. Once again, the door bell rang. "Alright, alright, I'm coming!" I yelled, slipping on a pair of slippers. It was Dr. Miranda Gray. With a yawn I said, "Morning!" She stiffened, clearly shocked. "Good morning, Zak. Where are you parents?"

"Who's at the door, Zak?" called Mom and Dad. "Oh, good morning, Miranda," greeted my cheery mother. "Zak, go have some breakfast. Now, what is this about? Come, have some tea!" offered Mom. Briskly Dr. Gray nodded, "Ah. Yes, yes."

As I trudged up the stairs, I heard Dr. Gray say, "This is rather about your son. Has he been troublesome lately?" My Dad and Mom laughed, "Define troublesome." Their voices slowly faded away. Eavesdropping was wrong, but this time it felt so right.

"Fisk. Come and help me into the ventilation shaft!" My furry brother frowned, before obliging. I pried off the loose cover. Fisk and I crawled along quietly, pressing our ears to the dusty floor of the shafts. "What are you doing?"

I scoffed, "Duh. I'm eavesdropping! Now hush, they might hear." Fisk zipped his lips and continued alongside me. " – I can't say much. Please don't be offended, but I believe that your son is the culprit of all this." My eyes widened as I listened to more, "And even my own piece of the Kur Stone is missing! It took me days to find you all; my communications went kaput!"

"Funny, same thing's happened to us. Whoever it is, I'm pretty sure Zak couldn't have done all this. I mean, Zak's just a kid!" My eyes narrowed. Just a kid? Well, this kid's going to show you all, I thought grimly. Of course, the thought was only for a second.

"But how can you be so sure, Drew?"

"Maternal instinct, Miranda. When you have kids, you'll know."

"Hold that thought, Miranda," said my father, who glanced over to Mom. "Yes, honey. I do think we have a few pair of extra ears in this room." My father unhinged the ventilation shaft gate under us.

With a cry and shout, Fisk and I crashed down upon Dad. "I think you should go, Miranda," said Mom over her shoulders. With a curt nod, Dr. Gray left.

"What are we going to do with you two?"

Furrowing her eyebrows, Mom glared, "I don't know, Doc. Maybe we should call for adoption?" I gave a goofy smile as Fisk groaned, face palming.

"We'll talk about this later, Zak," my father sternly reminded. I wasn't off the hook yet.

Being grounded was the least thing on my mind at this moment. This was getting dangerous. But somehow, I had managed to convince myself that dreams were only dreams, nightmares were only nightmares. It was all inside my head. But then why were they talking about me? I heard my name clear as day.

Fisk huffed grumpily. "Sorry Fisk. But it's not that we'll die without TV for a week.

"I had to say, I was a bit sorry for Zak. What was this? Why on Earth would I have feelings of affection towards the Saturday child? It's been eleven years, now this? These mixed emotions…No! Could it be? I shuddered at the thought; could I really care for him? Listen to yourself, Kur! Whatever it was, it would not stop me, nothing would! Not even Zak, and if I had to destroy him, I would have no qualms. I'll dispose of him later. For now…I'll keep him as my pet. Only a few more pieces of the puzzle…"