Sorry this chapter is a little on the short side, but I can assure you that every word is super important! :D

Enjoy everyone. Welcome to the beginning of the wildest ride the Caliber series has ever seen.

Thanks to my wonderful beta! :D

THANK YOU REVIEWERS: Azkadellio, Bubbles1023, Incognito, BADE, and CheesyDip15. I always love hearing from you all! ;)

CHAPTER 4

Jade wrenched the back door open, cringing at the sound of Trina's loud voice as she leaped out into the back alley. Shaking her head, she began the walk back to Hawthorn Lake Apartments, beginning to relax as the birds chirped while they flew past and cars zoomed up and down the streets. This was a familiar sight to her.

Arriving at her apartment, she reached into her pocket, realizing that she had left the key with Tori at the laboratory. Smacking her forehead in frustration, she went hunting for the spare key that was taped under the railing of the balcony in front of the apartment. She peeled off the sticky strip and grabbed the key, going back to the door and inserting it into the lock and pushing the door open.

The inside was unusually cold, almost like Beck had forgotten to turn it off this morning. Walking over to the fridge, Jade opened it up and searched for the big white cardboard box that held her expensive cake that was ordered almost a month ago but had just been delivered yesterday. It was wedged carefully between the top shelf and ceiling, partially blocking the single light. She attempted to wiggle it out, inch by inch, almost dropping it to the floor when she lost her grip on the heavy box.

She finally got it out and kicked the fridge door closed, leaving the kitchen and crossing the living room. Balancing the cake dangerously in one hand, she stuck the other one in her pocket trying to fish out the key at the same time. This proved to be a bad move when she lost her grip on both items; prioritizing her belongings in a split second, she wrapped both hands around the cake box and let the key fall to the floor. Her right knee shot up to cushion the key's landing, but it did the opposite and sent the object flying beneath the couch.

"Aw, come on," Jade groaned, setting the cake down gently on the coffee table before getting down on all fours. She laid the side of her head against the floor, peering underneath to look for the glint of the key. Seeing nothing but darkness, she edged closer and stuck her left hand under, swiping it back and forth, her fingers searching for the recognizable, clean edges of the key.

However, her hand did not touch the key. Instead, she felt something shockingly ice cold and gooey flow between her fingers. Retracting her arm back in alarm, she looked down at them and saw that they were covered with a white substance.

All of a sudden, a puddle of white goop slid out from under the couch. Jade fell backwards on her hands as the puddle moved closer and closer to her. Some of it made contact with her right boot and started climbing along the surface, wrapping tightly against the fabric of her pants as it inched upwards. Its white color slowly faded into the exact print of her blue jeans.

Panicking, Jade tried to pry it off, realizing that the white on her hand was growing up her arm, squeezing against her bare skin like a glove, changing its color tone to match hers. Her free arm went to down to rip and tear at the goo as it now covered both of her legs below the knees, pinning her feet to the floor and ascending higher still, beyond her waist and up her torso.

"Oh god," she cried out in fear, "What is this?" The slime stitched over her bicep and shoulder, crawling across her chest. Some of it spread down to connect with the goo already on her stomach and another bit weaved its way to her other arm. Jade found it harder and harder to fight back; it was like she was being forced into a strait jacket.

Her breathing grew rapid as she used her only free limb to claw at the slime. It blended in so well with her body that she could not distinguish which parts had been covered or were still free. She tore viciously at her own skin, drawing blood at some parts which dripped to the carpet in little spatters.

Jade's fingers caught a notch in the goo wrapping around her stomach and she pulled back hard, watching in horror as the substance stretched apart, flashing as its white color. She could see what looked like sticky 'threads' snapping and breaking before it overcame her strength and stitched itself back together.

The matter inched up her throat and reached her face. Her arms were being held against the ground now and were useless for anything. Jade threw her head back and forth as the substance slithered up her chin and the back of her neck, crawling to her scalp and wrapping each individual hair in a network of complex strands. It covered her ears, blocking out her sense of hearing.

Her head slammed into the floor involuntarily, making her see stars. The goo covered her mouth and cheeks, slowly moving up her nose and down her forehead. She continued looking helplessly at the ceiling as the substance stitched itself together over her eyes, making her vision go black. Thrashing as hard as she could, she made one last struggle.

There was deep stabbing pain in the side of her neck.

And Jade West lost control.

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The creature was beyond excited. Although the process itself had taken a little longer than it had hoped, Jade had proved herself to be a fighter and now it had completed the bond with her. The body beneath went limp as the creature took control of her mind.

Through the bond, the creature forced Jade to stand up, becoming accustomed to the new height and functions of the human's body. Searching through her brain and its recent memories and thoughts, the creature knew immediately what it had to do and where it had to go before it accomplished any of its personal plans.

Retrieving the box of food from the table, the creature took a few awkward steps forward, opening the door and stepping outside. Standing in the open sunlight was a whole new experience for the creature. In Jade's body, the light and heat had almost no strong effect on it. In fact, it felt a pleasant sensation of warmth instead. If the creature had been in its natural form out here, it surely would've been killed by now.

Proceeding to go through Jade's memories of the past half-hour again, the creature clumsily led her body down the steps of the building and out onto a cement walkway where many other humans were bustling about on.

The creature was no longer surprised to notice that Jade had a much more powerful aura than these other humans. It had learned to accept the fact that it had made a truly excellent choice of human as it continued walking, making no contact with anyone. The creature turned down a dark alleyway, using the picture from Jade's mind to determine that it was the right place. According to her past and recent memories, there was supposed to be a portal here to get into a secret room. However, the creature saw nothing but a wall of red stacked blocks, glued to each with a cement filling covered in splotches of a thick, green vegetation.

Looking through more of Jade's mind, the creature managed to locate the entryway, which blended in so well it looked just like the wall. Jade's memories contained an image in which the door had a handle sticking out, but the creature saw none. Instead, it used one of Jade's two hairless paws to bang a few times on the compact blocks.

The door mysteriously opened, revealing a dark hallway and the creature stepped inside without hesitation.

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Everyone froze when they first heard Jade knock on the door. Robbie darted forward to open it while everyone else remained sitting at the table, neatly dressed in their new clothes and waiting anxiously. Beck was at the head, his hands bouncing nervously in his lap, fingers wrapped around the felt box.

Suddenly Jade stepped in the room, her hands holding the container of cake. Tori chewed on her lip nervously; Jade's face showed absolutely no emotion as she took a few teetering steps forward and set the box down on the table. Everyone was quiet as she stood still for a moment, glancing at each of their faces and seeming to process them. Finally she sat down gingerly in the only empty seat. Beck dropped to one knee by her side. Jade tilted her head down at him, looking practically confused as to what was going on.

"Jade," Beck began, his voice trembling, "I just want to start by saying thank you for everything you've done for me. We met for the first time over six years ago and the first thing I told you was that you were an extraordinary caliber. Even though you didn't know what it meant at the time and you called me crazy and threw your sandwich at me, that was the moment my life took a new turn." Trina muffled a laugh into her napkin. "It took us a while to become actual friends and grow close, but every minute of the experience was well worth it."

Tori looked curiously at Jade. She was avoiding eye contact with Beck completely, uneasily twitching her hands in her lap, rubbing her knees and tapping her foot. Beck seemed to be ignoring these nervous tics as he went off with the rest of his speech.

"We finally started dating and I could already feel how perfect we were for each other. Even after we went through Rebellion and Archelaus and were separated for six years, I was never interested in another woman, even though I couldn't remember who you were. When we finally found each other again I…kind of punched your face in but you didn't give up and came back and we were reunited once again." Beck's voice was growing stronger and his lips were curled into a smile.

"I know that we argue a lot and sometimes can never seem to get along, but I never stop loving you, Jade. Of course no couple is perfect, but I dunno, I think we're as perfect as it gets." Beck's brown eyes grew misty. He blinked and looked down at the floor before looking back at his girlfriend, his eyes struggling to lock onto hers though she still refused. "I want to be with you for as long as I live. Jade West, would you like to be mine forever and marry me?"

Beck brought a hand from behind his back, popping open the tiny box to reveal the gorgeous jade ring.

His words and actions were met with a dead silence. Jade stood up in her chair so quickly it tipped backwards and hit the floor with a crash. Tori saw her fists clenched by her sides, her knuckles looking like they were going to punch right through the pale skin. Her jaw was set, teeth mashed together and her eyes flared with anger.

Then it looked like she started to have a seizure. Her head shook from the left to the right and her eyes squeezed shut. She was biting her bottom lip so hard droplets of blood appeared on the torn skin. Tori saw her left knee bend, like she was about to stamp her foot in frustration. Her tongue darted out of her mouth to lick her bloody lips and she slammed her right fist into the side of her thigh, odd growling noises coming out of her mouth and her face was scrunched up in concentration.

Finally she went still, adjusting her posture and wiping the foam of white and red from her chin. She smiled instead and stared down calmly at Beck, blinking once before saying in a disgustingly calm manner:

"No."

...

So I bet some of you saw that coming and some of you didn't. Are you excited now or what? ;)