The Curse

(Thursday-Friday Afternoon, July 4th-5th)

"So," Luke frowns, "we're going to have you run, I'll have you go through the obstacle course, and then… we'll see where you are, then."

"Sorry," Lonnie intrudes, "but about yesterday…" His slate grey eyes give her a warning, but she moves forward anyway. "You were all… You just ran off. Why?"

He looks away from her and takes a deep breath, "Because." before he faces her. "I have the virus."

She falters, "You're a vampire?"

He glances down, "Being around me won't do anything, but with the blood…" He grumbles and scratches his forehead, "Turning people is illegal, and I didn't want to risk it."

"That's why you ran off," she realizes.

"Yeah," Luke confirms. "And then some jackass thought he'd tell me that someone with my disease shouldn't be around children, so if someone throws a glass bottle filled with gasoline at us, you know why."

Lonnie frowns, "I'm sorry."

"There's just so many idiots out there," he complains. "People who think breathing the same air as me will infect them or that one bite will turn them, because a monster like me couldn't possibly have any control at all." His brows furrow, "Humans are around food all the time, and you don't see them eating everything they see the second they see it. Why would I?"

"You wouldn't," Lonnie agrees.

Luke sighs, "Sorry. It's just… humans can be so fucking stupid sometimes."

She takes a moment, "I guess."

He partly smiles, "You know I'm not talking about you, right?"

"Yeah," Lonnie nearly smiles back. "You don't even think I am human."

He gives a look, "That wouldn't be a bad thing, you know."

She eyes down, "It's just… I always thought I was." before she meets his. "It's been a part of my identity. If I'm not… then who am I? What struggles did my people have to face, and where did we even come from?"

"Look," Luke pauses. "Your species isn't your entire identity. It's only part of it."

"I guess," she mumbles.

"Tell me," he nods up, "what is your race?"

"I'm Chinese and Korean, mostly," she slowly says.

"And what did your ancestors have to face?"

"War," she immediately whispers. "Suppression from an almighty ruler, division by language and territory."

He smiles, "And how has that impacted you?"

Lonnie thinks, "My parents are in the army, and I've been raised to defend myself."

"You see." He grins, "Just because your species isn't what you thought it was, that doesn't change you."

"But my parents are human," she counters, "so how can I not be?"

Luke frowns, "That would have been easier to answer if you passed your medical test." She eyes down, and he nods towards the track, "Come on. It's time to clear your mind."

Lonnie nods in return, "Okay." before she follows him over to the quarter mile circle.

"Let me guess," Lonnie starts. "We're running again."

"Not if we can help it," Luke frowns, and he glances down before facing her. "I can't train you today. Something came up."

She sighs, "And no replacement?"

"For a replacement?" he reminds her. "No." He watches her tighten her ponytail, "Don't worry. We can make up for it tomorrow."

"Can't." Lonnie meets his grey eyes, "I have a birthday party to go to."

"Ben's?" He furrows his brows, "You're not actually going to that."

"He's Mal's boyfriend," she asserts. "Of course, I'm going."

He repeatedly nods, "Right."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Luke looks at her for a long moment, "I'm scouting the woods. Do you want to come?"

"Scouting?" Lonnie thinks, "What? For hunting or something?"

"Yes," he answers. "Do you want to come?"

Her eyes shift, "I guess."

"Good." He smiles, "We're running there."

"Of course, we are," Lonnie smiles in return. "Why wouldn't we?"

He laughs, "Come on. We'll take the alleys so that we don't need to bump into anyone."

"Here," Luke lets out a breath, when they reach the woods; however, as he starts to walk into it, Lonnie grabs his arms.

He turns, and she asserts, "That's private property."

"Nature can't be owned," he counters. "We were made for nature. It owns us."

"It's part of the castle," she informs. "It's their land."

"Well, it was our land first," he yells, and as Lonnie lets go, he eyes over her. "There is so much you don't know."

"Then tell me," she challenges.

"Ben's family is nothing but traitors," he proclaims. "His grandfather was a part of our community, and when we didn't agree with all the disgusting things he was doing, he went and left and made himself king, took the land we were living off of."

"But no one knows who Ben's grandparents even are," Lonnie disproves. "They left when his father was still a kid."

"And why do you think that is?" Luke enlightens, "They were so horrified with themselves and what they'd done that they gave everything up to make it go away."

She shakes your head, "You're not making any sense."

"You never wondered where the beast came from?" he doubts.

"The beast was a curse," she disbelieves.

"It's an abomination of nature," he announces, "and Ben's no better."

Lonnie huffs, "Don't you think you should have a little more respect? He's your king."

"That half-breed is no king of mine," he shouts.

She frowns, "Half-breed?" and he turns back to the woods.

"Come on."

She stands in his way, "No. What do you mean?"

He gives her a look, "The beast wasn't a curse. The only curse the beast was ever under was the spell the enchantress offered so that he would become the same species as his mate."

Lonnie lets out a breath, "I still don't understand."

"Have you read the Bible?" he inquires.

She shakes her head, "No."

"I'm not a believer either," he informs, "but if enough time passes any prophecy will come true."

"And?" Lonnie slowly asks.

"And there was a wolf who laid with a desert lion. That's how the beast was born." He meets her dark brown eyes, "There was never a curse."

"But that's not even biologically possible," she debates. "The chromosomes alone—"

"It happened."

"A cat can't have offspring with a dog," she asserts.

"Tell that to the beast who's now dating a dragon." He spits at the ground, "I'm telling you, it's fucking disgusting. People need to stay with their own kind."

Lonnie deeply frowns, "And it doesn't matter that Ben and Mal both look human, have a human biology?"

"You know what the horrible thing about this is?" he replies, and she waits for him to answer. "It wasn't bad enough that Ben's grandfather had to mate with a lion. Their son had to get a human involved in their mess, and she suffered because of it. At least Ben and Mal are both abominations. It won't matter how much pain it causes them or how impossible it is for them to have children, because they were never supposed to exist in the first place. If they force their species to continue like the beast did, then at least they're only hurting themselves."

"You can't believe that," she tests.

"They messed with biology," he emphasizes. "And look where it's got them."

"Mal didn't choose to be what she is," Lonnie defends. "And Ben…" She offers a confused look, "Wait. Are you trying to say that Ben is an animal who's now human or…"

"He's a beast," Luke asserts. "Both him and his father are."

"But the beast was a… thing," Lonnie justifies. "And they look so—"

"Human?" he inquires.

"Well, yeah."

He half laughs, "The best predators do."

She looks over him, "You mean, like you?"

"Except that the beast doesn't have any self-control. Their biology is so messed up that they don't even know how to live." He moves past her and into the trees, "I see Ben out here sometimes. He tries to hunt, but he never catches anything. It's almost like he's not a wolf at all."

"So?" Lonnie thinks, "That makes him what? A carnivore?"

"Sure," Luke accepts. "He's just so pathetic, though, it's sad. If I didn't think I'd get in trouble for it, I'd catch something for him."

"Why would you get in trouble?"

He moves a branch out of his way, "Ben doesn't know how to survive, because he's not supposed to survive. If I help him, I'm just letting the problem continue."

"So, if it looks like he's going to die," she disbelieves, "you would just let him?"

He takes a moment, "You can only feed a koala so long."

"You're not making sense again," she stresses.

Luke turns, and she halts. "A koala will only eat leaves from where it came from, and those leaves don't even give them enough energy, anyway."

"I'm still confused."

He gives her a look, "Koalas can't survive without humans, and Ben isn't going to survive on his own either." Lonnie falters, and he takes a breath, "Look. I get that this is personal to you. Ben's your friend's boyfriend, so this news is going to hurt you, but an animal that doesn't know how to get food isn't going to live. Ben is just one of those animals."

"But he's not just an animal," Lonnie defends. "He's a person. People who need help get help. We can't just let him die."

"It's more humane if we do," he frowns. "Do you really want him to suffer?"

"He won't suffer if someone helps him," she declares. "And he has people who can be there for him."

"So, maybe he'll be lucky," Luke subsides, "but it doesn't change anything." He steps forward, "How do you plan to help him, huh? Would you be willing to bleed for him?"

"Well," Lonnie thinks.

"He has no control," Luke interrupts. "When a wolf can't accept that the wolf is who they are, the wolf becomes its own being. Ben wasn't raised to accept his beast side. He was raised to hide it, but when that beast finally comes out, believe me, it will bite. And it will kill. Is that really the kind of thing you want to save, something that might just kill you for trying to help it?"

Lonnie hesitates, "I guess, not."

"Good." He widens his eyes, "Keep it that way."

- Posted: 05/10/2019

- Since the chapters have been so short, I think I might start combining them until the plot strengthens enough to thicken chapter length. Instead of a hundred chapters, I think I'm going to aim for fifty now. The coincided story Isle Problems 2: In the Family might be a little longer than I anticipated, so having less chapters for this story might even both out to two hundred. I'd initially planned a hundred chapters per story, but the fact of the matter is that the Isle Problems series has a lot more characters with a ton of lingering plots, whereas this one has fewer characters with only a couple plots so far. Now, I have mostly a German ancestry, so my bluntness (which I'm convinced is genetic at this point) might make me suck at this whole mystery genre, but I want to give it a try. Since I don't like to rush plot, I have that to my advantage, at least. I hope you're enjoying. Feel free to leave a comment at your own leisure.