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Chapter 9: Fight

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Classes went by real slow. I mostly doodled in my sketchbook. I was in my math class learning about some kind of math that would never help me in life. Seriously why were we learning this stuff? I'd rather learn how to do taxes or be in West Virginia meeting the Mothman. I was doodling the Mothman how I imagined him to be. I was still upset I wasn't able to go. This mission sucked. I should've said No to Monger's "secret solo mission," of course that wouldn't matter.

The bell rang for break. I got up and unzipped my backpack without taking it off and placed the sketchbook in the pocket that didn't have my wings folded up in it. A couple of my teachers were irritated by the way I never took off my backpack and beanie. They thought I was "too cool for school." Thankfully I had "excuses" as to why I had to wear my backpack and beanie, courtesy of Monger. Surprisingly, the teachers don't buy it and still nag me to take them off.

I walked out before my math teacher told me the same thing. I walked along the path and sat down at a table under a pink blossom tree. Hunter came by moments later and sat down across from me.

Hunter immediately asked me why it took me so long to get back to our first class. I lied by telling him that there was a lot of paperwork to fill out at the office. He bought it and started talking nonstop about aliens and cryptids. I mainly just ignored him as he started talking about the weird occurrences that have been going on around here and in Modesto, California. In some cases I wanted to show him my bat wings, just to see his reaction. It would be funny to see the look on his face. I sighed as he continued talking.

"...Also do you find it weird that it seems to happen around here? I was able to take decent pictures too. I have so much proof and no one seems to believe me. I never show my parents this because they don't think being a cryptozoologist is a real job. Wouldn't it be cool to be able to hunt down bigfoot or find a real alien and go on their ship and talk about the universe...?"

To get away from this conversation? Yes.

He opened his folders with the pictures of me in them and stared down at them. "Do you think she's an alien?" He asked. I broke out of my thoughts. I had mostly drowned him out. I had been thinking about my conversation with October.

"What?" I asked.

"The bat girl. Do you think shes an alien?" He asked. I paused. Should I? Do I dare? I mean, it wouldn't hurt. He would just assume I'm giving a hypothesis. Great, now I was starting to sound like Doc. Next I'll be using words like Uranium and Bionuclear reactor in my sentences.

"Uh...maybe? I dont know. Why do you think she would be an alien? She has bat wings and white skin...like a vampire. Looks more like part vampire then part alien," I said.

He shrugged. "I don't know. I guess because she was near the ufo. I also assumed she could be an alien that can shape shift. I read about superior beings being able to shape shift into different forms, taking on animal or human shapes to blend into their environment. It also said how the aliens would never reveal their true form since it'll cause anyone to see it go mad...you know, like Cthulhu?" he said.

I couldn't help but to think back to when I saw October's true form. It terrified me so much. Was I going to go mad? How did one go mad? I didn't feel any different. His form was truly terrifying. I wouldn't want to see it again. Unless it wasn't his true form? No...no...it was. It was his true form. I wonder if John saw it. Did he go crazy?

...I wonder if I could shape shift.

The bell rang, indicating break was over. Hunter got up and carefully placed his photos back into his backpack. "I'll see you later," he said giving me a smile and a wave. I waved back and walked in the opposite direction of Hunter and went on my way to my next class.

I had geography

My geography teacher was skinny and wore a black long sleeved shirt and black jeans. He had really short hair, and had pale face, which looked sunken, in and looked kind of like a skeleton. I slowly walked to the back. Someone tried to trip me in the process but I just stumbled a bit and kept walking. My ears flicked inside my black beanie when the teacher started yelling at the kid who tripped me.

"Jason! I saw that! One more time and I'll make the school suspend you!" snapped the teacher. The Joker kid grinned evilly at me. I looked away from the kid. I remembered him. He was one of the boys in Mirror's group. Today, his green hair was all messy. He wore a different Joker shirt today. I wondered if that's all he owned were Joker shirts. Mainly Heath Ledger Joker shirts. This one was a close up of his face saying "Why So Serious?" I saw it just last year before I became a monster. I liked it. I dressed up as the Joker for Halloween.

The skeleton teacher looked down the rows and then noticed I was still wearing my backpack on.

"Is this a new fashion or something?" he asked me out loud. "I didn't say anything about it yesterday since it was first day, but I see you are still doing it." Everyone turned to me and started laughing. I sunk in my seat nervously. My face began to burn. Great. Here we go again.

"N-no," I stuttered.

"W-well, can you take it off?" the teacher mimicked me for stuttering. I narrowed my eyes. Man, this teacher woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. Didn't have to insult me like that.

The class laughed harder.

"I don't really want to," I said.

"Do you want a detention?" he asked.

"No," I said.

"Then take it off," he said.

"I have a note as to why I need to keep it on," I said.

The class oohed.

The teacher rolled his eyes. "Yes, I am aware of your note. I believe in the "Dog ate my homework excuse," more then that excuse."

Damn this teacher.

So in the end I got detention and the teacher began teaching us about science crap. I didn't listen. The next class was worse. It was near the end of the period too. "Take your hat off!" My history teacher, Ms. S. snapped at me.

"I…I have a bad haircut," I thought at the top of my head. My history teacher scoffed, crossing her arms. "Well, I'm sure no one will laugh at it, right class?" she asked. Some kids said yes, others were either talking to their friends or secretly texting. I found out that Mirror was in my history class as well, and she sat right behind me!

She tried to take my beanie off but I quickly grabbed my hood and pulled it over so she wouldn't pull it off. Double protection. I turned and glared at her, but she just looked at me like I was the stupidest thing she has ever seen and popped her gum in my face.I turned back and saw Ms. S. glaring at me.

"I… have a… doctor's note, that says I can't take off my hood," I lied, hoping she will leave me alone.

Ms. S. raised an eyebrow. "Well then, let's see it," she said sternly with her arm extended out. I flinched. Then I slowly reached to the secret pocket and felt around for something that will help me out of this problem. Luck was on my side that period. The bell rang. I quickly ran out before Ms. S. said anything.

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At lunchtime, I avoided Hunter and made my way around the school, somewhat familiarizing my environment. The school had a two story science building, brand new, and a cluster of small old buildings, which were the math buildings. The oldest building was the art building because, like all the other schools I had gone to, no one seemed to care about the arts.

I made my way around, making sure I didn't look too suspicious. As I walked, I thought back to October's information on how to find John. He was slinking around the school, but seemed to disappear whenever October spotted him. I looked around the school. It wasn't as big as I imagined.

It felt big when I first arrived. The trees around and in the school made it seem bigger, also it was alongside a steep hillside that threw me off. There was one building under construction so there was yellow tape around it saying: Do not cross. There were no workers, mostly out for lunch. I was somewhat hoping to find John there as a hobo eating out of the nearby trashcan near that building but I didn't. It took ten to fifteen minutes to walk around the school. Not including the fields. I decided to take a break.

I sat down at a bench under a weeping willow, pulled out my sketchbook and began to draw. It wasn't long before I heard a small group of footsteps coming my way. I stopped drawing and looked up to see Mirror and her goons coming towards me. Mirror stopped, causing her friends to stop. She had her hands on her hips.

"You are in our spot, freak."

Today, she wore striped green and black socks that went up to her knees. She wore a red and black plaid skirt and a black shirt that had retro colored monsters bleeding to death.

Her hair was pulled into two pigtails and had pink and blue streaks, her eyes were lined with black eyeliner and she popped her gum in front of me. Her friends looked at me in disgust. There were two boys and three girls. The Joker kid smirked behind Mirror. I sighed and resisted to roll my eyes.

"It doesn't have your name on it," I said, not getting up from my spot. The Joker kid snorted, then quickly went quiet when Mirror shot him a look.

Mirror glared at me through her black eyeliner. "You think you're funny?" She snapped. I shrugged. "Sometimes. Joker thinks I'm funny," I said, nodding to the Joker kid. The Joker kid adverted his eyes to the ground when Mirror shot him another look.

"Acid doesn't think you are funny," Mirror spoke for him. I blinked. Acid? I thought his name was Jason. These kids came up with the weirdest nicknames. Before I could react, Mirror stepped forward and shoved me. I gasped in surprise. I felt my wings shift on instinct, wanting to rip out of my backpack and stretch out. I could hear the backpack's seams ripping.

I fell back and my head hit the ground. I winced. It hurt a lot, but not enough for me to get a concussion or anything. I tried getting up, but the nameless boy grabbed me and chucked me away from where I was. I staggered and then fell to the ground again. My face was scratched and the tips of my fingers were raw with blood dripping. I slowly turned around and got up. The group was laughing at me. Some kids were watching. One kid was trying to start the "fight" chant, but it was halfhearted and died as soon as it started. My sunglasses were slightly crooked on my face.

I got up, anger boiling inside me

The nameless kid came at me again. I took a step back to avoid him. Joker grabbed my arm and twisted it. I stifled a scream. As much as I wanted to, I wasn't going to use my sonic scream, blow my cover and take a kid to the hospital. I pulled my arm forward with all my strength and stuck my leg out for him to trip over. Joker was a big guy so he didn't go down that easy. Dammit. Not being able to use my scream ability or my wings sucks.

I thankfully was able to twist out of his grasp. I couldn't risk getting in trouble...but on the other hand, I couldn't let my ass get beaten by a bunch of bullies. I could take these kids. I've fought an army of alien clones. These bullies were nothing in comparison.

Joker came at me again but this time I was ready. Thanks to Link, he helped teach me some moves; that I am starting to think he got from watching Karate movies. I was able to pin Joker down to the ground. The Joker kid stared up at me in surprise. I heard the other boy trying to sneak up behind me. I grabbed his arm and pulled it behind his back without looking. Mirror and the other girls gaped in shock. The group of kids around us got bigger. Everyone had their phones out and were taking pictures. I let go of the nameless kid and moved away from the Joker kid. The Joker kid got up and was still staring at me in shock. Mirror noticed and snarled. Jealous. She approached me, fist raised. I got ready.

Suddenly I saw a flash of black zip by me. Mirror started shrieking and flailing her arms above her head. A crow was attacking her. A crow with yellow eyes. I stared in surprise. Mirror moved away but October kept flapping his wings at her and cawing. Mirror's friends watched, dumbfounded. I couldnt help but to smile.

"Thanks, October," I whispered.

"Don't just stand there! Do something!" Mirror screamed at her goons. The Joker/Acid kid took a step forward. Right when he did, October took to the skies and flew away to the trees. They all stared in shock and confusion as to why the bird decided to attack. I couldn't help but to chuckle. The looks on their faces were priceless. Of course, that wasn't a good idea. The group turned to me in horror. I stopped laughing. Crap. I hope they didn't think I asked the bird to attack Mirror. I didn't want them to think I was a witch or something.

I decided to leave the scene. I pushed my way past a couple kids to get out of the circle. "Yeah! You better leave!" said Mirror and started cussing at me. I ignored it and walked away.

Then I heard a male voice, "Are you ok?"

I stopped and looked up. I was expecting October, but it was just Hunter.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said and started to walk away. But the boy followed me, which made me feel uncomfortable. I kept walking.

Hunter kept following me. "That was crazy! The way that bird swooped down and attacked Mirror!" The bell rang and I quickened my pace, moving through the crowds. I heard Hunter calling my fake name but I didn't stop till I was lost in the sea of teenagers.

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