Chapter 8
Kari stared at the dark fog filling the street from her hiding place around the corner of the office building next door to the music hall. People were running and screaming as the cloud of mist grew; it reached a car parked at the side of the road and swarmed over it like a flood of darkness. The car shuddered, threw off sparks from under the hood, and exploded in a ball of flame, sending chunks of metal flying in every direction.
A piece of what had been a door ricocheted off of the brick wall only a foot from Kari's face; a man trying to flee into the alley between the buildings was struck between the shoulders with another hunk of debris, and went down with a cry. He stumbled to his feet again and staggered away, leaving a trail of red behind him, his cries for help lost in the pandemonium.
Kari shuddered, feeling sick. She'd been there for perhaps twenty minutes, and had used up most of her film already. The fog had started as a small cloud, perhaps half the size of a VW, but seemed to grow with every bit of destruction it wreaked.
"As if it fed on pain and fear," Kari whispered, her eyes huge. The explosion had faded, leaving a heap of twisted metal, blazing like a funeral pyre. She reached for her camera and snapped a photo of the wreck.
The carnage had begun a few minutes after her arrival, and had increased with every frightening thing the mist had done. It had shattered windows by touching them, blown up at least a dozen cars, and grabbed people by the arms and legs to haul them into itself. None had come out yet, and Kari was beginning to doubt that they ever would.
"If it's really fear that it thrives on, having a bunch of terrified prisoners is like an all-it-can-eat buffet," Kari said with a dark look at the virus, which was continuing to grow.
She shivered, and let her camera fall to hang from its strap around her neck. "I wonder if TK and the others got back yet. I hope they're okay..."
"Hello," came a soft whisper in her ear. Kari's eyes lit up.
"TK!" she cried, and started to turn around, but two warm arms wrapped around her from behind, gently holding her.
"Shh...don't talk so loudly. I'm here."
Kari frowned; his voice was odd...slightly hoarse, maybe? "TK? You sound...weird."
"I'm kind of tired," the familiar, yet somehow strange voice said.
Kari sighed. *Anyone would be, after what we've all been through. Poor TK...*
"Me, too," she agreed, and let herself relax, melting into his arms. It felt so much better, so much safer, to have him there with her...
His arms tightened around her. Kari blinked, surprised, not sure what to make of this. Then she stiffened as she felt TK's lips touch her neck.
"Stop that," she scolded, frowning and trying to turn around, but he tightened his hold even more, making her gasp in surprise. "TK, you're hurting me! Stop it!" He laughed, and she shivered; that was *not* TK's laugh. Then he kissed her again. "Stop it right now!" she cried, beginning to panic. "This isn't funny! What are you-"
She froze, horrified. One of his hands had slipped under her shirt.
"Ugh! Get away from me!!" she screamed, and slammed her elbow into his stomach. He doubled over with an *oof*, dropping his arms from around her to clutch his injured stomach, and glared up at her with hateful, dark eyes that roiled with black fog.
Kari's own stomach did a flip-flop inside of her.
"You're not TK," she whispered, feeling sick at what could have happened if she hadn't realized in time... "What *are* you?"
TK hissed. "I *am* TK...but he's not the one in the driver's seat. Very quick, Kari. I'm impressed." He grinned, straightening up. "Since you're so good at guessing, how about we try a different game? Maybe a little hide-and-seek..."
He grinned, a horrible grin, and took a step forward. Kari stepped back, her spine turning to ice, and realized that behind her, there was nothing but virus-fog, filling the whole street...and that TK, or whatever he was now, was between her and the only way out.
"If TK's not...driving..." she said, trying to stall for time, "then where is he?"
"Well, I guess you could say he's...in the trunk," TK said, sounding very pleased with this state of affairs.
"Can he see me?" Kari whispered, not sure if she wanted the answer to be yes or no.
"Oh, he's seeing and feeling everything that I am," TK chuckled. "You wouldn't believe the fight he's putting up, or trying to, anyway...pitiful." He paused, as if listening. "In fact, I think he's almost ready to cry..."
Kari ground her teeth, her heart crying out to her best friend. "Shut up!" she cried, hating with all her heart this thing that was using TK like a toy. "You disgusting thing! Shut up!"
The virus laughed, ignoring her words. "Do you know what's the best part? I have no mind of my own, no emotions except those I borrow. I may be...adjusting them, but I can't feel anything that TK hasn't felt. Technically, I *am* him...and I can do nothing that he hasn't wanted to do."
"Except that you twist it into something completely different," Kari said, glaring at the dark eyes that didn't belong in TK's sweet face. "I get what you're saying, but I also get the facts you're holding back. If TK has something that he doesn't like, you use that to make yourself hate it. You took his friendship for me and turned it into your own repulsive desire. You're nothing but a mental parasite!" She was standing with her hands clenched into fists at her sides now, so angry she could have spit nails. *How dare that...that *thing*...claim that it is anything like my angel?!*
"Oh, good, you're angry," TK purred. "That makes it so much easier for me to take you. Let's see, I believe we were going to play a game of hide-and-seek?" He grinned, and began to move menacingly toward her. "I'm It..."
Kari gulped, looking over her shoulder; the virus was even closer now, and beginning to stretch out cloudy arms toward her. Torn and terrified, she looked frantically from the monster advancing on her to the horror waiting to take her in and make her a monster, too.
"Here, kitty, kitty," TK snarled, and began to reach for her...
"You stay away from her, TR!!!"
A purple-haired projectile leaped toward the oncoming boy, slamming into him and taking him down with a flying tackle. Kari saw her chance and ran, ducking around the now fist-fighting boys and fleeing down the street. At the edge of freedom, she slowed, and stopped.
*How can I just leave them? I have to try and help Davis to get rid of that thing; it's the only way to save TK!*
Turning, she hurried back toward them.
Davis had pinned TK by kneeling on both of his arms, and was whaling away at his face, his eyes flaming with anger.
"How dare you try to hurt Kari, you jerk!" Davis yelled, pounding his fists into TK's face with fierce satisfaction. "How dare you-acckkkk..."
TK laughed, cruelly; he was too far-gone for the blows to hurt him, and the situation had been all too easy to reverse. In one swift motion, he had kicked Davis off of him, surged to his feet, and grabbed the would-be hero's throat in a grip of steel. With a few purposeful steps, he shoved the gulping, struggling boy backwards, toward the wall of fog.
"Do you know what I find funniest about this, Davis?" He grinned. "You're TK's rival, and yet he's fighting me every step of the way, trying to stop me from hurting you." He took a long, deliberate look at Davis' face, his victim's eyes huge with fear in his bloody face. "I really don't see why he's wasting his energy on a miserable worm like you."
Then, he thrust his arm forward, forcing Davis into range of the hungry fog.
Running toward them, Kari saw Davis gasp in sudden agony, his eyes wide, his mouth falling open... She couldn't see the arm of virus that had plunged silently into his back.
The battle was short. Davis was already so full of righteous anger that it was short work for the virus to twist it into poisonous hate. His eyes darkened, as he glared viciously at the boy holding him there...
And then, with a snarl, he broke TK's grasp, throwing himself forward into the fray.
Kari stared at the dark fog filling the street from her hiding place around the corner of the office building next door to the music hall. People were running and screaming as the cloud of mist grew; it reached a car parked at the side of the road and swarmed over it like a flood of darkness. The car shuddered, threw off sparks from under the hood, and exploded in a ball of flame, sending chunks of metal flying in every direction.
A piece of what had been a door ricocheted off of the brick wall only a foot from Kari's face; a man trying to flee into the alley between the buildings was struck between the shoulders with another hunk of debris, and went down with a cry. He stumbled to his feet again and staggered away, leaving a trail of red behind him, his cries for help lost in the pandemonium.
Kari shuddered, feeling sick. She'd been there for perhaps twenty minutes, and had used up most of her film already. The fog had started as a small cloud, perhaps half the size of a VW, but seemed to grow with every bit of destruction it wreaked.
"As if it fed on pain and fear," Kari whispered, her eyes huge. The explosion had faded, leaving a heap of twisted metal, blazing like a funeral pyre. She reached for her camera and snapped a photo of the wreck.
The carnage had begun a few minutes after her arrival, and had increased with every frightening thing the mist had done. It had shattered windows by touching them, blown up at least a dozen cars, and grabbed people by the arms and legs to haul them into itself. None had come out yet, and Kari was beginning to doubt that they ever would.
"If it's really fear that it thrives on, having a bunch of terrified prisoners is like an all-it-can-eat buffet," Kari said with a dark look at the virus, which was continuing to grow.
She shivered, and let her camera fall to hang from its strap around her neck. "I wonder if TK and the others got back yet. I hope they're okay..."
"Hello," came a soft whisper in her ear. Kari's eyes lit up.
"TK!" she cried, and started to turn around, but two warm arms wrapped around her from behind, gently holding her.
"Shh...don't talk so loudly. I'm here."
Kari frowned; his voice was odd...slightly hoarse, maybe? "TK? You sound...weird."
"I'm kind of tired," the familiar, yet somehow strange voice said.
Kari sighed. *Anyone would be, after what we've all been through. Poor TK...*
"Me, too," she agreed, and let herself relax, melting into his arms. It felt so much better, so much safer, to have him there with her...
His arms tightened around her. Kari blinked, surprised, not sure what to make of this. Then she stiffened as she felt TK's lips touch her neck.
"Stop that," she scolded, frowning and trying to turn around, but he tightened his hold even more, making her gasp in surprise. "TK, you're hurting me! Stop it!" He laughed, and she shivered; that was *not* TK's laugh. Then he kissed her again. "Stop it right now!" she cried, beginning to panic. "This isn't funny! What are you-"
She froze, horrified. One of his hands had slipped under her shirt.
"Ugh! Get away from me!!" she screamed, and slammed her elbow into his stomach. He doubled over with an *oof*, dropping his arms from around her to clutch his injured stomach, and glared up at her with hateful, dark eyes that roiled with black fog.
Kari's own stomach did a flip-flop inside of her.
"You're not TK," she whispered, feeling sick at what could have happened if she hadn't realized in time... "What *are* you?"
TK hissed. "I *am* TK...but he's not the one in the driver's seat. Very quick, Kari. I'm impressed." He grinned, straightening up. "Since you're so good at guessing, how about we try a different game? Maybe a little hide-and-seek..."
He grinned, a horrible grin, and took a step forward. Kari stepped back, her spine turning to ice, and realized that behind her, there was nothing but virus-fog, filling the whole street...and that TK, or whatever he was now, was between her and the only way out.
"If TK's not...driving..." she said, trying to stall for time, "then where is he?"
"Well, I guess you could say he's...in the trunk," TK said, sounding very pleased with this state of affairs.
"Can he see me?" Kari whispered, not sure if she wanted the answer to be yes or no.
"Oh, he's seeing and feeling everything that I am," TK chuckled. "You wouldn't believe the fight he's putting up, or trying to, anyway...pitiful." He paused, as if listening. "In fact, I think he's almost ready to cry..."
Kari ground her teeth, her heart crying out to her best friend. "Shut up!" she cried, hating with all her heart this thing that was using TK like a toy. "You disgusting thing! Shut up!"
The virus laughed, ignoring her words. "Do you know what's the best part? I have no mind of my own, no emotions except those I borrow. I may be...adjusting them, but I can't feel anything that TK hasn't felt. Technically, I *am* him...and I can do nothing that he hasn't wanted to do."
"Except that you twist it into something completely different," Kari said, glaring at the dark eyes that didn't belong in TK's sweet face. "I get what you're saying, but I also get the facts you're holding back. If TK has something that he doesn't like, you use that to make yourself hate it. You took his friendship for me and turned it into your own repulsive desire. You're nothing but a mental parasite!" She was standing with her hands clenched into fists at her sides now, so angry she could have spit nails. *How dare that...that *thing*...claim that it is anything like my angel?!*
"Oh, good, you're angry," TK purred. "That makes it so much easier for me to take you. Let's see, I believe we were going to play a game of hide-and-seek?" He grinned, and began to move menacingly toward her. "I'm It..."
Kari gulped, looking over her shoulder; the virus was even closer now, and beginning to stretch out cloudy arms toward her. Torn and terrified, she looked frantically from the monster advancing on her to the horror waiting to take her in and make her a monster, too.
"Here, kitty, kitty," TK snarled, and began to reach for her...
"You stay away from her, TR!!!"
A purple-haired projectile leaped toward the oncoming boy, slamming into him and taking him down with a flying tackle. Kari saw her chance and ran, ducking around the now fist-fighting boys and fleeing down the street. At the edge of freedom, she slowed, and stopped.
*How can I just leave them? I have to try and help Davis to get rid of that thing; it's the only way to save TK!*
Turning, she hurried back toward them.
Davis had pinned TK by kneeling on both of his arms, and was whaling away at his face, his eyes flaming with anger.
"How dare you try to hurt Kari, you jerk!" Davis yelled, pounding his fists into TK's face with fierce satisfaction. "How dare you-acckkkk..."
TK laughed, cruelly; he was too far-gone for the blows to hurt him, and the situation had been all too easy to reverse. In one swift motion, he had kicked Davis off of him, surged to his feet, and grabbed the would-be hero's throat in a grip of steel. With a few purposeful steps, he shoved the gulping, struggling boy backwards, toward the wall of fog.
"Do you know what I find funniest about this, Davis?" He grinned. "You're TK's rival, and yet he's fighting me every step of the way, trying to stop me from hurting you." He took a long, deliberate look at Davis' face, his victim's eyes huge with fear in his bloody face. "I really don't see why he's wasting his energy on a miserable worm like you."
Then, he thrust his arm forward, forcing Davis into range of the hungry fog.
Running toward them, Kari saw Davis gasp in sudden agony, his eyes wide, his mouth falling open... She couldn't see the arm of virus that had plunged silently into his back.
The battle was short. Davis was already so full of righteous anger that it was short work for the virus to twist it into poisonous hate. His eyes darkened, as he glared viciously at the boy holding him there...
And then, with a snarl, he broke TK's grasp, throwing himself forward into the fray.