DM: Digital Mutants: Series 02: Part 2
[A/N: This is already fun!]
[Disclaimer: I don't own.]
For the next few days, Cody was always on the lookout for that strange woman. He always stared out his window before falling asleep.
Sometimes
he thought that he saw her in the park, or on the street, but she would seem to
disappear when he looked harder.
He
was so preoccupied with the subject, he kept making beginner's mistakes in
Kendo practice.
"Cody,
are you all right?" Grandpa asked one day, "Your mind is wandering." "I'm sorry." Cody apologized, "It won't
happen again."
A
few weeks after the encounter, Cody had another one of those weird dreams. This time it wasn't about school.
It
was about him on an errand for Grandpa. Boys from school, boys jealous of him passing the test, had ganged up on
him. They were hitting him hard,
beating him up.
Then,
he cried out in something like pain, a bright light appeared, and the boys were
all blown back into the alley walls. Cody grabbed the bag and started to run to his apartment. But when he got there, a horror met his
eyes.
Grandpa
was…
"CODY! WAKE UP!" Grandpa shouted. Cody let out a shout and sprang from bed.
"Oh
man what a weird dream that was." the ten-year-old muttered, walking down the
sidewalk towards school. He passed an
alley, and when he was a good distance away, the mysterious woman stepped from
the shadows. She stared after Cody
avidly.
The
day flew by for Cody. He jogged out of
school, hoping to be early for Kendo practice.
"Hida!"
Cody
froze at the call of his surname. He
turned around and saw the woman standing in the midst of the school
children. Black sunglasses covered her
eyes, and she practically towered over the kids. Cody paused. She wasn't
there when he got out, and there was no way anyone could get into the middle of
such a thick sea of kids. The other
kids ran past, and then the two were alone in the schoolyard.
"Long
time, no see." the woman said softly. "Hi!" Cody said with a smile. He
jogged to the woman and bowed politely.
"You
have to come with me." the woman said suddenly.
Cody
looked up.
"You
can't go back to your home." she continued, "You must come with me." "What?" Cody questioned, "I'm not going
anywhere else but home!" He turned with
an inquisitive glance over his shoulder.
"It's
happened twice, hasn't it?" the woman called, "Your dreams showing what happens
next in your life." Cody froze
again. "How do you know about those
dreams?" he asked.
Darkness
shrouded everything in Cody's sight, and with a hissing sound, the woman was
behind him. He leapt in a turn to face
her. "I know so much about you, it's
almost frightening." she said with a grin. Cody's forest green eyes opened wide at the woman's grin. She had unbelievably sharp canine teeth, she
had fangs.
"What-what
are you?!" he yelled. "What you are."
she chuckled, "But I always mean what I say. You are cute for your age, and you have to come with me." She knelt slightly and reached to take
Cody's arm. Instinctively, Cody's arm
shot up, and smacked the woman in the side of her face. Her dark glasses fell off with a clatter,
and she stood frozen.
Cody
froze as well. It wasn't the fact that
he hit her, but her eyes that made him freeze. Her eyes were the darkest blue without appearing black. They had an expression of shock, and yet,
sheer understanding.
"Yes,
I should have expected that." she said, turning back and rubbed her cheek,
"What with my idiotic straightforwardness." Cody stumbled backwards. "I'm-I'm sorry!" he apologized.
"I
don't mind." the woman said, "But I'm warning you, listen to what your dreams
say." She stood and leveled her hand
out. The dark glasses flew to her hand,
as if attracted by a magnet, and she put them on.
"Cody
Hida, I will see you again, but when you do, don't be surprised if I'm crying
too." With a flip of her cloak, the
woman was gone into the distance and darkness. The shroud-darkness disappeared when Cody hit the woman, and he fell to
the ground.
Then,
something clicked in his head. He
pulled out a list of items his grandfather needed, and ran for the store.
"Geez,
I need to get more sleep at night." Cody murmured as he walked towards his
grandfather's apartment, a bag in arm.
"Hey,
smart boy!" a voice called from the alley. Cody turned slightly, only to be dragged into the alleyway by a strong
hand. He was shoved roughly to the
dirty ground, and dropped the bag.
"You're
gonna teach us how ta study for big tests, smart boy!" a burly boy
laughed. He was from the Osaka region,
judging by his accent. "So how'd ya do
it kid?" a scrawny boy asked, "How'd ya know it all? Cheat sheets? Sometin'
writ' on yer arm?"
"I
didn't cheat!" Cody protested, "I just studied hard!" "Yeah, sure!" the first of the two boys laughed, "Yer gonna help
us on every test from now on, wise guy!"
"NO
I WON'T!" Cody shouted at the top of his lungs. The boys stared at his bravery. "Yes you will!" the first boy slammed his foot into the side of Cody's
stomach. "NO!!" Cody shouted. The two boys jumped him and started to punch
and kick him hard.
Cody
closed his eyes tight, hoping to the gods they would stop. Then, the dream came back to him. He couldn't remember the rest, but the part
he was in now…
With
a cry like pain, Cody screamed, and a white light appeared from his
forehead. The two boys were blown
backwards into the walls, and knocked out. Cody panted for breath, grabbed the bag, and ran from the alley.
Cody
wiped a small trail of blood from his nose as he walked slowly, almost limping,
towards his apartment.
Grandpa
was waiting patiently for Cody in the Kendo arena in the upper levels of the
complex. His wise old eyes were closed
in meditation. Then, the light against
his eyelids went out, and a soft footstep reached his sharp ears.
"Who's
there?" he called in his most commanding voice. He leapt to his bare feet and drew his bokken slowly. He could hardly see, for the sun had set and
the lights were out. Still he could
sense the presence of someone. A deep,
throaty chuckle came from the darkness.
"Who
are you?!" Grandpa cried out angrily. "Someone you should fear even more than death." a dark, deep voice said.
A
tall figure, taller than the woman he had met weeks ago, stepped into the light
of the window-square. He wore a
blood-red cloak, and had dark purple hair.
"This
is my property!" Grandpa yelled, "Get out now!" In a shadowy flash, the man had appeared before Grandpa, and had
a tight hold on his bokken.
"Where
is that bratty grandchild of yours?" he asked smoothly. "Don't you dare harm Cody!" Grandpa
shouted. The purple-haired man snapped
the bamboo-fashioned bokken, and shoved Grandpa to the floor.
"GET
AWAY FROM HIM!" an angry, but familiar voice roared. The lights flickered back on again, and the woman from weeks ago
was standing in the entrance to the arena. "Ah, so you've sensed him too?" the purple-haired man asked with a soft
voice.
"Get
out of here." the woman hissed with ice in her voice, "You know what I can do
to you." "But you haven't seen my…upgrades."
the man breathed. His arms, which had
been concealed under the cloak, pulled away from his body, and ripped the cloak
to shreds. His right arm appeared
normal, but the rest of his limbs were a strange sight to behold. His left arm was made of metal, and his legs
were covered in blood red armor.
Her
face turned horrified, and the man literally flew over to her. He slammed his clawed right hand into her
stomach, and sent her crashing into the wall. She remained there, as her body had shot through the hard cement and stone
and she had been knocked out. "Now tell
me where the brat is!" the man roared.
"Never!"
Grandpa yelled, "I would sooner die than tell you where he is!" The man grinned a sick grin and said, "I was
hoping you'd say that." The light
gleamed off his metal legs and arms, and the lights went out again.
"I'm
sorry I'm late, Grandpa!" Cody called as he jogged into the hallway to the
arena. His eyes widened in shock. The woman he had wondered so much about was
kneeling in front of the room, bent double and sobbing. The lights were out…
"GRANDPA
NO!!!" Cody screamed. He ran towards
the room, sobbing. The woman reached
out a long arm and stopped him. "You
don't need to see." she whispered, "Don't try and look." Cody wrenched his arm free and flicked on
the lights. His green eyes opened wider
than ever before, and Cody Hida let out the most horrified scream in his life.
Grandpa
lay in a pool of his own blood, his black eyes opened wide in terror and a
bloody gash in his neck.
Cody
dropped to his knees and sobbed. He
fell to his side and cried harder. All
his energy had left him, and he couldn't move.
The
woman stood up and picked Cody up. He
didn't struggle, but just kept crying, limp in her slender, but strong arms.
"Do
you agree to come with me now?" she asked through tears, "I swear that I will
never harm you, and where I take you, you will be safe, and welcome."
Cody
couldn't answer, or move. "Please give
me your answer!" the woman pleaded, "If the police come and think I did this,
it will be horrible for both of us! I
will be thrown into jail, and you will be given to a family that can't care for
you! You have to let me help!" Gathering every shred of energy he had left,
Cody nodded, not knowing the reason why he agreed. The woman tightened her hold on the ten-year-old boy, and ran
from the hallway.
Cody
kept crying, and did not feel the woman carry him to a black car. He did not feel her get in, and hold him in
her lap as she started the car and drove away from the apartment complex. He only stopped crying when he fell asleep
from lack of energy, and shock.