I woke up really late the next day. Glancing over at the alarm clock,
the big red digits showed that it was already 6 PM. Resting my head back
down, I wondered where my dad was; he never lets me sleep in past 12.
The house had an awkward silence to it, so I rolled out of bed to go
figure out what was going on. Halfway down the stairs, a sharp pain
ran through my stomach, almost causing me to fall down the stairs. It
was an unbelieveable throb that felt like hunger pains on steroids.
I managed to make my way down the stairs and into the kitchen without
killing myself, but the pain kept getting worse. Pulling out a box of
Lucky Charms, I downed half of the box without thinking twice about it.
The pain didn't subside and I wasn't sure what was wrong. I walked over
to the phone, debating if I should call the hospital or not. A yellow
piece of paper was placed underneath the recharger with my name written
across the front in my dad's scribbly handwriting. Flipping it over, it
read:
Ryan,
Had to go back to the US for a business meeting. I won't be back for
awhile. Gram and Grandpa should be arriving to stay with you around
2:15 or so. Be good and don't do anything stupid. I'll call later
tonight.
Dad
Ignoring the pain that began to spread through my body, I noticed the
answering machine flashing. After it rewound, my grandmother's voice
rang loudly over the machine: " Pookie! Oh, pookie! Answer the phone
you dope! (Sigh) You must be out. Well, meet us at the Dragon's Tooth
for dinner around 7, okay pookie?"
The pain intensified ( if that was possible ) to the point where I
lost my vision and passed out.
* * *
A cold breeze made me regained conscienceness. Looking around, I
realized that I was perched up in a tree with my muscles tense.
I had no idea how I got up here and out of the house. The pain was
gone and I felt...different. A cold wind blew by again and I realized
that I was still only wearing the pair of sweatpants I had fallen
asleep in last night.
Looking down, I saw a body resting on the ground, unmoving. Jumping
down back to the ground, I landed gracefully on the grass next to the
body, shocked that I was able to jump so easily from that great of a
distance. The body was mangled and bloody. As I examined it a little
closer, I recognized the face. It was Ken's. He was still breathing
lightly and he didn't appear to have any broken bones. Long and deep
scratched were scattered across his body, the largest one being at his
throat.
" Ryan, you suprise me," Nephrite said as he walked up behind me.
" What? Suprise you?"
" You don't think some wild animal did this, do you?"
" But, I..."
" Yes, Ryan. You did this! Your first victim. I suppose I should have
warned you about your new hunger pains. Must have slipped my mind."
" Hunger...pains?"
" I'm sure you must have noticed them. From the looks of it, you let
them take control. You certainly took in more than enough energy."
" I thought you said it wouldn't be a big deal when I did! He looks
horrible!"
" But he didn't die, did he? Suppose I need to fill you in on
everything now. You didn't happen to look in a mirror before you let
the hunger pains take over, did you? No? Well, I kept my end of the
deal. You'll notice all the changes over time. Anyways, you know that
you give me part of the energy you take. What you don't know is that
you keep the other half in order to stay..."unviolent." If you don't
store enough energy inside yourself, your new instincts take over and
force you to subconsciencly attack the first person you happen to come
across in order to stay alive. Human food is useless to you now. You
need energy to stay alive. From what you can see, if you don't do this
yourself or you try to fight it, you will loose and create hell until
you find what the amount of energy your body needs to stay alive."
" I..but I.."
" Get use to it, Ryan! There's no turning back now. Have a nice life.
Oh, and watch out for the Sailor Scouts. They might find out who you
are and will hunt you down until you are dead. Good Luck!"
With all that said, he became surrounded by the yellow light and
disappeared. Looking back at Ken, I suddenly began to wish that I had
never made that damn deal in the first place. " Ry...Ryan. Why?" moaned
Ken before he became silent again. I heard footsteps coming towards
us in the distance and quickly leaped back to my post on the tree.
A few minutes later, a male jogger came into the clearing and
screamed at the sight of Ken's bloody body. Pulling out a cell phone,
he called for an ambulence and tried to awake Ken until the authorities
came. As they loaded him onto a stretcher, I swore that I'd never let
the pains take control again. I then realized that Ken must know that
it was me who had attacked him. Slowly, I began to fear for my life
and realized that once Ken reawoke from his coma like unconscienceness,
I'd have to find a way to keep him from talking.
* * *
I arrived at the Dragon's Tooth a few minutes after 7. Grandma and
grandpa were already sitting at a table in the center of the room, a
large pizza sitting in the middle of the table. I then noticed that
Lita and the group of four girls she hung out with were at the table
next to them.
" Pookie! You made it!" grandma exclaimed loudly as I walked over to
the table and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
" Grandma, don't call me that. You know I hate it," I said as I tried
to keep my cool, knowing that Lita had heard that riddiculous
nickname.
" Ryan, good to see ya! I got a suprise for ya," Grandpa exclaimed
as he slid a large envelope across the table towards me," Just came in
the mail yesterday. Figured you'd want it as soon as possible."
The five girls were now watching our table closely, four out of the
five trying to be sly about it. The blonde, pig-tailed one just full
on stared as I opened the envelope. Pulling out a paper, I glanced
over at my grandpa suprised. My private pilot certificate had came
earlier than I was expecting along with a pamplet for the United State
Air Force.
" I knew you would be suprised! I'll do you one better though. Now that
you have your private pilot certificate, I bought you a small plane to
put that thing to use! A friend of mine had one he sold me for a
good price. You'll love it!"
" Thank you so much! I can't believe you got me a plane!"
My grandpa had taught me how to fly planes the day I turned 15 in the
large grass field located behind their farmhouse, which was in the
middle of nowhere. He knew about my wanting to join the Air Force when
I turn 18 and has done everthing in this power to ensure that I would.
The three of us had always been close and they considered me to be
their own son since they never really liked my dad that much and he
never wanted me.
" RyRy, you've grown so much since we last seen you. And just look
at yourself! Why, I hardly recognize you," Grandma gushed as she stroked
a small lock of my hair.
Little to her knowledge, it wasn't time that had changed me. After I
got home from my attack, I suprised myself when I looked in the mirror.
Every muscle in my body was bigger and stronger. My complexion was
totally clear and unlike its usual crater-like self. The dark green eyes
that stared back from behind strands of deep black hair were unfimilar
to me. I still looked like myself, only a lot more improved.
As we ate the pizza, grandma talked about their trip over here and how
all my couins were doing. I barely payed attention to her because I was
to caught up in watching Lita. Every once in awhile, she glanced over
at me as if it was the first time she had seen me. Once, we even made
eye contact, but she quickly turned back and laughed at one of her
friend's jokes. Suddenly, her cell phone rang. After a few seconds, her
eyes sort of glazed over and a worried look found its way into her eyes.
She hung up slowly.
" Ken...He's in the hospital," she managed to choke out before bursting
in tears.
Her friends tried to comfort her and get all the details. After she
explained that he had been brutally attacked by someone in the park
earlier,her eyes became intense as she balled her hands up into tight
fists.
" I'll kill the bastard who did this to Ken!" she threatened while
punching a hole through the table.
A sinking feeling went through my body as Lita fought against her rage.
My grandparents offered to give Lita a ride to the hosptial,which she
gratefully accepted. The ride there would normally have been a long,
agonizing hour, but sitting so close to Lita in the back seat made the
ride seem short. I felt awful, knowing that I was the reason for her
tears. I wanted to help her somehow, but I couldn't think of a single
comforting thing to do that would help. When we got to our destination,
I walked Lita in and told my grandparents that I would call them later.
In the waiting room, a couple sat crying. When they saw Lita rush in,
they quickly embraced her too. Ken's parents told Lita what the doctors
had said. Somehow, I was able to overhear their conversation, even
though they spoke with barely a whisper.
" He's in a coma. The doctor isn't sure when or if he'll survive through
it," Ken's mother told her.
Lita asked to go see him, and the nurse granted her permission once
Ken's parents agreed. To my suprise, she turned and asked me to come up
with her, saying that she didn't want to do it alone. I nodded quietly
and walk next to her until we found the room. Not wanting to see my
evil deed, I told her that I would wait outside. She came out about ten
minutes later, her eyes red from crying. She tried to hide her emotions
back, but she wasn't fooling me at all. I quietly pulled her against my
chest as her tears soaked through the front of my shirt.
the big red digits showed that it was already 6 PM. Resting my head back
down, I wondered where my dad was; he never lets me sleep in past 12.
The house had an awkward silence to it, so I rolled out of bed to go
figure out what was going on. Halfway down the stairs, a sharp pain
ran through my stomach, almost causing me to fall down the stairs. It
was an unbelieveable throb that felt like hunger pains on steroids.
I managed to make my way down the stairs and into the kitchen without
killing myself, but the pain kept getting worse. Pulling out a box of
Lucky Charms, I downed half of the box without thinking twice about it.
The pain didn't subside and I wasn't sure what was wrong. I walked over
to the phone, debating if I should call the hospital or not. A yellow
piece of paper was placed underneath the recharger with my name written
across the front in my dad's scribbly handwriting. Flipping it over, it
read:
Ryan,
Had to go back to the US for a business meeting. I won't be back for
awhile. Gram and Grandpa should be arriving to stay with you around
2:15 or so. Be good and don't do anything stupid. I'll call later
tonight.
Dad
Ignoring the pain that began to spread through my body, I noticed the
answering machine flashing. After it rewound, my grandmother's voice
rang loudly over the machine: " Pookie! Oh, pookie! Answer the phone
you dope! (Sigh) You must be out. Well, meet us at the Dragon's Tooth
for dinner around 7, okay pookie?"
The pain intensified ( if that was possible ) to the point where I
lost my vision and passed out.
* * *
A cold breeze made me regained conscienceness. Looking around, I
realized that I was perched up in a tree with my muscles tense.
I had no idea how I got up here and out of the house. The pain was
gone and I felt...different. A cold wind blew by again and I realized
that I was still only wearing the pair of sweatpants I had fallen
asleep in last night.
Looking down, I saw a body resting on the ground, unmoving. Jumping
down back to the ground, I landed gracefully on the grass next to the
body, shocked that I was able to jump so easily from that great of a
distance. The body was mangled and bloody. As I examined it a little
closer, I recognized the face. It was Ken's. He was still breathing
lightly and he didn't appear to have any broken bones. Long and deep
scratched were scattered across his body, the largest one being at his
throat.
" Ryan, you suprise me," Nephrite said as he walked up behind me.
" What? Suprise you?"
" You don't think some wild animal did this, do you?"
" But, I..."
" Yes, Ryan. You did this! Your first victim. I suppose I should have
warned you about your new hunger pains. Must have slipped my mind."
" Hunger...pains?"
" I'm sure you must have noticed them. From the looks of it, you let
them take control. You certainly took in more than enough energy."
" I thought you said it wouldn't be a big deal when I did! He looks
horrible!"
" But he didn't die, did he? Suppose I need to fill you in on
everything now. You didn't happen to look in a mirror before you let
the hunger pains take over, did you? No? Well, I kept my end of the
deal. You'll notice all the changes over time. Anyways, you know that
you give me part of the energy you take. What you don't know is that
you keep the other half in order to stay..."unviolent." If you don't
store enough energy inside yourself, your new instincts take over and
force you to subconsciencly attack the first person you happen to come
across in order to stay alive. Human food is useless to you now. You
need energy to stay alive. From what you can see, if you don't do this
yourself or you try to fight it, you will loose and create hell until
you find what the amount of energy your body needs to stay alive."
" I..but I.."
" Get use to it, Ryan! There's no turning back now. Have a nice life.
Oh, and watch out for the Sailor Scouts. They might find out who you
are and will hunt you down until you are dead. Good Luck!"
With all that said, he became surrounded by the yellow light and
disappeared. Looking back at Ken, I suddenly began to wish that I had
never made that damn deal in the first place. " Ry...Ryan. Why?" moaned
Ken before he became silent again. I heard footsteps coming towards
us in the distance and quickly leaped back to my post on the tree.
A few minutes later, a male jogger came into the clearing and
screamed at the sight of Ken's bloody body. Pulling out a cell phone,
he called for an ambulence and tried to awake Ken until the authorities
came. As they loaded him onto a stretcher, I swore that I'd never let
the pains take control again. I then realized that Ken must know that
it was me who had attacked him. Slowly, I began to fear for my life
and realized that once Ken reawoke from his coma like unconscienceness,
I'd have to find a way to keep him from talking.
* * *
I arrived at the Dragon's Tooth a few minutes after 7. Grandma and
grandpa were already sitting at a table in the center of the room, a
large pizza sitting in the middle of the table. I then noticed that
Lita and the group of four girls she hung out with were at the table
next to them.
" Pookie! You made it!" grandma exclaimed loudly as I walked over to
the table and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
" Grandma, don't call me that. You know I hate it," I said as I tried
to keep my cool, knowing that Lita had heard that riddiculous
nickname.
" Ryan, good to see ya! I got a suprise for ya," Grandpa exclaimed
as he slid a large envelope across the table towards me," Just came in
the mail yesterday. Figured you'd want it as soon as possible."
The five girls were now watching our table closely, four out of the
five trying to be sly about it. The blonde, pig-tailed one just full
on stared as I opened the envelope. Pulling out a paper, I glanced
over at my grandpa suprised. My private pilot certificate had came
earlier than I was expecting along with a pamplet for the United State
Air Force.
" I knew you would be suprised! I'll do you one better though. Now that
you have your private pilot certificate, I bought you a small plane to
put that thing to use! A friend of mine had one he sold me for a
good price. You'll love it!"
" Thank you so much! I can't believe you got me a plane!"
My grandpa had taught me how to fly planes the day I turned 15 in the
large grass field located behind their farmhouse, which was in the
middle of nowhere. He knew about my wanting to join the Air Force when
I turn 18 and has done everthing in this power to ensure that I would.
The three of us had always been close and they considered me to be
their own son since they never really liked my dad that much and he
never wanted me.
" RyRy, you've grown so much since we last seen you. And just look
at yourself! Why, I hardly recognize you," Grandma gushed as she stroked
a small lock of my hair.
Little to her knowledge, it wasn't time that had changed me. After I
got home from my attack, I suprised myself when I looked in the mirror.
Every muscle in my body was bigger and stronger. My complexion was
totally clear and unlike its usual crater-like self. The dark green eyes
that stared back from behind strands of deep black hair were unfimilar
to me. I still looked like myself, only a lot more improved.
As we ate the pizza, grandma talked about their trip over here and how
all my couins were doing. I barely payed attention to her because I was
to caught up in watching Lita. Every once in awhile, she glanced over
at me as if it was the first time she had seen me. Once, we even made
eye contact, but she quickly turned back and laughed at one of her
friend's jokes. Suddenly, her cell phone rang. After a few seconds, her
eyes sort of glazed over and a worried look found its way into her eyes.
She hung up slowly.
" Ken...He's in the hospital," she managed to choke out before bursting
in tears.
Her friends tried to comfort her and get all the details. After she
explained that he had been brutally attacked by someone in the park
earlier,her eyes became intense as she balled her hands up into tight
fists.
" I'll kill the bastard who did this to Ken!" she threatened while
punching a hole through the table.
A sinking feeling went through my body as Lita fought against her rage.
My grandparents offered to give Lita a ride to the hosptial,which she
gratefully accepted. The ride there would normally have been a long,
agonizing hour, but sitting so close to Lita in the back seat made the
ride seem short. I felt awful, knowing that I was the reason for her
tears. I wanted to help her somehow, but I couldn't think of a single
comforting thing to do that would help. When we got to our destination,
I walked Lita in and told my grandparents that I would call them later.
In the waiting room, a couple sat crying. When they saw Lita rush in,
they quickly embraced her too. Ken's parents told Lita what the doctors
had said. Somehow, I was able to overhear their conversation, even
though they spoke with barely a whisper.
" He's in a coma. The doctor isn't sure when or if he'll survive through
it," Ken's mother told her.
Lita asked to go see him, and the nurse granted her permission once
Ken's parents agreed. To my suprise, she turned and asked me to come up
with her, saying that she didn't want to do it alone. I nodded quietly
and walk next to her until we found the room. Not wanting to see my
evil deed, I told her that I would wait outside. She came out about ten
minutes later, her eyes red from crying. She tried to hide her emotions
back, but she wasn't fooling me at all. I quietly pulled her against my
chest as her tears soaked through the front of my shirt.