Chapter 7: Seeds of Panic
"A young girl was spotted today with what may be one of the strange creatures reported by many residents."
John sat bolt upright and turned the TV up louder. Monozu sat up as well, and listened.
"Reporters were filming an update story on the topic earlier today, when Elizabeth Rose, age 6, was found in her front yard with this animal."
An image flashed up on the screen of a small, beige colored creature, which still wore most of its eggshell like peculiar clothes.
"When approached about the creature, the girl grabbed it and ran into her home. The girl's mother refused to answer questions on the topic."
John turned off the TV said, "Oh crap!" and turned to Monozu, who returned the look.
John mother rounded the corner, "Watch your language!"
"Mom, they got photographic proof of someone's parallel. I've never seen that kind before, but even so. It's really gonna hit the fan now that they know there's not just something in the water or whatever."
"Maybe it's better this way."
"What?"
"If people start knowing about them before there are too many, they could take things a little better. I hope, anyway."
Reports of strange bites continued to become more and more frequent, and the news finally noticed that only teens and children were affected. There were more proven sightings, too. John jumped a little as a picture of the same creature that had bitten him flashed on the screen, lurking around a shadowy street. Two more children were seen in the company of bizarre animals, one was small, purple, rather humanoid, and had what looked like polished diamonds in place of eyes, and the other looked like a bright crimson fox with a large, wide, bushy fan of a tail, but in each case they had managed to escape questioning. The reporters were becoming rabid for information on what they were.
One day on the way home from school, John passed by the local elementary school. He had taken a different route home each day for the past month and a half to avoid the muggers, and it had so far worked. Quite a few children were playing on a playground next to the main building. A young girl was pointing demandingly at a two groups of boys, each headed by the largest of each group, who looked ready to attack one another. John stopped and watched. He couldn't hear what she was saying, but was somehow mesmerized by the sight. The two groups slowly slackened, and eventually dispersed. The two lead boys still glared at each other, but at her apparent command, shook hands and went their separate ways. John smiled. A natural born leader if I ever saw one.
A school bell rang, and the young students dispersed. John resumed his trip home. He went about half a mile down the sidewalk, and heard a soft scuffling of shoes behind him. John turned and saw the young girl from before. He stopped and frowned. She had the front of her collar pinched in her fingers and she was looking down her shirt, whispering.
"I know, but I can't let you out yet." There was a pause, then, "I know you're hungry but we're almost home."
She stopped suddenly as she noticed John. "Who are you talking to?" he asked.
"Uh, nobody. Mama told me not to talk to strangers." She suddenly sped up, almost to a run and moved past John.
"It's OK, I won't tell anyone." He had a suspicion of what it might be.
The little girl came to a halt. "You promise not to tell anyone?"
"I promise," he said, putting one hand in the air comically.
She looked carefully around, but saw nobody.
"Alright, but you promised you wouldn't tell." She pulled on her collar again and whispered down her shirt. A rather large insect flew out. It was yellow, and looked to be made of three hexagons with a set of wings. Each hexagon had a miniscule face on it, and one had a small splotch of color on its forehead. "She says her name is Combee."
"Little girl, did an unusual animal bite you recently?"
She nodded. "A few weeks ago I was on the playground and a pink kitty walked out of the woods. I went to pet it, but she bit me like a mean kitty. There was a little ball in my backpack when I got home; I don't know how it got there, and Combee popped out of it. She's my special friend." She then added in a whisper, "I'm not supposed to have her at school."
John nodded, smiling. Even though he knew how creepy it would sound taken out of context, he said, "I have a special friend, too."
"Really? You have your own Combee, too?" she said excitedly.
"No, it's not a Combee, it's something different."
"Can I see it?"
"You can, but you have to promise to keep it a secret, OK? And we should get your Mom to say it's alright first, OK? My name's John by the way."
"OK, that's fair, my names Cindy," she said, smiling toothily. There was a gap where one of the front teeth should have been.
She led John to where she lived, which was actually just a few blocks from John's house. The girl's mother was very wary of John, and he honestly couldn't blame her. His wrist was nearly healed, but his arm was still in a sling, and he looked a little intimidating, even more so because her daughter was asking to go to this strange boy's house. Never the less, John introduced himself as pleasantly as he could. Cindy promptly let her mother know that she had told John about Combee, and her mother looked instantly concerned.
"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Believe me; I know what she's been through."
Her mother still looked mistrustful of John, but at length agreed to go, as long as she went as well. Cindy ran to the kitchen and put a few drops of honey in a thimble, which the large bee drained within a few seconds. John led them to his own house and opened the door.
"Mom, Monozu, I'm home! And I brought a new friend."
"What do you mean a 'new friend'?" His mother turned around the corner. "Oh, ah, hello."
Monozu looked around the corner of the other side of the doorway.
Cindy gasped a little. "Wow!" she said and fearlessly ran half the distance between them before he mother snapped, "Cindy!"
The girl quickly came to a halt. "Oh, sorry, nice to meet you," she said to John's mother. Cindy's mother put a hand over her face, as if praying for patience.
"Can I pet him?" she asked, turning to John.
"Ask him yourself."
Cindy's mother gave John an 'Are you serious?' sort of look, but when asked, Monozu moved his head at an angle as if to say, "If you must…" and Cindy ran forward to rub the soft hair on his head.
John turned to Cindy's mother. "To be honest I'm amazed at how well you've taken all this. Mom practically had a heart attack."
"I don't actually know what it is. One day she just comes out of her room with this big bee thing, saying it whispers to her. I took her to a doctor, but she said there wasn't anything neurologically wrong with her. It doesn't look like it has a stinger or anything and it hasn't caused any problems, so I just decided to let her keep it. My husband is overseas managing a building project, and I decided not to trouble him with it until he got home; he's busy enough as it is."
She sat down and John explained for what felt like the fiftieth time what was actually going on. Cindy's mother just looked blankly at him, not believing a word of it.
John felt a sudden contentment, and glanced over to Monozu. Cindy was scratching a spot at the base of his neck, and his head was lolled back, obviously enjoying it. Combee was buzzing around the room excitedly.
"Alright," John said finally, "it's getting tiring explaining things over and over again. Maybe I should just make up some leaflets or something; by now there's probably plenty of Touched, with a bunch more on the way. Sooner or later people are gonna come out of hiding about this sort of thing, probably sooner than later."
"What happens then?"
"Well, then people's capacity for acceptance will be tested." He paused, then said, "The biologist I mentioned said something about Monozu at least being able to go through some kind of metamorphosis. I don't know when that'll happen or what it'll entail, but I find it hard to believe that he's the only kind of these creatures that will do something like that. Between the ones that have come here and the few that have been seen with their parallels, there are probably quite a few kinds out there. Celebi said there are hundreds, but so far I've only heard of about two dozen."
"So what happens now?"
"News people have already seen a couple, so it's only a matter of time before someone spills it. The only problem is that I think the only people who know what's actually going on are in this room, and I don't know how people will react once people start admitting to having a mental link to an alien creature."