An out there chapter this time. Enjoy and review.
A bank of television screens flickered into life. Each showed a different angle of the village of Burnham, the location of the recent Billy the Cat sightings. The mysterious figure we met previously, dear reader, was now watching these. All seemed quiet. Not a peep was coming out of the sleeping village. Not every area had been covered, that would be a waste of resources and effort in setting the equipment up, but the key areas had been taken account of. A movement caught his attention, right in the corner of his eye.
Was it…? Could it be…? Yes it was. There he was, Billy the Cat, running across the rooftops, stopping here and there, looking around and then continuing. What was he doing? The figure leant in closer to the screens, their hands drifting over a set of controls which allowed a different angle to be easily displayed on the central screen.
"What are you up to child and how will I learn your secrets?" The figure whispered to themselves. "How will I get my hands on what your father was working on?"
Oh yes, dear reader. If it wasn't obvious already, this figure knew that William was Billy the Cat. How could he not? The pieces fitted together so nicely. A mysterious teenage hero appears around the time a well known, eccentric scientist is killed, along with his wife, their only son surviving. A son, called William, the hero called Billy. Coincidence? The figure thought not. Also the costume the hero wore, the material, much more advanced than stuff you could just pick up from the shop. This wasn't any old spandex.
A scan, using a much weaker (but still powerful) AI system, had told the mystery individual the composition of the material. It was a complex bond of elements which had never before been successfully combined. This was revolutionary science, Now he knew why the government was so interested in Richard Grange's inventions. His son could have no idea of the true value in what he was running around playing superhero, in.
"I will get hold of what I seek Mr Grange, mark my words, even if I have to destroy you in the process."
William kept running across the different roofs. Nothing. No crimes tonight. He was frustrated, pent up, needing to work out this irritation.
"Um, William, don't react. You are being watched. Face the way you are and crouch."
C.A.T's voice appeared in his ears.
"What?" William asked, doing as the AI said.
"I have detected high quality camera feeds being broadcast from several locations in the local vicinity. I believe this is to monitor something, most likely you. The angles of the cameras, the location also of microphones and sensors reveal more than just general security. Someone is on the lookout for you. We need to keep communication to a minimum. Do you understand?"
"I guess," William replied, not really understanding what was going on.
"I'm going to upload their locations to your visor and plot a route which should avoid most of their views. Ready?"
"Sure."
"Let's get going."
The helmet bleeped, as an overlay appeared on the visor, showing the camera locations in red and a yellow line shimmered into view with a floating arrow displaying which way to turn. William jumped down from the roof he was in, landing softly on his feet, the tips of his fingers just touching the ground. He barely felt it.
Almost like his life depended on it, even though he didn't know the truth risk, William set off at a run, his newly improved muscles effortlessly powering his movements. Of course, unbeknownst to him, the owner of the cameras knew where he lived. That was one reason why he didn't have a camera trained on the house. He wasn't bothered how the teen left and came back, just what he did as the 'hero'.
William soon arrived at home and with a quick jump up through the window. Saying goodnight to C.A.T, he took off the helmet and plonked himself down in the bed. A wave of tiredness washed over him. Maybe that run had taken more out of him than he thought, plus it had been an emotionally draining day once more.
He lay back and almost instantly that his head touched the pillow, William's eyes closed and he drifted off to the land of nod.
Dreams were usually fun things. Imaginary places to take part in fanciful adventures that could never happen in real life. They were playgrounds to be whoever and whatever you wanted. What they weren't supposed to be, were nightmare inducing. They weren't supposed to scare the living daylights out of you. William was not one to have a nightmare very often, but that's where his subconscious now found itself placing him.
William found himself standing in the middle of a clearing, surrounded by vast and imposing trees, whose branches looked like razor sharp knives and bark seemed to contort into menacing faces, baring fanged teeth.
The air was freezing cold, William's breath billowed out in front of him. Noises, like those out of a horror film, came from within the dark depths of the forest which surrounded him.
"Where am I?" William's voice echoed outwards, as though he were in some great cathedral.
A hissing noise, almost feline in origin suddenly erupted from the trees.
"William Grange. You are in my kingdom. Bow down to your king," came a purring voice. The voice didn't seem to be attached to a body, it felt like it was coming at William from every angle, seeping into his bones and making the chill feel even colder than it was. He shivered.
"I can't see you though. How can I bow to you?" William cried out into the depths of the forest.
"You bow as you would to a god, for that is what I am to you. I am your god. You have access to my posers, the gifts bestowed upon you by me. Your father unknowingly tapped into my essence with his experimentations and when you were doused in his work, your body slipped into me realm and I gave you my blessing to keep you alive. It is because of me you exist today."
"Thank you, I guess," William said, his voice quivering.
"You will face great tests William Grange and you need to be ready. Use those around you and use my gifts wisely, or you will be punished. I give to you now, a boost of my powers. I hope you will please me."
The voice seemed to retreat slightly, as a wind built and came charging at William. It slammed into him, knocking him down to his knees. The wind dissipated almost as quickly. A deep heat began to erupt inside of William as a prickling pain came from his fingers.
Looking down William could see that sharp claws were pushing out of the nail roots, a small amount of blood following them. The claws were slightly yellowish in colour and as sharp as razors. An itching sensation covered his skin, worse than any itch he'd had before. He began to scratch all over, the claws digging into his clothes, tearing them open gouging large holes into the fabric. Fur was beginning to rapidly grow out of the holes, as William's skin bubbled ferociously.
His muscles grew and stretched the skin out, as bones popped. The pain was excruciating, with William wanting to cry out, but his changing vocal cords only managing a yowl. The remains of his clothes were being stretched beyond their means as his body grew larger and larger. They bit into his skin, causing great discomfort. With a swipe of his new claws, William cut the shirt and jeans off, each piece falling to the ground in a heap. His feet ballooned against his shoes, the tips frayed by his toes also growing claws, to the point they burst apart, just leaving the shreds if his socks clinging to each one. Finally, his socks turned into a pile of white confetti.
Finally, William's face contorted as fangs stretched out of his gums and his ears became pointed and moved to the op of his head. An impressive set of whiskers sprouted from the sides of his mouth and his eyes turned a deep amber in colour.
The transformation finished almost as quickly as it had started. William was now a humanoid feline, with jet black fur, standing and panting away at the strain of the transformation.
"See and feel the power I have now given you. You are truly now one of mine," the voice came back through the forest.
"Will I stay like this?" William spoke, his voice rasping as his vocal cords struggled to make human sounds. "Do I now turn into this?"
"No my child. You will remain human. You have just gained more power. You can still grow your claws, but this is a demonstration of my power. Don't let me down."
The wind built again and shot forward into William, who raised his head and let out a feline scream.
Back in the real world, William's eyes shot open and he sat bolt upright in bed, sweat pouring from his brow. He was panting deeply from the nightmare. It was then he noticed he was still in his suit and it was dark outside.
He rose quickly and stripped out of the suit, pulled on his pyjamas. Getting back into bed he unlocked his phone. Right now William didn't want to go back to sleep. The clock on his mobile read 3:40 am.
It was time to go scrolling through social media and maybe watch a video or two on YouTube. William got deeply engrossed with a video on whether YouTube would ever run out of IDs, but Tom Scott. Okay, he was nerdy and loved this sort of thing.
He couldn't stop his eyes from shutting once more and he went back to sleep, the video finishing and phone taking itself to sleep. Thankfully this time, there was no nightmare, not even a dream. The rest of the night was peaceful and uneventful.
Morning came and William woke to the sun coming through the window and the sounds of Kathleen banging around as she came out of the bathroom. Another day had come. Great. School once more.
William took a few minutes, but eventually forced himself out of bed and once he knew the bathroom was clear, he went and grabbed a shower. As he got ready for he day, he tried to recall the dream that he had had that night. Each minute that passed, details faded into obscurity and he found it harder to remember.
He got back to his room and pulled on his uniform, gathering a couple of books together and putting them into his bag. Then heading downstairs, William got to the kitchen and found Aunt Mable there getting her breakfast.
"Morning William," Aunt Mabel greeted him. "Had a good night?"
"Um, it was an interesting one. I had a bit of a nightmare, but can't remember much about it."
"Oh, that's not good, I hope it's not a recurring one."
"Me too."
"By the way, after school today I need to take you into town to finalise the arrangements for your parent's funeral. Mr Bellos, the undertaker just wants to run a few things passed you to make sure it all goes well. Will that be okay?"
William's face fell. In all that had happened lately he had sort of forgotten that a funeral still needed to happen. Aunt Mabel had been organising this all in the background.
"Yeah, sure, okay. I'll come with you. Do I need to come on the bus back here?"
"No don't worry about that, I'll come and pick you up. I just need to let Kathleen know that she's going to be home alone for a while. Grab yourself some breakfast and I'll just go and speak to her."
Aunt Mabel got up and left, leaving William to gather his thoughts and also his breakfast.