The sun shined onto the snow-covered land bringing a rare warmth not usually felt during Michigan winters. The snow glistened in the warm sun rays, trees were barren of their leaves. Only the occasional winter bird sang their hopeful songs.
On heavy snow days like this, schools were shut down. The neighborhood teens found all sorts of ways to pass the time normally taken up by the mundane hours of school. On a nearby frozen pond, a group of boys began setting up a hockey game, taking advantage of the free day and cold weather.
"You won't be smiling when I mop the pond with your face Hudson!" Shouted a tall and slim boy, Swinging his hockey stick over his shoulder, his black hair was pushed into his face by his beanie. three other boys skated behind him. Another group of boys skated to the opposite side, one boy skated forward, his eyes flared with ambition
"Last time I remember, you were the one being Mopped with, Chaz '' Jimmy Hudson taunted sarcastically, swinging his own hockey stick over his shoulder to mock the older teen. Chaz glared at Jimmy, He stood a good foot above Jimmy and he wasn't about to let the younger boy get under his skin.
"We only lost Because I had an off day" Chaz sneered "I'm not about to lose to some baby"
"Hey! I'll be 15 in 3 months!" Jimmy snapped, His teammates and their referee skated behind him. Chaz only scoffed and pulled out a puck. "Yeah, and I'm 17. Basically an adult! your whole team are just babies to me"
The group of boys skated to the center of the pond, at each end a makeshift goal marked with sticks. One boy from each team skated toward the goal ends while the other six boys met in the middle. Chaz's team consisted of His friends Ben and Chuck, who were both about Chaz's height and built like a truck, and their goalie, Jack, who was shorter than the previous two boys but just as athletic.
Jimmy himself stood shorter and was much lankier compared to the older boys, to his sides stood his friend, Chester, standing a little taller than Jimmy and slightly stockier, and John, a stocky kid with messy brown hair. At the goal stood Mason, a short but Stocky kid who stood at the ready.
Skating around them was a boy about Jimmy's height named Dylan, who served as their referee. A red plastic whistle hung around his neck and he wore a bright green shirt. all the boys wore colored jerseys to tell their teams apart. Chaz's team wore Blue jerseys while Jimmy's team wore yellow.
"Alright, Ladies!" Shouted Dylan, taking the hockey puck from Chaz's hand, and continuing to skate around effortlessly while speaking.
"Remember! No Kicking or Slashing! We're here to play fair, not film the next Kruger movie!" He shouted. Skating towards the center, holding the puck in the air. Chaz and Jimmy glared at one another, gearing up and at the ready.
Dylan then blew his red whistle and dropped the Hockey puck. The second it hit the ice the boys moved so fast they appeared like blurs. Grabbing at the puck with their sticks. Jimmy managed to beat Chaz enough to pass the puck to Chester, who was intercepted by Chuck who quickly skated off only to be chased down by both of Jimmy's teammates. eventually managing to smack the hockey puck towards the goal, however the score attempt was swiftly blocked by Mason the goalie, who smacked it back towards Jimmy.
"HA! Nice try meat-head" Jimmy taunted as he wormed his way between the older boys only to be cut off by Chaz, puck being stolen before he could blink.
"HA! Nice try Runt!" Chaz mimicked back sarcastically, managing to shoot the puck and successfully making a goal. "Looks like the baby team is falling behind!"
Jimmy's brows furrowed but a smile grew on his face. "Bring it on Jug-head!" the younger boy shouted, skating towards the goal to ready for the puck again.
The boys continued their game for about an hour, going back and forth stealing the puck from one another and taking turns making goals and racking up their points. After tying the game, Jimmy and his friends were so close to winning. All they needed was one last point. Jimmy and Chester managed to successfully pass the puck to each other. 'This was it' Jimmy thought. He was so close to the goal post, all he needed to do was worm his way past the brick walls for teenage boys on the opposite team. Jimmy was quite small compared to the rest of the boys, and he fully used this to his advantage.
Jimmy swerved around Chaz and Chuck, full tunnel vision only allowed him to see the goal. Victory was so close he could taste it, all he had to do was wind up his hockey stick and-
SMACK!
Something slammed into Jimmy knocking both him and whatever the force was off their balance and hitting the cold frozen pond, right as Jimmy could feel the floor hit his side, a sharp pain erupted from his thigh, as he slid across the pond the pain intensified. The only thing bringing Jimmy to his senses was the loud ear piercing screech of Dylan's whistle.
"BEN WHAT THE HELL!?" Jimmy could hear Chaz scold his teammate. The boys skating their way toward Jimmy
"I have a first aid kit in my backpack!" Mason shouted "I'll go get it"
Jimmy managed to collect his thoughts and catch his breath as he sat up, realizing what caused the boys to panic. A streak of blood had followed Jimmy where he slid across the ice. a small panic set in as he realized where the sharp sting was coming from. Jimmy turned to his thigh, a large gash was bleeding profusely. He could see Ben staring horrified and that was when he put two and two together. One of Ben's skates had blood on it, leaving a smaller streak as the boy skated towards Jimmy, who turned back to his cut only to realize how it began to quickly heal. The site freaked Jimmy out, as the cut began to shift and the skin began to grow back. The site was still soaked with his blood, as was the fabric of his pants, right then the rest of the boys all began to crowd around the boy. Jimmy tried his best to pretend to cover the cut, not wanting to share his discovery. Mason opened the first aid kit, handing Jimmy a cloth to clean up the blood.
"Thanks" Jimmy told the boy,
"Dude, I'm so so sorry" Ben apologized profusely, clearly upset at what had transpired.
"Dont worry about it, '' Jimmy answered. The other boys were taken aback by his casual attitude towards the injury.
"Dude, you just got your leg sliced! what do you mean 'don't worry about?' " John exclaimed, kneeling beside Mason who held a piece of cloth and a roll of bandages in his hand.
"It doesn't hurt any more, I'll be fine" Jimmy said, taking the bandage roll and cloth from Mason. "I Can do it myself "
Mason only gave an annoyed look to the younger boy. "Dude, are you ok? There's no way that a cut that bad is gonna just stop hurting"
"Well I'm fine, it doesn't hurt anymore" Jimmy snapped back before placing the cloth where the cut had been and bandaging it. Knowing full well it seems to have healed fully.
"Seems like that's out sign to quit '' Chaz acknowledged, trying to lighten the mood. "guess we'll end with a tie" he signaled to his friends to leave and turned to Jimmy
"Get well soon Hudson, Next time I won't guarantee such a lucky score" the older teen sneared, a small awkward smirk on his face. Jimmy only smiled back " Yeah, Next time I'll wipe the pond with you for sure!" he replied.
Jimmy then stood up from his place on the frozen pond, his friends helping him up.
"Dude you sure you're ok? that was a gnarly cut ya got back there" Dylan asked, fiddling with his whistle. Jimmy only stood up straight before replying "yeah I'm fine, i've said that already, it wasn't as bad as it looked. I'm sure if I sneak past my parents fast enough they wont ask anything."
Jimmy's friends only gave worried glances. an uncomfortable silence fell between the boys before being broken up by Jimmy
"How about we go to Andy's and get some lunch huh? I'm starving" the blonde boy awkwardly proposed and skated to the bank of the pond to retrieve his stuff. He knew it wasn't good to hide what actually happened, but what could he tell them? that the cut disappeared? They would never believe him, they would believe he was crazy or hiding his injury. or worse, accuse him of being a mutant. He didn't think there was anything wrong with that, but losing friends wasn't worth telling them the truth of his cut.
The growl of his stomach broke Jimmy from his thoughts, so he pushed the thought and whatever had just happened aside and took up his skates on the pond bank.
"Come one Jimmy, you don't need to act all big and tough about your cut, what are your parents gonna say?" Chester pestered in-between bites of his sandwich. The boys all sat together at a booth eating their lunch. Jimmy gave his friend an annoyed look, he was getting tired of the questions and wished more than anything to just be home and read Jurassic park instead. He appreciated the concern but after the 30th question it was getting on his nerves.
"I'm not acting tough, it genuinely doesn't hurt anymore" Jimmy remarked, clearly agitated, but either Chester was incredibly dense, or he was ignoring the hints.
"I've been cut by an Ice skate before, and that kinda cut hurts so bad!" Chester innocently exclaimed.
"Yeah but I'm fine, it wasn't even that bad anyway. He only scraped me slightly" Jimmy lied, knowing very well the truth of what happened. The whole time he sat with his friends he pondered whether or not it was worth it to tell them what actually happened, but he kept getting stuck on how to actually tell them.
'yeah don't worry about it! it's already healed'
' My skin grew back'
'The cut went away! I don't know how but it did'
"Jimmy?"
Jimmy whipped his head up, not realizing he had spaced out. The collective gaze of his friends made his stomach sink. He wished more than ever he was at the bottom of the frozen lake. This whole schpiele was starting to seriously get old.
"Look I dunno what to tell you guys, but seriously, and for the last time: I. Am. FINE" Jimmy growled through clenched teeth. Wishing his friends were not so dense and that they would get the hint by now that he had no interest in continuing the conversation. He finished his sandwich, a BLT sandwich, his favorite that he couldn't even enjoy without being asked about his cut for the thousandth time. his non-existent cut? His cut-that's-not-a-cut-anymore? He wasn't sure what to call it.
"Chester is right though Jimmy, What are ya gonna tell your parents? You have a bandage wrapped around one leg, don't ya think that looks a little sus?" Mason, one of the quieter boys piped up. He brought up a good point. Jimmy glanced at his thigh, which was hastily wrapped in the rolled bandages, the jeans themselves had been slashed just as badly and very poorly hidden.
"I dunno, '' Jimmy replied after a few moments. "I'll come up with something before I get home" He squinted his eyes as he began to develop a headache. Since when did this sandwich shop stink so much? he thought. Since they had gotten there it seemed everything began to smell so strong, he could smell the grease from the food, to the way too much perfume the waitresses had worn, to all the other people sitting in the dining room. It was starting to make him feel queasy, along with the constant questions and now a weird itching on his hands, he felt like he had just gotten off of a rollercoaster and was ready to puke in the trash can.
"You ok dude? you don't look too good" Mason asked, taking notice of Jimmy's nauseated expression
"Dude, you're not being food poisoned are you?" John asked panicked, eyeing his own sandwich wearily
"No I doubt it, He just looks kinda tired" Chester replied,
"What if he did get food poisoned? should we call someone?" Dylan piped in, " He looks two seconds away from puk-"
"Shut up!" Jimmy snapped, grabbing the attention of the other 3 boys. "My head hurts, My hands itch and your yapping is not helping"
"Wait, your hands itch? since when?" Chester asked, Jimmy glared at him before replying.
"I don't know, they just are and it's not helping, Everything is too loud and just too much. I'm tired and I just want to go home" Jimmy rubbed his forehead, hoping that he wasn't coming down with a cold or flu.
"Dude we can go if you want, I'll pay for your food" Mason told him softly, concern plastered on his face.
Jimmy looked up and gave a small smile, now feeling bad about snapping at his friends. "I think I need some alone time'' Jimmy replied, Getting up and grabbing his backpack. "Thanks Mason"
Mason nodded, and the three boys sat there as Jimmy made his way out of the diner. The cool air outside hit his face and suddenly the horrible headache and nausea went away. His hands still itched, which was already weird. He turned towards the sky realizing that the sun was starting to get low. Somehow he didn't notice how long he'd been out, Jimmy slowly began to freak out, his mom was going to kill him if he wasn't home before the sun fully set.
Jimmy began to make his way home from the diner, hastily fixing his backpack and zipping up his jacket. The cold air stung his nose, now regretting not bringing a scarf with him. The sun wasn't quite down yet which meant he had a good chance to get home before getting in trouble. Jimmy continued on his commute, coming up with any possible way to explain what happened on his leg.
Perhaps he could say that he tripped? No, that was stupid. Who trips and slices their thigh?
He ran into a tree! no, that also did not make any sense, or maybe he could...
"Hey Kid!"
Jimmy perked up and looked around, he knew that voice, and he hated that voice.
'This is seriously the last thing I need right now,' he thought to himself , trying to slow down or stop, only to be yelled at again.
"Hey Hudson I was talkin ta' you! How about you look at me when I call you over huh?"
Jimmy reluctantly stopped in his tracks and turned to the voice, seeing a familiar and unfriendly face. A Large boy, who looked about a whole foot taller than Jimmy and a few pounds larger. The Kid looked as if a dumbbell could talk, clearly defined muscles through a rather small jacket. Jimmy assumed it was so he could show off his guns to all the ladies in school.
"What do you want, Rat?" Jimmy responded harshly, seeing the name caused the taller boy to look angry and made Jimmy smirk. Rat wasn't the kid's actual name but Jimmy affectionately called him that, although he felt calling him a rat was an insult to rats. Rats were much smarter and cute.
The kid was the essence of a Jock, his dirty blonde hair was shaved into a military style buzz cut, faded jeans, heavy boots and letterman jacket and all. Jimmy wondered how the heck the guy wasn't freezing his boots off, but assumed he wanted to push the tough boy agenda. as Rat began to approach him Jimmy wished more than anything that his friends were with him.
"Very funny Hudson, how about I give you a knuckle sandwich as a thank you?" Rat threatened cracking his knuckles.
"No thanks, I already ate I'm not Hungry" Jimmy quipped back "You owe me like ten dollars anyway"
Rat scowled, "and YOU owe me like thirty english assignments" The jock growled sizing Jimmy up. Compared to the younger boy, Rat towered over him making Jimmy appear like an even younger child by comparison.
"I already told you, I'm not doing your homework anymore for you! How about you read a book instead of a playboy magazine for once!" Jimmy snapped. Watching Rat's face grow angerier Jimmy quickly realized his mistake. and his knuckles itched even more.
'me and my big mouth'
Rat quickly nabbed Jimmy's shirt and lifted the boy effortlessly. Panic began to set in for Jimmy, Rat's face was so close he could smell the guy's hot and gross breath. and at that moment Jimmy felt his hands begin to burn. What Rat had done he wasn't sure but it wasn't helping his panic.
"Listen here you little smart-alec" Rat began to grumble "I'll give you a little message now, But When school gets back you better be ready for my new homework" Rat winded his fist, a gross smile growing on his face "Take this and let it serve as a warning"
Jimmy began to squirm, and watched as Rat's fist began to swim. Instinctively, Jimmy tried to raise his own fist to slow the blow, as soon his own arm swung and made contact a searing pain shot from his knuckles, and a scream shot out from both boys.
Jimmy was thrown onto the ground, his backpack softened the blow but it still hurt hitting the frozen concrete. Jimmy's knuckle burned from the pain of whatever it was that just happened. trying to sit up he turned to his bully only to be greeted with a horrific scene. Rat was kneeling down clutching his arm, almost crying. Blood profusely leaking from his arm, the blood trailed leading to Jimmy's own hand. When the boy turned to see his hand, panic really began to set in.
Coming out straight from his hand was what appeared to be 3 skinny long bones. They are covered in blood both Jimmy's own and Rat's. The Bones seemed to be serrated, the middle one extended slightly longer than the bones besides it. Jimmy's hand began to shake. Where were these bones from? How did they get there? and what the hell just happened. He turned back to Rat, realizing his jacket had three holes which were bleeding incredibly bad. The older boy stared at Jimmy, fear clearly shown on his face. Fear was not an expression usually seen on a kid like Rat, and that realization made Jimmy shake even more. Just then the bones retracted themselves back into Jimmy's hand, causing another wave of pain and confusion from Jimmy.
"What the hell, what, What ARE YOU?" Rat began to blubber out, Jimmy stood up in fear feeling like a deer in headlights.
"What are you! Are you one of them?! GET AWAY FROM ME YOU FREAK" Rat began to panic more gripping his hand to control the blood flow. Jimmy finally broke from his frozen state. Not knowing what he should do, Jimmy did the only thing that seemed reasonable, He ran home. Running as fast as he could, away from the hurt he had caused.
Heather Hudson worked attentively to clean the dishes. The sun was already setting and Jimmy had not yet returned. She was seriously going to have a talk with the boy. Coming home so late was dangerous. She sighed at that thought. Then again her little boy was growing up. Fourteen going on fifteen, Highschool freshman, this was a big change and transition, especially since Jimmy was her oldest. The world was a dangerous place in general, and sure he'll have to deal with it eventually, but he's a kid, and deserves to enjoy his childhood before that ever happened. a soft coo beside her broke her from her thoughts, a smile grew on her face as she noticed her young infant daughter as she excitedly played with the toys on her baby walker.
Her excited babbles distracted Heather, but for her it was better than the worry over her son. In that moment she heard the front door open, gearing herself up ready to give a lecture only to be greeted by her husband Mac Hudson instead. A tall man, who wore a greasy coat and a scruffy black beard on his face.
"Hey Honey, Is Jimmy home yet?" Mac asked in a gruff voice. He took off his hat and coat that reeked of gasoline and car oil.
"No he isn't" Heather replied leaning against the door frame that led from the kitchen and the living room where her husband had entered the house. "I'll give him some choice words once he finally bothers to show up" She continued, clearly frustrated
"He's a good boy Baby, I doubt he'll get in much trouble" Mac replied, giving his wife a peck on the cheek "When I was his age I got into a lot worse than coming home late"
"Rules are still Rules' ' Heather rebutted, "As long as he is underage and living in this house he needs to at least respect that ' Mac only gave her a grin, Heather's nose wrinkled as she finally took in her husband's stench.
"Lemmie guesses. A car sprung a leak?" She asked
"How'd you know?" Mac asked sarcastically, Heather roller her eyes playfully
"They're always leaking" She responded, fiddling with her hands and looking out the window. The sun was now barely above the skyline, Jimmy was in big trouble now. Mac noticed his wife getting angry, and went to try to comfort her when suddenly a big SLAM from their back yard Caught their attention. In the kitchen window the two adults could see their son run into their backyard shed, his hand was covered in what looked like blood.
"OH MY GOD JIMMY!" Heather shouted, running towards the back door. Her Husband followed close behind equally as shocked. The two eventually made their way to the shed following the trail of blood left by their son.
"Jimmy are you ok!?" Mac shouted worriedly, in that moment the two adults heard a large SNAKT and a scream from their son. Mac looked to his wife who began to realize the same thing. The day they worried for most was finally here.
"You remember what we promised?" Mac asked his wife gently, Heather began to cry small tears as she nodded. Mac knocked on the shed door,
"Jimmy? It's me, your dad" He said calmly, a scuffle was heard from inside the shed
"NO DAD DONT! I DONT KNOW WHATS HAPPENING!" Jimmy shouted, clearly afraid.
"Jimmy it's ok" Mac replied, opening the shed door slowly, Heather following behind. The two entered the shed and were greeted by a ghastly scene. Jimmy was kneeling on the floor, his whole arms covered in blood, and from his knuckles sprung out three bone claws on each hand. Jimmy was shaking, clearly scared and confused, he quickly turned to his parents with watery eyes and a fearful gaze.
"What is happening to me!?"