Chapter 35.

Superhero Training Program.

Damien Reyes.

Time/Area: August 1st, 2013. NYC

I woke up to the sound of rumbling, rapidly looking around my room when I didn’t feel sunlight.

It was still dark?

I rubbed my eyes, taking off my covers while shifting my sight to ‘night vision’.

I couldn’t keep the annoyance from bubbling in my brain. It wasn’t every night that I got a break from the common room, and after yesterday, sleep was worth more than gold.

A glance to my right told me Jason wasn’t in his bed, and it took me only one extra second to deduce where the noise was coming from.

Was Jason starting the hot tub?

Before getting completely out of bed to investigate, my subconscious reflexes led my body to hesitate. I remembered those bullies ramming their fists into my sides, wincing absently,

“Let’s see,” I thought, looking down at my bare stomach. No bruises were there. Or, if they had been, they definitely weren’t anymore.

I tilted my head, not totally shocked but still kind of surprised.

The pain I felt during the encounter did hurt, but it also…didn’t? I had felt the physical contact of fists against my ribs and the force of each hit reverberate through me but, all in all, it was like how I imagined being a punching bag felt. You hit one hard and you’re like, ‘Hey, that must’ve hurt’, but it's not as if the bag truly felt it.

“Except…” I glanced at my arm, still feeling those electric red sparks sizzling around whatever invisible spectrum we monsters could see in, “this punching bag hits back.”

I finally got off my mattress, looking across the room towards Melissa’s gift upon Jason’s night stand,

“Voice,” I called, clearing my throat, “Erm…what’s the time?”

I was talking to Jason’s voice detector his girlfriend had bought him for his birthday, trying hard not to cringe at talking to what felt like nothing.

Or should I have been used to that by now?

The cylindrical device hummed to life, pulsating green to signal its presence in the otherwise dark area,

“Two thirty AM. ” it buzzed.

I blinked, reverting my eyes back to their normal vision.

Why was Jason doing this to me so early?

I groaned, throwing on some shorts and a white tank top before grabbing my phone and entering the bathroom.

What I saw confused me.

Jason wasn’t in the hot tub. In fact, the hot tub wasn’t even on.

No, instead, the rumbling was apparently the pool jets from right behind the tub. Jason was beside the pool, dressed in a plain black t-shirt and orange sports shorts.

He looked up when I entered, grinning wildly, “Oh hey!” he raised his voice over the crashing sounds of water flooding the interior of the pool, “I was about to wake you!”

“What are you doing?” I asked, closing the distance between us so I wouldn’t have to yell. “It’s half past two..”

His smile widened, “So like, I was thinking about what happened yesterday,” He started, “And I figured that you should probably learn to control your abilities better, right?”

My glare intensified, “What does that have to do with a-”

Jason coughed, “Lemme finish,” he continued, raising his hand for silence, “So I thought, ‘Hey, we should make a training course for you’.”

My glare was now a squint holding nothing but confusion, “Get to the part where you decide to wake me up...and why does any of this have to do with the pool?”

Jason spoke, “Well, I woke you up this early so that no one could find out what we’re doing-”

I groaned, “And the pool?” I pressed, “Also, I didn’t even agree to this.”

Jason tilted his head, “Yea, I knew you wouldn’t, so I decided to not ask..”

His reasoning was melting my mind.

“Jason,” I said dryly, “The pool?.”

He raised his arms dramatically, producing the notebook I got him for his birthday from behind his back.

“I call it the Superhero Training Program!” He announced, pride evident in his voice, “Or S.T.P for short.”

My eyes narrowed, gazing at the duck taped label declaring the acronym on the exterior of the pad, “That’s the dumbest name I’ve ever heard of.”

Jason ignored me, motioning towards the pool,

“Basically, you get to be my lab rat for tests today.” He explained.

BUZZ.

Before I could once again ask what any of this had to do with the pool, my phone buzzed.

I looked down at the device, Jason’s bare feet slapping against the bathroom tile as he took his place beside me. He peered over my shoulder to read the notification.

It was from Mrs.M’s group chat she had made just for the three of us, meaning that Jason literally could’ve been checking his own phone right now.

-

Going to be out for the rest of the day [meeting with Tony] See y'all when I get home! Make sure to behave!

-

Jason slugged my shoulder, causing him to wince in pain, “Yea, behave Damien..”

I smiled at her message.

All she had done for me since I got here was try to make me feel welcome, and I was extremely grateful for that.

Even if she treated us like we were five.

“Wait a second,” I shifted towards Jason, “If she’s gone the whole day, and you said you did all this cause you didn’t want anyone to notice me, then… I could’ve slept more.”

Jason looked down to avoid my piercing gaze, “Well, how was I supposed to know this would happen.”

I resisted the urge to kick him into the pool.

“So what tests are you running on me?” I asked, putting my phone down beside the ledge of the pool, “And do they have to do with water or someth-!?”

Jason raised his arms again, “Test one!” He began, “Water distortion!”

My confusion grew, “And uh…what are you testing?”

He shushed me, carrying on in his narrator-like tone, “Does water affect the clarity of your Fear Sight?”

I assumed not, since I could see through walls, but I was still kind of curious.

Plus, I…I guess not everything had to be strictly for survival, right? This could be fun too.

“So,” I sighed, realizing that I was (sadly) no longer tired, “How do we do this?”

Jason followed, “Imma stick my finger under water, then you tell me if you can still see it clearly.”

I nodded, my eyes beginning to glow as the real world dissipated, “Should be pretty simple..”

I watched as Jason slipped his finger into the now invisible liquid, finding it hard to tell once it was truly inside the water until his body went still for a reaction.

…

Nothing. That’s disappointing.

But just as I was about to cease my glow and voice the results, I noticed something. Nothing too crazy, and I could’ve just been seeing things, but the crimson strands of energy coiled around Jason’s finger were…glowing. I mean, they were before, but now they were really glowing.

Yeah…it was no mistake; they were like spotlights now. It was almost as if the tendrils were spinning outward like yarn, loosely hanging in the dark abyss that was, in reality, pool water.

I turned off my Fear Sight.

“Well?” Jason asked, “What did you see?”

I explained what I saw, watching Jason’s eyes widen as I did,

“So your powers,” He started, retracting his hand from the water, “They definitely have a lot to do with electricity. It’s too much of a coincidence with how conductive water is.”

I nodded, remembering how monsters like us affected electrical devices like-

“Like lights.” Jason finished my thought, “Heard you thinking.”

I shook my head, “Maybe this means I can feed through water?”

“That would be cool,” Jason admitted, looking up at the ceiling light bulbs, “But just to test this out…”

I didn’t need to be able to read Jason’s mind to find out what he was thinking, and honestly, I was wondering about it too. It wasn’t really some grand reveal that my abilities were related to electricity, since it was so obviously connected, but this was the first time I truly appreciated the possibilities. I raised my hand upward, wondering if it was really just my power I felt tingling at my fingertips.

Before I could try anything crazy, my ears began ringing, and it only took a millisecond for me to focus the sounds into whatever my brain wanted me to hear,

Pit

Pat

Pit

Pat

Footsteps.

I mentally willed the ringing to stop, lowing my hand and nodding towards Jason,

“Someone is coming in.” I thought, hoping he got the message.

He did, as his grin had faded. He nodded slowly, walking next to me,

“Okay..”

As if on cue, the bathroom door was opened.

We both turned, blinking as Hiru walked into the bathroom.

Well, I wasn’t expecting it to be him.

“Hey Hiru..?” I spoke, watching the older boy as he scratched his head upon seeing us.

“Why uh…are you at our place?” Jason asked.

I pitched a different question, “How…are you at our place?”

Hiru coughed, “Sorry,” he said, “Mrs.Mabel let me in on her way out, and I just came up here to your room…and like, I heard voices in here, so I figured it wouldn’t be like…weird to come into this-” he paused, looking around the bathroom, “This huge bathroom…”

The heck..?

Hiru cleared his throat, stepping further into the bathroom, “So like, I heard you talking before I came in.”

Well crap.

I froze, resisting the urge to glance back at Jason, “W-what did you hear?”

Hiru’s voice pitched, “Were you guys talking about Fight4Life II and their new Horror Monster additions!?”

Jason gasped, “They have Horror Mon-?!”

I gave a less than friendly nudge to Jason, “Y-yea that’s exactly what we were talking about!” I lied.

Jason coughed, catching on, “O-oh yeah!”

Hiru’s face immediately lit up, “Oh cool, wanna talk about it!?”

Isn’t this boy two years older than you, Damien?

“WAIT, NO SPOILERS!” I heard Jason think, his eyes wide.

I thought before speaking, “Oh um, me and Jason were actually..uh..going to do something now, but do you...wanna meet for lunch?”

Hiru nodded, “Oh sure, okay!” He agreed, “Oh and...why do you have a pool in your bathroom?”

I shrugged, “Jason’s family is rich.”

Hiru squinted, “No,” he disagreed, “I’m rich. This is…something else.”

Jason laughed, “I-It’s whatever.”

Hiru muttered things about his mansion as he exited our bathroom, shutting the door behind him as he went.

So normal people complain about the lack of hot water, while rich people complain about their bathrooms not coming with a pool.

This would take some getting used to.

“Wonder what he was doing up so early.” Jason said, heading towards the bathroom door as well.

“Yea,” I thought, watching Jason leave, “What was he doing?”

I decided to put it to the side for now, following Jason out into our room.

Jason had turned his lamp on so he could see through the dark haze of the early morning, and was now feeding the new fish he had put into his birthday tank.

“So like…uh,” Jason laughed, “That wasn’t it, you know…” He grinned sheepishly, raising up the newly crowned S.T.P notebook and flashing at least ten pages filled with writing, “I have more tests…like…a lot more. We should go outside.”

When did he have the time?

I sighed, “Let me change into some real clothes,” I announced, rushing into my bedroom sized closet and returning promptly after with new clothes on,

“Alright, let’s go.”

Jason turned, glaring at what I had put on, “Not very...S.T.P like.”

I looked down at my blue long sleeve and black jeans, “What, did you write up a dress code too?”

Jason’s expression shifted, clearly remembering something as he rushed into his closet.

I rolled my eyes as he delved into his clothes.

“ahHA!” He exclaimed, spinning on his toes to face me, “Pretty good huh?”

I blinked.

It was a simple black long sleeve, with a circular symbol plastered onto the front in a deep, crimson color. The cuffs and neckline held the same red, and the material seemed to be some sort of smooth silk,

“When did you get that?” I asked, not recalling seeing this in his old house.

Jason threw the shirt at me, “Oh I ordered it..for you...yesterday...on my laptop, oh and wear shorts.”

Another eye roll, “I think you’re way too into this Jay, and what superhero am I even supposed to be in this thing?”

“JUST PUT IT ON.” Jason interrupted, shutting the door of his closet, “Then meet me outside.”

With that, he took off, heading down the stairs.

Before I... ‘PUT IT ON’, I grabbed my phone, texting Hiru,

-

Yo Hiru, what were you doing over here at like 3 in da morning?-me

-

A couple of seconds later he replied,

-

Oh I went to sleep pretty early yesterday, so I woke up at like...one in the morning.

-

I frowned,

-

But like, did you need something?

-

He responded,

-

I originally wanted to play video games, but like, you guys were in that massive bathroom lol

-

I chuckled a little, suspicions put to rest as I stuffed my phone back into my jeans.

I turned my attention to the new shirt, sighing as I took off my preferred blue.

Once I had the new shirt on, I stiffened,

“Did he get my size wrong?” I wondered aloud, glancing down. The shirt went past my waste line, but it was squeezing my body to no end.

You look ridiculous.

Well, I feel ridiculous, so we’re on the same page here.

I shrugged, putting on some shorts before heading downstairs.

To get to the backyard, you had to go through a small, white door in the kitchen. It was a small exit, secluded behind a mountain of various unused cooking appliances, but it was the fastest way.

I was getting pretty used to living in a mansion now, and it wasn’t as bad as I had originally thought it would be. The best surprise, undoubtedly, was the fact that I never really had to go everywhere in the house, since a large majority of the place was just copies of the same kinds of rooms. The only hard part was the sound. Or rather, the sheer lack of it. The house was so big, and with my powers not fully under control yet and my brain on constant edge, a pin dropping from some far away bathroom did more than unnerve me.

Aside from that, I was managing.

“Here it is,” I mentally congratulated myself upon reaching the back of the kitchen, almost too eager to leave the vacant building as I swung open the small door and stepped outside.

I hadn’t actually been to the backyard for any long period of time, but that made it no less amazing.

Our backyard was a large, grassy field with strategically spaced trees bordering the inside of the fence. A small garden sat on the upper left corner of the yard, and directly to the side of it was a row of slightly used archery targets.

Archery Targets…

Jason was on and off when it came to physical activity in general, but he was more than good at a bow. When his…our…parents were still around, he’d be outside his house a lot to get away from all the fighting. I guessed Mrs.Mabel kept these here for whenever Jason came over to her place or something.

It wasn’t like I was always available to hang out with, so he’d practice the bow whenever he was by himself. And at the rate his parents used to fight, it wasn’t that hard to imagine why he was so good. It was a weird thing though, because like Jason’s wealth, he didn’t like to talk about the hobby too much; not even to me. I didn’t even know if he still practiced.

It was still basically pitch black outside, and the weather was pretty cool.

Despite the conditions though. I spotted Jason leaning on a tree next to one of the targets, waving his hands wildly in my direction. He had slipped on his Green trench coat over his equally green shirt and blue jeans, wearing black gloves in contrast.

I ran in his direction, semi hoping for some kind of superspeed moment to happen on my way there.

Nothing magical happened before I reached him, which made me kind of sad, but I wasn’t necessarily surprised. I mean, who knew, I might even learn how to control my running abilities by the end of today, assuming Jason’s S.T.P proved to be useful.

“Hey, it fits!” Jason said as I slid to a stop in front of him.

I checked the tight outfit once more, wondering if he was brain damaged as I gave him the ‘are you stupid’ look,

“Are we seeing the same thing?” I asked, “This is so tight, I might as well not be wearing a shirt.”

Jason raised his eyebrow, returning the look full force, “Uh..That’s kind of the point,” He said, confusing me,

“It’s a compression shirt, so everyone can see how ripped you are...duh.”

I blinked.

He sighed, his tone implying that this was apparently common knowledge, “It was either that, or spandex..”

“Or, I could’ve just worn normal clothes like a normal person.” I stated, taking a deep breath of the fresh morning air. If there was one thing I had no problems with liking yesterday, it was the fact that I got to be outside. The world might’ve been dying from a monster apocalypse, but I’d rather be out here than cooped up in my room with my thoughts.

“Well you aren’t normal..” Jason reasoned.

“Well I’m not superman either.” I shot back.

Jason groaned, taking out his notebook and cracking it open,

“We’ll see about that,” He muttered to himself, flipping a couple of pages,

“Okay, now we are on the strength test!”

I frowned, “Didn’t that technically already happen?” I asked, recalling previous events, “Like…when I obliterated those guys at the park.”

Jason coughed, “This is just to get a gauge on exactly how strong you are,” He explained, “And plus, you get to break stuff, so stop complaining.”

I raised my hand, saluting him dramatically, “Apologies, master Cole.”

“Oh!” He said suddenly, breaking off his evil stare and turning some more pages, “I also wanted to separate your powers into two sections: Passive, & Skill.”

If I had to roll my eyes one more time, I was sure they were going to fall out.

Those two categories could be found in the Fight4Life wiki on the internet.

In the game, Passive powers were moves you didn’t have to learn or turn off; they were just always there. In the game, my character’s passives were Strength and Flight.

Skill Powers were moves you had to learn and things you had to turn off.

An example of a skill power would be something like Ultra Choke Slam or

Phantom Crush.

“How original.” I whispered.

He threw his notebook at my leg, “I was pressed for time, okay?!”

I shushed him, “You’re gonna wake someone up!” I hissed, glancing at the other mansion across the border of our yard. It was a tall house that kept yet another rich family that lived on Draxon. The street was a rich haven.

Jason cleared his throat, quieting down to a normal voice after retrieving his birthday present,

“Oh sorry,” He apologized, “I’ve been hanging around Melissa a lot…you know how she can be…”

I smirked, “I know you know more than I know.”

Jason’s face turned red, and the dark offered no help to cover his embarrassment,

“A-anyways,” He stuttered, “There’s some firewood chunks behind that tree I was leaning on, so go get it.”

I gave another salute, chuckling from my own remark as I jogged behind the tree.

There, wedged between the fence and the wood, laid a stack of diced logs.

I grabbed two, one with each hand, before coming back out,

“Sure we should uh... be using your firewood?” I asked, waving the cylinders around.

Jason put his notebook down, “First off, it’s our firewood,”

I tilted my head, berating myself for forgetting that I lived here.

“And secondly,” Jason continued, “ I don’t think we need to worry about it if no one even knows we’re out here in the first place.” He paused, continuing a couple seconds later, “It’s not like we’ll all be sitting around a campfire enjoying ‘family’ time anytime soon.”

Good points all around.

I handed Jason the firewood, watching him place the two logs on the grass an inch apart from one another.

“Okay,” Jason said, rubbing his hands together for warmth, “Have at it!”

I sighed, not sure what kind of formality I expected from Jason’s notebook experiments, “It’s too low for me to punch…”

Jason looked at me like I was an idiot, “Don’t punch it, that’d be ridiculous,”

Another pause,

“You’re supposed to rip them apart with your hands..”

I choked, “Say what now?”

Jason just pointed at the log, “Gooo!”

“Alright alright,” I muttered, picking one up.

I used both hands to hold it, placing one on each end of the wood.

Jason held up his phone, now recording,

“O-okay, we assume this is a ‘passive’ power, right?” I asked, beginning to feel a little nervous.

Jason nodded from behind the camera,

“Yea.. it’s only not passive when you have to use your ‘Excess Energy’ or whatever red stuff comes out of you.”

I looked at the tough…incredibly wide chunk of lumber in my hands,

“What am I supposed to do..?” I wondered.

“The heck do you mean ‘what am I supposed to do’?!” Jason yelled, backing up to get a better angle for his video, “Just do it!”

I took a deep breath, feeling kind of crazy as I began to pull the wood.

At first, nothing happened, which made Jason disappointed to say the least, but on my second try, I put force into the pull, yelping as the log was torn in half with a loud CRACK!

Jason quickly turned off the video, both of us looking around for anyone who might’ve heard the noise as its reverberations still lingered.

I dropped the halves, sweat beading down my neck.

After thirty seconds of silence, Jason whispered,

“That was the coolest thing ever!”

I smiled brightly, not expecting the feeling of ripping wood in half to be so satisfying, “Can I do it again?”

Jason nodded, “Yes, please do! We need multiple trials…”

I took the second log, ripping it apart on my first try this time.

I started to grin.

“EYY-!”

“SHHH!” I interrupted, not being able to contain my laughter as Jason scribbled endlessly into his journal.

“What’s next?” I asked, hopping around on my toes in anticipation. I didn’t know if it was the monster in me, or just the rarity that seemed to come with excitement now, but I was so alive. As my brain began to form infinite tangents on possible things I could do, it became easier to feel those sparks of excess dance across my body. It felt good; like a blanket of hidden reassurance.

Jason pointed at me, “That, actually..”

I stopped moving, “Huh?”

“Like...a super jump...which might be considered passive because it’s just a sub topic of Super strength… so I guess we don’t have to do it-”

I smiled, “Kay, let’s do it!”

I crouched down, using all my strength to rocket upwards.

I only went up four feet.

“Um..” Jason started, noticing my sad face, “Th-that’s still pretty hig-”

“Wait, I have an idea,” I interrupted, crouching back down. Sure it may have broken several records, but that seemed obvious. What if I used…everything everything.

I closed my eyes, almost speaking with the dots of power I knew circled my body. I tried to concentrate on the ones in my legs, since that made sense given the situation. I remembered how I used them with my elbow yesterday. How I tossed that kid away like a ragdoll.

Ztztztz

I felt my legs vibrate from underneath me, the word powerful not nearly doing enough justice to whatever was surging through my veins right now. It kind of hurt, willing the energy to cooperate in what seemed like such a specific way, but so far, it was worth it. It was worth the rush.

This was more than some kind of satisfaction or petty comfort now. I didn’t know what was truly happening, and I didn’t think I ever would, but it still was.

It was peaceful yet chaotic, safe but dangerous, known but exhilarating still, his but also mine.

I opened my eyes, not being able to hold back a smile when I saw the familiar arcs of red static spin around my legs like a top.

“It worked!” I realized, my grin growing as the dark sky was illuminated by nothing else but me.

Jason coughed, “Whoa..what worked?” He asked, beginning to raise his voice over the loud electrical pops now constantly ringing through the air, “I-is that the ‘Excess Energy’?!!”

I nodded, struggling to hold the flow of energy like this as time went on, “Step… back …Jay..”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him obey.

“Here goes…everything..” I thought to myself, looking at the grass.

Then, hearing my legs spark one last time beneath my jeans, I shot myself into the sky.

I expected to feel pressure, or at least a little resistance on my way up, but no. It was like physics weren’t applying to me, the trail of luxurious red light following me high into the sky as I became the world’s first living firework.

I felt myself hit ten feet, “Whoa.!.”

Then twenty, “WHOA!!..”

Then Forty, “AM I FLYIN-!!”

Then…

BOOM!

“Oh crap..”

I stopped, feeling gravity take hold of my body as the red arcs faded along with the power in my veins. For a brief second, I didn’t even feel the ‘excess’ drifting across my body, but the electric sensations returned just as quickly as they had left.

Great. That just left one problem.

“J-JASON!” I screamed, closing my eyes as I fell towards the ground, “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

THUD!

Pain flared through my body as I made contact with the ground, dense waves of it slowly cascading itself across my form as I rolled over.

I let out what felt to be something between a groan and a laugh,

“Th-that was a-awesome..” I was still able to speak, looking around from my sideways view of the world as it was slowly brought back into focus. It took me a minute to realize what I had just survived.

That was definitely a lot more than whatever those bullies could do to me…and that was only yesterday,

“Limited Invulnerability?” I wondered, smiling brightly, “Don’t think I had that one earlier.”

Dirt had been misplaced from my impact, and more than a couple blades of grass had been uprooted.

Jason stood over me, his eyes wide with amazement and fear,

“Dude!” He hissed, “That was AMAZING! And you’re still ALIVE!”

He pointed at the sky and then me repeatedly, not ever tiring from the action as excitement washed over him like a settling storm,

“DUDE!”

I tried to stand up, but immediately clutched my ribs,

“Agh!” I yelped, cradling the spot on my now tattered compression shirt,

“Ow ow ow owww-!”

—---3 hours later—---

“Uh, you good now?” Jason asked, “Your ribs must’ve still hurt from the field trip thing or something. It’s a miracle no one saw us…”

We were on the kitchen counter, taking a little break from S.T.P for a little bit so I could heal. I had told Jason I just needed a minute to rest my ribs, but he insisted that we go inside for an ‘extended pause’.

The pain I felt now was probably just aftershocks of my body’s first time in an actual fight yesterday, which could even mean I was growing.

I knew Terry was in and out of consciousness when I was awake, but I could feel his excitement for all this too.

“Y-yea, let’s go again!” I exclaimed, feeling no pain at all when I got up. I actually did feel better, which proved my apparent healing ability even more.

Jason pulled me back down, “Whoa, hold up,” He said, jotting down the words ‘Healing Ability’ under ‘Passive’ in his notebook, “Let’s review first...what just happened?”

I laughed, “Oh right,” I started, realizing that I had spent the last couple of hours ranting about myself instead of explaining, “So um, I brought my excess energy into my legs...like a boost-”

“OH!” Jason interrupted, “You can give your body parts boosts?! Is that what you’re doing?!”

I nodded slowly, ‘P-probably?”

Jason wrote down ‘Body Boost [B.B]’ under ‘Skills’,

“Is that how you super sped to the bus stop?” He asked, clicking his pen on and off repeatedly from anticipation.

Click.

Clack.

I blinked, questioning his naming choices, “Y-yes, that would make sense...I er...think.”

Jason smiled, stuffing his pen into the notebook as a bookmark, “Well that’s awesome!” He jumped up, “Imma go get something now for the next test. I’ll meet you outside.”

He zipped off.

I shook my head as he disappeared, willing my eyes to glow as I entered the realm of Fear Sight.

I looked down at myself.

There were less red strands on me than before, which was no shocker, but the strands that were there seemed to have gotten smaller. Almost as if they were making room for even more than the original count.

“Did I… level up?” I wondered, ceasing my glow.

I stood up, walking back outside and jogging to our original spot by the archery targets.

Three hours had passed since my near flight moment, and bits of sunlight had started shining through the five o’clock air.

I smiled, now beginning to acknowledge the whole ‘S.T.P’ thing as a good idea. I was finally gaining some confidence in this whole apocalyptic thing. I didn’t know when I’d have to see my first, real…dangerous monster, but it was only yesterday that I stood up to Henry Mores. How much harder can something…no.

I remembered the day I had been infected; what I thought of Terry at first.

I was petrified.

B-but it was different now…it had to be.

I groaned a little, looking around the yard as I let out a breath,

“Maybe I shouldn’t get too ahead of myself,” I thought, rubbing my temples, “Just enjoy the peace while you can.”

I thought of Sarah, and what horrors she could’ve been facing at this moment.

Yeah…there was no reason to rush things that were inevitably going to happen.

I should just-

…

…

…

I winced, my vision tightening as my back was practically hammered with heat.

I found my mouth hanging open from the pain, not able to register what was truly going on as I went still.

This wasn’t the same one from the park…that one had felt nearly…nearly ominous.

No. It wasn’t that.

This one was aggressive. This one didn’t require a thought process. This one felt like…

“ARHGWAWARRRRRRRR!”

Like It was right here.