Chapter 37

Fallout.

Damien Reyes

Time/Area: August 1st/ Mabel Mansion

G-good?

G..grae…great.

I…I-Impressive. M..m-uch better than l-last t…place? Last time.

Last Time?

A..at the p-park? Grass. You k-keep evooolving..haha..we..I? We’re all…impressed.

Terry?

Haha…

No.

I yelped, rocketing upwards as the ringing of an unknown voice echoed through my head.

I tried to recall that voice. I needed to recall that voice. It was familiar, yet I knew I had never heard it before. It wasn’t Terry, but it felt almost…comparable.

“What did it say?” I thought desperately, ignoring the world around me as I racked my own brain for answers.

But I couldn’t find any, and like a dream, whatever I could remember was becoming fuzzy.

What was I doing?

Look around, idiot!

“Hey, Damien!!”

I yelped again as I finally felt the fabric of my own bed beneath me. I whipped my head to my right at Selina who was staring at me with a worried expression on her face, behind her standing both Melissa and Hiru.

I was in my room.

Instantly, all thoughts of whatever strange voices I heard had dissipated, concrete memories taking their place as I remembered what just happened.

“S-selina…” I spoke, almost testing my voice for any pain.

There was none.

“Damien,” Her voice softened, her eyes quickly glancing down at my arm, “Wh-what do you remember?”

I looked down at my body, nearly jumping at the no longer open wound on my arm.

At worst, what remained of the injury was a simple scar. It looked like the one on my chest, except this one went vertically up towards my shoulder instead of horizontally across my body. The marking veered off at the joint of my elbow, curving down the limb and continuing the jagged line from the underside of my arm. The only thing broken about me was the torn up compression shirt I still had on.

Incredible.

“Uhm,” I looked back at Selina, trying to recall what they had been here for. How long had it even been?

“Me and Jason were outside, “ I picked a place to start, “…then that monster came out of no-”

“It was a monster?!” Melissa asked suddenly, causing me to pause.

Hiru grimaced from beside her, “It attacked you guys?”

Selina sighed when she noticed my confused expression, “Jason’s been so busy with the cops...he didn’t tell us.”

I blinked, wondering if this was all a sick joke, “Y-you guys didn’t see...its body?”

Melissa gasped, “You killed one?!”

I felt sweat on my forehead, “No…It was dead. It had to be.”

“Everyone said it was just lightning!” Hiru breathed.

“Red lightning.” Selina added, now looking at me suspiciously, “Do you know anything about that?”

I gulped, wondering why I felt like this was some kind of interrogation. From what I remembered, Selina only knew I had some kind of abilities, nothing more.

“And I would like to keep it that way.” I thought.

I couldn’t get the monster out of my head. Its six limbs…its blinding glow…Its…heart stopping roars.

It couldn’t be alive.

Nothing was that invincible.

I tried to somehow steer away from the topic,

“I uh..didn’t kill it, it just uh..er-”

“Damien, please.” Selina squinted, “We know you’re hiding something, and don’t give me that ‘superpower’ bull crap again. Something about Fear Sight?”

I choked on air,

“Wh-what?”

Melissa smiled slyly despite the situation, “Does it sound familiar?”

Just then, Jason walked into the room, shutting the door as he came in with a dull expression.

His eyes brightened when he saw me awake,

“D-Damien, are you okay?” He asked.

I pointed at the three next to me, narrowing my eyes, “Did you tell them something?”

Jason slowly walked over to his bed, confusion evident in his voice, “Wha-what?”

Hiru coughed, “N-no,” He admitted, “..I uh... eavesdropped on you guys talking.”

“Wait.”

I remembered when Hiru had come into our bathroom yesterday. He was acting weird…

“Wow.”

At least this explained what they were doing up so early.

Selina cleared her throat, boring her eyes directly into mine,

“Don’t you think it’s about time you guys told us whatever was going on?”

I played dumb, “Tell you what?”

Selina glared, “How about the truth? Or maybe how you were able to walk away from two monster attacks?! Do you actually have superpowers?”

I found myself glancing across the room at Jason,

“What are you looking at me for,” He thought, “I think you should tell them.”

My eyes shifted the complete opposite direction, now looking into the full body mirror beside my closet.

Monster.

I remembered all the horrified whispers and conversations countless people uttered when they hadn’t even seen the monster. All that fear was over something those people weren’t even sure was there.

Why would I show that to my only friends?

I looked back at my healed arm, knowing that there was literally no way to cover all of this up.

It would be pointless to lie to them about my abilities at this point- so I would go with the safest route,

“I-I do.” I started, causing Melissa’s eyes to glitter with excitement,

I..I do have um…powers, I mean.”

Hiru was staring at me intently, clearly intrigued by where this was going as he hunched over to listen better,

“And uh” I continued, “... I used them to kill a monster that had appeared outside. But I don’t know why it’s body isn’t there anymore.”

I winced, knowing it was no secret how far fetched that whole thing sounded. If it wasn’t for our collective understanding that monsters were real, I didn’t think they would’ve even let me finish.

Jason sighed, probably disappointed that I hadn’t revealed the full secret. I avoided Selina’s piercing gaze, knowing that she knew there was more to it.

Hiru’s eyebrow raised, straightening his posture with a grin,

“Stop lying…” he laughed, waiting for me to laugh with him, “Superpowers? Really? I thought that whole thing was just a joke.”

I pointed out our bedroom window, “Why would I lie during an apocalypse…and how else would I have survived a freaking monster attack?”

Hiru looked at me for a second, his gaze tightening as he searched for some kind of indication of a lie.

It wasn’t like I blamed him. To these guys, everything that had happened in the past week was too random to make any real sense.

Hiru’s jaw suddenly dropped after a minute of staring, “Oh my gosh…wait, is that why you’re wearing some kind of superhero shirt when we came in???”

Was this guy serious...

Jason smiled, getting up from his bed before standing proudly next to Melissa, “It was my idea,” He said, quite proud, “Pretty cool, huh?”

Hiru rolled his eyes, “Well, what are they dude?” He asked me, anticipation in his voice.

“Yes, tell us!” Melissa shrieked, absently grabbing Jason’s shoulders before shaking him rapidly, “What are your powers?!”

Just then, the door was thrown open again by Mrs.M.

Selina stepped away from me to make way for her,

“Oh Damien!” She said, “How’s your bruise? Thank goodness Jason pushed you out of the way before that tree killed you!”

I glared at Jason, who just looked at the roof and began whistling.

“Y-Yea,” I went along with it, looking back at Mrs.M, “So uh, sorry for pulling you back from your meeting..”

She waved it off, wrapping me in hugs, “Nonsense!” she cried, pulling away, “Besides, I’m on my way back now. The police have left and people will be over soon to fix the fence.”

She began walking out the door, “Please take care of Damien and Jason while I’m gone, Hiru, will you?”

Hiru slowly nodded, everyone else struggling to hold back their laughter as Mrs.M shut the door.

“That’s what you told her?” I asked, staring at Jason as soon as the door clicked.

Jason stopped whistling, “Uhhh, I was in the heat of the moment okay?” He shot, “ And you were too busy… like…dying to give input.”

I sighed, “Sorry,” I said, “thanks for handling all that, by the way.”

Jason grinned, “Glad I could be useful.” he laughed, “Thanks for…you know, saving my life.”

Melissa coughed, interrupting us, “Powers?!”

I rolled out of the bed, stretching my legs as I felt my blood begin to flow again,

“Uh, could I have a shirt first?”

Jason’s grin widened, dashing over to his closet before returning promptly with an exact replica of the torn compression shirt I had on.

He had really ordered extras…

“Here!” He said, tossing the shirt over to me.

I groaned, catching the tight piece of clothing before taking off my battered one.

“Wow..” Selina muttered, staring at my stomach, “Looking...good.”

I blushed brightly, quickly tugging the new one on before she could say anything else.

Melissa coughed, glaring at Jason, “Jason, you uh…” She raised her eyebrows, “Work on that, mk?”

Jason grunted while Hiru laughed.

I looked out the window, shocked when I saw how much daylight was out,

“What time is it?” I asked.

Hiru looked at his phone, “Like, noon.”

Wow…I was out for a while.

Standing up proved to help me think better, now beginning to realize what had really just happened,

“Where’s my shoes?” I thought, looking down at my bare feet. It was a weird question, but I knew I had them on before I fell unconscious.

With a look towards the front of the room, I noticed that they were by the door, tossed to the side in obvious urgency.

“I think I need new shoes..” I muttered, seeing the various burns and holes across the black fabric. It shouldn’t have been surprising, considering exactly how powerful that shock wave was, but…c’mon.

I found myself with a slight grin, glancing back at the torn up shirt now lying across my bed. I remembered the streetlamps from outside our yard; how they were all simultaneously short circuited upon my collision. I remembered how good that forced wind felt as it blasted like a tornado from my fist, shaking the trees around the whole acre of yard space like a hurricane as that….huge…scary…six-limbed…monster was sent flying.

“I really did that.”

Jason sighed, “Thank goodness,” He said, pulling me out of my thoughts, “Your shoes were ugly anyway..”

A murmur of agreement went around the room as I rolled my eyes, dropping the smile.

My shoes weren’t name brand, which wasn’t bad, it was just cheap.

Rich kids couldn’t understand cheap things.

“Not trying to rush you,” Hiru rushed, “But can you show us your uh..powers now?”

“Yeah, my mind needs to be put at ease,” Melissa agreed.

Selina was just silent, still obviously in her thoughts.

Then I tried taking a step, which was a grave mistake.

As I felt my bare foot move, it was almost as if the rest of me stayed behind.

My entire body froze.

I felt a chilling rush run all along my skin, the feeling of being empty cascading through me in waves as my head went numb. My hearing seemed to dim, which was probably why I couldn’t make out the questions that were being shot at me left and right, and my eyesight tightened. It was a familiar feeling. The feeling I would imagine a phone got after being disconnected from a charger.

It was hard to describe, as it was last time, because of the sheer amount of…nothing.

There was just…nothing.

I felt my throat cough, watching in a blurred state as a disgusting, black color washed over the carpet of my room. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Hiru and Melissa backing up.

Selina stayed put, her eyes wide and her mouth open.

She was speaking, but it was so…quiet.

“Damien! Y…your blood. It’s still…black!”

Melissa shrieked, “What’s wrong with him?”

Hiru’s voice raised, “I think now would be a good time to call the ambulance.”

NO!

I felt a hand grab my shoulder,

“Damien.”

I looked up a little to see Jason with a worried expression,

“Is this….do you need to feed?”

Feed.

Feed.

Upon letting the word entire my brain, everything clicked. I couldn’t stop my eyes from glowing even if I wanted to. I felt like a wound up top that was just let loose, and my brain was now spinning an endless list of desires that the human part of me couldn’t keep up with.

I ignored the shocked gasps and words from the rest of the group, all sense leaving me as an overwhelming hunger settled over me.

My veins tensed.

This was a little different than last time.

I felt more in control, but it was almost like the lust was that much greater.

Not just for food, but just for…clarity. I didn’t even like the feeling of the ‘Excess’ leaving my body now, much less the feeling of having none to begin with.

Where was the satisfaction I got from that consistent electricity I felt running along my skin? Where was the comfort I felt intertwined around me in those red, crimson strands?

I was finally able to nod to Jason’s quiere, gritting my teeth as everyone around suddenly became choices on a menu.

“Hey, use me…” Jason urged, trying to whisper, “You must be out of everything..”

Why…did this have to happen…now?

Hiru cleared his throat, his tone of voice going up a few octaves from my appearance “Wait,” he started, the blue strands making up his form shining intensely with fear, “What’s going on? What do you mean feed? D-does ANYONE else see that his eyes-are-glowing?!!?!?”

Selina shook her head, her loosely structured frame of blue light bending down to talk to me, “Damien, what do you need?”

I was on the floor now, trying not to look at anyone. I looked down at the carpet I couldn’t truly see, trying and failing to push down the hunger.

I was mentally cursing myself for not being able to account for something like this to happen.

“Of course I’d be out!” I realized, “After what I just did!? Why am I so stupid?”

I willed myself to stand, trying not to look at Selina’s outline as I pushed away from Jason.

“Jason, s-shut up about that!” I tried to talk normally, the struggle increasing as the back of my foot hit what I assumed was my nightstand. I stumbled, catching myself quickly before Selina reached over to help me.

I’d rip her to pieces. hahaha.

I waved her off, “Please, get away!”

Jason stepped towards me again, clearly not getting how dangerous I was in this state, “Well, there’s not a lot of options, dude.”

I hated that he was asking. I hated it, because I wanted to so badly.

But I couldn’t risk going overboard…I couldn’t risk anything. I had gotten stronger since the last time, so who knew how much I'd have to take now.

I-I had lines….boundaries

Selina grabbed my shoulders, “Hello? What’s going on.”

I coughed some more, careful to do it into my elbow as I once again shook her off.

Jason was trying to explain it to her, trying to ease her and everyone else’s growing nerves.

“H-he has this thing,” I heard Jason try.

“Thing?!” Selina was yelling, pointing at my coughing body, “What thing?!”

“I-it’s like this thing where he n-needs to erm…take stuff from like…uh..living stuff?”

Just…KILL THEM AL-stop!!!

It was getting hard just to remember to breathe. It felt like all my effort was being strained just keeping…everyone alive. Everyone safe…from me. From us.

The words came out more like grumbles, since I really wasn’t focusing on questions right now.

Melissa shrieked again, “This is crazy!!” She yelled, “I’m uh- gonna be back by the fish tank over here!”

She paused, “You know, in case anyone needs me!”

Hiru was trying to walk over to the door, Jason clearly trying to stop him as both their blue forms collided in a brain shaking burst of light. So appealing…

“No!” Jason’s voice was like a distant echo, “Stop, Hiru.”

“What do you mean stop?!” Hiru yelled, “He clearly needs some help!”

Wait…

I remembered what Melissa had said.

Fish…tank.

Tank of…fish.

“Jason, step aside for Hiru!” Selina turned on Jason.

The three were now shouting back and forth while I stumbled aimlessly by what I thought to be my bed. An Idea was coming to me.

“H-HEY EVERYONE SHUT UP!” Terry snapped, causing my throat to vibrate and shake as more of that black substance erupted from my mouth.

I was losing it by the time I managed to locate which terrified blue form was Jason’s,

“J-jason,” I said, causing him to inch forward slowly, “The fish.”

His strands lit up, knowing exactly what my plan was as he bolted in the direction of the fish tank,

“W-wait, is this even safe!?” Selina shouted after Jason, “What do you mean he ‘takes stuff’?!”

Jason tried to soothe her, “C-calm down,” He tried, “H-he uh, actually did it to me once.”

“He did what?!” Melissa joined in.

Jason darted over to me, and I almost jumped when he grabbed my arm.

He shouldn’t…touch me.

I felt him rush me over to where the fish tank was, and I knew it was the place when I viewed the tiny, almost invisible ropes of sky-blue light dancing in a sea of black.

I pressed my hand against the glass, recalling the results from the stupid ‘Water Distortion’ test Jason had performed earlier today.

Maybe I could feed through water.

Sure enough, as I stared at the twelve aquatic outlines swimming in the tank, I noticed how each tendril that made up their forms seemed to spin outwards like yarn, illuminating the entire tank in a cyan colored glow. It was like watching a video of a lightning strike in super slow motion, each branch of light stemming into another until virtually nothing was a void anymore. The glass I couldn’t see practically felt as significant as air in the moment. It didn’t matter right now. I could feel the power from here. The closest strand was basically touching the skin of my palm.

All I had to do…was reach out.

“Jay…I’m going t-to kill your fish.” I started, feeling ounces of my previous comfort return as I felt the buzz of my food.

Jason nodded, while Hiru yelped,

“Say what?!” He cried, “W-why are you killing fish? W-what is-”

“J-just shut up, Hiru!” Selina said, “J-just let Damien…do whatever he’s doing.”

I absently thanked Selina for understanding. Or maybe she didn’t understand, she just wanted me to be okay.

My mind began to blur, using the last of my internal stability to let whatever lustful feelings take over me.

ZTZZTZT!

I grunted as an overwhelming sense of ecstasy filled my brain, sparks of red completely incinerating the fish as I felt my body…my entire being restoring itself.

I also felt that underlying sense of wanting more. The sense that maybe the humans behind me would benefit me more than just primitive creatures like-

“The fish!” Hiru yelped, placing his hands on the glass as I finally felt the real world begin to materialize back around me.

A massive headache came over me almost instantly after I finished feeding, the returning of my normal thoughts and my regular, shared conscience both relieving and painful to accept.

“H-hey.”

I turned to Jason, watching as he slowly backed away from me, “You, erm…okay?”

I looked around the room, noting everyone’s scared expressions as they all inched away from the fish tank.

I took a deep breath, now able to appreciate the feeling of air conditioning and soft carpets instead of the fear of living organisms,

“Y-yeah.” I coughed, no blood coming out this time as I wiped what remained of the substance off my arm, “A-all good over here.”

A moment of silence passed over the room, not one eye leaving me for more than a millisecond.

I started to speak again, but Hiru stopped me,

“You have the… freakiest superpower.” He declared, looking at me up and down,

“A-and you killed the fish!”

Jason groaned, “I tried to tell you guys, it was them or Damien!”

“But why?!” Melissa asked, her eyes still wide from both surprise and confusion, “Why the heck does Damien need to do this stuff?”

“Is this all really because of that puddle?!” Selina added

Hiru huffed, crossing his arms, “And the fish.”

“Look guys,” I stopped their questions, once again trying to think of another coverup, “I-I know it’s creepy,” I said, “But I…I’m not really sure how this works either!”

Selina stepped closer to me, straightening her light blue jacket she had on before speaking, “And the puddle?”

I nodded, running a hand through my own hair, “Uhh yeah,” I started, “It probably has something to do with that. I-It’s hard to explain.”

All Selina could do was nod, either still processing or simply unable to form a sensible question.

“O-okay…” Melissa managed, elbowing Hiru as he stepped away from the bedroom door.

“Fine,” Hiru sighed, “It’s weird, but if this is really superhero crap…a-and if you are like…100 percent okay… I guess I won’t erm, call the cops back.”

Selina just shrugged, giving up on her thought process as she was able to crack a smile, “I’m not going to lie and say this mess isn’t weird,”

I frowned, but she continued,

“But,” She stuffed her hands into her jacket pockets, “I don’t really see the point in questioning you when a literal monster just attacked.”

“Phew,” I allowed myself to relax, “Good for now.”

“Jason, that reminds me,” I moved on, making my way over to my bed and sitting down, “I wanted to ask: Is the monster..?”

“Oh, It’s dead..” He answered, almost laughing, “Like…like wayyy dead. Yeah, don’t worry.”

I raised my eyebrows, Selina voicing my thoughts a second later,

“How are you so sure?” She asked, walking over and lying down next to my leg.

“Well,” Jason nodded at me, “After you fell out from smacking the thing into a tree, I saw it do some kind of..rapid decomposition or something.” He explained, “Kind of like the Shadow Slayer’s death animation in Fight4Life.”

I pictured the video game in my mind, relief flooding my veins, “That’s goo-”

“You smacked the monster into a tree?!” Selina interrupted, sitting up, “When you said that you had ‘muscles’, I didn’t know you meant super strength!”

I shrugged, “O-oh well, uh yea…I guess I have super strength.”

Jason laughed, “You guess?” He turned his attention towards the rest of the group,

“The monster was like..as tall as a building..and Damien like..flicked it and this huuge light appeared. I was like, flung ten feet backwards because of how big it was-!”

“Okay, okay, stop exaggerating..” I stopped him,

“It was 12 feet and three inches tall, and I had to basically rip my own arm open to do that. Not to mention I ran out of juice…also the whole experience was freaking terrifying.”

Jason blinked, “What did you do, bring a tape measure?”

“Oh,” I scratched my head, not even sure if my apparent ability to see measurements in my mind was classified as a superpower. Like…what did that even have to do with monsters?

“I’m like, “ I gulped, “...it’s hard to explain-”

“Okay, okay everyone, shut up!” Melissa yelled, rubbing her temples,

“Police are gone, all sensible adults are gone, and everyone outside the house has probably moved on with their lives.” She grinned widely, fear gone and excitement in its place, “Let’s go outside and test this crap!”