ACT III

Blood Bath

Chapter 51.

SURGE.

Damien Reyes. Jason Cole.

Time/Area: August 4th, 2013. Draxon, Manhattan.

5 AM

“Do you think we should chart how many bolts it takes to wear you out?” Jason quizzed, writing some things in his notebook.

We were back in the yard at our usual spot, about to practice on the ‘less than fine’ tree from yesterday.

Selina and Melissa had already gone home, both almost freaking out over the possibility of their dads finding out about us hanging out last night. Jason was sitting next to my feet, using the light from his phone to cut through the early morning darkness in order to jot his observations down.

He was dressed in some jeans, a plain T-shirt, and his green trench coat, while I dawned the same outfit except with my brown jacket.

“That seems a bit…over the top,” I replied, rubbing my temples as a cool breeze rushed over us, “You don’t have to record everything, you know…I don’t want you to get a headache too.”

Jason laughed, “You still have a headache?”

I just shook my head, “Whatever…all that partying probably did something to me.”

My ears had been ringing quietly ever since I woke up, and it was getting annoying.

Jason moved on, “Well,” he stood up, “Are you ready to try the thing yet?”

I shrugged off my jacket, kicking it to the side before aligning myself with the tree.

I gazed warily at the tire shaped hole carved into the wood, figuring that if we did end up breaking the tree, we were more than rich enough to cover any damages,

“Yeah,” I nodded towards Jason as he began to back away, “I’m ready to try it.”

“Okay, remember…!” Jason began, now shouting to cover the distance between us.

I just rolled my eyes, finding it hilarious the amount of times he forgot I had super hearing.

“These are like hand blasters, okay?!” He continued, “So you uh…have to aim better-!”

“Jason!” I yelled, interrupting him while turning back to face the tree, “I said…I’m ready to try it!”

Jason just went quiet, giving me the thumbs up before pulling out his phone to record.

I also wanted to try something else major, something that wasn’t just where my energy came out of.

I wanted to see if I could…lower the ‘voltage’.

As much as I hated to admit it, Terry was right about my food supply. I wasn’t feeding on humans all too much, so I couldn’t just let loose huge discharges of excess all the time….as cool as that did look.

I wanted to control the bolt better, my goal being to simply hit the tree with something fatal but not able to wake up all of Draxon.

I took a deep breath, extending my pointer finger outwards while sending energy through it.

I felt sparks light up all across my body, slowly seeping into my finger as per my commands while my hand began to…buzz.

It was like touching an active vehicle, the vibration of the engine rippling across my palm as the tip of my hand clearly began to illuminate in a bright rose color.

Crack!

I dropped my hand as a flash of red struck the side of the tree, a piece of wood flying away as a result.

“Hey, that wasn’t that loud!” Jason exclaimed, now running up to me.

I wiggled my finger,

“Yeah!” I agreed, looking down, “And I didn’t burn my shirt this time.”

Jason nodded, “That’s always good.”

He moved on, “So how’s your appetite?”

I rolled my eyes, a little disturbed at how casual Jason brought up the idea.

My eyes began to glow, “Let’s see...”

Jason was outlined in blue, which meant that I had run out of ‘Excess’ to use.

So…not good.

I exited Fear Sight,

“Nada,” I informed, scratching my head, “Looks like we need to find a squirrel.”

Jason shrugged, “Well, at least you’re not starved, and you still have super strength.”

I nodded, “Yeah…but now I can’t blast stuff…or run really really fast…or anything cool-”

“So you’re not as super,” Jason laughed, “Like you said…we just need a squirrel.”

I glared as I dusted off my jacket, slinging it back on, “Yeah...I guess.”

Truth be told, I just really hated the feeling of not having Excess. I hated not feeling like I could do anything. I hated just being able to feel…helpless.

“So, any plans today?” Jason asked me as we began to head towards the kitchen door, “I might hang out with Melissa,” he said, “last night was great!“

I smiled, “Yeah, I’m going to…”

I stopped moving, a dagger of pain ripping through my eardrums. Instantly, the quiet ringing I had been hearing all morning shifted to loud screeching, hundreds…no, thousands of noises entering my brain all at the same time.

I was clutching my head at this point, and I couldn’t even hear Jason calling out my name.

What was happening?

Right when I felt as if my head was going to burst, all the sound suddenly…stopped.

I shot myself back up, now able to hear Jason,

“Damien!” he yelled, “What the heck man-!? Headache?”

“I don’t know…” I said, turning around while taking deep breaths. I was sweating, “I don’t know...”

I tried to peer over our fences, hoping to locate the source of whatever I had just felt.

This couldn’t just be a headache…

I looked past the lake lining our yard, skimming over the skyline of Manhattan’s huge, high rise buildings.

Were my powers just…glitching? Maybe I really did need to feed…

“L-let’s just go inside, dude.” Jason nudged my shoulder, “...freaking me out for no reason…”

I just nodded, my head still ringing quietly,

“Right…” I shook my head, calming myself down a little, “Sorry…I just-”

Now…Surge.

B

O

O

M

Both me and Jason stumbled backwards as a wave of air suddenly lashed against our bodies.

The leaves on the trees moved with us, along with the grass, and along with the lake.

Me and Jason both turned by default to where the pressure had originated from, trying to perceive the brief earthquake that our feet had just felt.

“What….” was all I could say…all I could think.

We were fixed on the once lovely view far away past the lake.

The water close to us was rippling in large waves, and past that stood Midtown…Lenox…Yorkville…and whatever else.

The only problem was that all of it seemed to be on fire.

It was hard to makeout any structures, but there was a huge ball of just…light on the tops of buildings, an image that looked a lot more like a giant lantern than one of New York’s most famous boroughs.

And from that light came trails of smoke and ash, all drifting upwards into the sky like some kind of upside down tornado.

For a minute, none of it looked real.

It was like I was watching a TV screen.

It was too far away to be real…

It was too sudden to be real…

It was too…unbelievable… to be-

CRACK!

SMASH!

And just like that, all of it was real.

More upside down tornadoes, more balls of light, and more…screams emerged from the view, the sights extending to the left and right like some kind of domino effect. A kind of wave. A kind of surge.

And the screaming…

Oh gosh…the screaming.

I knew what the ringing in my ears was now, and it just wasn’t…stopping.

Jason’s eyes widened, “What’s happening...”

AHH! HELP!

My child is in there, MY CHILD IS IN THERE!

T-TAKE EVERYTHING YOU CAN!

Wh-what’s happening to me.

The water, what the-!

HELP HELP HELP!

AHHH!

DAD!

NO, STOP!

RAAAGH!

BOOM!

“Jason…” I said, gulping as I struggled to remain still, “I-it’s happening..”

Jason gulped, “The heck?” he said, “Wha-what do you mean it’s happening?”

I shook my head, practically tearing into my temples to stop the yelling…crying…screaming…dying…burning,

“You know what I mean!!!”

“BOYS, GET INSIDE NOW!”

We both turned to see Mrs.M by the kitchen door, frantically waving in our direction.

Me and Jason glanced at each other, breaking into a dash for the house,

“What’s happening, Auntie?” Jason asked as we reached the front of the door, “We-”

Before he could finish, Mrs.M pulled us both into the kitchen, slamming the door shut before leading us into the living room.

I let my feet takeover, my brain focused on trying to shut up the noises. I…I just couldn’t listen to that.

I watched as Mrs.M turned on the TV, the noise from the speakers somehow relieving the noises from afar. It helped orient myself…although what was on it wasn't much better than out there.

It was hard to keep my hands still.

Isn’t this what I wanted?

For this to hurry up?

But now…I wasn’t so sure.

“I really need to feed,” I thought frantically, realizing how uncomfortable I was.

I wouldn’t be feeling like this if I was fed. I couldn’t think clearly.

The TV switched to New York Daily.

We all went silent.

“For those just tuning in!! STAY INSIDE!” A news reporter man stated. It looked like he was on top of some building, smoke not so far from where he was standing as sweat rolled down his neck,

“C-confirmed monster sightings in just about every borough, with Brooklyn having the most followed by Manhattan!”

Mrs.M began to shiver as he went on, “Social media…” The man took a moment to collect himself as the audio was interrupted by an explosion.

We could feel the same explosion from the living room, everything from the clock on the wall to the couch we were sitting on starting to shake briefly.

“Social media describes the Brooklyn Bridge as… overrun, a-and um… multiple moveable bridges have been closed up to prevent monsters from entering other areas!”

He continued as Mrs.M began pacing the room. The reporter was looking down at some sort of printed script, his fists clenching the edges of the paper tightly, “M-massive power outages have occurred in major areas, a-and due to the shut down of many national airports and overall travel, people have begun revolting by raiding stores, police stations, and even high income neighborhoods,”

“This can’t be happening..” I thought.

“ Popular belief seems to be that w-wherever these things are…power and signal failures follow…meaning that those areas are unable to seek outside help. Mayor Timmons urges citizens to STAY INSIDE, but due to the blockage in communication signals…i-it stands to reason that some in the city d-don’t know how much danger we are all in… yet.”

Another explosion sounded, “A-and everyone?” he paused, “It might be a good idea to surround yourself with family during-”

Mrs.M muted the TV, stepping in front of it to receive our full attention,

“I-I need you boys to listen to me.” she began.

My heart was racing…

“I have to go get-!”

“No!” We both cried at the same time.

She raised her hands, “This has been happening for only hours!!!” she basically shouted, her hands shivering as she stared directly at us,

“I have to go get some emergency supplies from the shopping center while the power is still on.”

“Auntie, that’s stupid!!!” Jason yelled, standing up as his eyes held tears back, “That’s just…no, that’s-!”

Mrs.M placed her hands on his shoulders, “If it ends up taking too long…j-just I’ll be fine, okay?” she tried to collect herself, “Those things cause things to stop working…and that hasn’t happened here yet!”

“This can’t be happening..” I repeated in my mind.

Mrs.M started for the door, leaving Jason standing there, “Keep the doors locked at all times!”

“So you’re just leaving?!?!” Jason shouted after her, “W-what if one shows up here?! O-or if people come here-?!”

She paused for only a moment, “There’s a gun safe in my room...the code is 12119.”

“Okay, so this really is happening.”

“You have a gun!?” Jason said, running over to her, “Th-then you should take it!!!”

She shook her head, waving the purse by her leg, “Jason, I have two. Your uncle kept them here…th-though not for this…obviously.”

He looked down at the purse, then up at her, “B-but-”

Mrs.M just wrapped him in a hug. She then met my eyes with a look that said ‘get over here’.

I nervously darted towards them, Mrs.M pulling me into the embrace too before turning to leave, “I have to go quickly if I expect to actually find anything…” she tried to explain, already fumbling with the door knob, “For some reason, monsters haven’t g-gotten here yet…but people are already starting to act crazy just down the street…don’t open the door for anyone!” She continued, her words quickly devolving into a rant, “I don’t want to leave you two…but if we’re going to hold up here, I-I need more things…w-we have to, we have to..”

We just stared at her as she left the house.

Just like that.

Gone.

We were frozen for ten whole minutes, contemplating the reality of the situation before another explosion sounded,

CRASH!

We both leapt into action, which really meant we just began to pace the house,

“No no no no no…’ Jason muttered, walking around the front room.

He was staring…possibly glaring at Mrs.M’s van as it disappeared down Draxon.

Outside looked surprisingly normal right now. I couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary even as her car faded into the distance. In fact…it looked eerie…like this definitely wasn’t the city shown on the TV or even a couple blocks away.

But for how long?

I was walking around the living room, “Jaso-”

“What are we going to do!?” He yelled, his eyes full of fear, “The city..what about..how are we…?”

I took a deep breath, trying to calm my own nerves as I pulled out my phone,

“I-I’ll text the group chat..”

When I tried, however, I only got the message, ‘No Service’.

Jason got even more worried at my expression, “Wh-what is it D?”

I slowly shook my head, tucking my phone back into the jacket pocket,

“No service..” I whispered, “Must be the monsters...all this electrical interference could be making a….”

Jason began pacing again, “A Paris situation….gosh.”

He stopped, “But the TV was working,” he pointed out.

I froze too, looking back at the TV, “Which means the interference couldn’t have been here five minutes ago...”

He walked over to me, pointing at every turned on light and electrical appliance, “Which means-?!”

POP!

POP!

POP!

Without thinking, I had lifted the entire living room couch above me and Jason, the bursting of light bulbs echoing throughout the mansion soon after.

Jason was crouched down, looking up at me with wide eyes as mine darted about the house.

When I couldn’t see anything, I shakily let down the ten foot structure, the revelation of glass littering the floor much too familiar for my brain to handle.

It was really all happening.

‘Wherever these things are…power and signal failures follow.’

It was significantly darker now, the only light being the sun as it reflected off the millions of shards of glass across the tile.

“T-they must’ve reached here.” I noted, trying to cope with my adrenaline as I spun around to survey the house, “B-but I don’t see any yet…”

My voice echoed, like we were in some empty cave, but yet everything around me felt so loud.

Jason stepped towards the door, the sound of his shoes crushing glass adding to the utter chaos storming my brain, “W-we have to get out of here…”

I walked in front of him, “Erm…no.”

Jason paused, “We have friends to checkup on!” he yelled, “You know…Melissa…Hiru…Selina?”

I frowned, since I too was thinking the same things.

But it wasn’t just Selina.

What about Mr.Drake?

Heck, I was even thinking about Henry and his little brother.

What about my life…

“You’re not leaving!” I tried not to yell, trying to quiet my shaking tone, “A-at least not without me..”

His nervous expression dropped a fragment at that, “Oh…” he breathed, “good…!”

“S-Someone HELP!”

Any bits of confidence we had built was shattered once shouting sounded from outside the front door.

We both turned to face the door…a good thirty feet between us and it.

Between us and them.

Between us and the world.

“Wh-what are they shouting at?” Jason practically whispered as the screaming went on.

It was happening…right in our neighborhood.

“I-I don’t know…” I whispered back, not daring to tear my eyes away from the door.

From the gate.

“I-I don’t hear monsters,” Jason said from beside me.

I nodded, “Yeah,” I agreed, “Me either.”

We both jumped when a car alarm suddenly went off, the little windows beside the door not nearly enough to give us a clear view on the situation.

And despite the unlikelihood of one of them being out there, neither of us were moving.

We were just staring…at the door.

The screaming went on for several minutes, accompanied by gunshots and the rapid sound of feet…like a stampede.

It was horrifying to listen to, and even though I had never even met them, I hoped our neighbors were alright.

It was weird…knowing that it was fully possible that whoever lived next to us could be dead.

What if they had kids?

Of course they had kids…

I took a step forward absently.

“What the heck are you doing?” Jason hissed, “L-let’s just wait-”

“Jason…” I afforded a glance towards him, not bothering to hide the fear in my eyes, “I-I can help-”

“You can die.”

“I won’t die.”

“How do you even know that?”

“I-it’s just people.”

Jason seized the sleeve of my jacket, and I could feel his palm shaking, “You say that like they’re no longer an issue for you…and we don’t even know that.”

“They’re not.” I grunted, tugging away, “…or they shouldn’t be.”

“You don’t have excess…they have guns.” He reasoned, almost pleading, “C’mon, w-we-”

“We’re going to have to go out there anyways!” I took more steps forward, trying to build up my confidence again, “And I’m…done being helpless.”

He just blinked at me, a couple seconds going by before he too stepped forwards,

“Fine,” he grumbled, “But I’m coming-”

I shook my head, “Oh heck no!”

“That’s like…so hypocritical!”

“We’ve been over this,” I gritted my teeth, “Read my lips: super-powers.”

Jason shot me the same look, “And I don’t care!” his voice went up for only a moment, “Read my lips: Go to-!”

BANG BANG BANG!!!

We both spun around, eyes wide as something pounded on the door.

We waited for a moment, noticing that the level of screaming had dwindled a lot.

The noises were still there, but…something had…finished outside.

“Jason,” I was now below a whisper, “Get behind me.”

“Damien,” Jason sounded just as scared as me, “Shut up…”

“HEY OPEN THIS DOOR NOW!!!” A gruff voice sounded from the front room, both me and Jason fidgeting at the sound of words.

BANG !

BANG !

BANG!

The man shouted obscenity after obscenity, “HEY GET THE -FREAKING- CROWBAR OVER HERE -DANG IT-!!” He cried out, “THIS ONE’S EMPTY, WE’LL HIT THIS HOUSE TOO AND KEEP GOING!”

The man did not, in fact, use the words ‘freaking’ and ‘dang it’, but I understood the situation perfectly.

“Looters” I mouthed to Jason.

Jason mouthed back, “I’m going to get the gun.”

CRACK!

Sunlight flooded the house as the door was violently pried open, five men straggling in with random things in their grips.

My initial surprise was the fact that they were just…guys.

Like I could’ve totally seen some of them as I walked to school…maybe I had one day.

And here they were now, trying to rob our house. It didn’t make it any less terrifying, in fact, it almost made it worse.

“Hey, you said it was -freaking- empty!!!”

The men paused, fear clearly in their eyes as they looked over us two.

The lead, the one who was in front and the one who was probably hitting the door, spoke,

“S-so they’re kids, s-so what?!”

Me and Jason were slowly backing up, the couch now almost directly behind us.

In the pant leg of the man talking was a pistol.

“Man I don’t k-know…” One said, still staring at us, “This just..isn’t right-”

“Yeah but who gives a-”

“Nah…I’m…I’m out.” Another spoke, backing up, “Those things are -freaking- down the street, and y’all are in here getting down on kids?!”

He darted out the door, joining the madness that was consuming where we lived…

What exactly…was going on out there?

There were four now, and the guy with a gun seemed pissed,

“Forget him,” he took a step towards us, “Just search the -dang- house and take everything you can…this is a rich area anyways-”

“You get the heck out!!” Jason shouted, and it sounded more like a suggestion than an actual threat, “w-we won’t let you stay here..!”

The dude stopped, his eyes boring into Jason for a moment as a loud explosion rang from afar,

“Aren’t you…” he turned to his ‘buddies’, “Isn’t that the Cole kid?!”

The other guys, the ones who seemed to have a problem with all this a second ago, stiffened,

“Yeah..yeah it is.”

“That means this place must be loaded!!”

“Y-yeah..!”

The guy laughed loudly, a laugh that didn’t imply humor but the sheer weight of rising insanity,

“Oh boy…I-I’m sorry..” He took a breath, reaching for his pant leg,

I slowly hooked the toes of my shoe around the base of the couch behind us, sliding my other foot to the side a little.

The man glanced at me, then at Jason,

“Y-you see,” he called out to us, “T-the world out there…is no place for k-kids.”

The other looters were already creeping towards other areas of the house, all seeming to be in a hurry to get away from their ‘leader’. It was like they knew he was crazy, but didn’t care.

“S-so just…hold on, a minute…okay? Ha.”

“I’m going for Uncle’s office...” Jason’s thoughts pierced my brain, causing my eyes to flick to the right at the room behind the staircase.

I just nodded slightly, looking back at the man. Jason wasn’t faster than bullets…and right now…neither was I.

I…I needed more time to think.

Then, just like that, the man’s expression shifted…his fingers tensed…his smile curled…and the gun was out.

The moment his fingers had touched the gleaming silver of the weapon, I was already moving, sweeping my foot forwards while dragging the couch along with it.

The scrape of the couch feet upon the tile was nothing compared to the thunder of gunshots as bullets tore through the sectional, both mine and Jason’s screaming echoing through the air as I pushed Jason hard towards the office door.

Crack!

I slumped behind the furniture cover I had just set up, feeling a sudden pain flare through my body.

No…

The rapid fire cursing protruding from the front room didn’t stop even as I heard the man pause to reload, mountains of feathers and fluff now drifting about the air, “-FREAKING- KIDS!”

I was struggling to breathe for a moment, blood seeping from my mouth in tiny droplets as I felt a stinging pain in my back.

I felt my back slowly as I glanced at Jason a couple of feet away.

He had made it to the office unscathed, but he was staring at me with wide eyes.

I felt the crushed metal of what I assumed used to be a bullet, almost able to crack a grin when I didn’t feel any actual opening in my flesh.

Oh…

I thought for a moment, fully addressing the pain.

That’s actually not that bad…

I groaned, relieved that a gunshot without any excess was actually less of a gunshot and more of a really hard punch.

That being said..I still did not like getting shot, and my back still pulsed with pain every time I moved.

“Oh my gosh,” I realized, relief quickly being replaced with fear again, “I was just shot...what the heck is wrong with these guys…”

“JUST -FREAKING- SEARCH THE HOUSE, HURRY UP!”

I spun my crouched down body around to face the seat of the couch, peering through a bullet hole to see three of the four men run towards the kitchen.

The fourth was the guy with the gun, and he was currently fumbling with another magazine of ammo that was wrenched between his belt and his phone. He hadn’t moved…still directly in line with the door.

In line with me.

Seeing an opportunity, I grabbed the couch from its underside, throwing all my weight into it half-blindly while releasing a roar of pain.

I was shocked at how fast the thing closed the thirty foot gap between us, the man not even having time to curse before all ten feet and 300 pounds of pillow had smashed into his body.

Instead, he cried out in pain as he hit the floor, screaming in agony as his legs were stuck under the weight of the furniture.

I drew myself up to full height as another cough of pain escaped my lips, turning to my right at the group of men in the kitchen.

I was out of cover, seeing as I had just tossed it, but I was plenty high on anger.

and… it wasn’t like any of them had a gun.

I shrugged off the remaining stinging rippling across my spine.

The closest one was at the fridge, bundles of instant meals stuffed in his palms,

“What the -freak- was that?!?!” He yelled, the other three forming up on him with equally shocked expressions.

“HEY MIRA, THIS HOUSE DOOR IS OPEN LET’S CHECK THIS-WHAT?!”

We all turned back to the front door as a group of three entered the house, each staring down at the couch and the crying dude underneath it,

“More?” I questioned, “Are there really this many looters in the city right now?!”

These people looked just as normal as the ones in the kitchen.

One was literally wearing glasses, which was like a big ‘no’ to me when it came to my perception of thieves, and they all looked scared.

Not scared of me…or anything in the house…just generally scared.

Scared like I was.

Scared like I was sure everyone was.

But that was no excuse.

The three new ones stepped further inside, pulling out kitchen knives they had probably grabbed from their own houses and even screwdrivers.

“Jason!” I shouted out, knowing he was still hiding in the office, “Go get the gun!”

“Hey shut the -freak- up!!” A new mugger said. This one was a woman, and she was pointing at me, “G-Get over here!!!! A-AND STOP THAT OTHER ONE!”

Jason was charging up the stairs, the others following.

The woman just huffed at me, turning to follow Jason, “Hey kid!” she yelled out, “Stop him! He might know where all the good stuff is!”

Before I could go back up Jason, my vision suddenly went sideways,

Bang!

My head turned slightly as I felt the metal of a crowbar bend on my jaw.

I slowly bought my head back towards the previous problem.

The man looked to be in his mid twenties, and his expression was what you would expect.

“What the-!!!”

SMASH!

I shot my palm into his chest, watching his body convert to a rag-doll as something in him audibly broke against the fridge handle.

I tried to fight down any sparks of guilt that rushed through my mind, telling myself that he asked for it.

I gritted my teeth, still feeling the gunshot on my back…the smile that he had…the stupidity…this is what people decided to do in this situation…people…

They were all asking for it.

He withered on the floor as blood leaked from his nose.

My head was still slightly spinning when I turned to the last two that were left from the original group.

A baseball bat and some brass knuckles.

Baseball bat guy clearly didn’t care about whatever I could do, since he was already running at me.

As the bat came down towards me I moved closer to his body, gripping his wrist with my left hand before using my right to grab the hem of his jeans.

I felt the force of the swing on my left side, swinging both my hands behind me as I carried the weight of his attack into the sink counter across from the fridge.

His head hit the corner of the granite, the rest of him sinking downwards into unconsciousness as I walked forwards towards the brass knuckle guy.

This one seemed a bit faster on the uptake, backing up before finding himself trapped between our yard door and me.

Terrified.

“H-hey kid…I don’t know…what you’re on, b-but-AAAAGH!”

My hand was on his neck, a light buzz flooding my system as my eyes dimmed red,

“Shut up…” I whispered, forcing myself not to smile like a maniac as the sparking of excess ran along my body once more.

It felt safe.

It felt secure.

It felt…good.

I fed only for a couple more seconds, the broken bulbs above us temporarily flickering into life as the man screamed and screamed in pain.

I unhanded him, watching him mumble something before falling face first on the glass covered tile.

I whipped around, cursing under my breath when I didn’t see Jason or the other three in the front or living room,

“Okay, loot the place and take anything you ca-!!!??”

I halted my dash for the stairs, angrily turning towards the front door for the third time today to witness four more guys enter our house.

All scared. All desperate. All….insane.

“K-kid..!” one yelled, stepping forward before revealing a large pipe, “I…I don’t want to have to hurt you!”

What must’ve been the hundredth explosion erupted in the distance, this one sounding like it could’ve been only a couple blocks away.

I sighed,

“I’ll make this quick,”

—----------------------------PERSPECTIVE SWAP: JASON COLE : FIVE MINS AGO------------

Frick.

Frick.

Frick.

Friiick.

“SLOW THE -FREAK- DOWN KID!!!”

The woman with a knife yelled as I made it up the last step.

Because I was stupid, I went into the first room I saw and locked the door.

My bedroom.

Not my aunt’s bedroom.

Not the room with the freaking gun.

Frick!

BANG BANG!

I backed up towards my closet as the door was smashed open, all three lunatics flooding in before taking a look around.

Their eyes glazed over Damien’s side of the room, over all our framed photos, over my aquarium, and finally to me,

“Where’s all th-the good stuff?!” One guy that didn’t even sound like an adult demanded. He was literally wearing glasses…

Despite my pumping adrenaline, I glared at him,

“The ‘good stuff’?!!” I repeated, backing up against my closet door as they stepped closer, “This is our freaking bedroom, not a meth lab.”

“D-don’t get smart with me!!!” he ordered, stepping forwards with his screwdriver.

“How old are you, 17?!” I asked again.

The other two, including the only woman with an actual knife, were now looking around the room, fully trusting that this guy could just ‘handle me’.

I mean…I got that I was pretty incapable…but like…a screwdriver.

“I will K-kILL you!!” he barked, squeezing the sharp metal even tighter.

Sweat rolled down my neck as I glanced to my left and right for something…anything.

“E-erm…you know, you don’t like… have to kill me…?” I tried making conversation.

“SHUT UP…J-JUST SHUT UP!” he yelled. His eyes were glazed over with uncertainty, like he couldn’t process what was going on fully.

I went quiet.

It was then I remembered my axe.

The axe I had taken from my father’s collection.

The axe stored behind the closet I was leaning on.

If I could take this guy out, I could get it and at least not be totally defenseless.

I needed…a distraction.

“We need to go, Mira!” One of the two hissed behind the guy in front of me, “Those things from the news are going to be in this place any second!”

The woman who I assumed was Mira spoke next, “J-just a little more stuff, and then we’ll leave. P-plus, I’ve never even seen one…”

The dude talking to Mira looked frustrated, clearly stressed as sweat ran down his face, “Whatever…I need to get back to my dad…this whole thing has got him and me so anxious.”

He walked into our bathroom, and I heard the sink start running, “Th-this it just too much.” I heard him splash some water on his face, “It's too -freaking- dark in here.”

“Hey why are you so quiet?!!” the guy in front of me stepped forwards with the screwdriver.

I couldn’t keep myself from speaking…it was just what I did in these situations,

“You told me to ‘shut up’, idiot! Make up your mind!”

“What did you just say-!”

Suddenly, all the lights flashed back to life temporarily, a guttural scream coming from downstairs as everyone but me turned to the door.

Now!

I instantly dove for the guy’s legs, tackling him onto the carpet as I ripped the screwdriver from his hand.

“HEY GET OFF-”

“You shut up!” I ordered.

I had my knee against his chest, the tip of the screwdriver pressed against his throat as his eyes went wide.

“P-please…” he muttered.

I looked up at his friends.

‘Mira’ was back to looking at me, drawing her knife out while the other guy that was in the bathroom just stared at the floor, water from the sink dripping down onto the floor as he walked to Mira’s side.

Something was…off.

I looked at Mira, “Don’t move…o-or I’ll kill him!”

She suddenly just smiled, “You?!” she laughed, “Your hands are shaking, rich boy.”

I gritted my teeth, knowing she was right.

This…was another person…another human being.

“Get him, Nathan.” she nodded at the other guy.

When he didn’t do anything she looked at him, “Nath-”

“I…don’t feel good.” his body began shaking, blood suddenly gushing from his lips as he maintained eye contact with the floor.

Mira shrieked as the glob of blood splattered across the carpet.

I gulped.

Frick.

I couldn’t tell if it was blood or water that was dripping off his face now.

Was it from the sink?

W-why was it red?

‘Nathan’ looked up slowly at Mira, his pupils dilated completely as more blood began rushing out of his eyes and ears.

“L-let me go!!” the kid under me cried out, “MIRA!!! I-I’ve seen this sh** before!!! He’s one of THEM!”

I got up, seeing no reason to keep him there as he immediately charged for the door.

Mira tried to follow but was stopped by Nathan’s hand.

She pulled away frantically, “N-nathan, stop..” she started quietly, watching as Nathan’s body began convulsing violently.

“N-NATHAN, LET GO! I SAID LET GO!”

Nathan fell to his knees, his clothes beginning to tear as all his muscles began to bulge outwards.

It was like his body was swelling up without a limit, like some kind of inflatable manikin..

“RAAAGH!” He cried out and whipped his head back as a bronze light pulsed from within his eyes, the same colored sort of static protruding from his flesh as the color of his skin morphed into a charcoal black from the heat. His body kept growing and growing, blood spraying out like geysers of water as his skin was torn from stretching to lengths it wasn’t designed to stretch, “RAAAAAGH!”

A heat mirage had begun to form around him as his skin was burnt to a crisp all the while still holding Mira’s hand,

“H-HELP, SOMEONE HELP!” she cried out, screaming in pain as her hand was given third degree burns.

The air was starting to smell of flesh…burnt flesh…

Frick!

Screwing it all, I flung the screw driver full force at the monster’s still developing hand, watching as it embedded itself into the thing’s wrist.

It shrieked, the lights flickering once more as it let go of Mira’s hand.

She took one look at me, not even whispering thank you before going for the door.

I was about to flip her off when the monster stood up, his head a mere inch from touching the eight foot ceiling as it barred razor sharp, blood soaked, glowing teeth.

I looked at the monstrosity, Its skin still falling off in pieces as it practically materialized in front of Mira within a second.

She barely had time to scream before its huge hand had gripped her whole head in one swoop, her desperate cries now muffled behind a wall of smoking black.

She had dropped the knife, now using her hands to unsuccessfully pry open the thing’s death grip.

My mouth was hanging open in disbelief, knowing there was nothing I could do.

Even though this thing wasn’t nearly as big as the monster that was in our backyard, I still couldn’t do a single thing.

Not one…

And I was…so scared.

The thing looked down at Mira’s flailing form, then looked at me.

My blood ran cold when its eyes lit up with something like excitement, watching as it lifted Mira up by her head with one hand.

I could hear her screams increase in volume. More thrashing…more kicking…nothing working.

It glanced back at Damien’s side of the bedroom, looking at the window by his dresser.

I saw the bulging muscles on its arm tense up, more blood escaping its body when they did.

“What’s it doing-?!”

CRASH!

“NO!!!” I couldn’t stop myself from yelling when the creature’s arm shot towards the glass, Mira’s screaming body flying out of the monster’s palm, through the window and down…and down…and down…. and,

Crack!

No more screaming.

I didn’t even know her, but…to see it happen…

I couldn’t find the air to breathe, despite the new breeze floating into the bedroom from the now broken window. I was now clearly able to hear the sirens whaling in the distance, feel the explosions rocking the city, and see how insignificant this all was.

I glanced past the demon at the shattered window, viewing the millions of smoking houses in the distance. In how many other homes was this exact same thing happening?

What actually mattered?

I found myself frozen as the seven foot abomination stalked towards its new target, its teeth illuminating the darkened room like a blinding bolt of copper-colored fire.

Its hands were long and disproportionate, its feet twisted and bleeding, and its mouth wide open.

It showed off its full set of teeth like a display case, bringing its body downwards as the very action caused the room to shake.

It came down to my height, my tongue able to taste the sulfur of its breath as it stopped just inches from me.

I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t. Its expression was lifeless, yet sparking with terror, the man that used to be there unrecognizable behind those empty eyes.

I wanted to run, but I couldn’t.

I wanted to scream, to cry, to do anything, but I just…couldn’t.

I let out a shaky breath as a shadow passed overhead.

But the shadow wasn’t just a shadow; no, it was the roof of the monster’s mouth, all torn up and leaking a black substance.

I felt it drip onto my hair, the temperature going up in degree as I entered deeper into the thing’s throat.

I could hear tissue ripping and bones cracking as it somehow was able to open its mouth to the height of my entire face, each sound sending chills down my spine while its tongue curled towards my ear.

I felt one tear roll down my face, the drop mixing with whatever other liquids and fluids were being dumped on me as I was sent into what could be my last thoughts.

All I could see was the emptiness…the void inside the monster.

Would I become just like that girl?

She had a name…Mira…

…Dead without anyone next to me?

Another tear.

“Th-this really sucks…” I realized, feeling what little amounts of light entering the mouth begin to decrease.

The teeth were being brought down slowly, like this thing was savoring my taste.

I mentally prayed that everyone else would be okay…that this wouldn’t have to happen to my friends…to auntie…to Uncle Tony.

A-and this was like…the first day of everything going to hell…and I had to die?!

That was so…fitting, for me.

I didn’t have any connections that could help with leads like Melissa, I wasn’t super cool like Selina, I wasn’t as level-headed as Hiru, and I wasn’t even going to get started on Damien.

Would there really be any loss?

“I just take up space…” I thought, “M-maybe this will be helping.”

I could feel the monster’s huge hands wrap around my body, tightening as it prepared to bite my head off.

The tips of teeth had begun scraping my hair when suddenly…

Bang!

I heard the door kick open,

“HANDS OFF!”

KABOOOM!

Suddenly, my entire line of sight flashed in a blinding red, the heat rising at least 100 degrees before falling rapidly.

Everything was quiet.

Instead of staring at the darkness that was a monster’s throat, I was looking at the broken window across the room, feeling the breeze rushing through it as liquids rushed down my face.

I looked at the far left wall next to my aquarium, shock flooding my system at the seven foot corpse lying on the carpet with a tire-shaped hole in its chest. Its bronze glow had faded completely, now just a black husk while a trail of ash and burnt carpet followed suit.

My eyes slowly followed the trail back to the right, tracing over each eviscerated bristle staining what was left of the carpet before I reached the bedroom door.

There, standing with his palm outstretched and his eyes flaring a vibrant crimson, was Damien.

-

I shakily stood up as Damien dropped his hand, both of us rapidly surveying the room for anymore random surprises,

“Th-they’re all knocked out downstairs…” Damien stuttered, both our heartbeats incredibly loud as he closed the bedroom door.

Somehow closing the door made it feel safer, even though in reality that was not the case.

I felt uncomfortable with all the…stuff on my head, but I wasn’t thinking of any of that until we were officially… or at least kind of safe.

“T-two of mine got away…” I barely managed to speak.

Both of us kept glancing at the monster’s body.

Damien looked me up and down, but asked, “A-and the other two?”

I nodded at the corpse still slumped two inches away from my nightstand, “One,” then pointed at the broken window, the shards left on the frame still stained with Mira’s blood, “Two.”

Damien and I looked at each other for a moment.

In our eyes held massive amounts of relief and terror swirled together.

We had just survived gunshots, three different break ins, and a monster attack…and it had only been a couple of hours.

Wh-what…how…we shouldn’t have to do this…why did we have to do this….could we…how…why..where was the help?

And even after I thought all of that millions of times, after I glared at the corpse of a monster and went through several heart attacks…I had only one question left.

Why the heck were we both smiling?

Damien’s lips were tugging at a grin, and I could feel mine doing the same.

He began nervously laughing, his head looking upwards for a moment as a tear escaped his eye.

I laughed too, closing the distance between us before singing my arms around his shoulder.

We both took deep breaths of air.

Good…amazing…precious… air.

Don’t get it twisted; we were not happy.

None of this was happy or funny.

But…despite that…we had something that a lot of others did not.

We were alive.

We fell backwards onto the floor for a minute,

“Yo-you’re covered in guts…” Damien laughed, the hand he used to blast the monster quivering as he clenched his fist over and over again.

I punched him in the shoulder, “Well at least it’s not my guts.”

He frowned, “I…I almost wasn’t-”

“But you were,” I stopped him, laughing, “That’s all that matters.”

“You know…I heard you thinking.” Damien said, this time even more quiet as he glanced at me.

I looked back up at the roof, “Oh.”

“You’re not useless.”

“I know…”

“No, you don’t.”

“Okay, so what-?”

“You’re my best friend…how is that useless?”

I paused for a minute, and I could feel his eyes glaring at me,

“Is this some kind of ‘power of friendship’ bull?” I said, laughing.

“It’s not bull,” Damien pouted, “Gosh, you’re so annoying… sometimes.”

“I’m annoying?” I snorted, “Aren’t you trying to make me feel better?”

“I was,” he said, “Until you started making it impossible.”

“Okay, well how am I useful?” I tried, “Give me one.”

“You make everyone smile,” he said.

“That’s a bull answer-”

“It’s not bull!”

“You’re not smiling.”

“That’s cuz you’re being a jerk.”

“Dang,” I breathed, “Annoying jerk, huh?”

Damien smiled.

“You also make really good ideas,” he said, “you help me train, you help me out with personal stuff, and even in school you helped me with homework and stuff, plus you have like…really good deductions.”

I thought for a moment, “Hmmm…really good deductions… all true…go on.”

He grinned, “Also, who else would I play games with?”

“Your girlfriend?”

“She sucks at them-”

“I’m going to tell her that.”

“I’ll blast you.”

“We should probably go, huh?”

Damien groaned, sitting up, “Yeah…probably.”

I sat up too, waves of black goo flying forwards when I did, “Ew.”

“I guess we don’t have time for a shower.” Damien said, standing up while extending his hand downwards.

I took it, “No,” I agreed, standing up, “and I don’t think we even should.”

He frowned, “Erm, why?”

I remembered how ‘Nathan’ even transformed into a monster.

If I was right, I think it was the same reason why all hell chose to break loose today.

I then remembered what was on the slip of paper we had found back at the apartment..

Oh…OH.

Damien squinted at me, “Uhhh, dude, you okay?” he coughed, “You look like you have a-”

“A really good deduction.” I finished, grinning.