AIDAN

After giving Roxy food and water, I walked Lana to the front door. The sooner I got her out of the house and away from whatever was happening to me, the less stressed I would be.

As we passed the dining room, she stopped. “Oh, your present! At least open it first.”

Inhaling deeply, I strode over to the dinner table and picked up the wrapped box. “You didn’t need to get me a second gift. Fixing my car is plenty.”

Lana smiled while swaying back and forth. “Yeah, but you’ve seemed really stressed about school and not living with your mom. I thought this might help.”

I untied the ribbon and eased the tissue paper open. A lump in my throat formed when I saw the framed picture. My eyes welled as I stared at the photo of me, Lana, and Nadia, arms on each other's shoulders and smiling. “Is this from the Saint Matthews Carnival?”

Lana stepped closer to look at the picture with me. “Yeah. I had to go digging through a lot of pics on my computer to find it.”

A tear fell from my eye and I sniffled. “This was the first time the three of us hung out. My childhood best friend and the first friend I made in high school.” I laughed recalling the day. “No one would have ever known you two had just met from the way y’all took to each other. God, everything was so simple six years ago.” I tilted my head back to breathe and wipe the wetness from my eyes. “Ugh. Sorry.”

Lana pulled me in for a hug, staying that way for a few minutes before she let go. “Better?”

Eyes dry, I nodded and smiled. “Yeah. Definitely better and I’ll probably feel fine after I get some rest.”

She returned my grin and moved to the front door. I opened it for her but screamed when I realized someone was on the other side.

Towering a foot in height over us, Chris had his hand over his chest. “What kind of hell is that?” His southern twang pitched up as he ran a hand through his red hair. “Lord, are you trying to give me a heart attack? Y’all know I’m approaching thirty.”

Lana opened the door wider for him to enter. “Chris, you’re only twenty-four.”

He raised a hand, palm out, to her. “Please, don’t remind me I’m hitting the halfway mark this year.” With his other hand, he poked my arms. “Uh, Aidan, what the hell happened to your body?”

With that one reminder, the peace I had momentarily felt evaporated as my situation came back into focus. Lana dropped her head while looking up at Chris. “He’s roiding.”

Chris nodded as he regarded my physique. “Okay. You gave into the stereotype, but you also look real good. I approve.”

Lana lightly slapped Chris’ arm. “Don’t encourage him. Do you realize how much juicing it would take to look like this so quickly?”

I raised my finger to get his attention. “How’d you know I didn’t have class today?”

He pointed at Lana. “This little snack said she was dropping by in the morning and I thought I’d join the party. She also said she needed more diet coke to cuddle with because her raincoat wasn’t big enough to sleep in.”

Hands raised in defense; Lana’s eyes went wide. “I'm having trouble giving into the Ambien.”

Chris looked at the picture frame in my hand before reaching for it. “Well, this is cute, but it’s missing something.” He bit his lip as he scanned the photo. “Oh, I know. We just need to photoshop me in.”

After they both left and were safely away from me, my stress returned. A bath and weed hadn’t been much help but there was one place that always managed to ease my mind. I waited a few minutes until I was sure Chris and Lana were far enough away before jumping in my car.

Driving down Napoleon Avenue, I turned right on Magazine Street towards Audubon Park. The street was lined with shops and restaurants, all bustling with rowdy tourists. After parking and stepping out my car, I breathed in the fresh air while walking to the large stone archway platform near the pond. As much as I wanted Nadia with me, she was safer far away. It was comforting to know I had kept her out of harm's way by convincing her to go.

Once at the archway, I climbed the steps and sat on the platform's edge with my legs dangling ten feet from the ground. The park pond was still, save for a few breezes touching the surface. But why was the park so vacant? There should have been at least a couple of joggers. The clouds turned dark and covered the sun. It looked like a storm was coming.

"Who the hell are you?"

I whipped my head around and saw a guy standing under the arch. He appeared about my age with an olive complexion, honey-brown hair, and a large build similar to my new one. The creep would have been handsome if not for his pompous expression.

I glanced around me to confirm he was talking to me. “I beg your pardon?”

He paced while scrutinizing me. "You're sitting out in the open, so you're too stupid to be working with us."

I raised an eyebrow and stood. "Are with you with the Department of Parks and Recreation?” My eyes glanced around but didn’t see anyone else. “Is that why no one is at the park today?”

He stared at me like I was a science experiment. “How did you even get the Nexus?” His eyes and smile widened at the jewel. "And you're just wearing it on your neck."

Nexus? “Uh, what? I mean.” I glanced at the red stone. “It--it’s a necklace. Most people wear necklaces, you know, around their neck.” One of us was confused, but if this encounter was going to be anything like the previous night, things were about to clear up.

His mouth curved on one side. “I’m going to play with your intestines after I kill you. Definitely keep your head for, you know, personal time.”

My head cocked back, unable to process his words. “Wait, what? That’s—is this about last night, because I swear, I didn’t mean for that to happen.”

He lowered his face as he glared at me and grinned. "You have no idea how screwed you are."

I was torn. If I tried giving the necklace to this guy, the same thing would probably happen as the previous night. The only difference being, I was pretty sure this guy would kill me. I raised a hand in defense. “Listen. I can’t give you this necklace. It’ll blast you away, or blow you up. Seriously. I’m not messing around.”

His smile stretched from ear to ear. "And here I assumed this would be a senseless killing. So, what you are saying is that the Nexus has bonded to you? Wow. Well, you’re right. I can't take it. Not while you're alive.” He returned my confused expression with a chuckle. "Are you really that stupid? The Nexus can't be bound to you if you are no longer here to be bound to. How is that hard to comprehend?"

Had I just signed my own death warrant? My hands shook, and sweat ran down my spine.

He clapped his hands and rocked on the balls of his feet. “Oh, man. This is great. Well, I'm going to have to kill you. That’s a fact. But I’d rather not do it here. Things would get messy. Blood everywhere. That sort of thing. So, follow me.”

This time, I lifted both hands, palms forward. “Please, I’m begging you. I don’t know where this thing came from. I don’t want it. Maybe we can find a way for you to take it without anything bad having to happen.”

The stranger raised his fist and rushed towards me. I threw my arms up to protect my face, but nothing happened. After lowering my hands, I saw the guy was immobile, stuck mid-punch. I was about to take a closer look when he and the park rapidly spun around me. Right away, my stomach churned from the dizziness. I dropped onto all fours, ready to vomit. Crouched down, my body locked into place as something deep inside traveled to the surface. Unable to move, my eyes watered before a roar erupted from my mouth. My lips stretched as the sound exploded out of me.

After it ended, I took a second to catch my breath and wipe my tears. I stood and realized I was no longer in the park. All around me was a desolate wasteland of dry dirt and dead trees. Was I dead and didn’t realize it?

A few yards away, shadowy wisps rose from the ground like smoke. The darkness separated and solidified into several hideous beasts identical to the one I saw the previous night. The humanoid monsters snarled as their limbs snapped and cracked while running toward me. Leaving the house had been a huge mistake. I tried to back up, but my legs wouldn’t listen. Arms, legs, head; none of them would move for me.

I watched in horror as hundreds of monsters closed in on me. All of the sudden, I was darting between the beasts, dodging every swipe. Still, nothing my body did was under my control. I was an audience trapped inside as I darted between the monsters. The shock was still coursing through my brain when I spoke. “Try as you might. You shall not win this fight.”

What was happening to me? I just wanted a nice normal birthday. Circling the monsters, my hands waved at the horde, and an invisible force sent the beasts flying. My hands retracted and then thrusted forward before a barrage of thorn-covered black vines shot from my palms. The slick tendrils latched onto the still airborne beasts.

I spun around and spotted twice as many coming at me. The next thing I knew, I was flying into the air, higher and faster than humanly possible. My acrophobia kicked in big time. 30,000 feet high, I wanted to vomit.

A wave of adrenaline rolled through me but stopped at my shoulder blades. The back of my shirt ripped open and a pair of bat wings expanded behind me. However, I forgot about them the moment I plummeted face-down at a terrifying speed. Inside of my head, I was using every swear word while screaming at the top of my lungs.

The force from impacting with the earth obliterated the monsters. The experience definitely took a few years off my life. Once the smoke and dirt cleared, the only thing left was a crater.

The large hole and wasteland rotated around me into a blur. Once the park reformed, I breathed deeply to confirm I was in control. I had a new appreciation for my body. The psychotics stranger resumed moving at normal speed.

Instinctively, I raised my hand to catch his fist, but instead of blocking, I threw the guy into the stone wall. He shook his head, eyes wide with shock and confusion, but pushed back a second later. I tried to keep him pinned to the wall by keeping my hand steady, but in a matter of seconds, he was loose. He stepped towards me and pounded his fists together, releasing a stream of dark energy.

The blast knocked me back. Still standing, I shook off the blast and locked eyes with my attacker. This guy was either going kill me or I could hope the hand trick wasn’t the only thing I gained from the hallucination. A second later, he rushed toward me. Using my new arm and leg muscles, I grabbed him by the throat and rammed him into the opposing wall. "If you would just listen to me. I don’t want to hurt you." He responded by kicking my stomach and pushing the air out of me. My grip on his neck tightened and the bones cracked underneath my fingers.

The sociopath’s eyes blinked away from hazel to completely white except for black pupils. He pulled my hand away and flipped me twenty feet into the air. With incredible speed, he ran up the wall and pushed off the stone. His foot slammed into my stomach, and I flew to the other side of the arch.

I focused strength in my legs and propelled myself forward. The psycho and I smashed into the thick wall, creating a large groove into the stone.

He grabbed my arm and flipped us both out of the indentation. I was trying to brace for the fall when the psycho planted his feet on my back. Using the momentum of our landing, he smashed me into the platform.

Surprisingly still conscious, I rolled off my stomach. Seconds later, I was engulfed with unspeakable agony. It felt like needles were running through my bloodstream about to tear through every pore. I jerked around the cold stone, trying to feel anything on my skin but the pain.

He laughed as he walked around me. “Man, you are a lot of fun. You got a couple of good hits in, but I'm kind of bored now.”

I could barely hear him over my own screams from the searing pain. However, something was building inside me. A spark of rage lit deep within, quickly growing. It was like a primordial flame about to explode and burn away anything in my path. It consumed me. I was going to burst. As I reached the tipping point, my eyes shot open and locked onto my attacker.

A force rushed out of me and pinned him against the archway ceiling. After the agony subsided and my focus returned, I remembered something from my hallucination. I went through the motions of retracting my arms and then thrusting them upward. The black vines flew from my hands and slithered onto the stranger.

While he screamed from inside the writhing mass, I stood to dodge his falling blood. Taking a good look at the vines, I realized I had been mistaken about them. They were actually huge lamprey-mouthed worms covered with spikes.

The shock shattered my focus and the stranger dropped with a moist splat. A shiver ran down my spine when the lamprey worms laughed and giggled at his struggle.

Their tunes changed to high-pitched screeches as they caught fire and burned away. What was in front of me then was a mutilated mess. My attacker, on his hands and knees, coughed up blood in chunks. He raised his head, revealing lacerations on his face. "Son of a whore! Who the hell attacks with worms?"

He stood, hemorrhaging from the many gashes. Within seconds, the tissue, tendons, and skin reconstituted themselves. His face twisted in rage as he lunged forward to grab my throat and pin me against a wall. “This ends now.” He raised his hand and a pulsating black dagger materialized. Before I could defend myself, he plunged the knife into my stomach again, and again. I watched droplets of my blood flying through the air each time he retracted the blade. With one last stab, he dug the knife in and left it there.

I was in shock. The man’s hands slipped away and I collapsed. All I could do was stare at the sky and hold the dagger stuck inside of me as my torso became warm with my own blood. I barely registered I was being dragged. With one foot in his hand, the stranger pulled me towards a dark vortex. I knew I should fight back, but I could barely breathe. Helpless, I watched as we inched closer towards the swirling black. Blood pooled around me and stained the platform. My breathing was watery and my vision blurred. I closed my eyes and everything faded.

***

I awoke with a gasp and lunged forward. Eyes wide, I heaved in terror. I was still in the park and the stone still hung from my neck. Something was caught in between my fingers. I lifted my hands and screamed. It was entrails. What had I done? Hyperventilating, I threw the carnage and stood, but a sharp pain shot through my abdomen. With careful hands, I lifted my blood-stained shirt. The blade was gone, but I still saw multiple wounds in my torso. Shockingly, none were bleeding and even partially healed. However, I was covered head to toe in blood.

Then I saw it. The red. It was all around. From the platform to the top of the arch, blood and flesh covered almost every inch of stone. There was even some on the grass below glaring at me. I barely made it down the steps before vomiting.