This is the best way to die. Thought Justin while staring into a wall of ice that surrounded him on all sides. He was becoming frozen in a solid block of ice in some area of the woods in New York. As his sight started to fail him, he thought he saw the one person he was counting on to stop this madness, his mother Elaine. Her gaze didn’t falter from its fixed position on her son, as he slowly died, frozen forever as a teenager in a block of ice.
“When can we begin the research?” Elaine asked eagerly about her once beloved son.
“Not until we know for sure he’s gone.” A man in a lab coat replied. They checked to make sure there are no impurities in the surface of the ice, and then tipped him over onto a sled on the back of a snowmobile. It sped away towards the road where they parked their van earlier in the day.
The van pulled into a building two hours away, and unloaded poor Justin, still frozen solid in ice into a tub of water that was below freezing temperatures to help keep the ice thick, the lid closed on the tub and immediately froze the water inside. The group checked to make sure that the lid was on nice and tight and that everything was safe for the time coming up. After the check was finished, everyone started to leave for home, the lights were turned off and the door closed in on Justin, leaving him alone for the rest of the winter.
In May the group returned, six months after they caught Justin and left him to finish dying. As the lights came on, they revealed the tub of ice with a crack running along the length and most of the depth of it. The team went over to get a closer look at it and saw no other damage to their merchandise.
“OK, now that we know he’s dead we can melt him down and start the tests.” A middle-aged man said to his partner who was looking at Justin with great interest. She nodded, walked over to a computer and pushed a few keys on the keyboard; a mechanical voice overhead said, “Stand back, melting started.” Men with pressure washers moved towards Justin, spraying water at the ice. Pieces of ice came off in chunks and fell to the floor where they were quickly washed away down a drain along with the rest of the melting ice and runoff water. After a little while, there was only a thin layer of ice surrounding Justin. The middle-aged man raised his hand and the water stopped immediately. Justin was then lowered into a bath of warm water.
They laid the body down carefully on an examination table after he was melted. Two assistants went over to him to fasten wrist and ankle restraints on him. “Dr. if he’s dead, then why do we need those?” his partner inquired while gesturing towards the restraints.
“It’s for precautionary measures my dear.” He replied.
Shortly after that the team began their work, people clad in medical gowns and masks gathered around the table waiting. The middle-aged doctor came towards the table with his assistant holding a tray of menacing looking silver tools. He held out his hand as his assistant set a knife into it, he bent down closer to Justin’s chest, put the knife against his chest and drew it in a straight line from the center of his chest up towards his right shoulder. Suddenly there was a loud clanking sound, the sound of metal links clinking together angrily and Justin’s eyes opened wide with fear and the ragged yell of pain. He tried to move his hands to the torn flesh, but couldn’t due to the wrist restraints. The doctor straightened upright but wasn’t scared or startled as everyone else in the room was.
“That is why we needed those, my dear.” The doctor replied calmly.
Justin struggled against his restraints to try to break free from his prison. Upon failing his first few attempts at speaking, he took a long breath and tried again, this time with much better results.
“What are you doing, are you crazy?” he shouted hysterically. “What am I doing here?”
“Justin, please lay still for the time being. You are here to help us in a bit of research about some, special people.” The doctor told him.
Justin calmed down a bit and raised his head, he looked at the doctor who spoke to him and tried to focus his vision that was very blurred due to the time he spent frozen. The doctor’s nameplate read, ‘Dr. M. Marshal’, Justin whispered the name to himself.
“Yes Justin that’s correct, I am Dr. M. Marshal. Now, please lay still so I can do this.” He motioned to one of the others in the room and they brought a syringe of clear liquid Justin didn’t like the look of. Dr. Marshal had another person hold Justin still while he injected the entire amount into Justin’s system. He immediately felt a tingling feeling spread through him until he could no longer feel a thing; he only knew that Dr. Marshal continued as if nothing happened because when he looked the next time, he saw the skin of his chest was pulled open like a book. When he looked closer he saw his heart, but it couldn’t have been his own because he was alive, and that heart was still, frozen in time. He lowered his head back down, closed his eyes, and fell asleep from the injection they gave him.
The lights were still on when he woke, but he saw no one, when he lifted his head he saw that he had been sewn back up and mostly healed. How long was I out for? He thought to himself. Dr. Marshal came walking back into the room with a tray of food on it, “Are you going to feed your prisoner or not?” Justin asked him.
“If I unlock you, are you going to run off?” he replied. Justin shook his head no and the Dr. went over to Justin and unlocked his wrists then backed up. Justin immediately sat up to get his ankles. He swung his feet down to stand, but couldn’t. His legs wouldn’t support him right away, he shook out his limbs, shaking a feeling out of them that was not very different from electrical shock.
He sat for a little and looked around at his surroundings, he saw what he was hoping to find, a pile of clothes dropped on the floor by the examination table. He gestured to the clothes and the Dr. confirmed what Justin was hoping for. He bent down and picked up the pile, in it were underclothes, loose jeans, and a black long sleeved shirt. He asked Dr. Marshal if there was a bathroom around and Marshal pointed behind him to a small washroom.
Inside it was smaller than it looked, the toilet was almost right in front of the sink and the door barely cleared the sink. Justin got dressed and looked into the mirror, a person stared back that wasn’t who he was expecting, instead of an 18 year old with short dark brown hair and light blue eyes, he was looking at an 18 year old with blonde hair that had dark brown roots and black eyes. He looked closer to the eyes in the mirror to see if there were any contacts, but his eyes were a black that was darker than a night sky with no moon.
He left the small washroom and asked Dr. Marshal angrily, “What did you do to me? I look completely different now.”
“I was testing a few theories out on you, as you have just seen and I have been seeing, it appears they worked, there’s just one thing I cannot comprehend. How is it that someone like you can live with no heartbeat or pulse at all?” He picked at some fruit that was on the plate, looking thoughtfully on something in the distance. “Care for something to eat?” he held the plate out towards Justin, offering the food to him.
“What’s wrong with it?” Justin asked suspiciously. “Nothing, I just was wondering if you were hungry after all that time. If you don’t want it, then…” he trailed off. Justin reached over and grabbed an apple from the tray, deciding it couldn’t be that bad.
The bite of it took him off guard, there was no flavor or taste in his mouth, he felt it and could smell it, but couldn’t taste or swallow it. He spat it our onto the floor and looked at the apple, then at Dr. Marshal, confused, looking for answers. “That’s very interesting; tell me, what’s wrong with it?”
“There’s no flavor and I can’t swallow it no matter how much I try.” Justin answered as he went to a trash bin to throw it out, and then looked back at the Dr., waiting to give a reason to the whole thing.
“Well, it appears that you don’t require food to survive, tell me, are you breathing right now? And drink this, it’s coffee.” Marshal handed Justin a large mug of coffee as he said it. After a little wait, Justin replied with an answer, “No, I don’t think I’m even breathing right now. What does this all mean?” he took a long drink of the coffee without noticing it, then realized what it meant, he could have beverages, but not solid food, and that he was different from his old self. “I can drink, but not eat. I can live without a pulse or breathe, what am I?”
“I suppose you are an experiment gone right, you heal at an exceptional rate as well, as you may have already noticed for yourself. My theory is a true immortal being, given a few years in here under observation and we’ll know for sure if you’re the most popular form of one or not.”
A few years? I don’t think so, it’s not gonna happen. He thought to himself. He set down the mug calmly, and then ran towards the exit as fast as he could manage with his stiff limbs. Marshal motioned to someone and immediately there were people there with guns and ropes blocking the exit. Some of the men with guns targeted Justin as others with ropes moved in from behind, he stopped short and turned to flee another direction but he was surrounded on all sides, trapped- and treated- like and animal. When Justin turned his attention back to the men with guns he was attacked from behind by the ones with rope. They bound his hands together then to his body, quickly followed by his legs, they moved him onto a bed that was in the corner. They took chains from the walls by the bed and chained his hands they loosened the ropes around his torso and wrists and tightened the chains in the walls, then did the sane with his feet but with chains on the floor. Justin struggled against his bonds, but to no effect, the ropes were removed entirely from him and the men went away to guard the exits.
“Justin, I thought you said you wouldn’t run away if I let you go free, and now you’re here, chained up like a prisoner. I thought I could trust you on this one little request of mine, but I can see that you have failed me on that.”
“Why should I stay, so you and others can open up a freak show with me as the main attraction? I don’t think so; there is no way in hell that I am going to stay here for a few years just so that you can have some fun.”
Dr. Marshal sighed, “I guess you’re right, there is no way you would stay here by your own free will, which is why you’re there and I’m here. But you will stay here for a while for some tests, whether it’s of your own free will or not it doesn’t matter for me in the least.” He walked off out the door, turning the lights off on Justin again for the second time. Justin tried desperately to get free in the dark, but finally gave up and laid his head down on the bed, darkness claimed him again in a dreamless sleep that would last longer than he expected.

The darkness was finally disrupted by a blinding light shining in his eyes. Thoughtlessly he reached up to shield his eyes from the light, only to have it be reclaimed by the chains on his wrists. He looked up at them and saw that they were bloody and his wrists were covered in blood, his ankles he noticed were the same, just as bloody, if not worse.
“Finally, you’re awake. We were wondering if you were even still alive, it’s been a while, four years to be exact.” A new man told Justin. “Don’t worry, I’ve been told all about your condition and history here, I won’t let you down about that.” This one was young, just out of college type young. He was just like Dr. Marshal except the age; this one’s name was Henry, no other name or initial on his silver name tag.
Justin looked at Henry surprised, “I was asleep for four years, how is that even possible? What happened to the other doctor, Marshal, did he die a slow and painful death while I was out- I hope.” The last part he asked with a smile on his face.
“He died two years ago from a heart attack, I’m actually surprised no one told you about it, or woke you up to tell you about it.”
“Apparently they can’t be bothered to wake me up for anything, not even to unchain ne and let me stretch my limbs for a little while.” Justin was looking at the chain that hung from Henry’s neck with a key strung on it. “Never wake a sleeping dragon, huh? And let me guess, I am the dragon this time.”
Henry looked shocked at this, because Dr. Marshal told Henry that very same thing when he gave him the key. Henry couldn’t figure out how Justin could have known about that at all, he was chained up and asleep when that happened. He shook his head, “I’m sorry Justin, but I told him that I wouldn’t let him down in that area of this project. I must have you chained at all times, no matter what happens.”
“Oh really, then if I would, oh I don’t know, be able to go into your mind at my own free will and modify a few thoughts, then you would still not let me go?” at that moment, he thrust himself headlong into Henry’s mind, colliding with a solid barrier of control.
“You can’t do that, Dr. Marshal taught me how to defend myself against that sort of thing. So no, that wouldn’t work no matter how long or hard you try.” Justin pulled out of Henry’s mind with a gasp, astonished at the ability the man built up in less than four years.
“If you behave I’ll let you go and walk around a bit, but you’ll be handcuffed and under constant surveillance the whole time.”
“So I’m being treated as an animal, just like I thought would happen. If I’m a good little puppy dog then I’ll get to go out and play.” He said in a mimicking voice of a small child talking to a dog that wants to go out.
“Begin the observations.” Henry said blankly to others in the room, Justin could tell he got Henry pissed at his remark.
The group once again pulled over a tray of silver instruments towards Justin. He struggled to break his bonds once again, but this time it was the same as all his previous attempts. Useless, all it did was cut more into his wrists and ankles, drawing fresh lines of blood on the already bloody mess. There was no way he was going to lay there and let them do that to him again and again until he died or they kill him. As one of them moved closer to him with a knife, silver blade glinting in the artificial light he threw a ball of energy at them hard enough to send them falling backwards on the hard floor, unconscious. Henry grabbed a syringe and bravely walked over to Justin, he tried sending Henry flying, but once again he hit the solid wall of Henry’s mind. Henry grabbed Justin’s arm and injected the contents into his system, he immediately felt tired and couldn’t see straight. They drugged him again to have some fun and games with him as their toy. Before he was pulled into oblivion he felt once again the sharp blade of the knife slice into his chest.

When he woke the room seemed to spin- again. Only this time instead of being greeted by a weird old guy, he was greeted with a young man standing over him looking down on him like a disappointed parent.
“Will you behave long enough to wash off the blood, or do we need to do that with you there?”
Justin processed what Henry said, then answered. “Let me go. I’m of no use to you anymore; you got your research done four years ago.”
“I can’t let you go, because you could not blend with any human society no matter how hard you try, you haven’t aged a day since you were frozen four and a half years ago. Nothing has changed, only your eyes can truly show how old you are or what you’ve been through; you’re frozen all the way through.” Henry bent down towards Justin’s hands to unlock his wrists when Justin used that brief moment when his hand was free to snatch the key from away from Henry and hit him in the chest, forcing him backwards, stumbling and falling over his tools that were set up. The metal scattered and clattered to the ground with a loud crash that reverberated off the walls. Justin quickly unlocked his other wrist, and then freed his ankles. He jumped down off the table and ran towards the exit, this time throwing bursts of power before him knocking the security guards unconscious before they even saw him. The door to the outside drew near, he could feel it, the darkness of the cool night air calling him to it, like a woman to a man who haven’t seen each other in a long time.
A few of the security guards stepped in front of Justin and raised their guns at him, despite the shouts coming from Henry. The guards started taking aim when he threw more bursts of power at them but instead of them falling like the others, they held their ground and fired. The bullets sped at Justin and hit him square in the chest. He staggered and fell to one knee, trying to regain his breath from the shock of getting shot multiple times.
“Get him, he’s down!” Henry shouted to the guards before Justin could regain his balance and stand. The guards rushed at Justin with inhuman speed, before he could think he rushed at them head on, all thought of what might happen lost and forgotten. The guards’ helmets collided with Justin’s torso as he burst through the line they held before him. The guards parted before him as he barreled through them like a football player at the Super bowl. He burst through the doors outside and ran until his legs burned with pain. He kept going as fast as he could until he came upon a parking garage, all the cars in it were high end luxury cars with the best in technology poured into them. When he stopped running a new black 2009 Mustang GT sat before him and caught his eye, the keys still in the ignition, he jumped in and sped out of the parking garage, the tires’ screams echoing behind him as he raced away from his prison. Anyone foolish enough to leave the keys in a car like that did not have the brains to own something like that. He sped onto the highway and kept driving at breakneck speed like he was being chased by the devil himself. Finally, he got off the highway and drove until he found a small town he could hide in. It was a small town in the country with few shops and a school. He kept driving until he found a house for sale near the woods with no one around. The house was a nice size, with light blue siding and trees hiding it for the most part from the rest of the houses in the area. He pulled into the double car garage and parked the car, then went inside to get cleaned up.
Inside it was like the house he grew up in, it had four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a basement; the place he would claim as his own. After that he sought out the bathroom, inside the towels were already there and so were al of his bathing needs. He adjusted the water to the correct temperature then got in. The water ran off in dark rivulets down the drain at first, until he got clean, he looked at his wrists then at his chest, the areas that should have been marred by scar tissue were clean, not a scratch or mark there to show his imprisonment.
He dried himself off then decided that he would have to go shopping for new clothes that weren’t blood stained and torn. He also realized he would have to attend the local school in order for the scientists not to find him- who would escape from a lab then willingly attend school as the new person? The car Justin acquired he soon learned had more in there than the keys and fast-food wrappers.
Down the driveway he sped, heading out to the city mall for what he needed. The idiot who owned the car last left all of their credit cards and debit cards in the glove compartment, so funding the trip was no problem. Inside there were many people walking around talking on their cell phones, and socializing with their friends and family. He was able to find a clothing store with things that didn’t display the store’s name everywhere on it. Then he was off to the electronics store to buy a television and a computer.
The store was almost empty except for a few employees who were talking between themselves. He was surprised at how much technology had evolved in the past years, televisions were now all flat screen, and computers were mainly paper thin laptops.
“Can I help you?” a female employee asked Justin when he entered the store.
“I hope you can, I’m looking foe a computer and television that are both very sturdy.”
“Well, we have a selection of televisions and computers, all of which are very good quality and have top of the line gaming and video capability.” She told him kindly.
“I don’t need so much capability as I need them to be sturdy enough to stand up to me using it.”
The woman looked shocked at Justin, and then another employee approached them and interrupted. “Hello, is there anything I can help you with today?”
Justin looked at the man then answered him. “Yes, I need a sturdy computer and television that can stand up to my type of wear, not one that will do everything but break as soon as I touch it.”
The expression on the man’s face was that of confusion and curiosity. “Well, none of our computers will break that easily, but here’s the best one we have for durability. It also has the best software on the market today.”
“Fine, I’ll take it, and that television there.” Justin pointed to a television on the wall as he said it.
“I must warn you though, both of those are frightfully expensive for someone of your age to afford.”
Justin left the store annoyed and wondering how some people could be so incompetent and still keep their jobs and with several thousand dollars less on the debit card. Justin put the items into the backseat of the car then sped back home, this time not even bothering with speed limits. Once he got back home he hooked everything up then went to the basement and got changed, throwing the old clothes out. He got changed into black jeans, a black long sleeved shirt, and black boots. The school wouldn’t be hard to find, he passed it on his way there, it looked like a small country school where everybody knew everyone.
Monday morning light shined in through the small window in the basement wall, waking and blinding Justin. He got up reluctantly to head off to the school. The drive was short, only five minutes long, but the scenery was repetitive, corn fields and farms the whole way.
As he pulled into the student parking lot he could tell that people were watching him. People stood and watched as he got out of the car, when he looked over at them they all looked away or down. He went to the office to get enrolled when a teacher stopped him and told him to stop roaming the halls and to get to homeroom.
“I’m new here, where do you go to enroll?” he asked.
“Oh, up ahead and on your left, above the door it will say ‘MAIN OFFICE’. You can’t miss it.”
Justin thanked her then followed her directions; sure enough, it was there and very difficult to miss. He walked through the door and caught an office person.
“Hey how would I go about enrolling here? Who do I talk to about that?”
“You need to talk to Miss. Patterson, she’ll be right back in a minute if you’ll wait here I can go get her for you.”
He nodded a yes and she left the room. A minute later a woman came through the door with papers in her hands, Miss Patterson, he presumed. She greeted him then motioned for him to follow her. He sat down on the other side of her desk; she pulled up something on her computer and shook her head. “I’m sorry, but what is your name?” she asked apologetically.
“It’s Justin, Justin Meyers.” She typed his name into the system, this time shaking her head no. A few minutes later she asked him, “What was the name of your last school Justin? I can’t find you in our database for new students.”
“I don’t think you will, I was home schooled since fourth grade, after I got expelled for fighting.”
“Oh well, let me just sign you up here, then you’ll be all set.” She did a bit more typing then printed out a schedule. “Here you go, most of your classes will be over there in that area of the building.” She pointed towards the rooms near the main staircase as she said it. “Have a nice day.” She waved bye to him then sent him on his way to homeroom. His homeroom was packed by then and every head in the room turned to look at him, the new person in a school of rednecks he though, many people were in jeans and dirty farm shirts.
“Are you new here today? I didn’t get a notice about it.” The teacher asked nicely.
“Yes, I just got here. I was home schooled for a while. That’s why you weren’t notified about it, the office personnel didn’t even know about it.”
“Alright then, take a seat in the back there and wait for the bell.” He went away to the back row and sat. all the girls in the room were looking at him and watching him with great interest. When he looked at them in the eye they immediately looked away, embarrassed.
The bell rang and he fled out of the room to try and blend in and avoid the staring eyes his first class was math, followed by gym then English. My morning is going to suck. He thought to himself as he walked to math. The teacher greeted him at the front of the class and wanted him to introduce himself to the class.
“I’d rather not.” He told the teacher, but she was already having everyone sit and listen.
“It’ll be fun, just give it a try Justin.” She encouraged him.
“I’m Justin, just got to the area, was home schooled for several years. That’s about it.” He went to sit in the back but was stopped by the very outgoing teacher.
“How old are you, where are you from, and what’s you favorite part of the school day, least favorite?” she was going to be a real pain for him first thing in the morning for the rest of the year, or until he gets tired of there and leaves.
“I’m 18 years old, from Vermont, my favorite part of the day is the end, and my least favorite part is the morning.” This time the teacher didn’t try to keep him up there any longer, he went and sat down in the very back row of desks, away form traveling eyes. The class drove on for eternity until the bell rang and let them out. The gym was at the other end of the building, but was better than math was, at least in gym they were doing weight lifting in the weight room.
The room smelled heavily of sweat and old socks. In his gym class with him was about half the school’s football team, they were big guys that went directly to the weight bars. Justin saw an empty machine and tried the weight of himself.
“Hey, you think that’s impressive, check this out.” The leader of them went over, sat next to Justin and lifted twice as much, Justin glanced over, stopped, moved the pin and kept going, doubling the weight of the football player. “Oh, did you have to go to a lighter weight; huh, new guy?” he looked over at his buddies to get a ‘good one’ cheer, but when he looked, all he saw was their gaping faces watching Justin. He was now lifting most of the weight plates on the machine without even breaking a sweat. The leader sat and stared, then sputtered incoherent, broken sentences to Justin and walked to the other side of the room to sulk.
“Hey, Meyers! Don’t lift that much weight, you could hurt yourself from it, start off small.” The gym teacher called over to him.
At the end of class the gym teacher pulled Justin aside while everyone went to get changed for their next class. “Hey, I know you’re new here, but you don’t have to go proving yourself to everyone, especially when you could hurt yourself in the process. Alright? So don’t go doing that anymore.” When the teacher left Justin had to smile about that, him getting hurt by a small thing like that? Even the thought made Justin want to start laughing. He left and headed up the stairs to English. The teacher confirmed his name then had him take a seat by the windows, when class began he could tell what was on everyone’s mind. ‘Who is he?’, ‘Where’s he from?’, and his personal favorite, ‘He seems kind of weird to me, like there’s something he isn’t telling us about himself.’ Yes, the thing I’m not telling you is how my mother froze me, then left me with people to test experiments on me like some common lab rat. Just the thought of that made him want to lash out in anger at something, or worse, someone. He had a feeling that he would make many enemies at the small school. Already the football team disliked him, along with all the other guys in that school because all the girls liked him and he drew their attention away from their boyfriends.
By the time lunch came around there were people trying to get enough courage to talk to him, but none succeeded. He sat down at a table with no one else at it and looked at his schedule, after lunch ha had health, computer, then science. A few minutes into lunch a couple of giggling girls came and sat a few seats away, they looked over at him and asked, “Don’t you eat lunch at all, or drink anything? I don’t think I could go a whole school day without lunch, I would die.”
Justin looked up at them and held their gaze for a moment before they looked away, “No, I don’t eat lunch because I prefer to eat in silence at home, alone.” He turned back to reading his book and the girls looked at each other, then at him, then got up and walked back over to their friends. He glanced down at his watch and thought, Only ten more minutes of this until health class. He left the lunch room quickly to avoid running into everyone in the room to get questioned by everyone in the building
Health ran quickly and quietly considering how boring the topic was- diet and exercise. The teacher wanted everyone to start a health journal that contained information of everything they consumed for two weeks. Computer class was like a study hall with computers in front of every student. Since he didn’t have a file he needed to pick through a few minds to find a username and password to get on the internet. Once he was on he hacked into the teacher’s file and saw what every one was doing on their computers, they were supposed to be typing a word document, but most were on the internet, in chat rooms. He found out what people really thought of him in there, apparently they were thinking vampire from all the popular books and new movies that were out. He was surprised, without him saying much, they had almost figured out what he was. There was only one thing vampires did that he didn’t and that was the diet of their existence. He jumped into one of the gut’s accounts and typed up what he thought it be then waited for a response. Everyone thought that was obscure because all the things they saw about immortals was different, they either ate or drank a lot, and they were happy, not like the brooding way Justin acted. They said all his actions creamed ‘vampire’ at them. He typed in who he really was, then everyone’s conversation in the computers was different, awkward, even a few of them closed the links. He smiled at that, when he looked up he saw that there were a few classmates looking at him, wondering how long he was in on their conversation. There was an awkward moment when he looked at them, but he was the only one at ease in the room out of all the students. He shut the computer down and left for last class of the day, science.
The room was a normal science room, with some black topped tables and some desks. When he got in he could hear people talking in hushed whispers about him, he sat down and waited for class to begin; later in class right after the teachers started handing out new note packers Justin went into people’s minds. They were positive he was different from everyone else and that he was something other than normal. There could be only one way he could prove them wrong, but he didn’t like it one bit; he would have to befriend one of the gossiping girls and make her believe he was normal. He found their minds interesting so he started jumping through them until he was interrupted by the teacher.
“Mr. Meyers; are you with us? What was the last topic you studied in science?”
Justin jumped back into his own mind as soon as the teacher started walking towards him. “Uh, I believe it was the beginning of the elements.”
“Alright, you’re a little ahead of us, but that’s OK. We’ll be covering that topic in a couple of weeks or so, and please try to pay attention, I know it’s the end of the day and everyone wants to go home, but at least try to stay awake back there.” A few people turned to look at him and others snickered a bit. He looked down at his packet that was just handed out and started drawing mindlessly on the black pages. When he looked down at it he saw what it was, a beautiful young woman who had wavy brown hair, porcelain type skin, and kind gentle eyes that calmed even the most angered souls.
The student parking lot was packed with seniors and juniors at almost a run to get home; he could have waited a bit longer to go to the empty house and wait till the next day. Tonight he had plans though, he needed to schedule an appointment at the DMV near his house to get his ‘new car’ registered; that alone would take all evening. There could be no way the local DMV would be closed on a Monday at 3:30 when he got home. The way home was dark and clouded over, it felt like it was going to rain at any moment it was the best weather since he escaped. How could it be that only one school day had passed since he got there in the morning. It felt like it had been an eternity from the time he woke up to now. If he had thought about how torturous high school was that morning, he would’ve gone back to sleep.

The fuel gauge was getting low and Justin figured he only had about one more trip total, so he had to U- Turn and head back into town. There was a Mobil gas station and a small convenience store he passed on his way there so he headed to the convenience store gas pumps. When he finished getting the gas, he went inside to pay and to stock up on caffeinated soda and energy drinks.
The front door to his house was locked when he got there, since he was in the middle of nowhere, he didn’t bother to lock it that morning, meaning someone had been in his house while he was away. He pushed his mind out ‘feeling’ for a presence but finding nothing. After searching through his pockets, he finally found his house keys and let himself in. He put his groceries away then went to look through the house, to see if anything was disturbed. His computer and television were where he left them, but his radio was turned slightly and had been unplugged then plugged back in, like someone took it and replaced it. He decided to dispose of that one and replace it; the telephone was left perfectly alone, so he went ahead and called the DMV to schedule an appointment for the next day for inspection.
That night he watched a bit of television- wondering how all the shows stayed on the air when they were so poorly made- then sat down at his computer and looked for some local work to do. After that he went to clean out his car-,make sure there wasn’t anything personal from the previous owner. He found the person’s swipe card for the building he was held captive in, some trash, there person’s wallet, and the case he found earlier. He looked through the trunk checking that there wasn’t anything else he missed in his first check when his hand connected with something sharp on the bottom of the trunk. He pulled his hand out and watched it heal before his eyes, in less that one minute there wasn’t even a mark from the trunk, no lines, no scarring. He wiped his bloody palm on the leg of his jeans then looked closer at the area that cut him. He noticed a small hole had been drilled there large enough to get a finger in, he reached in and pulled, the piece pulled up and snapped into place; a small light turned on revealing some guns, pistol crossbows, ammunition, and one thing that caught Justin’s eye almost immediately. It was an old fashioned sword, the handle was wrapped in old worn leather that revealed a whit gold with yellow ascents twisting up the length of the handle, the blade was made from a high quality of silver. The scabbard was strapped next to it on the cover of the trunk compartment, it was silver with rose gold vines creeping up from the bottom of it. He took them both out, and inserted the sword into its scabbard- a perfect fit- you could hardly tell where the sword ended and the scabbard began. He closed the compartment and made sure it was near impossible to find, then went inside to burn all the personal belongings to Mr. Mandrais.
The flames licked at the kindling in the fireplace. Justin looked at it with wonder, If I get burned, will it heal like the rest of the wounds, or will I get burned like I used to? He reached his hand into the fire and kept it there; the pain was excruciating, he gritted his teeth in response to the pain. After a few seconds he pulled his hand out and put out the fire on his hand and sleeve and watched it as it healed. For the first few moments nothing happened, then just like when he cut his hand open in the trunk, it began to heal. He sat there watching it when there was a sudden knock on the door. He jumped out of his mind to see who it was, the mind was familiar to him, he thought maybe from computer class, but he wasn’t sure. He got up and looked out the window to see and old pale green car that he saw in the parking lot after school. As he went to answer the door he wiped his hand off on his jeans- cleaning the blackened ash from the fire- and pulled up his sleeve to hide the burned material from his visitor. He opened the door a little to see his guest better, then asked “What do you want?””
The girl looked shocked at his greeting, but smiled a bright and happy smile and replied with, ”I came to see if you needed help with getting situated, unpacking anything, or if your parents need help with anything. I’m a really good cook, I could make something if you want.” She stood there happy and smiling like an idiot. Justin glared back at her.
“No, thank you. My parents aren’t here right now, if you didn’t notice the only car that’s here right now is mine. Now leave.” He went to close the door but the girl stopped him.
“Wait, there has to be something I could help with, anything at all.” The sky flashed with lightning suddenly, then was followed quickly be a huge clap of thunder. The girl jumped then asked, “Can I please come in? I don’t like to be outside or even in my car with this type of weather.” She looked at him pleadingly.
There was no way he could tell her no without the risk of her bursting out in tears or panicking, so he told her she could then shut the door behind her.
“I’m sorry, I really am. But I really don’t like this weather.”
He led her to the living room then tended to the fire, where he made sure all the remains of Mr. Mandrais were burnt and gone. He turned to the girl who was looking around curiously at everything she could see.
“This is a really nice house, why’d you move here anyway?”
“Do you need to know that?” Justin got up and walked over to a chair that was in there, pulled off the sheet, then sat down, legs outstretched in front of him, and arms crossed.
“It would be nice to. Or is it too embarrassing?”
Justin sighed then responded. “My parents got killed a few years ago, and I was left on my own. I took their car and drove around. Finally, I found a place I could stay for a while. The people were nice, but as soon as I hit 17, they kicked me out. So I drove here and found this place and bought it with the money I had from my jobs and parents’ wills. Satisfied?” part of it was true, he had stayed with people who let him stay there a while, and at least one of his parents had been killed when he was younger.
“Oh, I’m sorry I even brought up the subject. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone if you don’t want me to, promise.”
“It’s fine, I didn’t even like them. For me, it was a relief when they died, it freed me from that life and gave me a new one.”
She looked around nervously then asked, “Do you have a phone I could use to call my parents with? Mine’s out in my car and I really don’t want to walk through the rain.”
Justin reached into his back pocket and pulled out the phone he bought on his shopping trip the day before and tossed it to her. She caught it then looked at it amazed, “Whoa, you have the new iPhone? My parents will barely let me have a phone at all. I can’t believe it, wow.” She punched in the number and told her parents where she was then hung up and tossed it back. “My parents are fine with me being over here, as long as I’m behaving myself.”
Justin put his phone back into his pocket after he made sure it picked up the signal from her phone in the car, and then he turned on the television to keep her quiet for as long as she would be there.

“It’s not fair,” she began after a few hours of watching TV.”I know your name, but you don’t know mine. My name is Bonnie, I think I’m in you science class. Yeah, I sit in front of you.”
Justin stiffened when she said that, but relaxed as soon as she looked away from the television to face him again.
“I know it’s rude of me to do all of this, but do you have anything to eat?”
Oh, shit. Justin thought, he didn’t plan on having any company over so he hadn’t bought any real groceries. “No, I have many drinks though, if you would want one of them you can.”
“Thanks, why don’t you have anything to eat?”
“I was going to go to the store later tonight to get some, but my plans were interfered wit.”
Bonnie looked down guiltily then got up to get a drink. “Where are the drinks?” she asked.
Justin got up then walked to the kitchen to the fridge and opened the door to show her what drinks he had.
“Wow, it looks like you already went shopping.” She noted as she leaned in and got a Mountain Dew. They went back to the living room and watched more television until Bonnie started falling asleep on the couch during the late night movie that was on.
“Why don’t you stay here tonight? The rain isn’t going to lighten until tomorrow at the earliest. You can stay here; there are some blankets in that closet.” He pointed to a closed door at the base of the stairs as he headed down stairs to his room in the basement.
“Wait, where are you going?” bonnie asked, terrified.
“I’m going to my room to sleep, school tomorrow, remember? My room’s in the basement, I set it up down there so no one could bother me easily.”
“Oh, OK then. Good night, and I’ll see you in the morning.” With that they both went to get settled in for the night.
Bonnie was woken up by the sound of Meatloaf blasting through the house. She stumbled to the door to the basement to see about getting Justin to turn it down a bit, but she was then surprised to see him leaving the bathroom with dripping wet hair from his shower.
“Ah, good morning.” She greeted him pleasantly.
“Hello, do you want anything to eat for breakfast, I went out last night to the store and bought some groceries.” Right after she had fallen asleep on the couch the night before Justin snuck out and drove to a Wal-Mart- speeding the whole way- to get some food for Bonnie. “The food’s in the fridge if you want it.”
Bonnie walked over to the fridge and found the ingredients to make for and omelets. “Do you want me to make you anything? I can make a really good ham and cheese omelet.”
“No, I already ate.” He lied effortlessly. “Thanks for offering though. You have an hour until you need to leave for school.” With that he went downstairs to avoid and awkward moment when she was eating.
Less than ten minutes later the powerful smell of her omelet wafted down to his room and made his stomach churn, even before he was brought to the lab he had problems with the smell of eggs, but with his heightened sense of smell it was almost unbearable. He carefully crept out of the basement through the small window that was set high in the wall to escape the stench of the eggs. He got out and ran into the woods to work on a sparring zone he started the first night he was in the house. The ground had been cleared of branches and fallen sticks that had been moved to the sides for a rough boundary line. Now he worked on getting the boundary more defined, he broke branches from trees and set them around the area and packed mud between them, making a wall about waist high wrap around the chosen area of trees and ferns. The ferns covered the ground entirely, like a lush carpet of green hidden in the shade of the trees.
A beeping coming from his watch disturbed his work. He looked down at it surprised, to his amazement he only had half an hour until he needed to leave for school. He finished the small area he was working on then raced back to the house, something told him he needed to get back as soon as possible. As he raced through the woods, he barely noticed the forest and its inhabitants as it blurred past his vision. Soon the house was in view and he burst through the basement window just in time for Bonnie to open the door and start to come down. She was surprised at his room; the walls were white with a few movie posters from Underworld and Final Fantasy on them. His bed was a mattress on the floor with blankets strewn on it, and a top-of-the-line laptop was on an old and worn desk in the corner by the stairs. Justin stood by the window and started walking toward her, “What are you doing down here?” he asked suspiciously.
“Um, there’s a man upstairs looking for you. He says it’s urgent.” She told him nervously.
“What did he say his name was?” he grabbed a hand towel off the floor as he approached her to wipe his hands clean.
“I think he said his name was, uh, Mr. Mandrais, he said he knew you and that you knew him from where you previously lived or something.”
“Send him away.” Justin told her tersely.
“Wh-why? Don’t you want to talk to him?”
“Send him away now.” The look in his eyes was cold enough to freeze the bowels of Hell itself.
“OK.” She almost ran up the stairs to get away from Justin.
How did he find me here? There could be no way he could have found his car, I disabled the CPS in the car once I got it here. Bonnie came stumbling down the stairs and was followed quickly by man in his thirties who Justin recognized as Mr. Mandrais.
“What are you doing here?” Justin asked with hatred towards the intruder.
“I have to talk to you Justin, I’m not leaving until you and I talk.”
“About what?” Justin asked incredulously.
“You.” The man responded.
Justin stiffened at the topic, then relaxed, hiding his horror of the thought of the discussion. “Let Bonnie go, then we’ll talk.” Mr. Mandrais released Bonnie and she flew up the stairs again terrified of Justin.
“What do you want to talk about?”
“Like I just said… you.” Justin walked to his desk and sat in the chair and crossed his arms defensively.
“Go on.”
“You know that I am the owner of the car that you’re using, right?” Justin nodded then motioned for him to continue. “Well, I’m not so much worried about the car as I am about it’s contents. Did you find anything in it that was unusual or different?”
“No, I didn’t, why- was there something in there? Now if that’s all you came about I suggest you leave now, before I get angry.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to find out I lost something of the company’s.”
This intrigued Justin, “What of the company’s did you misplace?”
“Um, well, it’s the only way to destroy certain people. It’s a sword, actually, a very rare-and expensive- sword. If they found out I lost it they would have my head on a pike in their labs.”
“Who are the ‘certain people’ you refer to?”
“I-I can’t say, it’s against policy, but I must know if you found it.”
“Like I said before, no, I didn’t find anything interesting in the car except you identification, which I burned last night.”
“No-why- what did you do that for?! There was no need or reason for that what so ever!” Justin smiled a bit at that.
The guy was spazzing about some pieces of plastic that said his mane, had his photo, and had where they were to. “I f you were in my position, wouldn’t you do the same, destroy everything of a person’s who helped hold you captive for how many years? You will never know how that feels, to be chained up like an animal to a wall. To have people experiment on you like some lab rat they got by the dozen! No, you will never know how that is!” by this time he was on his fee and yelling at the man who was backing up towards the stairs.
“Alright, I’m sorry, really I am, but I can’t help you now. I’ll just be on my way. I’ll tell them I didn’t find you.” He turned and bounded up the stairs, tripping over the last few, and out of the house.
Justin started pacing again, thinking of how to best deal with his anger when hesitant footsteps came down the stairs. He spun around to see who it was, then relaxed as he saw it was only a scared Bonnie.
“What are you still dong here? Shouldn’t you have left for school by now? Justin asked her, his voice icy cold.
She jumped, then raced through why she was still there. “Well, you see, I was going and then that man came, and I didn’t know what to do about it. And then I came here to see how you were. Plus, my car’s missing.” She stopped then dropped down to sit on the step, her head in her hands, sobbing again. “If I can’t find it my parents are going to kill me. I don’t know what to do about it.”
“I’m sure you don’t mean that literally.” She looked up at him with bewildered eyes. “I mean about you parents ‘killing you.’” He fought to hide a smile at her comment, after all, his mother rally did try to kill him. Justin sighed, then told her, “Get your stuff, I guess I’ll give you a ride to school. But you have to find your own way home, I’m going away for a bit to take care of some business.”
“Really?” her face brightened with the thought of him giving her a ride to school. “Thank you so much. I-I don’t know how to thank you enough.”
“Don’t bother, I’m going by there anyways, so it’s not a problem.”
Ten minutes later they were in his car, the speakers in the car blasting HIM while they sped down the road.
“So, what kind of music do you listen to? It sounds like a different assortment to me, I don’t see a pattern in it.”
“I listen to what I like, I don’t care who it is or anything else about it unless I need to buy it.” Justin said not taking his eyes off the road as he answered her.
“Hey, you said you were going out of town for a while. Do you mind if I ask where exactly?”
“Why do you need to know?” he asked skeptically.
“I guess I don’t need to know, but it would be nice to have that information anyway.”
“If you must know, I have some unfinished business to attend to. We’re here.”
Bonnie looked around and was startled to see the school, “Oh, um, woe. That only took a few minutes. How fast do you drive? I mean, normally it takes at least ten minutes to get anywhere from you direction. I have a few friends in that area and it takes them a while to get anywhere.”
“Just get out and go to school. I need to go.” Bonnie scrambled out of the car and stumbled a bit as she stood up. Almost as soon as she shut the door the black bar sped off, back into traffic and away from the school grounds.
The music in the car increased in volume until the car almost shook from the beat of the music. Why did she have to come to my house and why did any of this happen? Justin thought as he sped past other vehicles on the highway. My own mother didn’t even have the guts to tell me, or even warn me about her treachery towards me. how could anyone be so cold and cruel all the time? As he was thinking this his mind went back to when he was a sophomore in high school.
The kitchen was bathed in the late afternoon light that spilled in from the window, but Justin’s mother greeted him when he came in with an angry fit about to explode out of her. She shook the paper she had in her hand at him, the pink slip of carbon paper fluttering in the air as it whipped back and forth. “What is this?” Justin’s mother shoved the paper in his face as she said it. “Well, what is this?” she asked again, not waiting for his answer from the first time she asked.
“I don’t know, you’re waving it in the air so fast that I can’t focus on it.” But he already knew what it was, it was the referral that was sent home informing her that Justin had gotten suspended for a week due to a fight between him and one of the self proclaimed popular jocks that kept harassing him.
“This says you got in a fight the week before last, so where have you been young man. Tell me now or I swear, the school will have to send someone out here to find you- like anybody would care if you went missing anyway.” This last bit was added in as an after thought to hut him.
Justin’s heart sank deep in his chest as he remembered his own mother threatening his life over a small school matter. When he started ninth grade he was getting referrals sent home about every other week, but he normally beat her to the mail because she was so lazy; on his way past he’d have to run down and get the mail himself. After the first two, he discovered that if they never reached the house it was fine, so when he got the mail he’d pull then out and burn them at the small clearing in the woods he found. The more he thought about it, the more he remembered of her negative and demeaning comments and snide remarks.
When he missed the bus in fifth grade because he slept in accidentally, she forced him to walk the ten miles to school in pouring rain. When he had a concert at school he only heard about how everything was terrible and nothing was good; and how the school band and chorus sucked because they couldn’t sing or play the exact way she heard the songs a while before. Or when he worked exceptionally hard at something she would tell him, ‘That’s it?’ or ‘why didn’t you do this instead’ or ‘I liked this one better, but if that’s what you like, then…’
When Justin finally slowed down it was at the parking lot to the DMV, he reached in the glove compartment and pulled out all the information he needed to get the Mustang registered. As he walked in he thought- not for the first time- about how only a complete idiot would keep every bit of information for a car in it all the time and not lock it either. Inside the DMV it was quiet and empty, just as Justin had hoped it would be. The middle aged woman behind the counter looked up, and when she was him she sat up straight and n a very pleasant voice asked, “Hello, how may I help you today?” Justin looked at her and walked up to the counter with his information.
“I need to register a car, how would I go about doing that?”
The woman’s smile failed for a second, then fell back. “First, I need an inspection pass, then I’ll need the deed of ownership if you can get that.”
“I already had it inspected, here’s the pass slip, but I don’t have a deed of ownership because it was a present from an uncle or someone like that as a graduation present.”
“I’m sure it was a present of some sort.” The woman behind the counter said to Justin softly. The woman flipped through the papers Justin gave her then looked up at him and asked him, “Do you want any personal plates or anything special?”
“Not unless I can use Thanatos.” Justin replied with a small grin after thinking about it for a little.
The woman’s eyes held surprise in them as he said that. “Well, let me check if that’s available.” While she was typing it into her computer she told him, “Don’t you know it’s a bad idea to put your name on your license plate? It seems the god of death is still available. You’ll get your plates in a few weeks.”
“You know the Greek gods well; and what do you mean by my name?” Justin asked her with surprise.
“Yes, I know them extremely well. Have a nice day.” She told him with a kind smile. “Can I help whoever’s next in line?”
“What did you mean by my name?” Justin asked her frantically. The woman ignored Justin’s question, acting as if he never said a thing. “Fine, I’ll just go. Have a nice day.”
When Justin turned to leave the woman called after him. “If you don’t already know what I mean, for your sake I hope you find out for yourself before someone else does.” Justin turned quickly when she said it. “Have a nice day.” She told him again then started helping another customer.

The whole way home Justin thought about what she had said, ‘not a good idea to put your name on your license plate’ and ‘hope you find out before someone else does.’ When Justin returned home he found a new friend waiting for him at his door, a young orange tabby cat that sat and watched as Justin got out of his car then trotted up to rub against his legs. Startled, Justin bent down to rub the cat’s torn ear, but stopped when he noticed a strange mark on the back of the feline’s neck. After he brought the cat into the house to get a better look at it he stroked the fur that it marred, as his hand connected with the mark it glowed a bright blue then faded into a black smoke and dissipated into the air. When Justin looked at the area where the mark sat there was no sign of the mark and no evidence of the smoke or where the bright light came from. The cat looked up at Justin and started to purr, the most wonderful sound Justin had heard all day- or ever since he was betrayed by his own mother.
“Hey, what is that boy, huh?” Justin asked the tabby. “I don’t understand, what just happened here?” the cat looked him in the eye and when it did a deep voice entered Justin’s mind.
“That was you saving me from something with a much stronger hold than anything on this bleak planet. That, my friend, was the mark left from a curse set upon me by an enemy I made a while ago. When I felt your anger and konki earlier, I knew I had to find you for my life.
“What do you mean, konki? What’s going on; how can you do that?” Justin asked it panicked.
The cat looked down and almost sighed with exasperation. “How do I say this to you? Alright, you know the man who held you captive?” Justin nodded. “And you know the female accomplice of his?” again Justin had to nod an affirmative. “The man who claimed to be a doctor and who staged his own death is still alive, you see. He and his sorceress bride are the two who gave me that curse that almost killed me. the ‘experiment’ that he performed on you was nothing of the sort, all he did was awaken the immortal sorcerer that was burning deep inside of you which would have burned it’s way to the surface soon after they captured you. For you see, I was there. I saw the entire capture, when they froze your mortal body the freezing of your cells triggered the awakening of your own powers, changing your body so it could handle the magnificent power your own jujutsu holds. Someone’s coming to see you, do not tell them of anything I have told you so far.”
With that the cat jumped down. “Wait, what do I tell your name is if they ask?” Justin called after the cat.
“You can tell them my name is Kitzel if you wish.”
A knock sounded at the door, Bonnie stood on the front porch waiting. When Justin answered Kitzel went over to Bonnie and sniffed the air around her, then suddenly out of nowhere, he reached out and scratched her bare leg, causing the blood to flow freely. The scent of her blood caught Justin off guard and the smell hit him like a battering ram. The smell of roses instead of the normal metallic scent- the smell of his mother’s blood- he remembered from when he was young.
“Not right now, go.” Justin shut the door on Bonnie then went to find Kitzel who had run around the corner.
“Do you see my point of they are no good?” Kitzel asked Justin as he looked up at him.
“Yes, I see, but how could my mother and Bonnie both have the same smell of roses with their blood.”
“What do you mean by the same smell of blood?”
“What I mean is the bombardment to my senses when you sliced her open.”
“I have never known any shippou sorcerer who could smell blood that way. The only ones who can are kurai sorcerers. Tell me, do you require food or drink to survive?”
Justin looked at Kitzel with curiosity at his question. “No I don’t, why?”
“Because only kurai, or ‘ashi’ sorcerers have that curse, they cannot enjoy the simple pleasures of anyone else. Basically, your body’s dead, meaning you can’t feel true, living feelings or take refuge from anyone. Anyone or anything you grow fond of will die from the bond you make with them.”
“Wait, does that mean you’ll die soon just for being near me?”
“No, for you see, I am you ikimono. An animal sent to help specific people here in the land of the living and dieing. Soon, I will be joined by another feline ikimono and a canine ikimono to help me in controlling your powers. You absorb negative energy, get your powers from the night, and will consume you on the night of the new moon, where you will not have the ability to control your own body or even your own thoughts.
“We will help keep you under control during those times and teach you how to fight it and maybe even control it. But don’t get too hopeful or too depressed, only time can till us how you will turn out or how your powers will control you. I require rest, so I will leave you to your thoughts for a while.” Kitzel got up to leave but was stopped by Justin.
“Wait, are you saying more of these, what do you call them, ikimono, are coming here too?”
“Yes, they shall be coming soon; so you should stock up on food for cats and a dog because we won’t be leaving anytime soon.”
“You never told me why that creep sliced me open.”
“I will tell you and the others all about that in detail when they get here. Is that alright with you; can your patience hold till then young one?”
“I guess it’ll have to hold, but I really don’t want to wait.” Justin realized the only bedding in the house was on his bed and didn’t want cat urine soaking into his furniture or carpet. “Hey, do you need anything specific? I can run out and pick up anything you need; if you want something to sleep on I can bring something up from downstairs for you.”
“That won’t be necessary for me, although you might want to pick up a cat box. I highly doubt you want a present from me in there in the morning when you wake.”
“Uh, yeah; that would be unpleasant. I’ll go out and be back in about a half hour, ok?”
“You do know I can take care of myself while you’re gone.”
“I know that, but I didn’t want you to leave anything for me while I’m gone.” Justin fished the key out of his pocket and headed for his car, then turned towards Kitzel. “So you’re positive you’ll be able to hold out for thirty minutes or so?” Justin asked.
“Yes, I’m absolutely positive I’ll last for only thirty minutes or so.”
Justin nodded and went to his car when a familiar presence found its way into his mend, a presence he felt before any of the madness or confusion began- the one of his father. When Justin was thirteen he saw his father drink his nightly beer, but right after he sat down in his recliner Justin’s mother strangled him from behind with one of his neckties. She then told Justin that if he said anything to anyone about what really happened she would do the same thing with him. Ignore it, just go and get the things Kitzel requested. Justin got into his car and drove off into town.

Once he reached town he pulled into the parking lot of the local shop n save to pick up food and something for a litter box. Surprisingly enough, the lot was almost empty, something Justin had almost bet on because as he glanced at the clock on the dash, he realized the high school was supposed to let out in thirteen minutes. The last thing Justin wanted to do was run into one of his classmates who didn’t exactly like him.
Unfortunately, it looked like fate didn’t enjoy seeing Justin happy or even want to give him the slightest hope of success. When he entered the store, he was immediately greeted by some of the people in his class- the football players who wanted to see Justin at the bottom of a lake with a new pair of cement shoes. Trying to act semi-normal with half for football team trying to be Justin’s shadow wasn’t exactly easy, but he went down one aisle to get the pet supplies he heard- and saw- one of the large shadows that belonged to one of the football players. After he got rung up he went back to his car where many shadows followed him. When he went around to the drivers side the head football player greeted him.
“Hey, what are you doin’ there? Gettin’ stuff for you little putty-tat?” the rest of the guys came around and surrounded their leader and Justin who was trying not to go after the leader of the pack- whose name Justin found out earlier was Aaron. “Huh? You’ll probably go home and tell it how sad you are that you can’t protect yourself against a few people and how mean everyone is.” At that the others started laughing and snickering about it. Justin looked around judging how long it would take him to take them out. From the look- and smell- of the team it looked like all he would have to do is light a match and they’d all go off like a fourth of July fireworks show.
Aaron’s fist came fast at Justin’s head but instead of connecting with its intended target, it connected with person coming in from Justin’s right. Justin lashed out with a flurry of kicks and punches that knocked them all on their backs or forced them backwards into the people behind them. Aaron got back up and grabbed Justin from behind, pinning his arms together which left his torso exposed to an attack. The few guys left standing came at Justin with fury in their eyes. Thinking fast Justin threw himself backwards into Aaron and forced them both to the ground. The sound of skull hitting blacktop was the only sound Justin was hoping to hear; but was not hoping for the smell that it was accompanied with. The coppery, brass smell started staining the ground around Aaron’s head and the back of Justin’s shirt red. His unconscious form had a red pool around it that was quickly growing towards his shoulders, the rest of the team fled like dogs that had just been beaten by their owner.
Great, now he’s going to rat me out and there’ll be no peace from the cops. That is, if he is able to get up of even survives. Looking around to make sure nobody was watching, Justin bent down to feel for a pulse; however faint, there was one much to Justin’s relief. He then pulled Aaron up and carefully set him in the backseat to his car then got in.
On the way home Aaron squirmed a bit, but remained unconscious the whole ride. As Justin pulled into the garage Aaron was starting to come to and get up, but then stopped when he realized he wasn’t in his own car. Justin cut off the engine and got out then helped Aaron out and into the house.

“Wh-where am I, and what are you going to do to me?” Aaron asked as he was set down on the couch with an ice pack for his head.
“Where do you think you are and what do you think? Although you head might hurt.”
Aaron looked confused then angry, “If I know where I was then I never would have asked, and if I knew what you were going to do I could sleep.”
“Actually, you couldn’t,” a reaction of shock appeared on Aaron’s face. “you’re not supposed to sleep for at least twenty- four hours if a concussion could be present.”
Kitzel padded his way into the room, looked at Aaron, then at Justin. “What is the extra human doing here?” Then, without waiting for a response, “Justin, I asked you a question and I expect you to answer me even with a pitiful mortal being in the same room.”
Justin gave a sigh of frustration. “Aaron, this is Kitzel, whatever you do, don’t be rotten towards him or it’s going to be you life on the line and you’ll never live to tell the tale.”
“Justin, the other ikimonos will be here tonight. They are coming sooner than I thought they would.”
“Oh, there are also two more animals here; a dog and another cat, they’re hiding right now, but don’t worry and don’t bother then either.”
Aaron looked like he was about to blow a gasket. ”Hey, you still haven’t answered my questions yet! Tell me, or I’m calling the cops and telling then you beat me, drugged me, and are holding me hostage.”
It didn’t take Justin that long to figure out the after math of the call. He would be taken back to the facility, and since he knew the truth about himself now they’d slaughter him. “Fine, you want to know where you are and why?” Aaron nodded angrily. “Alright, you’re at my house because if you had been left there you would have either died from blood loss, or would have been taken to a hospital to be questioned. Then I would have police nosing around here finding out that I’m the only resident. Then they would send me back to the facility that took my life away and made it so now I have a cat that tells me things that belong in fantasy books, two more are coming, and I have no idea what’s going to happen if anyone finds out anything about me.”
Aaron looked at Justin with wide eyes, not knowing what to say about it. “Uh, hey. I’m sorry? If what you say is true- and I’m only saying this because I hit my head and am hallucinating right now- or not just some side effect of being high or drunk then I believe you man. But hey, the cat tells you things? C’mon, I’m not a little kid who’ll believe anything. I’m gonna need proof.”
Justin glanced at Kitzel for an answer, then Aaron jumped, startled, falling over on the couch and backing away from the cat. “Wh-wh- what kinda trick are you trying to pull here, huh?” he stammered.
“There are no tricks- just reality. Oh- and, before you ask, no you didn’t fall asleep.” Justin figured that instead of trying to talk to Aaron to calm him down, he’d go directly there in his head.
“Justin, if you go into his mind you’ll bring him to the brink of death where you’ll be forced to bring him the extra step or he will die slowly and painfully with his worst nightmare plaguing him until he finally killed himself.”
“Then what am I supposed to do to help him?”
“There is nothing you can do for him, except for watching him and to physically try to help him.”
Justin sat on the couch next to Aaron and looked him in the eye with the force of thousands of years behind thenm, focusing on trying to calm him down. Finally Aaron calmed, then looked at Justin questioningly.
“What are you new kid?” he asked Justin after seeing the age behind the dark pools of Justin’s eyes.
Aaron had asked Justin the same thing he had been asking himself for the past few days. “To be honest with you, I don’t know. I was told I was an immortal, then the god of death, now I’m being told I’m a really old sorcerer. I really have no idea what so ever of what I am.”
“So, you‘re telling me that you aren’t human?” Aaron leaned away from Justin as he said this. Like something might happen to him if he stayed near Justin too long.
“Uh, yeah, I guess I am. But don’t tell anyone about it alright?”
Aaron looked at Justin then quickly broke eye contact, worried about the stereotype of any powerful being capable of cursing you if you hold their gaze long enough. “So, why are you in high school if you’re so powerful like you say?” Aaron sat up and leaned farther away from Justin. “How do I know that this isn’t just an elaborate hoax to get me to be nicer to you, huh? And how do I know you’re not going to hold me hostage like a prisoner?” Aaron asked Justin suspiciously.
Justin looked at Aaron, then turned his gaze to Kitzel who was sitting on the floor by Justin’s feet. How do I prove anything to this guy? Justin asked himself.
“Justin, you don’t have enough control over your powers yet to show him anything.” Kitzel told him calmly. Justin looked at Kitzel pleadingly for a better answer. “You can’t do anything at all. The power in you will take over your body and with me being the only creature that can control that form of you at this time it would prove fatal to us both and to anyone else near here.”
Turning his focus back to Aaron, he told him, “Sorry, I can’t; but I think there is something I can show you.” Pulling out a pocketknife, Justin placed it on his palm and drug it across, slicing deeply into his skin. When he pulled the knife away, it was stained with blood. Justin moved his hand into Aaron’s view as it healed closed and formed new, unmarked skin.
“Justin you idiot! Why did you do that after I told you not to?”
“What are you talking abou-“ Justin suddenly collapsed to the ground writhing in pain.
“What- what’s happening to him?! Justin, you ok?” Aaron frantically asked him as he lay on the floor in pain.
“Don’t touch him!” Aaron stopped and backed away from Justin’s body. “Due to his foolishness in proving that he’s more than normal to you the ashi powers in him have started to awaken and possess him. If you don’t want to get killed I’d suggest you go now. Go now, run!” Aaron ran towards the door and bolted out as fast as he could run. Kitzel looked at Justin on the floor then he started to change. In moments, he was a magnificent lion standing, staring down at Justin as the power within him clawed its way out.
Suddenly Justin froze in place on the floor then his eyes opened and he rose with grace no one could possibly have. “Hello Kitzel, I see you haven’t changed much since last we met.” The voice that came from Justin was his voice but not at the same time. A gravelly ness to it that made him sound like the kurai powers that had been trapped thousands of years ago by the ikimonos on earth.
A low growl emanated from Kitzel the lion followed by a leap towards Justin. He smoothly sidestepped Kitzel’s attack, making him fly through the air and hit the wall with a loud thud.
“Now, is that the way you greet an old friend? It’s been years since you and your little friends trapped me in that prison. It seems you’re getting slow in your old age friend.”
“How did you possibly escape that prison we created for you?”
“A very good question, with an even better answer. You see, the prison held, until five years ago, when one of your companions died. Who was it… Samuel? When he died I was able to use my mental powers again to influence the weak mortals of earth. Like this boy’s mother. I convinced her to come to my prison and set me free, but because three of you still remain, I was unable to have my physical form back. When his mother became pregnant, I saw to it that she took the proper steps for me to live once more. Once the child was born I had to possess her until he was old enough to harness the power I possess, but he would never be strong enough for me alone, so his loving mother had him taken away for modifications. I took up residence in the boy, laying dormant for four years until his time came for him to come out of that facility.” Kitzel took the moment to lunge himself at Justin, but the kurai power was faster. He held Kitzel in midair with his powers. “Kitzel, do you never learn? Against me alone you will loose.”
“Erg. Then what will turn the tide in our favor? Leave Justin alone; he has nothing to do with this.”
“On the contrary, he has everything to do with this. You see, Justin here is the only being on this planet that can hold me now. Your efforts to stop me are futile.” Kitzel took the opportunity to struggle against the invisible bonds holding him, but Justin saw and threw him against the wall. “You do realize that you can’t fight me now alone. By the time your friends get here the full extent of my powers will surface and there will be no stopping me by anyone or anything.”
Ah, how can I beat this power back again alone? “Justin, if you can hear me, fight this power! You can fight it Justin, just please listen to me!”
“It’s no use. Justin’s mind is locked away in a prison within, never to escape even with your help. Justin is fighting, but he is suffering form it. Soon he won’t have the strength or will to survive and will surrender to me.”
Kitzel struggled harder to break free, but with no success. “No! Justin, listen to me! you can regain control of your body once again, just fight it!”

Where am I? What is this place? Justin thought to himself in the darkness. What’s this pain from? It hurts so much, almost like I’m being stabbed with white hot swords. Justin wrapped his arms around himself to try to ease the pain, but to no avail. There’s got to be a way out of here, all I need to do is look for a way out. Justin stood up painfully and started to look for an exit, but an invisible barrier blocked him.
“Hey, what is this place?!” no one answered him. “Hey! I know you can hear me! Let me out of here!” suddenly a throbbing pain shot through him making him double over in pain. A shadowy figure appeared out of the darkness at him.
“Well, well, well, look who it is, the amazing Justin. What happened, get lost?” the figure was in shadow except the glowing blue eyes which penetrated into the soul. “Oh, how rude of me to see you but you not to see me.” the figure closed its eyes then, the area was filled with white light that came from nowhere.
Once Justin’s eyes adjusted he was shocked at who was standing before him, it was himself, but it wasn’t. this figure was darker, almost surrounded by a black haze that was choking.
“Forgive me, but we have never been introduced. I am John, the kurai power that has rested in you for the past four years. You are not anything special. In fact, you were created and designed to play host for me while I finish what I came here to do a thousand years ago, before those stupid animals got in my way, but because of you I am almost free from their grasp once more. You see, I have no desire to kill you. Oh no, I plan to use you in order to finish off those meddling animals that you seem to like so much.” John’s voice was smooth and calm, the kind that makes you believe whatever they say.
“Hey, since you apparently know everything about this place maybe you can tell me where I am and what this place is.” Justin placed his hands on the invisible barrier that barred him in.
John looked around then waved his hand through the air, making the white disappear and in its place a forest appeared.
“Does this look more familiar to you Justin? You have spent many years here and many more nights here alone pondering how to do things, how to run off, and why you exist.”
Justin shook his head, “No, I don’t know. I don’t even recognize this place to save my life.”
John took a look around then smiled. “This is your mind, your own prison. The one you try to hide and run away from but fail.”
Suddenly another burst of pain shot its way through Justin and he collapsed to the ground in pain.
“It is amazing how the body works in here, when your physical body gets hurt, you get that ten fold. The real fighting hasn’t even begun yet, just imagine how that will once you actually do get hit and battered. Oh, how I’d love to stay and chat with you, but there’s an amazing fight going on outside and I for one am not going to miss it for the world.
“The outcome of it will determine which one of us lives, and which one of us dies. The only thing is, the one who dies won’t leave this body, instead it’s strength will become the survivor’s strength.” With that John turned and left, leaving Justin alone to suffer.
Justin stood and banged his fists on the barrier to try to break through, but the barrier and the pain overwhelmed him. He leaned against the barrier thinking of ways he could escape, but nothing appeared. How do I regain control of my own body when I can’t even get control of my mind? How did I evade John until now? All I did was do something that I’d done before, but it was to prove something, not for myself.

“How long has it been since there’s been a death among you rodents? Centuries I think, however it does seem too easy to just kill you here and now, especially since you’re unarmed.”
“What makes you think I’m unarmed John? That is your name still isn’t? or have you decided to discard that along with your true form?”
“You should know that I would never discard my true form, but simply hide it from the likes of you. This form is easier to move around in- and would you stop fighting me already, you can’t win alone.”
“What makes you think I’m alone?”
“The fact that your friend’s energy is not here on this planet and the mortal- Justin- is stopping his struggle inside. There soon will be nothing left of him but for a memory that will quickly fade.” John gave a burst of energy at Kitzel who crashed into the window breaking the panes of glass and forcing him to the ground outside, knocking him unconscious.
“Since you’re now out of the way I can continue my work as planned.” John closed his eyes in an attempt to focus on leaving by using his kurai powers, but he couldn’t. “Damned body, I still haven’t recovered enough of my powers to teleport.” Looking around he couldn’t find the keys to the Mustang anywhere. Then he patted down his pockets and, withdrawing a set of car keys, left the house and went to seek out Anna, the one sorceress that could help him to regenerate the fullness of his powers.

“Hey, Kitzel you alright?” Kitzel opened his eyes and saw a familiar face looking down at him.
“Ah, Phantom, how’d you find me here?”
“Your energy called to me. Toni here was coming to find you when your energy increased suddenly. We both came as quickly as possible. What happened here?”
Sitting up, Kitzel shook his head then morphed into a man. His golden blonde hair was messy and his green eyes stood out from his pale skin. “Help me up Phantom and get me inside so I can tell you.”
Phantom’s jet-black hair hung in his golden eyes that seemed to have a ring of green around the pupil. “I see you’ve finally acquired the skills to morph into your compleo form, but we’re going to have to find you some clothes to wear.”
Kitzel directed Phantom to the basement where Justin set up his room. “In the box over there are some that’ll work.” Phantom went to the box and withdrew a pair black jeans and a black long sleeve shirt, then tossed them at Kitzel who was on the floor leaning against the wall across from the stairs. “Thanks; hey, where’s Toni gone?” pulling on the shirt then painfully tugging the jeans on he noticed Toni coming down the stairs.
Her light brown hair came the middle of her back and her chocolate brown eyes found Kitzel. “How are feeling?” her voice was calming to anyone, a peaceful sound to someone who was in pain.
“Much better now, thank you. When did you master you Compleo forms?”
“I mastered mine about five hundred years ago, but Toni didn’t master hers until fifty years ago. Speaking of which, when did you get your?” Phantom looked around the room curiously. “Hey, where’s this Justin guy we’re supposed to be protecting? I don’t feel his energy around here at all. All I feel is ours.”
Rubbing the back of his neck Kitzel told him what had happened. “Justin used the power in him to prove a point and John took over his body and mind. I tried to talk to Justin, but I couldn’t reach him, John trapped him in a sort of prison. From the sounds of it, one very similar to his. I couldn’t fight him alone, enough of his powers emerged to hold me back in my strong form. He used a burst of power to throw me through the window, which is where you guys found me.”
Toni came over to Kitzel and helped him to his feet. “Do you know there John is now?”
“No, but you can bet he’s going to try to regain his full powers. We must find him before that happens. Phantom, can you locate his energy trail?”
Phantom focused his own energy on latching onto the trail left behind John when he left. “There you e murmured to himself. “I found him, he’s going towards the facility Justin escaped form. Toni and I can trail him there, you on the other hand, can’t. The fight between you and John has cleared you out of the power and stamina necessary for trailing.”
“How can you say such a thing? You two can’t defeat him alone. Last time the power needed for his capture was from four of us. He broke free when Samuel died, now how are we able to capture him again with only three of us and the trapped mind of Justin? You need me with you to fight him.” Phantom contemplated the outcome of what would happen if they went without Kitzel.
“If you’re coming along I suggest you find a way to get there, because neither of us are strong enough to carry ourselves, and another with enough power to fight.”

“John! Let me out of here! There’s no need for me to be caged like a lion at the zoo!” Justin called to John’s figure in the shade of the trees.
“You idiot; ‘There’s no need for me to be caged’? Ha, don’t make me laugh. There’s many reasons for you to be caged, the main one however is because I can’t let you go around risking everything that I have fought to keep.” John approached Justin in his invisible prison. “Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll get used to it in a little while, seeing how your little feline friend isn’t here to help you.” John ran his hand across the barrier making it turn a crimson red for moments. “Do you see this? This is my power, my energy holding you here. There’s no possible way to escape it, because in order to escape, you must have a compatible energy for it. But there are thousands of energy types around, so I don’t expect you to have the compatible type, and even if you do you have no way of knowing how to use it to escape.” John sighed, “If only this were more adventurous. I mean, currently my powers have not regained their full, true powers. So now, I must go find Anna the sorceress to help me. Oh, do you know Anna? You should, I mean, she did raise you until a few years before the time cam to prepare you for my arrival.” John circled the prison running his hand along the wall as he talked.
“You will never win this John. Never will you gain ultimate control of my body, no matter how hard you try.” Justin’s eyes followed John as he circled like a vulture.
John stopped suddenly, and then looked at Justin with fury in his eyes. “No, it can’t be! How could they trail me so fast?!” John turned sharply away and ran off.
“Wait! What are you talking about?” Justin called to John’s retreating figure with no answer. What did he mean by ‘energy’? How do I find it and how do I use it once I do find it? Justin sank to the ground trying to unravel the mystery that surrounded him and his life.

“Anna, I need your help with something. You’re the only person who can help me with this; please, help me.” John approached a woman with similar features as Justin, but a dark cloud surrounded her as she saw who approached.
“I thought I would be rid of you by now. Why have you come back home? Go away, be gone, I don’t want anything to do with you now.” Anna sounded bored with the appearance of her son.
“Anna, it’s me, John. I need you to help get full control over my powers again. You know I can’t because of the block, you on the other hand can because you have your full powers still, unrestricted by those damned animals.” John walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders.
“Don’t beg. If there’s one thing I dislike more than my son, it’s my son’s body begging for help.” Anna pulled John’s hands off her shoulders then led him inside the house, “Come with me.”
The house was an old Victorian home that had vines climbing the side and white paint flecked off everywhere. The interior was darkly lit with a single dim bulb on the wall and looked like it had been left alone for the past fifty years. She led John down a narrow set of stairs into the basement. The basement was clean and lit by many candles set around on tables and counters, giving the room a warm glow. On a small table there was a thick book with an old worn cover that revealed centuries of use from it. The cover was brown leather with symbols on it that John didn’t recognize.
“What’s with your book Anna? It’s different now than last time.” John looked at the book’s cover, perplexed by its appearance.
Anna joined John by the book then looked at him. “Well, it was a few hundred years ago, things do wear out over time believe it or not.”
“Well, normal items do, but not that. How could a cursed book wear out when the sorceress who cast the spell still lives? You’re the one who did it, and yet you say it ‘wore out’? That’s impossible, so tell me what really happened to the book.”
Anna looked at John with fury and anger. “I honestly don’t know. One night twenty years ago when I came down here the entire book itself changed when I opened it. Since then I haven’t been able to use it for my benefit. The name on the front is one you should find amusing though. Look at it closely.”
John looked at the book more intently than before, taking in all the details and symbols. After a few moments he looked Anna in the eye then asked her if it could be wrong, “Can there be any flaw in this book’s energy or power at all?” this has to be a mistake, a flaw of some sort.” Panicking, he backed away form the book and table like it was a serpent trying to bite him.
“John, you know perfectly well that my powers are flawless, they are never wrong.” Anna watched John as he retreated. “Sit down John. It’s true, the only person who can wield this book now is Justin. You know what he can do once he learns how to use his own abilities, as it is it sounds like you’re going through a battle in your head. Oh, let me guess, little Justin has found weak points in you prison has he? Well, I for one do not want to be around when he regains control of his physical self.” She turned and walked away.
“Wait! You have to help me with this Anna. Don’t just walk away from me like that. Help me, please.”
Anna stopped then looked at him, his eyes pleading her for help. “I can’t, I’m sorry, but without my book of power there’s nothing I can do. Even though you are in control of Justin you can’t use him to help otherwise hi might come into power and not you. Justin’s the only one who can use that book now, unless you want to try and kill yourself in the process of trying.” Anna turned and left the basement, leaving John to his thoughts and to ponder what to do about gaining his full powers and the book of power.

Justin pushed against the barrier again, this time like all the rest, not doing anything to help set him free of this prison. Once again, the prison proved to be stronger than he was. He sat down on the grass and leaned against the wall, exhausted.
Walking out of the trees a figure with bright blue eyes approached him, John. “You keep trying to break free, but fail every time. Yet you still persist.” John approached the prison and ran his hand along it like before. “Justin, I need your help with something.” John looked defeated with having to declare needing help from Justin.
“What do you need my help with?” Justin looked at John then laughed. “You expect me to help you after you trapped me here in the first place? What makes you think I’ll agree?”
John’s face grew angry then he threw a burst of power at Justin, making him hit the far barrier wall. “You will help me because I know far better forms of punishment and many more prisons that are much worse than this one is. That’s why you’ll help me.”
Justin staggered to his feet and leaned against the wall. “If I do help you what would I get in return for it?” he looked exhausted, but his eyes were fierce as he watched John walk around the prison.
“You, will be allowed to live for the time being. Make up your mind quickly or you’ll be in a different form of agony soon.” John paused near Justin, waiting for his answer to come. “Fine then, I guess you refuse my offer by your silence. So be it.”
“Wait! Let me regain control of my body and we have a deal.” Justin locked eyes with his captor, waiting for his reaction.
“Fine, but you must give me your word that you will help me with my problem.” John’s hand pressed against the barrier causing it to glow crimson red again.
Smiling with success Justin nodded then agreed. “You have my word on that.”
“Good, now back up away from the barriers and I’ll release you.”
Shaking with fatigue, Justin backed away from Justin then waited. John placed his other hand flat on the barrier next to his left hand, then closed his eyes and started to murmur something under his breathe. Suddenly the side where John’s hands were glowed bright crimson then shattered, the shards from that wall flying in all directions.
“Hurry, come this way quickly before the wall reforms itself!” Justin ran towards John then crashed into him, causing them both to hit the ground hard.
“Ah! You didn’t have to run into me you know. But you’re out now, so help me.”
Justin got up, stumbled, and was caught by John. “Thanks, what do you need my help on?”
John told Justin about the book and about the true nature of his mother. “So, that’s why you’re the only one that can help with this.”
No, no, no. what do you mean by me being the only person capable of wielding the book? I can’t even boil water without having to scrape the pot afterwards. What makes you think I could ever possibly be able to use a powerful book that the most powerful sorceress in the world couldn’t control?”
“Because the book will bend to you, it doesn’t want Anna to control it anymore. It even sensed when I was in your body. You have to control it before Anna destroys it, there’s no other option, I’m sorry. If there was someone else I would go to them but there’s no one.”
“Fine, I’ll help you. But let me say hello to my charming mother first.”
John nodded, “Deal.”
The pain of trailing while weak was excruciating for Kitzel, but after a few minutes, they all arrived at an old Victorian house with a looming presence.
Phantom looked around at their location. “Be on guard. There’s a presence here that doesn’t like us.”
“Like that’s anything new. Phantom, where’s Justin?” Kitzel asked between clenched teeth.
Phantom closed his eyes and focused on the building. “He’s inside, but his presence is combined with someone else’s. It’s like he’s held back from me somehow.”
Kitzel’s head whipped around towards Phantom. “What do you mean? If that were true, then it would mean he and John joined forces or one is being destroyed. You’ve got to go in ad help them.” Kitzel fell and collapsed on the ground in a heap.
“Kitzel!” Phantom and Toni shouted at the same time. Toni looked at Kitzel and let out a sigh, “You can’t do this Kitzel, there’s no way you’ll survive this fight now. Don’t throw your existence away over this.”
“She’s right,” Phantom commented as he helped Kitzel to his feet and supported him. “go home and we’ll take care of this. Don’t argue with me or I’ll chain you to a tree.”
Kitzel took a few deep breaths then relaxed. “I’m not going to leave you two alone against him, but I’ll stay out here for you two.”
Phantom eased Kitzel down to the ground, then he and Toni disappeared inside.

Those boys! Anna was in the kitchen preparing a spell to lash Justin to his mind’s prison and John to Justin’s physical body. I can’t stand either of those two. Who’s coming now? The wards I set up should prevent unwelcome guests from coming, but it appears I need to renew it again. Anna left the kitchen to see who came in then froze. “I thought you would be gone by now. I guess that’s one more thing I need to do myself.”
Phantom and Toni came to a halt when they saw Anna. Getting into a low battle stance, Phantom asked her, “What have you done to Justin Anna?”
“You idiot, I haven’t done anything to him, yet. I haven’t been able to do anything for a while, but I have been able to brew up a lovely pot of lashing lure for him.”
A look of pure, unfiltered hatred flashed into Phantom’s eyes; causing them to turn blood red. “You can’t do that to him. It would kill him after he went insane.”
Anna let out a laugh. “Hah, you act as if I care for my son. How stupidly naïve of you.”
Toni looked up from looking at the floor by Anna’s feet; “You didn’t always hate him, did you?” her eyes were sad with the thought.
“The only thing that kept me from killing him in infancy was John. He held me back from Justin multiple times. I never liked him in the least.” Anna’s hand flashed through the air making a green and black trail where her hand passed through. The green and black twisted together then grew into a large twisting orb sitting in her hand, the colors moving all the time. ”I rather hope you have more than that you two; my powers are far greater now. I’ve been around for the past thousand years, while you’ve been in hibernation for most of those. My powers kept growing and you still have the same old tricks.”
“You may have been around here longer, but we’ve been gone even longer in the barracks back home.” With a flick of Phantom’s hand, a burst of black flame came out to his palm. “I believe we are evenly matched Anna. You see, Toni and Kitzel both trained with me in the barracks.”
Toni’s hand flashed forward and purple and black smoke prang from Toni’s hand to hover around her. “Kitzel, stay back! You can’t handle this now in your condition. Stay back.”
“What are you doing Kitzel? Don’t ignore us now, please.”
“I’m not ignoring you. I’m blocking you out now.”
“Kitzel! Kitzel!!”
Kitzel came through the door, his power whipping around him so fast it looked like a snowstorm raging around him. “Tell us where Justin is now before we use your lashing lure against you.”
“You can barely stand up and you expect me to be intimidated by you? Please, don’t make me laugh.” Anna snapped at Kitzel who looked like a destroying angel come to earth.
“There’s more to my power than this.” Kitzel closed his eyes and his powers lashed out at Anna, hitting her full in the chest; her power flared out around her to shield her fall. “Are you going to tell us where he is?” Kitzel’s power pinned Anna to the floor, then he looked at Phantom and Toni. “Phantom, Toni, go get her lure. Het’s see if she’ll talk after that.” Phantom and Toni stood there watching Kitzel fro a few moments. “Go, now!”
“I haven’t done anything to him. If you want to see him, he’s in the basement.” Anna nodded to the dark wooded door to her right. “But please, don’t lash me down, anything but that will work, but don’t use the lashing lure on me.” Anna’s pleas started sounding pathetic the more she tried, but they didn’t affect Kitzel.
“You would use it on Justin, yet you yourself are terrified of it. Does that mean it worked even after Spencer died and with him some of your powers, you still believe that this lure can hold you? That’s very interesting to know.”
Phantom and Toni ran to the door and pulled it open, revealing a very tired Justin. “It’s Justin; what happened?” Phantom helped Justin sit down on the step to catch his breath. Kitzel looked at Justin, then collapsed on the floor, his powers withdrawing into his body in a flash, releasing Anna from the floor.
Kitzel looked up fro the floor where he lay towards Justin. “I can’t have you doing my work for me Kitzel, sorry.” Phantom told Kitzel calmly. He moved over to look down upon Anna who was struggling to stand up. “I’m sorry Anna, but I can’t allow you to live any longer. If Kitzel relieves you of your time here he would break a sacred law that we abide by.” Phantom placed his foot on Anna’s chest, forcing her back down to the floor. “I am the messenger of death, therefore I and only capable of controlling and manipulating death. Toni is the messenger of life, so she can control the lives of others and make life. Kitzel is here for control and the messenger for battle, which means he can help battles for good or bad, but he can’t destroy anyone.” Phantom bent closer to Anna’s face. “I can make your death as pleasant or as painful as I want it to be. Now, are you going to cooperate with us, or do you need a little more persuasion?”
“I’m sure I can help you with anything you need, just tell me what you want.” Panic was swimming in Anna’s voice as she lay there, shaking.
Phantom glanced over to the others before looking back to Anna. “What we want is to know what you and John are planning to do to Justin after he regained control of his body.”
“I don’t really know, to be honest with you, but I do know that John was very interested in my spell book once he discovered what had happened to it twenty three years ago. He had a glint in his eye that only appears when he has an idea to do something wicked. I wrote it off as an insane man’s delusions, didn’t even occur to me that he would be plotting something against me.”
Kitzel fought to his feet, caught when he stumbled by Toni. “Where’s the book now Anna?” he looked like he was on the verge of collapsing again into Toni’s arms.
“It’s in the basement.” Everyone’s head snapped to Justin when he spoke. Justin looked up at them from the floor. “It was racing through her mind so strongly I was almost carried away with it, like it was a powerful river pulling me under the surface into it’s black depths.”
Phantom’s and Toni’s eyes connected with Kitzel’s, fear and curiosity swimming in them. “Did you know he could do that?” Phantom’s voice was accusing when he asked Kitzel. Toni shook her head then looked at the floor when Kitzel confirmed his knowledge of Justin’s extra ability to read people’s minds.
The shame coming from Kitzel was almost choking the air from the room. “I didn’t tell you guys about that because I know you would have wanted to slaughter him once you found out. Nevertheless, you’ve seen how Justin’s not like the old legend said he would be. He may not be completely clean, but he sure isn’t a murderer. You can’t condemn the innocent because of what they might become.”
“But when you withheld this information you lied to us basically. You know what he’ll become if we allow him to live, you lost your loved ones last time this happened. How can you allow a murderer to roam free for all eternity?” Toni let out a deep sigh, then continued. “Their souls are still wandering through the underworld, unable to rest until this person dies to allow them to cross over to the other side to be at peace.”
Phantom looked from to Toni, them back to Justin. “I’m very sorry Justin, but unfortunately Kitzel is right about this. However he cannot destroy you.” Phantom’s head fell, and then he raised it to look Justin in the eye. “I must destroy you myself. Again, I’m terribly sorry about this, good- bye Justin.” Black flames sprang to life in Phantom’s palm then leapt at Justin who was still resting on the stairs watching with horror.
“Don’t just sit there on your ass, block him!” John’s voice screamed in Justin’s mind. The black flames were almost on top of him when a crimson shield exploded from him. The two powers met with a loud crash that sounded like and explosion went off in the hallway. The force of it caused both Justin and Phantom to stumble backwards, however Justin had nowhere to go but back down the stairs into the basement.
Falling down the stairs hurt worse than it always looked when you saw it on television or watched someone else fall, but it wasn’t too much pain that Justin couldn’t handle it. He hit the landing with a thud then sat up, dizzy.
The book of Anna’s spells was on a small table in the corner of the room; Justin noticed for the first time that the book itself was calling to him. The call was soft and gentle, like a woman’s loving embrace.
“What in the world?” the book’s pull was tugging at Justin to come closer to it, to open the cover and reveal it’s secrets and use them. “What is this?” the cover had writing on it, which took Justin a little while to figure out. He reached out towards it slowly, as if it might bite him if he moved too fast.
“Don’t touch it!” Phantom came running down the stairs as quickly as he possibly could manage.
“Why should I trust you? You tried to kill me not even three minutes ago and now you want me to listen to you?” Justin’s anger was so strong that his power started to create blue and black fire behind him that whipped about around him. Instead of the flames radiating unbearable heat, they sucked the heat out of the room and replaced it with icy cold winds that bit at any exposed skin and tore right through the heaviest of coats.
Once again black flames came flying at Justin. Without thinking Justin grabbed the spell book and held it up like a shield to block most of the flames. The flames hit the book then got thrown back at Phantom who had to flatten himself on the floor to avoid being hit with it.
“No!” Phantom yelled when he saw what Justin held in his hands. “I told you not to touch it!” Phantom kept yelling at Justin but he didn’t hear any of it.
The sudden flow of power that flooded through Justin was almost overwhelming for him. The power flowing from the book felt familiar but at the same time it was something foreign to him. Startled, Justin dropped the book back onto the table, but the power still swam within him like the undercurrent of the ocean after a heavy storm. ”What happened just now?” he asked Phantom with terror and panic bare in his eyes.
“You touched the spell book after I told you not to, you idiot.” Phantom told him when he stood back up again.
“No, really?” Justin said sarcastically. “I thought I blocked with a brick. I know I held the book, what I don’t know is why now feel like something that I never knew was missing is back where it belongs within me.”
“Because that’s what the book does, it will bond with the person who is its master, and apparently you are its new master.” Phantom leaned against the wall, defeated.
Panic and fear were starting to swell within Justin, “What does that mean? I know that John had said the book would ‘bend’ to me; is that the same thing?”
“No, the tow are similar, but not the same. To have the book recognize you as its master doesn’t mean it will follow or obey you, while it bending you means it will obey you to the end of time. Your mother Anna was never the proper owner of that book, Justin.” Phantom paused then continued. “you are and always have been the true owner of that book, which makes destroying you even more difficult for me to do.”
“Why do you want to kill me, Phantom? What have I done to warrant my death?”
“There is a prophesy that says when a man dies then comes back the world of the living he will be death to all the inhabitants of the world.”
“But I would never do that! How can you believe I would, or could destroy everyone on earth?” the fury in his voice was rising as he thought more about it.
Phantom looked apologetic but stern when he replied. “I know you would never purposefully harm everyone, but you would inadvertently dill them all by you existence here.” Phantom’s eyes were filled with sorrow and almost pain. “Unlike Anna, who was a sorceress of the light who was tempted by the night, you are and always have been a sorcerer of the night. The night cannot help but be what they are. Even though you may not be in the night entirely now, you will slowly find your way back there. You may fight it, but the harder you fight it the stronger it will pull you into its grasp. Once you’re there you can never return or leave the power of the night.”
Justin thought about what Phantom had said, and the events from the past few days since he woke from his apparent death. “Wait, how did that lady at the DMV know about me before I even new? Is she one of you guys?”
“What do you mean?” the panic and fear were bare in Phantom’s eyes. “All of my people are with me or back home, except for Anna, John, and you. Tell me, what did she do that makes you think that?”
Justin thought back through all that had happened till he remembered the DMV incident clearly. “She told me it was unwise to put my name on my license plates for the car, and that she knew the Greek Gods very well.”
Phantom rushed up the stairs quickly and called back down to Justin to grab the spell book and come up quickly. Justin picked up the book, put it under his arm, and followed the path Phantom took up the stairs. He was greeted with looks of anger, fear, and curiosity. Anna was watching from the chair across the hall from the stairs with the slightest bit of fear and anger in her eyes.

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Tag der Veröffentlichung: 26.05.2011

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