The Experiment

Chapter 1
I am a monster. An abomination created by man. I hate them; they give me life, and then want me dead. Im not alone either. There are millions of other unfortunate people like me, but unlike me, they want to exterminate man off the face of the earth. I understand why they want that, but I cannot allow that to happen. They have their views, I have mine. This is a one-sided-war Im fighting. Me against the world. * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I live in a spare room. I know, not that great, but its all Ive got. My good friend, Jack, had his family taken for experimentation, and they havent been seen dead, or alive. So, he lets me live in his kids room. He has pictures of his family hung around his house. He had two kids, a boy and a girl, as well a wife. Every time I see the pictures, I wonder what has become of them. Most of the time hes cheerful, but sometimes, I hear him cry for his family. Jack hid me when I escaped the lab. He was the one who held out a hand and brought me to my feet. I am forever grateful to his kindness. He is the butcher of the village, and sometimes that disturbs me. I cant stand seeing blood; it awakens the monster. He saved me, and I would do anything to repay him. He just need say the word. I know I said I was a monster, and an abomination, but Im trying to change. I was able to regain most of my human form. I like to walk out of town to see my reflection; to remind myself that I am human. When Im human I have this short, black hair. Mostly because when I was a monster, I was bald. Laugh if you want, but I have memories of killing people: Innocent people. I create ripples in the water; no need to stir up those memories again. Jack shelters me, but doesnt feed me. I work for my own food. Thats part of our deal. He has this goal to raise enough money to hire men to take back his family, but I am too ashamed to tell him that it might be too late. Most of the town knows my secret, but they dont care. The people here are against the government, so they are with me. Thats why Im still alive, and not back in the labs. I walked over to Old Ms. Harkers to trim her tree, having a monstrous stamina helps greatly with the chores. Ms. Harker has me doing all kinds of jobs for money. Today, its trimming the tree for five silver coins. Usually I get crummy jobs like cleaning her backyard or running errands; nothing that really gets my blood pumping. But Im not complaining, only stating a fact. Finally, I thought that I would grow old waiting for you to show up, Ms. Harker said, standing on her front step. Thats Ms. Harker, cheery as always. Her house is like any other in this town; small, wooden, and termite infested. If anything, its also older than most other houses, she was one of the first settlers of this town. The old crone.

I sighed, and then got to work. If youve ever seen her tree, youd know how bad it is. If not, you a lucky ducky. Im beginning to regret taking the job, but at this point theres no going back. I grit my teeth and get to work. Half-way through the job, Ms. Harker came out with refreshments. She is a strict woman, but at least shes fair. I finish stacking the branches, and look back at my work. It looks fantastic if I do say so myself. Now to collect my money. I walk over to her door, and knock. Uhh, I start, but am immediately interrupted. You didnt finish the job, she said looking over my shoulder. I dont get it; I trimmed her tree like she asked. What else does she want me to do? But I , I start, but didnt get to finish. You must be going deaf. I had asked you to cut down the tree, not trim it! Now go finish the job! She yells at me. She turns and slams the door in my face. I know I heard her correctly. She only asked me to trim it; not cut it down. The old bat. I walk over to the tree and groan as I wrap my arms around it. What is her problem? The tree comes out of the ground without much effort. Super strength comes in handy at times like this. I stack the bare trunk on the pile of branches and watch the pile sink down. I knock on Ms. Harkers door for the second time that day. Odd, that woman usually opens the door on my first knock. Something must be going on inside. At the moment I hear two people talking inside who I believe are Ms. Harker and Jack. You cant do that Jack, no matter how much your family means to you. Ms. Harker says. Its my duty as a husband and a father. I have to Janet. Jack tries to explain. But it doesnt seem as if Jack is paying any attention. He seems set on something. I trust that you wont tell him any of this, it would ruin everything. I-I cant. That would betray our trust. I havent known him long, but he is a good boy. Ms. Harker tells Jack. Please, Janet. Do this for me. Dont tell him anything. Jack seems persistent. His voice seems different somehow. Jack, no. I cant keep it from him. I just cant. Im sorry. She seems close to tears. I wonder if I should knock again. Well, Janet. Im sorry too. I hear footsteps, then a hard strike, and a body hitting the hard floor. My eyes widen. I feel worry swell up inside of me. The door is no match for me as it breaks apart by my bare fists. I run inside to find Ms. Harker sprawled on the floor. I look around, but Jack is nowhere in sight. Ms. Harker cant die; shes been around too long. I feel for her pulse, but cant find any. No, she cant be dead, this cant be happening. I hear the galloping of horses and the cries of people, lots of them. I run outside to investigate. What is going on? I emerge to see a massacre. The Kings troops are setting fire to our, my village. Is this what Jack was asking Ms. Harker to keep a secret? Was I who they were talking about? Probably, but that

doesnt matter at the moment. I had to protect the people in the village. I look to one side and see people getting cut down like weeds in the street. Harold. Mr. Grater. Juliet. Kipper. They are all dead, on the ground. I cover my eyes and let out a cry of anguish. The bloodshed awoke the monster in me. I dont want this to happen, not right now. I stumble my way to Jacks house. He owes me an explanation. I break down the door and stumble over to where Jack is sharpening his butcher knife. The red sky casts eerie shadows along the floor. They seem to be dancing. What did you do, Jack? What is going on? I scream at him. Anguish written all over my face. Im doing my job kid, and thats protecting my family, he said, smiled in an insane way. He looked the scariest I have ever seen him, when you grow older youll understand. The problem is that I dont understand; hed sell out the town, for his family? He didnt even know if they were still alive! Why? Why would you do this to the village? I asked, tears streaming down my face. How could he? This is unforgivable! My sadness turned to anger. Whats wrong? You, yourself, are a monster. Dont you just love the blood of the villagers? Im sure youve betrayed friends before too. That hurt, it really did. It was true, and I knew it. When I was a monster, there were no such things as friends. If there were, they didnt last. I noticed something odd; something about the blade. It hit me hard: it was stained with blood, fresh blood by the smell of it. I could hear the monster inside of me beg to be let out. I smell blood. It said to me. It smells amazing. Let me out. Let me feed again. Its been much too long. I crouched down and held my head. It was all too much; I couldnt take it. Jack began to walk over to me with a thin grin. Dont worry. Once I turn you in and the village is destroyed, they will return my family to me. Ill get back my wife and my kids. He raised the knife, and I knew I needed to move, but I felt too shocked. Suddenly, the monster in me tried to take over. I could feel me not being myself. Stay put, It told me, Ill help you live. It was too strong; I could do nothing but watch it rise to fight back. I felt my arms and teeth started to change. My arms became a dark, pinkish color and small scales emerged, and my teeth grew and sharpened into needles. No, I thought to myself. I must stop him! I willed myself to stop changing, and I think it worked. I noticed that only my arms were different. Stop interfering! It shouted at me. I can help you live! I dont care! I told it. I can do it myself! I was able to successfully force it out of my body, but not without a struggle. I opened my eyes to find myself relieved of the monster, but also to see a dying friend. Jack was lying on the floor with four large gashes through his chest and part of his shoulder bitten off. Fear filled my eyes. He did it; the monster was hungry, so he ate. The taste of blood filled my mouth. Heh, heh, heh. You couldve waited until I finished eating. It said mockingly. Oh well, too late. Maybe I could still save Jack. There might still be some hope left. I got up to find his medical aid kit. But I felt a tug on my shirt; holding me back. It was Jack, with the last of his life he was pulling me back. I let him pull and leaned over him.

What is it? I asked him. I realized it was an extremely stupid question. I dont know. Maybe it was the large scratches on his chest, or even the fact that his shoulder was practically ripped off. He pulled me closer, and at the same time brought up his hand to try to strike me dead with a piece of debris. My instinct told me to defend myself, and I did that only too well. My arms were still transformed, so I easily broke his arm by doing nothing. He screamed out in pain. It hurt my ears, not the scream itself, but that he felt it with his heart. I couldnt just sit there and do nothing. As an act of mercy, I quickly put him out of his misery.