Jayce stood at the end of the aisle, dressed in a new black suit. The jacket was baggy and his pants were too long and he found himself tugging at his bowtie.
His mother held onto Jayce's arm and leaned in to whisper, "Jayce. You okay, sweetie?"
"Yeah. Yeah." His mind felt a million miles away, but his body was present.
They were at a wedding, his mother in a lacy dress and Josh standing at the end of the aisle in a navy-blue suit. Jayce was waiting to escort his mother down the aisle.
The organist began to play, signaling Jayce and his mother to walk. He took short steps, careful not to trip on his pants.
People Jayce had never seen before stared at them. Some had tears in their eyes. Others looked like they were obligated to attend. He ignored their mumbled comments about how Brianna LeBlanc wasn't good enough for Josh. Jayce felt it was the opposite situation.
Upon reaching the altar, things got weird.
Josh grinned from ear to ear with sharp, splinter-like teeth. His face was sickly. His nose and ears were bright red. He choked out a few words in a demented voice. "Thanks for the bride, kid."
Jayce stepped back, shocked by Josh's appearance, and bumped into Stacy. He twisted around to face her and mutter an apology, but he gagged on the words. She was as pale as her father, and the skin was running like molasses down her face. Bile built up in Jayce's throat.
"What's the matter, brother?" she spat. "Is there something on my face?"
Jayce turned back to the crowd. They were all zombies, even his baby sister sat with his cousins in the front pew.
He tried to run, but his mother yanked him back at the elbow. "You let this happen! You let us die!"
"M- Mom! Let go! I don't understand! I-" The urge to vomit grew stronger as his own skin melted. A black welt opened on his forearm. His nails turned black. His head felt like it was on fire.
As he tried to pull away, his mother's grip got stronger, her moldy red nails digging into his skin. With her free hand, she dug her thumb into his arm. Jayce cried out, begging anyone to help.
The scene went black and faded out like an old movie reel.
Jayce shot up and leaned over, fearing he'd relieve his stomach of its contents. It was empty and growled. How long had it been since breakfast?
The room was dimly lit and musty. The floor was concrete, crevices running from the door to Jayce's metal frame bed. A swaying light hung in the middle of the room. A fly buzzed from inside, trying desperately to free itself. Something shiny and red stuck to the adjacent wall.
Please don't let it be blood, thought Jayce.
Curiosity winning, Jayce got up to take a look around the tiny room. He winced as he flexed his toes against the chilly floor. His feet were caked in mud and what he hoped wasn't his own blood.
Maybe they stole my kidney.
But the truth was much worse, and deep down Jayce knew it. Whatever he'd gotten himself into was going to end him. He only hoped it wouldn't leave his family and friends with bullets in their heads.
The image of a room of melting zombies flooded back into his mind.
Jayce forced himself up, too angry at himself and his captors to let pain grip him. He walked over to the wall and took a long look at the red splatter, wondering if he'd end up like the previous victim. Jayce would be damned if he died by the hands of the crooked-nosed man and his frightening companion without a fight.
Then he remembered being shot. He ran his fingers tenderly across the bandage wound too tight around his forearm. Miraculously, the bandage was clean. Jayce unraveled it to find a circular scar and only a dull ache.
"We had Rivera heal you. She's quite talented."
Jayce turned to see a girl standing in the doorway. His first instinct was to bolt out the door, but her voice compelled him to stay.
The girl had an intensity to her, but a different kind than Jayce's captor. She was intimidating rather than fear-inducing. Her silver hair was tied back in a messy bun, making way for a jawline so sharp it could cut. Her ice-blue eyes were large and round. The girl's nose was thin like the rest of her body. The young silver-haired girl wore a sort of school uniform completed with a blue jacket, freshly ironed dress shirt, and black slacks. A phoenix was embroidered in red and yellow on the lapel of her coat along with the letters E and A.
"Who are you people?"
The girl shifted her weight to her left leg. The expression on her face turned from pain to relief as if she was disguising an old wound in her right leg. "Despite what you may think, we're the good guys."
"The good guys don't shoot people!" whined Jayce. He was outraged by her twisted morals, but couldn't help hang out to every one of her lingering words. Her voice was gentle. Sweet, even.
"They do when kinder methods don't work." She sounded exasperated like this conversation had happened a million times already. "Look, I don't have time to explain before we get you ready for school."
"School?"
"Yes. You'll be attending the Evans Academy with me from now on. We think you're the boy in the prophecy."
"Prophecy? What prophecy? This isn't some drug trip, is it? I don't do that crap. I might've stolen some beer but-"
The girl stomped. "There's a prophecy that says, 'A girl with powers born in tragedy will end her world unless a boy not quite human forfeits her destiny.' We have our girl, and now we may possibly have our boy."
Jayce held up his hands. "Okay. Okay. Let's back up. Can you be a little bit more specific on who you are?"
The girl looked bothered. And even more beautiful. "Mari Stanton. My father, the guy who brought you here is Nathaniel Stanton with the help of his companion - the lovely North."
"And what exactly do you want with me?"
Mari sighed and rolled her eyes. Her head lolled to the side, then tilted upward. "Prophecy. You are hero. Girl is enemy."
"Yes, I know." Jayce was getting nowhere with this girl. "But why do you think I'm involved?"
"Being able to turn into animals sounds like it could be 'not quite human' to me. Plus, we've run out of options and time." Mari's eyebrows furrowed. "You are a boy, right? Unless you're lying about what's in your pants."
Jayce's face turned red. Suddenly he felt naked. He looked over himself to make sure he wasn't prancing around in tighty whities. He wasn't sure if he was more unnerved to find himself in completely new clothes matching Mari's. He hadn't changed himself.
"No, I'm definitely a boy." He wasn't lying, but saying it with false strength made it sound untrue.
Mari almost laughed. "So, you're the prophecy boy until we found out you're not."
"And if I'm not?"
Mari made the motion of an explosion with her hands. "Nothing good." She paused. "Now walk with me."
Jayce's bare feet moved on their own. An invisible force tugged him along, faster then he could move. He followed suit as carefully as possible, hoping not to make himself look like a bigger fool. They weaved through a basement of similar rooms and stacks of boxes higher than Jayce. He wondered about their contents but was too afraid to ask Mari anything but the important questions.
"So my family and friends, they're okay?"
"As long as you comply."
"And this school you were talking about?"
"It's for gifted kids like us." Mari pronounced "gifted" as if a hundred cotton balls had been stuffed in her mouth. The word left a bad taste behind.
She halted at the stairs. They were old and didn't look like they could hold Mari, let alone Jayce. "Are you done with the questions?"
You captured me. Of course, I have questions! he thought, but dared not say. "Just one more. If your dear old dad claims not to like 'mutations' like me, why are you here and the person I'm guessing used their healing powers on me?"
Something snapped in Mari. Her ice-blue eyes turned dark. She thrust her hand around Jayce's throat and shoved him into the railing. Her nails dug into his skin like his mother's had in his dream. Jayce hoped she wouldn't kill him, or worse... turn into a melting zombie.
"You know nothing! I'm not like you! I don't embrace my powers. I see them for the curse they are! As soon as I have the chance, I'm getting rid of them."
Jayce hung from her hand, dumbfounded. She didn't enjoy being something more? She didn't see the gift being special was?
"Say something!"
He kept quiet, the air and words stolen.
With a heavy grunt, Mari released him. Jayce slid down the wall, his back collecting splinters. He gasped and coughed.
"Come upstairs when you're more presentable." Her footsteps echoed with the creak of each stair, leaving Jayce with his thoughts and pain.
Jayce found himself remembering words his father told him after losing a fight to his third-grade bully. "What you are to other people isn't really you. You can only be what you believe."
Lately, Jayce believed he was a marionette doll on a million strings yanking him in every direction.
For a building with such a dreary basement, Jayce wasn't expecting the rest of the house to look like a suburban home movie set. Everything was neat and the clutter was minimal. There wasn't even a stray book lounging on the coffee table. The mantle above the fireplace hosted a snow globe of Pike's Peak and two cat knick-knacks. One cat was doing the downward dog and the other was rolled over with a ball of red yarn in its claws. Along the perpendicular wall was a hand-carved bookshelf engraved with leaves and Rose's. The books were organized by colour then author. Probably by someone with major OCD. To complete the atmosphere of a suburban home, two three-seater brown couches were laid out in an L shape.
Jayce took a seat, seeing as everyone had disappeared.
Making an escape would've been a poor choice. He imagined being shot trying to crawl out of a window or electrocuted on a doorknob. He couldn't turn into anything smaller than a Pomeranian, which wasn't a very discrete animal. Maybe he didn't have much experience with being kidnapped, but he had watched a lot of movies. The side characters who failed to get away always died at the end of the movie to give the main character a tragic backstory to use in the sequel. Frankly, Jayce didn't want to find out if his plot armour had weak spots.
It didn't take long for the crooked-nosed man to make an appearance. He sat on the other couch and crossed one leg over the other. Nathaniel Stanton hadn't gotten any prettier during Jayce's nap.
"How long was I out for?"
"Twenty-three hours. You're quite the heavy sleeper. Didn't even notice when.." Jayce hoped he wouldn't say when he changed Jayce's clothes. "...I had Rivera heal you."
Jason let out a sigh of relief.
Nathaniel grinned. "Look, boy. As much as I hate having to use you, I'm not willing to test my chances against fate. It's already landed me a few scars."
At least he's less cranky today.
"You still intend to massacre my family and friends if I don't help you?"
Nathaniel nodded. "It's life or death for me too. For all of us, really. If the girl isn't stopped, she'll kill every human being and do worse to genetic failures like you."
Jayce imagined something worse than death. The melting zombies, forever in a state of decay. He cringed. His fingers curled. "How is it possible for one girl to end the world?"
"It's not the world that's at stake. It's the people on it that are at risk," Nathaniel corrected, his face contorted into annoyance at such a silly question. The look made Jayce feel small. "The Earth goes on breeding new monsters as if the last batch never existed."
Well, that's not terrifying or anything.
"I'm going to regret saying this sooner or later, but I'm in. For the sake of my family and friends. What do you need me to do?"