When I woke up not only was I covered in mud but the others seemed to be controlled by something or someone. I look at the counselors for the culprit and the guy's eyes were glowing. That's when the hive queen started talking in my mind saying: "Nathan we have a problem, I can't reach Xavier." I tried to sneak up on him but he noticed me before I even left the sand, which we were now somehow back at camp.
"So you're finally up. Why don't you join your friends? I'm pretty sure you'd have as much fun as they are" he said to me, trying to sound convincing.
I look around and Xavier didn't even acknowledge that I was awake. One of the other counselors was playing with him in the water. The others seemed playful but obeyed her orders pretty much to a tee. One of them was even shading her; both of whom were eating some leftover fruit.
That's when he tried to make me lay down. I resisted, me being focused on getting him to release his control keep me out of his grasp. It didn't feel right despite them not being in danger. "I think I have something your Symbiote friend would like," he said to me, pulling out a dark chocolate bar.
"Oh is that that I think it is," The Symbiote said as it grabbed it out of his hand. I felt compelled, probably by the Symbiote, to take a bite out of it. "That taste, that easily calms my nerves" I heard it say to me. The taste was relaxing the 2 of us, mainly because I was focusing on the taste of it. It being calmed ended up calming me farther somehow.
After eating that I easily laid down. He then laid his head on one of my front legs. I then laid my other front leg over his legs and my head in his lap. "Nathan, your definitely one of a kind. I can tell there's more to you then meets the eye," he said to me, handing me some durian. As I munched on it those words echoed in my mind.
As the day went on I was swimming and playing up till dusk. When it came time to sleep he still had me under his control. "Sleep easy everyone, you're going to need it," he said to us. As he slept I was regaining control. He must have lost control while he slept. I was able to reach Xavier after an hour and he somehow sounded happy.
"That was a lot of fun Nathan, I almost don't want this to end," he said to me.
"Yeah, but I think you'll be surprised to learn that the male counselor was mind-controlling us" I replied.
"What matters is that we're having fun. At least he wasn't doing it for the wrong reasons" he replied.
I suppose he was right, we weren't in harm's way when he did it. What my main question is why, why did he do it. Whatever the reason at least we were safe and had fun.
When we woke up they looked like they were recovering from what happened yesterday. "Man my head, what happened yesterday that caused that," I heard one of them say.
"It was probably him doing mind control. he was doing that yesterday" I said to them.
"Man why would he do that. I'm just glad we're heading home today," he said to me.
"Okay now you can change to your human forms," he said to us.
As we each changed to our human or partly human forms I finally got a look at their faces. They were each from different ethnic groups, backgrounds, and religions and we got along so well even after we saw who each of us was truly like. As we talked my grandma pulled up to pick me and Xavier up.
"Nathan, Xavier, come on!" One of the counselors said to us. When we got in Xavier look a bit concerned about something, but I didn't want to bother him then.
When we got to St Louis my grandma had to drop us off to fly the rest of the way to Xavier's hive. "You know how to get home Nathan, I know you can you've done it before," she said to me. When we flew to the entrance something just felt odd why he wanted me to head inside.
"So why does she want to see me?" I asked him.
"you'll find out soon enough," he replied.
As we went inside I felt her call: "come to me, you'll be fine."
"Does she always give you a headache?" I asked him.
"You'll get used to it," he replied
When I got to where she was the connection felt unusually strong. "Nathan, Xavier, come over here to my right," I heard her say. As I went over there I had a warm feeling the entire way through. I turned to my dragon form and laid down, Xavier in the center of my curled up body.
"Nathan, Xavier looks up to you like a brother. I trust that you can be his voice to your kind. Which is why I linked you to the hive mind, so you'd be able to communicate with ease. Keep him safe and be a friend to him, that's what I ask of you," she said to me.
The request seemed so simple, but regardless if it was any harder I would have still taken it. Xavier had no human friends other than his parents until I came along. He was so glad to have me for a friend when I first met him and in a sense, I was glad to have him for a friend too. Sure he wasn't entirely human, but that doesn't mean he's not human at all. He was still human to me, to his family, and the lord. Whatever you called him he was the same person.
"Nathan, it feels reassuring, doesn't it," Xavier said to me.
"It is, I never caught your age Xavier, my best guess with your height was 13," I replied.
"I'm 15, yes I know I'm a bit short but they suspect that's from the Xenomorph DNA in me," he replied.
"You heading to engineering camp at SIUE? Cus' I Am," He asked.
"Yeah, the same week I'm guessing, right?" I replied. He nodded yes, looking as if he knew I needed to head home.
"I think my grandma's starting to worry, I'm going to head home Xavier," I said to him.
As I flew home I looked around the area, you could easily see the diversity of people here. Different ethnic groups, religions, native tongues, capabilities and backgrounds. Some had the X-gene but still lived a normal life. But what they had in common is they were human nonetheless.
When I got home I noticed something off with the door. It looked to of been picked, and it was unlocked. I slowly opened it to find my grandma on the couch, alive but unconscious. When I went near my room, the door was open, to find something wearing a plague doctor mask and a black robe. "Come one where'd he put it" I heard it say. I hid in the bathroom looking for something I could use the Void Crystal to maybe pull something to hit it in the head. I tried the painting above the bed but he heard it move before I got it off the nail. "Who's there!" It said turning around quickly. I hid in the tub down low but he seemed smarter than a typical horror movie monster.
"I know you're in there kid, don't make this hard on yourself," he said to me as he walked in. I told my Symbiote to come out over me. In case I needed defense. Suddenly one of my staffs was up against my chin with him holding the other end
"Easy now, let's not do anything rash," I said to it nervously.
"Then you know what I came for" he replied. I floated the sword to him, worried about my family's safety. When he grabbed he said to me: "You've got a lot to learn kid and the learning begins now." Then he left for the nearby woods.
I then ran over to my grandma who was starting to wake up. "Nathan what was that!" She asked in a panic.
"I think it was the plague doctor and while a few of them have been changing I can't remember if he has," I replied. I tried to make sense of it before I saw something on the table.
It was a note that read: "I know who you are from the news. If you thought I was done there think again. I have your reptilian friend, and if you want to find her you'd better go to where your journey first got marked into your flesh."
"First marked into flesh, that would be where exactly?" She asked me
"where the dragon took me from." I bolted for the door before she grabbed my shirt.
"Nathan are you mad, you're risking your life for a sword!" She said.
"It's not that, the reptilian friend is the one who I was talking to the 2 nights before I went to that camp. He took her and I'm not waiting idly by for the police or even a SWAT team to deal with an anomaly," I replied before running out the door.
When I got to the edge of the clearing I saw 2 others with him. "I see him, he can't hide from infrared," I heard one of them say.
"Come on out kid, and don't even try any tricks, I think we're all aware of what occurs when the hero tries anything funny," I heard the one in the black robe say.
"Then show me she alive," I replied.
He then showed me the aquarrium she was. She was in her snake form moving around. I slowly crept out of the brush before I heard something click and some odd powder flew into my face. I started feeling dizzy after that before passing out. What they wanted with me was anyone's guess at this point. I just hoped that she was okay.