The twins settled into their usual routine after a breakfast compromise - oatmeal with a small scoop of ice cream on top, a solution that satisfied both their sugar cravings and Axel's need to appear responsible. They migrated to the living room, spreading homework and art supplies across the coffee table while cartoons played in the background.
"You don't have to hover," Emma said without looking up from her drawing. "We're not babies."
"Yeah," Lisa added, frowning at her math worksheet. "Mom just pretends we need watching because she forgets we're practically teenagers."
Axel leaned against the door frame, watching them with a mixture of affection and something darker. Something much darker. "Is that so?"
"OBVIOUSLY," they replied in unison, then shot each other annoyed looks for the jinx.
"We can make our own lunch," Emma continued, now adding what appeared to be excessive amounts of glitter to her artwork. "And we know all the rules."
Lisa started ticking off points on her fingers. "No answering the door. No using the stove. No letting strangers in. No going outside because of the rabid bears-"
"Which is stupid because bears don't even come into town," Emma interrupted.
"Usually they don't, but what if they are really... really hungry?" Axel commented. He was really hungry and pissed off too. Bad combination led to bad result. Not all of those guys deserved it. Some were in the way. Wrong place at the wrong timme.
"And we have to call Mom or Mike if there's an emergency," Lisa finished. "See? We're not stupid."
"Never said you were." Axel pushed off from the door frame, fighting another wave of hunger that made his enhanced senses zero in on their steady heartbeats. "Just stay inside, so I don't have to explain to mum why you guys were eaten by bears."
"Whatever," Emma rolled her eyes, turning back to her glitter-bombed creation. "Just don't blame us when you die of boredom watching us do homework."
"Yeah," Lisa chimed in, still glaring at her math problems like they'd personally offended her. "We're not going to do anything interesting."
Axel stepped away from the living room, their dismissive attitudes actually a relief. The less they interacted with him, the better. His heightened senses were making everything more difficult - he could hear the subtle differences in their breathing patterns, smell the lingering sweetness of ice cream on their breath, practically taste...
No. He needed to move.
He paced through the house, a caged predator trying to maintain control. The kitchen still reeked of last night's meatloaf, the processed meat smell now almost nauseating. The laundry room held traces of everyone's scents, concentrated and mingled in the hamper. Upstairs, Teresa's room was a cocktail of perfumes and hormones, while Mike's workspace in the garage assaulted his nose with motor oil and metal.
But underneath it all was the constant drumbeat of his sisters' hearts, the sound growing louder with each pass through the house. Their young, vital energy called to something primal in him, something that didn't care about family bonds or moral constraints.
"Stop it," he muttered to himself, gripping the upstairs hallway banister hard enough to hear the wood creak. "Stop thinking about it."
From downstairs, Emma's voice drifted up: "Did you say something?"
"No," he called back, forcing his voice to sound normal. "Just... checking something."
He needed to get out. The house was becoming a trap, and his sisters were starting to smell like prey rather than family. The memory of his previous feeds flickered through his mind - the raw satisfaction, the blessed silence that followed when the hunger temporarily retreated.
"Going to check the mail," he announced, already heading for the door. "Remember-"
"Stay inside, don't answer the door, blah blah blah," the twins chorused, not looking up from their activities.
Axel stepped onto the front porch, immediately assaulted by a wave of scents and sounds that made his stomach clench. The neighborhood was alive with potential prey - joggers taking advantage of the mild spring morning, kids playing in fenced yards despite the lockdown warnings, pets wandering their territories.
"Get it together," he muttered, gripping the porch railing. "Think. Plan. Don't just react."
A woman power-walked past the house, her ponytail bouncing in rhythm with her steps. His enhanced hearing picked up her elevated heartbeat, the slight wheeze in her breathing suggesting she was pushing herself harder than usual. She would be easy to catch, especially if he waited until she reached the more secluded part of her route...
"No," he growled, forcing the thought away. "Not people. Not anymore."
But the hunger whispered that she wouldn't be missed immediately. That by the time anyone noticed, he would be long gone. That fresh meat was so much better than...
A dog barked somewhere down the street, breaking his fixation on the jogger. Axel's head snapped toward the sound, his new instincts instantly cataloging potential prey. It was a large dog, from the sound of the bark. Probably that German Shepherd that Mr. Peterson kept chained in his backyard.
"No," he told himself firmly. "Not that one. People would notice."
He forced himself to think strategically rather than just react to the hunger. Pets would be missed. Questions would be asked. But strays... strays disappeared all the time. And there were plenty of those in the industrial district, where the old warehouses provided shelter for feral dog packs.
Before Axel could further develop his plan for hunting in the industrial district, a familiar scent cut through the symphony of neighborhood smells. Delicate, floral with hints of vanilla - a combination that had once made his human heart race, and surprisingly, still did.
Laura Matthews walked into view, her honey-blonde hair catching the morning sun. She wore her usual running attire - navy leggings and an oversized sweatshirt that probably belonged to her older brother. Even in such casual clothes, she managed to look effortlessly put together.
The hunger that had been clawing at his insides moments ago retreated, replaced by an entirely different kind of nervousness. His enhanced senses picked up her steady heartbeat, but for once, it didn't trigger predatory instincts. Instead, it was like music - a rhythm he'd memorized from countless shared classes where he'd been too shy to do more than steal glances.
She noticed him on the porch and slowed her pace. "Oh, hey Axel."
"Laura, hi," he managed, grateful that his new condition didn't include blushing. "Morning run?"
She nodded, pulling out one earbud. "Yeah, trying to keep some normalcy, you know? With everything that's happening..." She glanced around, as if checking for mythical rabid bears. "Probably shouldn't be out here, but I'm going crazy stuck inside."
"I get that," Axel said, surprising himself with how steady his voice was. No stuttering, no awkward pauses - apparently near-death and transformation had done wonders for his social anxiety. "The whole town feels like a bad horror movie."
Laura laughed, though there was an edge to it. "Right? My mom's convinced the bears are going to come crashing through our windows any second. Dad keeps checking the news every five minutes like the situation's going to magically improve."
"At least they care," Axel offered. "My mom's stuck at the clinic, and Mike's pulling double shifts at the garage. I'm stuck playing babysitter."
"The twins?" Laura glanced toward the house. "I remember them from the school carnival. They were running that face-painting booth, right?"
Axel nodded, oddly touched that she remembered such a detail. "Yeah, though most kids ended up looking like abstract art projects gone wrong."
"I thought it was cute," she smiled. "The little girl - Emma? - she gave me these adorable cat whiskers."
"That was probably Lisa, actually. Emma's the one who thinks glitter is a primary color."
Laura laughed again, and this time it sounded more genuine. "They sound like a handful."
"You have no idea," Axel rolled his eyes. "Currently they're inside trying to convince me they're 'practically teenagers' and don't need supervision."
"Wow, ambitious for twelve-year-olds."
"Tell me about it. Yesterday they tried to negotiate ice cream for breakfast."
"Did they win?"
"...Maybe a small scoop on their oatmeal," Axel admitted sheepishly.
"Pushover," Laura teased, then her expression grew more serious. "How are you doing, though? Really? After what happened at school..."
Axel managed to keep his face neutral, though his enhanced hearing picked up the slight tremor in her voice. "I'm okay. Still processing everything, I guess. You?"
She wrapped her arms around herself, despite the mild temperature. "It's just... hard to believe, you know? One minute everything's normal, the next..." She trailed off, looking down at her running shoes. "Sorry, I didn't mean to get heavy. It's just... this is probably the longest conversation we've ever had."
"Yeah," Axel agreed, feeling a strange mix of his old shyness and his new confidence. "I guess I was always too... nervous before."
"You did seem to avoid eye contact a lot," Laura said with a small smile. "I used to wonder if I had something stuck in my teeth."
"No! No, your teeth are perfect," Axel blurted out, then wanted to kick himself. "I mean... I was just..."
"A bit shy?"
"More like pathologically terrified of social interaction," he admitted. "But recent events have given me a new perspective on what's actually scary."
Laura nodded, understanding flickering across her features. "Yeah, I get that. Everything feels different now. Like... who knows what could happen tomorrow, right?"
Something in her tone made Axel gather his courage. "Speaking of tomorrow... are you seeing anyone? Currently?"
The question hung in the air for a moment, and Axel saw pain flash across her face before she composed herself. "No, I... probably not anymore. Mark was... he was there that night, at the field..."
Axel felt his stomach twist, but not from hunger this time. Mark Stevens - backup quarterback, decent guy who'd never participated in the team's bullying. He'd just been there, in the wrong place at the wrong time, when Axel's transformation had triggered and the killing started.
"I'm so sorry," he said, and meant it. "I heard about... I mean, they still haven't found..."
Laura wiped quickly at her eyes. "Thanks. We weren't... I mean, we'd only been dating a few weeks. But he was nice, you know? Really nice."
Axel fought down the wave of guilt threatening to overwhelm him. "Listen, I know this might be weird timing, but... would you maybe want to grab lunch? Just to talk, or not talk, whatever you prefer. The twins have been begging to order pizza, and I could use some adult conversation."
Laura looked surprised, then thoughtful. "I... yeah, actually. That might be nice. Normal, you know?"
"Normal sounds good," Axel agreed, even as his transformed body reminded him how far from normal he truly was. "Say around noon? I know this place that delivers, and they've got those breadsticks you liked at the homecoming party."
Her eyebrows rose. "You remember what I ate at homecoming?"
"I notice things," he said simply, deciding not to mention just how much he'd noticed about her over the years. "Is that creepy?"
"No, it's... kind of sweet, actually." She smiled, and for a moment, the morning sun caught her hair just right, creating a halo effect that made his breath catch. "Noon sounds perfect. I should finish my run though - Mom will freak if I'm gone too long with everything that's happening."
"Yeah, wouldn't want you to get eaten by bears," Axel tried to joke, though his voice caught slightly on the word 'eaten'.
"Right, because bears totally carry student IDs and wear letterman jackets," Laura said sarcastically, then immediately looked horrified. "Sorry, that was... I shouldn't joke about..."
"It's okay," Axel assured her quickly. "Sometimes dark humor helps, right?"
She nodded, looking relieved. "Yeah, exactly. So... noon?"
"Noon," he confirmed. "I'll call in the order - medium veggie pizza for you?"
"You really do notice things," she said softly, then put her earbud back in. "See you then, Axel."
He watched her jog away, his enhanced vision allowing him to track her much longer than human eyes could. Her ponytail swayed with each step, and her heartbeat maintained its steady rhythm - a sound he now found soothing rather than tempting.
From inside the house, he heard Emma's voice: "Was that Laura Matthews?"
"The one you've had a crush on since forever?" Lisa added.
"Don't you two have homework?" Axel called back, turning to head inside.
"We're taking a snack break!" they answered in unison.
"It's been like twenty minutes since breakfast!"
"Growing kids need constant nutrition!"
"That's not how it works and you know it!"
But he was smiling as he stepped back into the house, his earlier hunger forgotten in the wake of Laura's visit. He had a lunch date - sort of - with the girl he'd been too scared to talk to for years. The fact that he was now a mutated creature who'd killed her previous boyfriend was... well, that was a problem for later.
Right now, he had to figure out how to eat normal food in front of her without giving away his condition. And somehow keep the twins from embarrassing him too badly. And maybe, just maybe, find a way to be as close to normal as possible for a few hours.
"So," Emma's head popped around the corner, grinning mischievously. "Should we make ourselves scarce at lunch?"
"Or we could help!" Lisa appeared beside her twin. "We're excellent conversation starters."
"No," Axel said firmly. "You're staying right here where I can keep an eye on you. And no embarrassing stories, or I'll tell Mom about the ice cream breakfast compromise."
The twins gasped in mock horror. "You wouldn't!"
"Try me," he threatened, but couldn't keep the affection out of his voice. "Now go finish your homework before I change my mind about ordering pizza."
They scampered back to their work, whispering and giggling in that twin-language that no one else quite understood. Axel headed to the kitchen to find the pizza place's number, his mind already racing with plans and contingencies.
He could do this. He could be normal for one lunch. He just had to control his hunger, act human, and not think about the fact that he was partially responsible for the death of Laura's boyfriend.
Simple, right?
Right.