Work Text:
“Where’s the weretiger cub!” A pale, tall, and blond figure pushed past a pair of guards and opened two double doors. “Where the hell is Jordan!” He stood still as various guns clicked and aimed at him, red dots dancing across his form. He gave each of the various guards a quick glance and decided they weren’t a threat. Guns didn’t hurt him the same way they would most other people.
Across from him, bright red eyes shone in the dark like two rings of fire. He liked the dark, this one. “You’re the immortal, aren’t you? Or, the undead, should I say?” a low, calm voice answered, and the red eyed man in the dark tapped his fingernails against the arm of his chair in a rhythmic fashion, each finger falling right after the other. One two three four, one two three four, and on and on. “You want the cub, you’re a bit too late.”
“The hell is that supposed to mean,” the blond asked, and the red eyed man chuckled.
“Someone beat you to it! Broke right in here, stole your boy from right under my nose. A shapeshifter, can you believe it? And I could smell it, even if he was disguised as one of my guards. I let them go, I like the chase. I have both their scents, I’ll find them eventually. Not to worry, undead, there’s no rush,” he explained, cracking his neck and flashing sharp teeth.
The blond scoffed. “I don’t want you to have him. I was told to take care of him and I sure as hell am not letting some unhinged hostile get to him first,” he said, and he turned back towards the door. “Go bite down on that human pet you have, instead of messing with me.”
“You’re one to talk, AK.” He stopped, seething at the red eyed man’s words. “That’s right. I know all about you. I know about what happened when you first became what you are now. What was his name again? Oma-”
AK let out a vicious growl and suddenly he was gone. The man with the glowing red eyes smirked and crossed one leg over the other, still tapping the arm of his chair.
----
Two college kids were laughing and stumbling through the woods, a girl pulling a boy along by the hand. She knew where to go and he trusted her enough to let her lead him there. They met over the summer and November came so fast it shook them both to their cores. The fifth was their four month anniversary and they were gonna wait for midnight under the stars in a clearing.
“Annie, if we get lost, I swear,” the boy huffed, out of breath. He wasn’t the most athletic. He was around five eight and he recently turned twenty one. He was Puerto Rican and he had blue eyes like the ocean, which was fitting.
“Shark,” Annie laughed and pulled her boyfriend into the clearing she’d been to many times before. She stood at the same height as Shark. Her skin was light brown and her poofy shoulder length hair was dyed a pretty golden color that reminded Shark of sunflowers. Her eyes were like caramel and as she took Shark’s hands in hers he gazed right at those eyes with an innocent, young type of affection fit for a night under the stars. “Shark, hey, set an alarm,” Annie said, waving her hand in front of his face. He blinked out of his trance and patted his back pockets. He pulled out his phone and set an alarm for midnight as he wandered to the middle of the clearing and sat down.
“We got half an hour. I brought a blanket so we don’t have to like, get bugs on us. ‘Cause that’s gross,” he said, sliding his backpack off his shoulders and zipping it open.
“Coward,” Annie joked, and Shark fake-laughed. He laid out a soft blanket and they both laid down, looking up at the sky. “Keep an eye out for UFOs, Sharkie.”
Shark smiled. “I will, Ann.”
They both jumped at the sudden sound of rustling leaves that came next. Shark froze in place, and Annie rolled back onto her stomach and propped herself up with her elbows, glancing around to find the source of the noise. Shark’s eyes widened, and he grabbed her arm, trying to pull her back down. She shook his hand off her and watched as a tall man with what looked like a pirate blouse and a clearly bleached blond ponytail paced back and forth, mumbling cuss words and gesturing wildly with his hands. Annie squinted and noticed that his ears were pointed. “A fuckin’ shapeshifter. Great. How the fuck do I go up against a shapeshifter, he can- fucking- shapeshift! Dammit, how the fuck am I gonna get Jordan back.”
“Who’s Jordan?” Annie asked, and Shark covered his face, hissing her name. The man stopped and looked down at the two.
“Certainly none of a human’s business,” he said, eyeing the two. “The people I’m up against are far beyond what you want to mess with.” He scoffed and waved his hand at Annie. Shark took that moment to jump up and cover his girlfriend’s mouth before she could say anything else.
“Perfect! Then we’ll just stay here and you can go do that, bye, good luck!” Shark exclaimed, and the man paused, staring at him with odd brown eyes that seemed to glint oddly against the moonlight.
“You’re not human,” he said, and he smirked, showing what looked an awful lot like fangs. He stepped closer.
“Oh I very much am,” Shark said, his voice getting higher as he scooted away. “I assure you.”
“I’m AK,” the man said as he sat down in front of the two kids. “What type of creature are you? I can’t tell just by looking.”
“I’m not- I’m not a creature. Are, are you?” Shark wrapped his arm around Annie.
“No shit, I just made it from Seaport to Greenfield in half a second, I wouldn’t say a human can do that,” AK scoffed, leaning on his arm. It looked like he was boasting, and Annie noticed right away.
“Oh yeah, I want proof,” Annie said, and AK squinted at her. Then, all of a sudden, he was gone. Shark gasped and blinked a couple times.
“Wait-”
“That enough for you, human?” The couple whipped around and saw AK behind them, hovering a couple inches off the ground. Shark’s eyes widened and he stood up, pulling Annie with him.
“Annie, can we please go,” Shark said, his voice shaky. Annie waved him away.
“I still wanna know who Jordan is,” she said, and AK narrowed his eyes.
“A child, who I lost, who I need back. Right away.”
----
“There was a small government operation a couple years ago that was shut down. Some scientists were looking at monsters and cryptids and shit, figuring out their biology and doing experiments,” AK explained as Annie handed him a cup of coffee, black like he’d asked. He was sitting on the couch in Shark’s apartment, which Shark was indeed very opposed to, and he showed it by baking very loudly and aggressively. “I happened to be close friends of Jordan’s parents, and I heard that there was an attack on their area, I figured they’d all died. But recently, I saw this dude with him, and he was a shapeshifter, and I sure as hell don’t trust shapeshifters. I took Jordan back. Turns out he was the only survivor of that attack.”
Annie looked down as AK paused to take a sip of his coffee. Shark stopped what he was doing and looked over at AK. “So you took care of the kid?” Shark asked, and AK nodded.
“Tried. I was able to keep him in my sights for a couple months until a hostile took him from me.”
“A hostile,” Shark said. “Great. I can only fathom what that means.”
AK glanced at Shark and scoffed. “Most cryptids, if they need to like, eat hearts or something they go for animals. No well respected cryptid kills humans or other cryptids these days. But hostiles, they’ll go for anything. They’ll kill and in this guy’s case… eat, anyone they please.”
Shark covered his mouth and looked away, gagging.
“And he’s different from the shapeshifter you were talking about?” Annie asked, and AK perked up.
“Yeah yeah, the shapeshifter is different. The shapeshifter stole Jordan back from the hostile before I could. My guess why? Seeing a weretiger these days is really rare, especially in America,” he said, and Annie sighed.
“I wanna help,” she said, and Shark put the cookie dough in the oven.
“Annie, with all due respect, we’re human, and these things are not, and I really don’t want to get eaten before I graduate,” he said, pushing the buttons on the oven a bit harshly.
“I agree with Shark,” AK butted in, standing up and walking to the kitchen bar, where Shark was putting away all the ingredients. “You two are in no way capable of dealing with either of these cryptids, so, I’ll deal with Jordan, and when I find him, we’ll go from there. In the meantime, however, I wanna figure you out.” AK pointed a sharp-nailed finger at Shark.
“I told you. I’m full blown human. No powers of any kind, no elf ears, no fangs, no weird pirate shirt,” Shark hissed, and AK looked down at his shirt with an offended look on his face. “Annie, I need to talk to you.” Shark marched away and grabbed Annie’s hand, pulling her out of AK’s earshot. “This guy is completely insane, monster or not.”
“I know, there’s no way you could be a cryptid, you would definitely know by now, for sure. But,” Annie glanced at AK, “it is kind of funny, isn’t it? Why don’t you go along with it.”
“What!”
“Just for a while! Pretend to be convinced, let’s mess around with him a bit, and then maybe we can lure him into letting us help him save the kid!”
Shark gaped at her. “You actually want to help him do that,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Absolutely not, did you hear what he said? One dude eats people! I like my life, Ann, I like you! I don’t want either of us to be hurt.”
“It’s a child,” Annie said, and she gave Shark a look he knew all too well. He bit his lip, side-eyed AK, and then looked back at Annie.
He let out a defeated breath. “Dammit.”
“YES!” Annie clapped, then ran back to AK. “Shark’s willing to try to figure out what kind of cryptid he is, AK!”
“Great!” AK looked back at Shark, right as the junior’s phone started buzzing and making noise. Shark sighed.
“Happy four months,” he said, and Annie smiled. “Why did I know something like this would happen? It always does with you.”
“You mad?” she asked, and Shark scoffed.
“No, for some reason, I’m not,” he said, and AK bared his teeth and shook his head at the intimacy.
“First step, sever all human connections. They’ll never understand you,” he mumbled, and Annie snorted. Shark glared at her, but he couldn’t help but smile.
----
“Cookies are ready,” Shark said, and he opened the oven. He pulled out the sheet of perfect, golden brown chocolate chip cookies and put them on the counter. “Give them a couple minutes to cool down though.”
“They look delicious,” Annie said, and Shark beamed.
“Stress baking is my specialty, honey!” Shark took off his oven mitts and got out a plate, transferring the cookies. “Hey AK, want one or two?” he asked, and AK shook his head.
“No way. I don’t eat that shit,” he said, scowling at the thought.
“Yeah, you eat cow hearts, right?” Shark joked, and AK only stared at him. Shark’s smile faded, and he went back to the cookies. “Okay.”
“What is your deal anyway?” Annie asked. “Like, what are you? A vampire? You kinda look like a vampire.”
AK thought for a moment. “Something like that, yeah. I’m not really sure, it was so long ago, fourteen hundreds, maybe-”
“Ohhh shit!” Shark said as he took a cookie and passed the plate to Annie, who took a moment to pick the one she thought was best. “You’re from the fourteen hundreds? Like, the renaissance and shit? Oh shit! So you’re immortal.”
“Kind of,” AK corrected. “My head has to be chopped off if you want me dead.” He clicked his tongue as he flicked his finger across his throat. “It’s the only way.” He paused and glanced at the cookies.
“Take one,” Shark said. “You want one.”
“No.” AK looked away. Both Shark and Annie stared him down, until he finally caved and snatched a cookie from the plate and took a bite. His eyes widened. “Oh fuck,” he said, his mouth full.
“They turned out really good,” Annie said, and Shark blushed.
“Thank you my beautiful girlfriend, blood sucking creature we found in the woods.” Shark bowed to each of them. “I’m really better at cooking than baking though.”
“Christ,” AK said, nabbing two more cookies. “Maybe making food is your power.”
“I wish,” Shark said, and he took the last cookie for himself.
----
The Walmart sign in Greenfield always flickered slightly every couple minutes, and as Shark walked up to the front doors with AK in tow, he stopped and looked up just in time to see one of those flickers. Shark sighed and pulled AK inside. “You get three outfits, okay? Go crazy,” Shark waved AK off. “You need normal clothes.”
“Where’s the human?” AK asked, and Shark sighed.
“At a class,” he said. “I have to be at one of those soon too, so, could you hurry? Shoo!”
“Alright, alright,” AK walked off towards the clothing section, and Shark put his hand on his head and made his way back outside. “Hey Shark?”
Shark jumped and cursed at the sound of AK’s voice right behind him. “Jesus Christ! Don’t do that!” he yelled, and AK hissed at him.
“I want to talk,” AK said, and he dragged Nick back inside. “Listen. I get you like this girl of yours but I’m telling you, you’re gonna regret it. No one would like it if you tried to Bond with a human.”
“The fuck are you talking about,” Shark mumbled as AK pulled a neon orange tank top off the rack. “Bonding with someone doesn’t depend on- on anything, really.”
“No, Shark, I mean Bond. Capital B.”
“First name James?”
“I’m ignoring that. There’s this thing with nonhumans, where, some of them believe they have soulmates. There are a lot of different kinds but they say that romantic ones have a certain… smell? Sense? I don’t know how to describe it, it’s like how I just know that you’re not human. They say you can just tell, even if the actual soulmates can’t yet,” AK explained as they walked around the clothes section. “I think it’s bullshit, love is dead, but other people are really picky about it, and that girl can get hurt.”
Shark wanted so badly to say, ‘Well your so-called sense isn’t very accurate,’ but then he remembered his deal. “I think Annie will be just fine,” he said instead. “You pick out your clothes yet, wanna try them on?”
“I’m good, these will fit.” AK held up six hangers, with three neon tank tops and three of the ugliest cargo shorts that Shark had ever seen.
“O-kay,” Shark sighed, and he glanced at a mirror to check his hair. He jumped when he noticed that AK was not standing next to him. “AK?” He turned and squinted when he saw that AK had not moved. He looked at the mirror again, and AK was gone. “What the hell.”
“Oh, I don’t have a reflection. C’mon, let’s go, you got that class right?” AK turned and started walking away while Shark took a moment to stare at the mirror.
----
“I have an idea!” AK exclaimed while Shark was doing the dishes. He teleported next to Shark and pushed him away from the sink with the water still running.
It had been a week. AK came over after all of Shark’s classes were done for the day, quickly followed by Annie. He gave updates on his quest for Jordan, which Annie wrote down, and then he moved to Shark, trying fruitlessly to reveal any powers the poor boy might have. Annie watched this part with amusement.
“What the hell, AK, I’m trying to clean,” Shark huffed. The man was downright insufferable.
“Water! Your name is Shark, what if you have power over water!” AK held Shark’s shoulders. “Try to make the water move,” AK said. Shark let out a loud sigh, holding out his hand to the running faucet. “This isn’t a movie, you don’t need to do the hand thing.” AK moved Shark’s hand back to his side. “Focus.”
Shark stared at the water for a couple seconds. “Move,” he said. It didn’t move. “This is dumb. Sharks can’t control water, idiot.”
“Shut up and focus.” And for shits and giggles, Shark did as he was told. He stood there and squinted and fucking focused until his head hurt and the water did not move.
“This is really stupid. I’m done with this, I’m done with all of it. AK, I’m human, always have been, always will be! You have no reason to keep trying dumb things like this-” Shark was interrupted as AK hurled a wooden spoon at him, hitting him in the chest. “AK.”
“So it’s not reflexes,” AK hummed, and Shark groaned.
“I’m done with you for tonight. I’m going to bed, lock the door when you leave,” Shark mumbled, sauntering off into his room, defeated.
“Still thinks he’s human, huh,” AK said, and when he looked at the faucet it turned off on it’s own. Annie got up and walked next to him, holding a notebook in her hands.
“AK,” she said, smirking. “I think I have an idea of where Jordan is, I’ve been paying attention to what you were saying and it sounds like-”
“I told the both of you that I had it under control,” AK said, and Annie shook her head.
“You really don’t, with all due respect. What I was gonna say, is, it sounds like you’ve just been breaking into random people’s houses and hoping you’d find an eleven year old there,” she said, and she looked down at her notes. “So, by calling around and asking all my friends if they’d seen a boy fitting Jordan’s description or anything else that seemed off, I narrowed it down to a motel a couple blocks down called the Silver Ocean-”
“Ew.”
“I know. Anyway it’s room 18 unless they moved,” Annie said. AK stared.
“You- found out the room number,” he mumbled, and Annie nodded. “On your own just by asking around.”
“Yeah?” She put the notebook down and crossed her arms over her chest. “I have eyes all over Greenfield if I need them, AK. Don’t underestimate me.”
And AK grinned.
----
Shark groaned as the whispering and the shuffling of feet woke him up from a light, dreamless sleep. He propped himself up on his elbows and rolled out of bed, pushing himself to his feet and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. “Guys,” he mumbled as he opened his door and stepped into the living room. He froze, his eyes wide.
“Hello,” the child sitting on his couch said, waving his hand. Shark slowly raised his own hand, sending back a small wave. Then he turned around and went back into his room, covering his face with his hands.
In the living room, Annie counted down on her fingers and then Shark came rushing back out, gripping the doorway for dear life. “Why is there a- what- why is there a kid here,” he breathed, and AK ruffled the child’s hair. Just then, Shark noticed the pair of orange and black striped ears on the kid’s head, and the tiger tail that was patting nervously against the couch.
“We found Jordan!” AK said, and Jordan smiled. He had dark skin, dark brown, nearly black hair, and big green eyes. “Jordan, this is Shark, Shark, this is Jordan! Shark’s a nonhuman too, abilities yet to be determined.”
“He seems human to me,” Jordan said, and Shark pointed at him.
“The tiger kid thinks I’m human,” he said, and the room was silent. “Okay. Anyway, why is he in my house? Are the monsters gonna come looking for me now? Should I like, get the he-eeck out of dodge?”
AK waved his hand. “You’ll be fine, and I’ll be here the whole time anyway, if I move back to my place in Seaport we’ll be closer to the hostile. Not much can kill me, and the hostile probably won’t eat me, I’m probably pretty stale.”
“AK,” Annie hissed, motioning to Jordan. “No one’s gonna get eaten. Jordan, you should sleep okay honey?”
Jordan nodded, and Annie went to go get a blanket. Shark sighed, and figured he could keep the kid for a couple days.
----
“Morning tiger,” Shark said as Jordan sat up on the couch and yawned.
“Where’s AK and Annie?” Jordan asked, and Shark flipped a pancake over on the pan.
“Annie is at a class, AK is like, actually, I don’t know where he is. The mother-” Shark stopped himself. “I can’t believe you hung out with him for so long, I can barely stand the guy. Uhh, not that we should gossip about people behind their backs. Sorry.”
Jordan giggled and sat at the bar. “Thanks for breakfast these past couple of days, Shark. And for the company. And for playing video games with me,” he said, his voice calm and sweet. Shark smiled and handed him a plate of pancakes. “Does AK still think you’re a cryptid?”
Shark rolled his eyes. “Yep. Been trying to tell him I’m not. But he just, he-”
“Never listens,” Jordan finished Shark’s sentence. He laughed. “That’s AK, alright.”
“Aaaah we’re gossiping again, eat your pancakes would ya?” Shark shook his head and poured syrup on his own plate. “I put in some blueberries!”
“You’re gonna be a really good cook one day, Shark,” Jordan said, and Shark shook his head.
“You’re too kind.”
----
“Uno!” Jordan exclaimed, giggling. Annie laughed and put down a card next. Shark stopped himself from cursing as he drew a card from the deck. Jordan put his card down and laughed. “I win!”
“I can never win this game,” Shark sighed, gathering up all the cards and preparing to shuffle them again. When the door opened they all jumped and were reminded that people were looking for them; it was just AK at the door, though, and everyone took a second to relax. “Jesus, AK, the one time you actually decide to open the door. Where’ve you been all day, huh?”
“Out,” AK grumbled, and he locked eyes with Jordan. “Hey kid.”
“Hi?” Jordan said, quiet. “Wanna play Uno with us?”
“I’m good,” AK said, following Shark as he walked to the kitchen and picked up his phone. Before he opened it, he took a moment to look at the dark reflection of AK behind him. “I was wondering if I could take the kid on a walk. I found an ice cream place down the block.”
Shark was frozen solid. “Annie,” he said, his voice shaky, and he stole a scared glance at his girlfriend. Annie frowned, took Jordan’s hand, and pulled him into another room. “So, AK-”
“He doesn’t have a reflection, does he,” AK mumbled, and Shark slowly turned around. Slowly, AK began to shift, the crook in his nose straightening, his muscles filling in, his body growing taller. The eyes changed from brown to dark green with a single blink and then AK was not there anymore. The shapeshifter was big and buff with dark skin and darker, tightly curled hair. He grinned. “Boo.”
Shark shook off the shock and stumbled back, turning and reaching for a knife. He wrapped his hand around a big steak knife but strong hands on his shoulders and a sudden and violent tug made him let the knife go, sending it clattering on the ground. He gasped as the large man lifted him off the ground with superhuman strength and threw him like a ragdoll across the room. Shark hit the opposite wall and cried out, the pain shooting across the right side of his body first, moving briefly to the left when the corner of a dresser jabbed into his stomach, and then settling everywhere when he hit the ground, his arms breaking his fall. He groaned and put a hand on the left side of his stomach, the wind knocked out of his lungs. He gasped for air and tried to get up, shaking violently. He snuck a glance at the shapeshifter, who was walking towards the door, the sound of his boots hitting the ground echoing in Shark’s ears. “Wait,” he wheezed out, trying to get himself on his feet. He grabbed the dresser and pulled himself up. “AK’s gonna come back and he’ll kick your ass- we- we won’t let you do anything to that boy!” he shouted, and the shapeshifter froze.
“What do you mean,” he said, his voice deep. He glanced back at Shark. “Your teleporting friend is the one who took him away. He was safe with me. I thought the guy pawned him off to Red.”
“Who’s Red?” Shark asked, and the shapeshifter went quiet for a couple seconds. The door opened, and Jordan came running out, hugging the shapeshifter tightly.
“Ghetto,” he said, sounding relieved. “I knew you’d come.”
The shapeshifter hugged the kid back. “I’d never abandon you, Jordan, not in a million years.”
“Wait-” Shark breathed, and Annie came running out. “Annie!”
“Shark, it’s all a big misunderstanding, Jordan told me everything!” Annie shouted, wrapping an arm around Shark to hold him up. “Tell him, guys!”
Ghetto put a hand on Jordan’s back. “I saved the kid from hunters when he was a baby, raised him since then. Your buddy AK took him from me a couple months ago, and then again a couple days ago! I thought you guys were hostiles, but you two are just humans,” he explained, and he ruffled Jordan’s hair. “This one never speaks up, so I’m not entirely surprised this happened.”
“AK said he was a friend of the family, and he thought you didn’t have good intentions with the kid,” Shark said, regaining his breath bit by bit. Ghetto scoffed.
“I swore to his mom I’d take care of him. Jesus. I guess I better go get AK.”
Shark tilted his head. “You know where he is?”
Suddenly the door burst open, and AK stomped in, a broken pair of handcuffs in one hand. “He locked me in the Walmart bathroom, and he put these warded cuffs on me,” he growled, making a beeline towards Ghetto. “You mother-”
“AK wait don’t!” Jordan shouted, and AK hesitated.
“Jordan what the hell.”
“The shifter’s a good guy,” Shark said, and AK turned to him.
“The hell happened to you?” AK asked, looking Shark up and down.
“He threw me across the room.” Shark’s eyes widened. “Wait. But he’s still a good guy. I’m over it.”
“Sorry man,” Ghetto said, and Shark waved it off. AK glanced between Shark and Ghetto, letting out a sigh.
“Okay, maybe you are human. Also, what the fuck? I was a close friend of the family, I thought Jordan was best with me,” he said, stepping closer to Ghetto.
“I like Ghetto,” Jordan said. “You never listened to me, AK, you just kept saying he was a bad guy when you didn’t even know him!”
AK gaped. “I thought-”
“Look, it’s all done now, alright?” Shark interrupted. “Jordan wants to be with Ghetto, AK, so let him go.”
AK looked at Jordan. “That’s what you want, kid?” he asked, putting his hand on Jordan’s shoulder. Jordan nodded, and AK sighed and held out a hand to Ghetto. “Alright then, I’m sorry, man, for freaking you out.”
Ghetto shook it firmly, gripping AK’s hand a bit hard. But he nodded and said, “It’s all sorted out, at least. I’ll keep the kid far away from Red, I wouldn’t worry about that motherfucker any time soon, not while he’s in Seaport and we’re here, planning on moving further away.”
“Who’s Red?” Shark asked again, and AK looked back at him.
“The hostile,” he said, and the room fell silent.
----
“Bye Jordan, I’ll miss you so much,” Annie said as she gave Jordan a hug. Shark joined in too.
“Yeah, tiger, I’ll miss you too. You’re really good at Minecraft.”
“I’ll miss you both too, I won’t forget you,” Jordan said. After lots of hugging the three finally split up, and Jordan took Ghetto’s hand. “Bye,” he said, and then they left the apartment.
Shark sighed. “What a time. Thank you, Annie, for bringing a stray child into my house and getting me thrown across a wall, I really appreciate that,” he joked, and Annie giggled. She held his hand.
“No problem. It was a learning experience for all of us,” she said, and then they looked at each other, both laughing. “I wish I could’ve seen it.”
“You’re so mean! I’m all beat up now!”
“You have a couple bruises, big deal!”
AK watched the two; he was about to gag and turn away when all of a sudden an odd sense rippled through the air in waves. It was warm and fuzzy and sweet AK opened his mouth to say there was another monster around but he stopped. Because there was no other monster, it was just them. “The Bond,” he mumbled, shocked. He snapped out of it and shook his head. “Jesus, what am I thinking. My senses are all off.”
And he was gone.
----
Shark walked up to Walmart a couple nights later, glancing up and noticing he’d gotten there just in time for the flicker of the sign again. He watched it, and then frowned. It flickered again, and again. It seemed as if the flickers had gotten closer together since the last time, occurring every couple of seconds instead of every couple of minutes. Shark shrugged it off and walked inside, in need of more laundry detergent.
As he walked around he was increasingly aware of the fact that no one else was there. No one, not even the weird ones. He stood still in an aisle for a moment, and all of a sudden he got goosebumps. The hair on his arms stuck up and he got a bad feeling in his gut just as the lights started to flicker sporadically. Then, the row of lights on the opposite end of the store shut off. Then the next row. And the next. Shark slowly stepped away as the darkness crept closer, concluding that this had to be some kind of fucked up dream. The darkness kept coming and he pressed his back against the wall and then the only light left was one right above him. He looked up, and that one shut off too.
Shark was frozen. He noticed something in the darkness, and he squinted to see it. When he realized, his eyes shot wide open, and a shiver ran down his spine.
There were two glowing red eyes ahead of him, and beyond that Shark could see a faint silhouette of a person. Shark was morbidly fascinated, at first, and he stood there, mesmerized by the eyes. Then the silhouette took a step closer, and Shark bolted.
He ran as fast as his bruises allowed, zigzagging through aisles and bumping into things in the dark. He breathed heavy and stumbled a couple times, feeling eerily like prey.
And then he fell forward, and as he was getting up he saw those eyes right in front of him. He screamed and scrambled backwards, but strong, sharp nailed hands grabbed him by the shoulders. Fingers dug into tender muscle and he let out an exclamation of pain, before slowly, he felt himself get sluggish. He started to lose feeling, seeping down from his shoulders to his arms and then to his legs. They gave out underneath him and his captor laid him down. He was paralyzed. He couldn’t will himself to move. The red eyes were right by his face, and then from the red glow he saw a row of long, sharp teeth. He gasped and flinched, but then suddenly he was shrouded in light. He opened his eyes, and looked around, and saw no one.
Red was gone.
--TO BE CONTINUED.--
Shark was home alone, and it was late; three in the morning, when he checked. He’d just finished cramming for a test the next day and he was in the bathroom, looking at himself in the mirror. He turned on the faucet and splashed some water in his face, trying to take deep breaths. He looked down at the running water and scoffed, remembering AK’s little idea.
He stepped back and pointed both hands at the running water. “I command thee to move, for thou art under mine control, as dictated by the gods!” He was sleep deprived and giggling. “God, I’m so stupid, what the hell am I doing.”
He turned the water off and left the bathroom, walking back to his desk to get his notes ready for tomorrow. He moved his arm and knocked a glass of water off the table. “Shit!” He reached out for the glass, and caught it when it was upside down. Then, in slow motion, the water that spilled stopped mid-air. Shark stood there for a couple seconds, dumbfounded, watching the water hover over the carpet. He gasped and stumbled back, and the water fell, soaking into his carpet.
“What the fuck.”