Various sounds could be heard from the ballroom of the enormous, dark castle, sounds of a masquerade. In the ballroom is a young man of age 24. With him is his love.
"Have I ever told you, you have beautiful eyes," Kenji says. He was of medium height. His small body-frame fooled any who challenged him. His eyes were deep, hidden windows of confusion and understanding. His hair hung in a ponytail behind him.
"I don't have…," she begins to say. She was a fair maiden. Her long, brown hair graced her back. Her eyes were bright and welcoming. Her skin was soft as a summer breeze.
"Shhhh," he says as he places a gentle finger upon her sweet lips. He continues to gaze into her eyes until he can not take it any longer. He must have a taste of her lips. He kisses her with such a passion that Romeo and Juliet would have been jealous. He pulled away slowly savoring every moment and looked towards the ground with a gloomy look on his face.
"What's wrong?" the lady asked with concern.
"Your father is to have me executed tomorrow."
"Wha…Why"
"For a murder that I did not commit"
"I will talk to my father out of this."
"No, I have a better idea. Let us flee."
"How would we survive?"
"We'll live off the land."
She wasn't sure whether to go with him or not, but the look in his eyes told her that everything would be alright. They quietly snuck out of the castle and back to the vale where Kenji had picked up various items including food and a blanket. They traveled into the woods and decided to rest at a clearing and lay upon the blanket. When Kenji looked over to his love, she was fast asleep.
"Such a peaceful, beautiful creature she is. To give her a flower would be to give King Midas gold when he had the golden touch." He too soon fell asleep, but was awaken by voices in the dark.
"You go over there. He must not escape."
"I found them sir." Kenji looked in the direction of the voice and say many men come towards. He tried to run, but the bullets were too fast.
BZZZ, BZZZ, BZZZ
Kenji snapped out of his self hypnosis. He hit the button on his alarm clock and went into the bathroom. He turned on the cold water and splashed his face to wake himself up. He undressed and got into the shower. The cold water stung the back of his neck. He closed his eyes as the water warmed up. After his shower he got out and put his uniform on. He went to with work with the revelation fresh in his mind. The revelation had become more frequent and every time there was more detail added, but yet his biggest question was still bothering him: What happened to his love?
"Kenji!!!" his boss, a man of age, little wisdom and a loud voice, yelled, "What are you doing? Get to work!"
"Sorry sir, I won't let it happened again."
“Better see that it doesn’t for if it does, then you’re FIRED!”
“Okay,” Kenji responded calmly.
His boss tried to think of something intimidating to say, but was too furious at Kenji’s tranquility. After work, Kenji went back into his cold and lonely apartment.
He turned on the Television and flipped through the channels, but nothing interesting was on. He turned off the TV and looked about the room for something to do. His eyes laid rest to his crossbow. He grabbed his trench coat and went outside. Kenji started to walk the alleys. He felt a small cylindrical object poke into his back.
“Hand over the wallet,” the man had demanded. Kenji calmly handed over his wallet. The masked man was walking away as he checked the contents of the wallet when he felt a very painful sting in the back of his neck. He tried to scream, but all that came out was a gargled choke. He looked down and saw an arrow tip, dripping with blood jutting from his neck. The man fell forward and sickening rip was heard as Kenji pulled his arrow from the man’s neck. Kenji picked up his wallet and walked away with the blood doused arrow in hand.
A couple was setting up the wood for a campfire. The air was cool and crisp. The woods were pretty quiet for the night.
“Honey, where are the matches?” the man asked. The man stood tall, his broad shoulders showed power. His hair, which he kept short, was combed to the front. His eyes were determined and stood their ground.
“I think they’re in the tent.”
The man went into the tent and heard a low howl.
“What was that?” the woman asked a little concerned. The woman looked young, cute if you will. She had some of her hair, which stopped just below her shoulders, in two braids on the side of her head. Her blues eyes seemed like they were always smiling.
“Oh it’s probably just some coyotes howling at the full moon.”
The woman looked toward the rising moon and let out a shrill scream. The man hurried outside the tent to see what the matter was. When he looked to the moon he saw a silhouette of a wolf standing upright and bigger than any wolf he had ever seen before. The silhouette disappeared and the man and woman stood paralyzed with fear. After several hours, the man realized that the creature had headed in the opposite direction of them. The man thought that this was very peculiar because he had read stories of werewolves that killed people in the light of a full moon. The man went back inside to get the matches and started the fire.
When Kenji heard his alarm go off, he turned off his video game. He got up and did his normal routine and headed off to work.
“KENJI!” his boss yelled, “you’re 15 minutes late. YOU’RE FIRED! Get your stuff and get out of here.”
Kenji just headed for the door.
“Go get your stuff.”
“Keep it,” Kenji said as he walked out the door. He stuck a cigarette in his mouth and lit the one of the man next to him. Kenji pulled the lighter to within centimeters of his own cigarette. He held it there for a moment and then took it away and put it in his pocket, leaving the unlit cigarette in his mouth.
“So you get fired again?”
“Yep”
“That was what? The third time this month?”
“Nope, only second.”
“Gee, you’re getting better.”
“At what, keeping my job”
They both laughed at the comment.
“So, have you…”
“Yeah, this punk tried to rob me.”
“Even if he got away with it, it would have been worthless.”
“True, but you know it gave me a reason to kill him.”
“Not that there needs to be a reason except for one.”
“True,” Kenji said and shrugged. He walked off and waved to the man.
Kenji opened the door to his apartment building. A musty smell greeted him as he walked through the door. He noticed a door that was opened partially. He closed the door. The woman inside looked towards the sound, but saw nothing. She looked back to the mirror to continue brushing her long, black hair. She was humming to herself when she noticed something strange. A dark reflection was in her mirror. When she turned around, nothing was out of the ordinary. She thought nothing of it and went back to combing her hair. This time, however, the reflection was right behind her. The mirror shattered into a thousand pieces as the woman’s head made contact with it. Kenji looked eye to eye with the young woman, her mouth still wide with fear. Kenji walked out and into his apartment. He closed the door and fell on his bed.
The next time that Kenji looked at his clock it read 10:13. He finally decided to get out of bed and into the shower. After he got dressed, he decided to walk around town. He stopped at a local store to grab a little snack when he spotted the newspapers. The headlines on all of them read, “Woman found dead in her apartment.”
Kenji bought himself a sandwich and left. He took one bite of the sandwich and then threw it away. The taste of it disgusted him so. As Kenji continued to walk, he saw a young girl.
“No, it can’t be,” Kenji thought to himself, but it was her and Kenji knew it. He could tell it was her, he had instinct. Kenji stood there in shock for a second then slipped into an alley. He didn’t want her to see what’s become of him. Kenji raced to his apartment. He went into the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. Kenji let out an enraged yell and punched the mirror. He hit with such a force that the mirror broke into more pieces than the woman’s mirror had when he slammed her head into it. Kenji looked at his bloodied hand; his blood was as cold as ice. There were pieces of glass that were still in his hand, but he ignored this. Kenji just stood there squeezing his fist to make more blood ooze out. After about an hour, Kenji removed the pieces of glass, but didn’t bandage the wound, he knew that once the next morning, the wound would be gone.
A deer stood in the woods at night. It hears a rustle in the leaves and is about to take off, but isn’t quick enough. The deer’s neck is snapped like a twig and the wolf rips at its flesh. Blood and saliva drip from the wolf’s fangs as it continues to feed upon the deer. The wolf hears a snap of a twig and looks in the direction of the sound. It doesn’t see anything, but recognizes the scent of a human and takes off.
The next morning the wound was gone. He was still wondering; however, how she found her way here and why? Was she looking for him or was her purpose beyond him. He just couldn’t figure it out. He headed out of his apartment to walk around town. Kenji saw her again and this time she saw him and raced toward him.
She wrapped her arms around him tight and he followed suit. He didn’t want her to know anything was wrong.
“It’s been so long, Kenji.”
“Yes it has. I’m glad you made it here, but why did you come here?”
“I’m trying to piece something of my life together.”
Kenji nodded in understanding. “And finding you here was and extra bonus,” she added “Have you found another to replace me?”
Kenji gave her a funny look and said, “No, everybody just reminded me of you. Also their love wasn’t genuine, like yours. Why, have you found one to replace me?”
“No, and for the same reason”
They started to walk around town. They ended up meeting Kenji’s friend, Action. Action was very tall, towering over Kenji. He was also slender. Many people liked to pick fights with him, but no one has ever been able to hit him unless, of course, he allows it and just laughs at the attempt of them hurting him. Luckily Kenji saw Action first and vice-versa, before Audrey saw Action, Kenji gave Action a sign not to discuss the plan.
“So what’s up?” Action asked.
“Just the fact that my true love has finally returned to my arms,” Kenji replied.
“So this is the infamous Audrey. Well I’m pleased to meet you,” Action said as he held out his hand. She took it and shook.
“Nice to meet you…”Audrey starts.
“Action, my name’s Action.”
“Well then, nice to meet you Action,” Audrey smiled and Action and Kenji smiled for the first time in a long time. They started to walk again, taking Action with them.
“So where are we going?” Audrey asked.
“Ummm, I don’t have any destination. I and Action usually just walk around.”
“How long do you guys usually walk around?”
“Usually about nine or ten”
“Well nine or ten miles don’t seem that far.”
“Yes, but you didn’t ask how far, you asked how long.”
“So what you walk around for only nine or ten minutes?”
Action smiled widely, “No, more like nine or ten hours.”
Audrey looked at him in amazement.
“Why?”
“We have nothing better to do and it’s good exercise.”
“Don’t you guys ever get tired?”
“Eh,” Action shrugs, “we’re used to it.”
They continue to walk when it started to rain. Audrey took off her jacket and used it as sort of an umbrella while Action and Kenji just ignored it.
Meanwhile on the other side of town, Michael and his wife were returning home from their camping trip.
“What was that we saw in the woods?” his wife asked a little upset.
“I honestly don’t know,” he responded with a tired look on his face.
“Was it a werewolf?”
“No, it couldn’t be. There’s no such thing as werewolves.”
“Then what was it? It couldn’t have been a wolf, or a coyote. It was too big and for Christ’s sake it was standing on two feet.” Olivia was becoming hysterical at this point.
“Let’s say that it was a werewolf. Then why did it move away from us instead of toward us and attacked?”
This made Olivia think for she knows of the werewolf legend about how they kill humans. They unpacked everything and headed straight to bed, but Michael couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t stop thinking about the creature.
“Livi,” Michael called into the darkness. Silence is the only response he gets. Eventually he too falls asleep, but not until a few hours later.
Kenji, Action and Audrey stop in front of a diner.
“I don’t know about you two, but I’m hungry,” Kenji says.
“Yeah me too,” Audrey replied.
“I’m not. You two have fun,” Action says.
“Are you sure?” Kenji asks.
“Yeah I’m sure, enjoy your meal.”
Kenji and Audrey headed into the diner and Action walked toward a small ballpark where a young woman was practicing her batting.
Action sat down on the bench next to the gym bag. The woman came jogging over from the batter’s box. She wore a baseball cap and her short hair in a ponytail. She was perspiring heavily due to the heat and retrieving the balls all day.
“Hey,” she said panting. Action nodded and responded the same. She looked through her bag and sighed disappointingly.
“Oh great, I forgot my water again.”
Action handed her the bottle that was in his hand.
“Thanks,” she said as she twisted of the cap, trying to catch her breath.
“My name’s Suzy. Who are you?” she asked right before she guzzled down the liquid. Action leaned in close and said very lightly, “Your maker.” The woman felt a burning sensation in her throat. Her screams of pain were gargled by her blood. A hissing sound could be heard coming from the woman’s body’s reaction to the acid. Action stood up and took the laptop from the bag. He opened the notebook and turned it on and began going through the files and deleting them.
As he was deleting them he thought to himself, "My my, you were close to catching me, but as they say in life close only counts in horseshoes and handgrenades." He then put the notebook back into the bag.
Inside the diner, Kenji sat quietly and ate his meal.
”So tell me the story behind your return,” Kenji said.
“Well I’m trying to find out who killed my brother.”
“Did somebody shoot or stabbed him to death?”
“I wish, actually what happened was far worse. His face was ripped clean off his skull. The only identification I have at this point is this pin,” she said as she produced a small pin with a very distinct insignia upon it. Kenji looked at it as multiple sounds and images flashed through his head. He heard animal like cries from both the man and the creature. He heard the claws and the teeth of the creature as they scraped against the man's bones. The creature took the arm or what was left of the mangled piece of meat and ripped it off. The man screamed in agony and the creature brought its face right in front of the man. Its breath was hot, heavy and it seemed suffocating. The man slowly inched away and the creature snapped its mouth shut on the man's face. The top row of its teeth bit into the man's left eye and the bottom row locked on just right below his chin. The creature brought up its left arm and tore into the man's right eye with its claws. The creature then ripped away leaving only a skull with empty sockets. Blood and drool dripped from the creature's teeth. It let out a howl and then fell asleep next to the body. All this time Kenji's face remained expressionless.
"Well I hope you find the person you're looking for."
Kenji stood up and looked at his watch.
"Well I guess I'll be getting home, I have some chores to do." They said good-bye to each other and each went home.
Kenji sat at home flipping through the channels, when suddenly he hears a knock on the door. He ignores it, hoping that the person will go away, but the knocking persists. Then he hears a voice on the other side of the door.
"Kenji, open up. It's me, Audrey." Kenji wondered what he should do. He wondered if he should open the door. He wondered if he should open his eyes. He decided to open the door against his better judgment.
"Well can I come in?" she asked.
"I don't think you want to come in here. It's too messy."
"Oh come now, it can't be that bad."
"Oh but it is."
Audrey giggled a little and managed to get past Kenji. She looked in and saw a cluster of papers on the floor, but that was the only mess that she saw.
"So why are you here?" Kenji asked
"Because I miss you Kenji and I want to be with you always."
"I don’t think that that should happen." He looked at the clock and saw that he had an hour left.
"Why not"
He looked at the ground. He couldn't possibly tell her the truth, but what was he to tell her. He sat there in silence for what seemed like days. Finally he said to her.
"I don't have a job right now so I can't provide for you at all."
"It's ok. I can support myself."
Kenji just shook his head.
"No I'm sorry, but I can not allow that." Audrey looked at Kenji, expecting to see a smile, but what she was looking for she couldn't find. A look of disappointment came across her face.
"Why would you want to stay here anyways? I'm pretty sure your place is better than this."
"I don't think that the street is better than this." A look of shock came over Kenji's face. Now he couldn't let her stay out in the street.
"Okay, but I want you to promise me one thing."
"What's that?"
"Every night I go for a walk, and I wish that you follow me not."
"What? Why?"
"I can't tell you why, but please, promise me."
"Ok," she said reluctantly, "I promise."
"Thanks," he said as he hugged her. He resolved this with a few minutes to spare. Kenji stood up. “Well I’m going out. Remember, don’t follow me and you can sleep wherever you want.”
“When will you be back?”
“I don’t know, but I’ll be alright I promise.” Before she could object, he was gone.
“Good-bye,” she said softly. She lay upon the couch and waited. After about 15 minutes, she fell asleep.
When Kenji returned home, he found Audrey lying on the couch sleeping peacefully. He couldn’t help but think about the person he just killed. He wondered if he could ever tell Audrey about his life.
The person he killed saw him change. Kenji had taken out his knife and stabbed it forcefully into the person’s neck. He pried out the jugular vein and ripped it open. He then removed the knife and washed it off in a nearby puddle. “Good Morning.” Kenji heard in the distance.
“Huh?” he said as he turned to Audrey.
“I said good morning.”
“Oh, good morning, shall we go out for breakfast?”
“Sure. where to?”
“There’s a little café downtown that me and Action are regulars at.”
“Sounds fun,” she said as she took his arm. He looked at her as she rested her head upon his shoulder. They headed out the door and to the café. Just as he expected, Action was sitting on the bench, waiting for them.
“Geez, I thought you two would never show up.”
“Sorry, it’s just that I had to run an errand.”
“So that’s what you kids call it these days.”
“Very funny Action,” Kenji said as they walked into the café. They sat in silence for about 15 minutes.
"So much for service here," Audrey said impatiently. Kenji and Action couldn't help but smile. "Now what did I miss?"
"Nothing," Action said in a fake innocent voice.
"No, tell me."
"We have the people wait for about 20 minutes before taking our order."
"Ah, so you can decide what you want, right?"
"No, we know what we want before we even walk in. We just like to have some chill time." Audrey nods and gives Kenji and Action a funny look. Finally, after about 30 minutes of waiting, their food arrives.
"Hello Kenji. Hello Action. Hello newcomer. What can I get ya?"
"I'll take what Kenji's having."
"Ok, it'll be right up."
"So Action, tell me about yourself."
"Well you met Kenji. He and I are basically the same, except that he doesn’t smoke and sometimes he holds a job."
"If you don't have a job, how do you survive?"
"I have my ways."
"He's the best damn con-artist I know," Kenji whispered into Audrey's ear. A look of shock came over her face.
"Now what did you tell her?" Action asked.
"Just that you were a con-artist, you know, nothing bad or anything," Kenji responded casually.
"Oh ok"
Audrey started to get up.
"Where are the bathrooms?"
Kenji and Action gave Audrey a funny look. Then realization kicked in.
“Oh you mean the hole in the ground in back of the store?” Audrey sat back down.
“I’ll hold it.”
“Actually the bathrooms are back that way,” Kenji said pointing towards the back of the café.
Audrey got up and walked towards the back.
“Hey Action I feel like I betrayed you.”
“How so”
“By caring so much for a human”
“You mean the girl?”
“Yes.”
“But how do you feel that you betrayed me?”
“Because we are trying to get to a point where we care about nobody, and I don’t think I could ever stop caring about Audrey.”
“It’s ok dude.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, besides a few humans left in the world won’t do much harm.”
“I just don’t know what to do right now.”
“Why don’t you start with eating?”
Kenji looked down at his untouched food and smiled.
“Well I guess it’s a start.” A few minutes later Audrey returned and saw that the waitress had brought her food. After they all were done eating, Audrey asked who was going to pay.
“Pay,” Action said questioningly, “Who said anything about paying?”
“So you guys get your meals for free?”
“Yeah”
“Gee you guys must be really well-liked here.”
“You could say that.”
“I think I’m going to go home,” Kenji said.
“Why?” Action asked
“To sleep”
“You don’t need sleep.”
“I haven’t gotten any sleep since Sunday.”
“But that was just yesterday,” Audrey chimed in.
“Last week,” Kenji added. A look of shock came across Audrey’s face. She looked over to Action expecting to see the same reaction, but instead she saw a confused look on his face.
“Kenji, in all this time that I’ve known you, I’ve never seen you go such a short time without sleep.” Audrey tried to say something, but was too stunned.
“Yeah I know, but I think sleep will help me sort things out. Audrey if you want too hang out with Action a little longer, you’re more than welcome to. I’m gonna head home.” Kenji started to walk in the direction of his apartment. Audrey hurried to catch up with him.
“I don’t want to ever leave your side,” Audrey said as she grabbed his arm and snuggled up close to him.
“Tonight I’ll tell her,” he thought to himself, “tonight.” When Kenji got home he went to his bed and immediately fell asleep.
When he awoke it was about ten minutes to dusk. He placed a hand on Audrey’s shoulder.
“Audrey, can you come outside with me? I want to show you something.” She followed him outside.
“So what did you want to show me?”
“Well first I want you to promise me that you won’t scream or run away. You’ll be perfectly safe.”
“Okay, as long as you’re here I know I’ll be alright.” Kenji looked towards the sunset.
“Oh, I’ll be here,” he said softly. Just then he began to transform. Long, gray fur started to grow from his body. Audrey could hear the bones twisting and cracking as they rearranged themselves. His nails turned into claws and his teeth grew larger and sharper. His eyes went to a blood red and his mouth grew long and narrow. During this time a scar formed underneath the creature’s right eye. While Audrey watched, a look of horror came across her face. Kenji saw something very faint in her expression. He saw realization. Kenji was very puzzled by this. He knew that he couldn’t speak to her so he decided to wait until dawn to ask her about it. Audrey looked for the full moon, but instead she saw only a crescent moon. She was very confused by this. She looked at all the buildings and saw that all the windows were dark, except for one. When Audrey looked back to the creature, it was gone. She decided that the best thing to do would be to go to the apartment and wait for him there.
When Kenji arrived home, he found Audrey asleep on the couch. She was moving violently in her sleep. Kenji placed a calming hand on her shoulder to try and comfort her. It seemed to work for awhile until she awoke. She sat up with a jolt. She looked up at Kenji who was smiling. He nodded his head and told her that what she saw last night was real. It wasn’t a dream and that everything will be ok.
“So what do you plan on doing today?” Audrey asked.
“I’m going to look for a job.”
“Well that’s good. I think I’m going to do some sightseeing today and maybe make some new friends.” They went their ways.
Kenji immediately headed towards the downtown area while Audrey went over to the house where she saw the light coming from. She knocked on the door and a young man answered.
“Can I help you with something?” he asked.
“I know this might sound crazy, but I was wondering if you could tell me how to stop a werewolf?”
“Well there is only one way to stop a werewolf.”
“How”
“You have to kill it.”
Terror came across Audrey’s face.
“No, there must be some other way.”
“Well there is one other way, but I highly doubt that it’s possible.”
“What’s that?”
“You must spill the blood of a pure heart onto his eyes while he is in his werewolf state.”
“Are you sure that will work?”
“It has yet to be tested, but I guarantee that is the only way possible.”
Audrey looked down and left.
"Thanks for all your help Micheal."
"Anytime."
When Kenji returned home, he saw Audrey sitting on the couch watching television.
“So how’d the sight-seeing go?”
“Good, how’d the job hunting go?”
“Not so good. I couldn’t find a job.”
“Well maybe tomorrow. Can we go to the park tonight?”
“Yeah sure, but why?"
"Because I want to make sure that what I saw last night wasn't a dream."
"Ok"
While Kenji and Audrey were walking through the park, dusk hit. As soon as the sun was gone, Kenji transformed into the creature. The creature then picked up the scent of the man from the woods. With lightning speed, Kenji darted into the darkness. The man stepped into the clearing and pointed a gun towards Kenji. Kenji lowered his brows and began to snarl. He leaped towards the man and the man fired the gun. Kenji lay in a heap.
"You killed him!" Audrey screamed. The man just stood there open-mouthed. He shook his head.
"What happens in every werewolf movie after the werewolf dies?" Audrey gave him a confused look. "They change back into the human they were." Audrey looked to where Kenji was and he was gone.
"What I can't understand is why the silver bullet I used didn't work." The man sat there thinking for a bit and then realized what had gone wrong. The bullet he used had been diamond-tipped and he knew that the bullet had to be pure silver. Audrey paid no attention to this. All she cared about was where Kenji was. She went back to his apartment to wait for him there. When he wasn’t there when she woke up the next morning, she became very worried. She looked for a note, or anything that would explain his whereabouts. The only thing she could find was a bunch of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone Movies. After thinking for a minute she raced down the stairs and out the door. She started heading downtown and to the café. When she got there she saw Kenji and Action sitting on the bench outside the door. Kenji stared coldly at Audrey.
"What's wrong?"
"I was hoping you could tell me that. What was with the man in the park last night?"
"I have no idea what you are talking about?"
"Then perhaps you can tell me what I saw in your eyes when you saw me transform."
"Well it's just that I think that you killed my brother. Well rather the creature you turn into killed him. So I went to that man to cure you, but he tried to kill you on his own."
"Well don't cure me. I have learned to control the creature within. I have learned to adjust."
"But how can I let the murderer of my brother let live."
"You can leave, because without you I do not live. I merely survive."
"But you are not the one that killed my brother it was the creature."
Kenji lowered his head because he was shameful, but he had no control of the creature back then. He had inadvertently killed a loved one of his love.
He wondered how he could have caused so much pain to her. He wondered what he was going to do to make sure Audrey gets her justice without him sacrificing. Audrey smiled up at him.
"You know all this time I've been concentrating so much on finding my brother's killer that I never bothered to think what I was going to do to him." Kenji smiled back.
"Oh really, so does this mean that you are content with just knowing who killed your brother." Audrey hung her head down.
"No, not really, I was just hoping that it wasn't you, that I just assumed."
"This is my entire fault."
"No, it's not. It's that creature that you turn into."
"Well if I didn't let you see me transform then you would perhaps never know the killer of your brother and perhaps that would have been better."
"Perhaps, but what is past is past and we can not change that. The only thing we can course is the future." With that Audrey knew what she had to do. She gave Kenji a kiss and whispered one word into his ear,
"Forever"
A kid slammed his locker shut and quietly made his way over to another kid’s locker. After he slammed it shut, he gets shoved into it by the first kid. Then the kid turns around and nails the first kid in the ribs. He hunched over but then delivered a straight blow to the second kid’s gut. The second kid uppercut the first one while he rose from his position. The first one feels his nose and notices it’s bleeding. He then spears the second kid and they just start brawling. After about a minute the principal came out. And after several more minutes of struggling, he finally managed to pull the two apart.
“Now what is this all about?” The principal demanded to know.
“Hey Action, want to go to the bowling alley?” The first kid asked.
“To do what?” responded the second kid, Action.
“Bowl and maybe shoot pool.”
“Sounds good Kenji”
“If this ever happens again I’m going to expel the both of ya,” the principal interrupted.
“That’s what you said last time,” Action exclaimed, smiling.
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, you mean you don’t remember? Gee, I guess with aging comes memory loss.” Kenji couldn’t help it he was on the floor nearly in tears.
“Oh, and you think this is funny?” The principal coldly asked Kenji.
“No,” he responded in between his laughs, “I think this is hilarious.”
“That’s it, you both are suspended for three days and next time it will result in an expulsion. Now get out of here.” Kenji and Action began their walk to the bowling alley. On the way there they met Action’s friend, Lisa.
“Hey Action,” she said in a mellow tone.
“Hey,” he responded in the same tone. They arrived at the bowling alley and looked around. The fact that it was nearly empty made it good for bowling. All three of them hated crowds with a passion. Kenji heard a telephone ring. He waited, listening. Then he heard the following announcement over the loudspeaker: “Phone call for Kenji.” He left to see what it was all about. When he returned, he told Lisa and Action that they had to leave. They walked to a warehouse on the poor side of town that time had left behind. Inside the warehouse, however, was the most advanced technologically advanced equipment known.
“So what was the phone call all about?” Lisa asked.
“We have a new assignment.”
“Wait, we? Why can’t just one of us handle this?” Action inquired.
“Because just one of us won’t be enough,” Kenji explained.
“How do you know?”
“Because, Action, you and I are evenly matched and I know what it’s like to fight a dunpeil.”
“Well what’s it like?” Lisa asked
“Try to imagine fighting a vampire that thinks before striking like a human.”
“So when do we start this assignment?”
“Right now. We need to grab what we can and head out. Finding him will not be easy.”
“Well didn’t you get a description.”
“That wouldn’t do us any good because he can shape-shift, but there is one thing on him that won’t change.”
“And that is...?” Action asked.
“On his right shoulder blade is a tattoo of a star with a circle around it.” They loaded up what they could and headed out of the warehouse. They drove up and down the streets, but couldn’t find any sign of the dunpeil. After about four or five hours of searching, they decided to head back to the warehouse and try again tomorrow. The next day came and Lisa decided to see if these guys knew anything about their enemy.
“Do you guys know a lot about vampires?” she asked as they walked into the warehouse.
“We know enough to get us by,” Action responded.
“Well what do you know?”
“Garlic doesn’t work at all,” Kenji said.
“Crosses and Holy water don’t do jack,” Action added.
“Why not,” Lisa questioned.
“Well one major misconception of vampires is that they’re unholy. They’re merely undead,” Kenji explained.
“A stake through the heart only works if they die instantly,” Action proclaimed.
“So what’s a surefire way to kill them?”
“Well you can either completely severe their head from their body,” Kenji answered, “or the sun will kill them as well.”
“So the whole sunlight thing is true?” Lisa wondered.
“Not exactly,” Action said. Lisa gave him a confused look. “Well you see the thing is, it’s not the sun’s light that kills a vampire, it’s the sun’s heat and UV radiation that does. If it was sunlight, then a vampire would be weaker during a full moon, and that is entirely false.”
“Speaking of which, how would one weaken a vampire?”
“Have him drink the blood of a dead one,” Kenji told her.
“What about the whole reflection thing?”
“That is actually true,” Kenji claimed, “but our dunpeil friend can chose whether or not he has a reflection.”
“Well the sun will kill him, won’t it?”
“Yes, but he won’t die as quickly as a vampire would.”
“What if I get bitten by a vampire?”
“You’d be lucky if you live. Becoming a vampire requires the consumption of their blood.”
They looked down the street as they exited the building. They saw a group of thugs pestering an old man. The thugs chased the man to a dead end alley. Kenji, Action, and Lisa decided to go watch the fun. When they arrived they saw that they had missed the fun. Their eyes caught the aftermath though. They looked at the thugs, or rather what were left of them. Their heads were sitting on the ground. One torso was propped against a wall. One was attached to the wall via a nail. They couldn’t find the other torsos. They looked up and saw a pair of legs dangling in the air from the roof. The legs fell and crumpled in a heap on the ground. A car drove by and the posse was able to see the entire horrific scene. The ground was covered in blood. Body parts lay strewn everywhere. They saw a finger, a hand, and an arm probably 15 feet away from each other.
“I can’t believe we missed all this fun,” Action said with a disappointed look on his face.
“Yeah I know,” Kenji replied, “but the best way to find this guy would be to split up. When you find him, don’t attack him. Just follow him to his dwelling.” Kenji headed into the woods while Action and Lisa took different ends of the city.
While Kenji was making his way through the woods, a demon grabbed him by the leg near the ankle. He swung him over his head and slammed him into the ground. Kenji’s body bounces off the ground and feels the heel of the demon as it was driven into his stomach. He sits up from the pain and gets kicked in the neck. Then Kenji feels the demon’s icy grip around his neck as he is lifted off the ground. Just when Kenji is about to faint, the demon drops him. On the way down, the demon knees him in the chin, then kicks him in the ribs. Kenji rolls over on his side.
“Is it my turn yet?” Kenji asked, barely able to talk.
“Sure, why not,” the demon responded. The man stood up slowly and smiled.
“Well you won’t be smiling,” the demon started, “When you’re dead. With that the demon dashed towards Kenji. Kenji side-stepped and kneed the demon in the gut. He then clasped his two hands together and delivered a blow to the demon’s back. The demon sprouted a pair of wings and was about to take flight, but Kenji decided differently. He grabbed the wings and with unbeknownst strength, ripped them off. The demon wailed in pain and then took to his feet. The demon’s face was stuck in a furious rage as he began to transform. Spikes grew from his knees and elbows. His hair grew longer, and he sprouted wings. His whole body frame became much larger. Kenji took stance and prepared for the demon’s newfound strength, but he hadn’t anticipated on its speed. The demon dashed to Kenji’s back and kicked him, sending him flying. Kenji was on his hands and knees. Before he could stand, Kenji felt the wind knocked out of him as he was kicked in the gut by the demon. He coughed up a little bit of blood and stood on his feet.
“You’re not the only one that can transform.” Kenji said as his hair turned from black to pink. His eyes changed from ice to crimson. His physique remained the same though.
“Well you can change your eye and hair color, so what? I’m still going to tear you apart.”
“Yeah, yeah, that’s nice and all, but how can you rip me apart if you can’t even touch me.” The demon didn’t say anything, instead he raced toward Kenji. Kenji again side-stepped. The demon continued to come at him and Kenji continued to side-step.
“Stop dodging and fight,” the demon said right before he charged again. This time as Kenji side-stepped, he delivered a backhand to the demon causing him to fly back. Kenji then moved behind the demon and drove his elbow into its back. Kenji then swept its legs out from under it. As the demon lay on his back, Kenji smiled down at him.
“You know fighting you with my full power would be humiliating.” The demon’s eyes went wide with horror and disbelief, but as fast as it came, the expression left.
“You’re bluffing.”
“Oh really, you think so?”
“I don’t believe for one second that you can become any stronger than what you actually are.” While he was talking, the demon wrapped its tail around Kenji’s legs careful not to touch him. When the tail circled Kenji’s legs about three times, the demon tightened the grip and lifted Kenji off the ground. Kenji hit the ground with his back. The demon then started to punch Kenji repeatedly. “Talk about humiliation,” the demon said as he continues to punch him. Kenji smiled and his hair turned gold. His eyes went white and he broke free from the demon’s tail, ripping it apart. The demon howled in pain. Kenji slowly walked behind the demon and drove his elbow into its back. Kenji pulled away as blood dripped from the flesh wound that he had caused. Kenji lifted the demon by the arm with one hand. He kept bending the arm until a loud crack was heard. Kenji dropped the demon to the ground. As the demon clutched his broken arm, Kenji punched it in the side, breaking a couple of its ribs.
“Now will you tell me where the dunpeil is?”
“Never,” the demon choked out before falling limp. Kenji decided continued his search for the dunpeil.
Action walked into the bar and sat down. He ordered a double scotch and slowly sipped at his drink. A man twice the size of Action walked into the bar. He made his way over to Action and pulled out a knife. "Give me your money, bitch!" Action heard from behind him.
Action ignored the threat and continued to drink the scotch. The man, annoyed at being ignored charged Action. Action moved and the man collided with the barstool and was bent over by his own momentum, slamming his head into the counter. Action left the bar and into the night The air outside is crisp. He looks down at the pavement and begins walking.
As Lisa was walking the streets, she spotted the dunpeil. She saw the distinct mark on his back. He turned around. Lisa slipped inside a convenience store. After a second or two, Lisa came out, but she didn’t see the dunpeil anywhere.
“Damn it, I lost him,” she said to herself. She started to advance when a skater guy stepped in front of her. She stepped to the side to go around him, but he stepped to the same side, blocking her path. “Will you please move?” Lisa asked.
“Come on baby, you should hang out with me. I’ll show you a good time.”
“I would suggest you leave her alone,” Kenji said as he approached the two.
“Don’t worry. I wasn’t going to hurt her,” the guy responded.
“Actually, I was more concerned about your well-being.”
“Bullshit,” Lisa said through a cough.
“Awww this chick won’t hurt me,” the guy said as he grabbed one of Lisa’s breasts. This angered Lisa so she drove her knee directly into his nut sack. Kenji cringed a little as the man dropped to the ground holding his now liquefied balls.
“Why did you have to be so mean?” Kenji asked.
“Hey it’s nicer than what you would have done.” Kenji shrugged.
“True, so have any luck with finding him.”
“Well I did spot him, but then I lost him.”
“Damn, let’s hope Action has had more luck.”
“Speaking of Action, here he comes now.” As Action was walking towards them, they saw a man behind him. The man then turned around to reveal the mark on his back, a pentagram. Kenji and Lisa raced to Action and stopped the dunpeil. They were lucky to have found him while all of them were there. Then the battle began. After the long hard fight, Kenji, Action, and Lisa lay on the ground, exhausted. “Mission failed,” the screen read. Action dug in his pockets for another quarter, but Lisa pulled him away from the game.
“You comin’ Kenji?” Lisa called out.
“Yeah,” he said as he ran to catch up with them. They then walked out of the arcade room and out of the bowling alley.
Kenji wakes up takes a shower and gets dressed for work, he kisses his wife and kids good bye and grabs a piece of toast and heads out the door he opens the door of the garage and see the body of his friend and co-worker in the corner. Kenji decided to dispose of the body himself. He arrives at work and says hi to everyone his boss calls him into the office
"Yes sir?"
"Kenji, I have a new assignment for you."
Action wakes up still groggy from the night before and pulls himself out of bed he thinks about taking a shower but that's about as far as it goes. He then opens his closet to find something to wear, he looks down and sees the body of an acquiantance he usually met for coffeeHe decide to leave the body there until he wanted to move it. He hears ringing and picks up his phone but only hears a dial tone then he notices that it's his cell phone. He picks it up and the voice on the other end says,
"We got a new target for you."
Kenji hides in the alleyways near Action's apartment as he awaits his next victim. He spost his target and quickly grabs him and drags him back into the alleyway. Kenji draws his sword from behind his back and thrusts it through the man's neck. Kenji then climbs up the fire escape and walks to the opposite corner of the building where he places one foot on the edge and leans over to look down a slight to let them know that the job has been done.
Action sits up in an oak tree behind Kenji's house. He smokes his cigarette as he scans the street. He spots his target and takes aim with his sniper rifle, but then thinks to himself, "this is too easy." He takes off the scope and closes his eyes and takes aim again. He pulls the trigger and opens his eyes to see a body fall to the ground. He takes out his cell phone and calls his boss to let him know that the target has been eliminated.
*Kenji at Work*
Boss:Kenji could you come here for a moment
Kenji: Yes sir?
Boss: Well as of late I've seen you start to take charge. You show up for work on time and you work hard, therefor I'm offering you a promotion to supervisor.
Kenji:Thanks... umm first question is what are the benefits?
Boss:Well your pay will increase to $20 per hour and you get 2 weeks paid vacation
Kenji: well thank you again and I will not you down
Boss: Good Thing
Kenji: By the way when does this take effect?
Boss: your raise will take effect tomorrow as far as your position goes, it's effective as of five minutes ago.
((sorry if this is horrible, but as I entitled... it's a work in progress.))