A Shark's Tale

by Beth Hoyer

  Kokay spoke "You're free of me now so no more Great White form, Lizzy."

  I swam away in the water away from him in my Human form. I surfaced to see a red river cover the entire island from spewing from the top of it like an opening. I saw Kokay walked into the red river. I didn't hear him scream or indicate of pain to me. He went into the red river sinking into it disappearing from my eyesight leaving no trace of him. Then the island sank into the water causing a big smoke to surface from it. I passed out unconscious to wake up in a forest of trees. They were looking blue colored like it was underwater to me from the looks of it including a heaviness feeling hitting me as I walked on the ground. I also looked up where the sky was to find it shimmering light blue like an ocean's surface to me. I looked around and started walking slowly moving like I was heavy through water to me. It felt like that despite the Human form. I walked till I came to feel someone was slapping me on the face. I shut my eyes and felt the sensation went away. I woke up feeling cold all over and lightness felt. I came to see the hand's owner was Lucy waking me. She and I, I saw were in a gray room that reminded me of a prison cell to me. We were both wearing red jumpsuits. I had no idea why I was in this cell.

  I asked Lucy "Why are we here in this cell anyway?"

  She spoke "The doctors after they knocked us out took off our clothes and appeared to put on the jumpsuits on our forms. One of them claims that their containing us due to worries of us being still infected by the virus despite it not spreadable."

  I didn't say a word in response felt sleepy in response to lie down onto the padded floor and shut my eyes. I had a dream that I was in a cell a room with water dripping filling up the cell with water. I took a drink of water and spit it out. It was salty and then I passed out unconscious once the entire cell filled with water leaving no room for me to breathe oxygen. I found my shark form refused to come into place despite trying to breathe the water. I kept on gagging onto it till I felt like the need for oxygen was too much and wound up passing out unconscious..

  Chapter eleven

  I woke up in a forest of blue trees with the familiar heaviness again indicating of me underwater while still in my Human form. I found I was breathing heavily despite the sensation of water all around me. I even saw the ocean surface above me. I found that I was stuck to the bottom no matter how I jumped up to swim towards the surface. I looked around and saw Lucy floating in the water next to me. I grabbed her shoulder and I woke her up. I found myself and Lucy wearing strange clothing that resembled white robes that didn't seem to indicate of being wet despite being underwater walking in it. We saw a familiar male with wings on his back and familiar clothes indicating him as an angel. The angel gestured for us to follow him. We followed the angel to the edge of the forest. I could see dark mountains in the distance in a dark forest. The sky was dark brown color over the area instead of light sky blue of an ocean surface I was hoping it was. I found myself shutting my eyes. I opened them and found Lucy was sitting next to me looking worried while holding my hand.

  I asked her "What happened?"

  She explained "You fainted."

  I look up and I could see an angel in a feminine form. The angel gestured for us to follow her. We followed the angel to a door. The angel opened the door and showed white clouds and blue sky. Lucy and I walked through and found us in a meadow in a forest. It still felt the underwater feeling from the heaviness felt I finally figured out that it was my body's way of fighting the side effects of the Hayu's Dream virus.

  I told Lucy "I think this dream is my body's way of fighting the side effects of the Hayu's Dream virus."

  She shrugged in response to my words and gripped my hand in response. We wandered around the forest walking stiffly despite the heaviness of being underwater. I found a path that was a road looking like a dirt road despite being underwater. We walked on the road until we reached a house. It was like a log cabin made out of wooden tree logs. A man looking like Kokay's twin came out of the log cabin. He was wearing Kokay's familiar shorts.

  He I assuming he was Kokay spoke "Come inside quickly its not safe out with the demons."

  We went inside the house. I felt the heaviness stop abruptly along with some lightness feeling including breathing easier. Inside the house was just one big room having multiple beds on it. He handed Lucy and I brown jumpsuits that clung to our forms tightly like second skin. There was a fireplace with a fire roaring.

  Kokay I assumed was him spoke "We're in Hell"

  His wording confused me on what that wording mean despite suspiciously thinking it involved hellish place to me despite being underwater.

  I asked "What makes you think its Hell anyway?"

  He explained "I died actually hence I here in Hell at the moment. Not entirely sure of why you both are here."

  I felt like he wasn't really telling us the truth about Lucy and I being in Hell. I thought we both should have been in Heaven instead. Anyway in the log cabin I spied were mattresses on the floor. Lucy and I checked outside around the area keeping the cabin I'm assuming it's called in the vicinity.

  Kokay came by and warned us "Hellish people with unknown names come out at nighttime killing people from what I've seen from my time in here."

  We went back into the house. Kokay gave Lucy and I a mattress to sleep together despite our reluctance to share a bed. We proceeded to do due to feeling tired.

  Kokay kept on insisting "You both should sleep period."

  I went and fell asleep on bed finding myself shifting form into Great White Shark again having trouble breathing for air while passing out unconscious.

  Chapter twelve

  I dreamed I was lying on my bed in parents' apartment on Mars. Mom was sitting on the bed holding my hand looking upset.

  I stared at her and she looked at me scrutinizing me to say "Lizzy?"

  I opened my mouth to speak when I felt a tugging sensation on my arm opposite from the arm my Mom was holding my hand which the scene went black. I came to woken up by Kokay shaking us awake while I was in my Great White shark form. I managed to shift to Human. The house we were in appearing to be in was on fire judging by the smell and the fire we saw. We ran out of the cabin and watched it burn. Then the rain came and washed the fire out followed by stopping. Then we saw people all with creepy red eyes and fanged teeth with shark like heads and faces. I assumed was they the Hell's inhabitants complete with horns and wearing clothes of shiny red tight clothing come with pitchforks. They threw fire at us that appeared to be ropes that Kokay got caught in whose form changed into a male Human. I didn't know who he was but the name Kurt came to my mind looking freaked out. As the horned people I assumed were demons he calls them tried to rope us again. Lucy and I ran away with heaviness interfering with our efforts. We ran through a dark sinister forest with tree limbs trying to grab us. We avoided by shaking ourselves free and breaking branches while seeing a light in the vicinity that made us drawn to it. We saw the demons with pitchforks following us while still trying to rope us with their fiery ropes which we avoided. We kept on our goal on to reach the light. It appearing to be a glowing in sunlight like light wooden door which opened and Lucy and me went through the doorway. We found ourselves back in a forest full of sunlight and looked like it was heaven judging by how it gave me the feeling. A Human male with large white wings on his back a being of light appeared in front of the both of us. He was clad in only a robe that covered him from the waist down despite baring his chest and a part of his arms. He gestured for us to follow him. We followed him through the forest to a beach. I could see Great White sharks were flying out of the water making a splash. Then one landed on the beach on its back fin and then hopped forward towards us. The shark turned into a female angel.

  The angel spoke in a musical voice tone "You're really unconscious fighting the side effects of the Hayu's Dream virus. I like to know if you wanted to live or die. You're free to discuss this among yourself."

  Lucy spoke "I want to live. I va
lue you very strongly as a great friend, Lizzy."

  I found myself agreeing to her words by saying "I do want to live too. I do value you strongly too in a friendship way, Lucy."

  I spoke towards the angel "We both want to live."

  The angel without a word turned into a blue tree and sunk into the earth. I was surrounded by something yellowish and sticky that brought air at me made me fall asleep.

  Chapter thirteen

  I wound up in some hospital room that seemed twin to my room I stayed in. In my parents' apartment but this time there were camera domes and machines monitoring my move. I assumed was what they were doing. I wound up sleeping a lot as a result despite attempts to keep myself awake. I kept on getting this image of Kokay in my mind looking like he was laughing.

  He kept saying whenever I thought of him "I'm not giving up easily hah, hah."

  I found that odd. One night I woke up feeling weird like detached from my body to float above to see my body shift into a shark. Strangely odd and I saw a shark lying on my bed asleep. Then I was back in my body and it wasn’t a shark like body but one of a Human. I slept okay but I woke up really early in the morning due to the computer light turning on abruptly blaring and waking me up. That was due to forgetting to manually turn off the computer's light before bed. The nurses keep on turning that thing on despite my attempts to turn it off. The computer light turned itself on after sensing movement from me. It blared itself on which my eyes being light sensitive cracked open to stare at the computer's flat screen in the wall. This before I registered that I was awake. I tried to go back to sleep but the light kept me up so I gave up on sleeping. I wound up a bit cranky. I wound up shutting off the computer and then fell asleep by throwing the blankets over my head. I continued on sleeping only to get creep out by a laughing Kokay dream again which woke me up. I resumed sleeping to dream of me in my shark form in the familiar tank again. I dreamed this time of being back with Kokay in the pool him swimming laps and looking annoyed to see me watching him via my shark form. I kept on spying onto him till he got out of the pool which I followed him out.

  I gave him a glare of accusation and spoke "What's the point of giving up when you really want to hold onto me anyway?"

  I glared at him as Kokay spoke "Don't worry about this. I figured out away of sinking that boat so listen to me carefully."

  I found myself displeased by what he said involving him being bait for distracting the boat's inhabitants. I attacked the propellers as the boat's fins were called.

  I didn't feel like doing what he planned instead laid my form down and shut my eyes. I came to, to him shaking my shoulder and speaking "Come into the pool now. Let's get this idea done now period."

  I obeyed feeling disgusted with myself and not agreeing with Kokay's plans. I followed him out to the familiar boat but this time ignored the propellers. I got myself caught into the cage with him sputtering protests of having his plans ruined. I wound up back into my Human form once the water was taken away. I thrust a fist into Kokay's face punching him hard knocking him aside. He shifted form into his familiar Humanoid shark form. He had his teeth gnashing while aimed at me and charged towards me with a loud roar. I stood still as if compelled to find some arrow peeking out of Kokay's front from behind. Him wound up looking down at the white arrow to groan loudly. I glared at Kokay as he shifted back into his green scaly form. Kokay slid to his knees kneeling. I felt compelled to grab his head and give it a snapping jerk. I ignored the compulsion. It got too much for me and proceeded to do it. I found Kokay disappearing in a flash of light in an energy ball followed by the scene going black. I came to waking up in a hospital room. I saw my Mom crying next to me looking upset.

  I asked her "Why are you upset?"

  She stopped crying and did a double take look and scrutinized me before abruptly hugged me.

  She spoke "I was so worried that you wouldn't come out of the effects of the virus."

  I looked on the bed next to mine and I saw Lucy. She was up and awake and she waved hi to me. I waved hi back.

  Mom told me "You have been in and out of reality. That's due to the virus causing you to become this fish animal being a Great White shark. It seemed according to the doctors that the virus after you were declared cured mutated into some form of catatonia making you see things that aren't there."

  I asked Mom "Am I cured?"

  She assured to me "You're cured."

  I asked her for my computer pad journal which she handed to me from her purse. I spent some time typing what I could remember of my dreams via the computer pad. I had a very weird time. What happened to me started the moment I was hit with the sickness type virus? Mom typed to me the whole story in my journal in a free file.

  She typed "A male named Kurt.He later identified as Lucy's former boyfriend was really a Human Genetic Engineered Weapon along with others made by an Asylum in a secret facility underground. Its hidden somewhere on Mars. Kurt escaped from the Asylum using some Great White Shark sickness. He escaped the facility holding him despite warnings of his virus being spreadable. The government caught Kurt, had him killed. They issued the same order to the others except for three of them who proved to be the cure to the virus. The Mars government just recently admitted the truth about Kurt and the others after the virus’s cure was found. The President according wasn't happy about Kurt and the others made behind his back. He didn't know of this. Only a few members of the high ranking officers of the government were aware of this. The President once he found out immediately had them apologize to the people and discontinue the program."

  I spoke to Mom after reading the file "What happened to Lucy? I don't recall her getting the Great White Shark virus."

  Mom spoke ignoring Lucy I noticed staring in her direction with a sheepish expression on her face "Lucy was taken with Kurt after he was captured. It was due to one of Human Genetic Engineered Weapons identified her as his girlfriend. The girlfriend status turned out to be the reason why people at the mall were victims of his attack and wound up sick. Hallway recorders caught her arguing with Kurt in the hallway. Some overheard argument of her not willing to see him again and him trying to convince her to keep the relationship. She was seen slapping him on the cheek and walked away ignoring his attempts to get her attention. She was sent to the Asylum to live with the others while sick with the virus. One of the Human Genetic Engineered Weapons as their called used their poisonous animalistic claws onto Lucy which the venom as the poison is called killed off the virus. The blood of two others related to the one poisoning Lucy was the antidote that cured her of the venom. As a result she was cured of the virus. The doctors discovered the same effect on the other virus victims which is what they used onto you sick with the Hayu's Dream virus."

  I looked back at the words Mom typed, I read while I was in the tented room while I was sick.

  She wrote: "Actually you'll be put in a coma to fight the virus."

  I found that repeated including the sorry word. Oh so that's what Mom was saying despite some dream of reading something else from my Mom's typing.

  I spoke "What about the dream of you showing me your typing? It on my computer pad journal of something else other than what you typed to me?"

  She spoke in response to my question "The virus aka Hayu's Dream left you in a shark form too long with medicines injected into you that caused you to dream of something realistic. The medicines and the realistic dreams was a medical procedure to fight off the Hayu's Dream virus infecting you actually. Don't worry you won't be having that again. You're safe now."

  I told Mom "Tell me what happened and the whole story beginning with the moment back when I was sick."

  Mom told me "I put down the whole story in your journal to read once you came out of the virus state."

  Here’s what she typed as indicated via file found on my computer pad: "Lizzy, Kurt was seen hanging around Milly before you and Lucy arrived. Hallway records indicate that Lucy and Kurt had some break up fight she t
old him she couldn't see him any more. He was seen following the both of you to a store. An undercover government official arrived and recognized Kurt and alerted the police. Kurt seemingly aware of this government official judging by acting like he recognized the person knocked him out. He stole his gun weapon which he ran into the store and tailed you and Lucy. He entered the store with a gun and yanked out a bed sheet from a package, which he put over himself. He fired the gun wildly causing people to run away from him. The police arrived and they threw smoke bombs with sleeping gas to knock people out in the store including Kurt himself. The doctors examined people while using cover up gear to discover that all of the people in the store had caught the virus including you and Lucy. Your virus catching was worse off. That's due to indicating you having some shark blood in your system from a tainted blood transfusion you had as a youngster. Your transfusion was due to you suffering from a sickness that any cuts on your body would make you bleed heavily. A sickness you managed to outgrow with the help of medicines. Kurt was captured and pointed out as patient zero. He was taken to someplace unknown to die. You and Lucy were taken to a specialized hospital for evaluation. Lucy was pointed out to be Kurt's girlfriend by description of her by another. The only way for you to fight the virus was you in a shark form contained into a tank. After they cleared you from being contagious they sent you home. You were sent to the hospital repeatedly due to showing signs of shark form hitting you. Then at home you acted like you were hungry for Human flesh judging by you seen biting us and whoever Human was around but unable to break flesh by the biting. We managed to get you contained into the hospital just to avoid that biting behavior. That biting behavior included towards the both of us but you didn’t acknowledge your Father or me as your parents. After this happened we went to a facility for better medical care where they tried to put you in a coma. Then on advice of someone in the medical community we went to some new age Shaman as his title for being a doctor who claimed he could magically help and heal people. We had to camp to see him because he was isolated in the Mars mesa area. That despite him wearing a breathing mask and avoiding the astronaut wear. During the camping days later you and some of the others escaped. You went in a mountain top holding people's caved homes and hid among people living there never acknowledging them. That despite quitting the Human flesh eating interests, who lived there. They called the police who came with darts. You escaped via a cave's river in your shark form which you got trapped in so they had to dig you out and transport you to a facility to monitor you of this shark form that refused to go away. Lucy's status as being Kurt's girlfriend required the government to take her to a facility unknown to watch her and see if Kurt was truly dead despite him said to be assassinated. You were captured and brought back to this facility specialized in animals due to your shark form. It later got removed on a permanent basis to my relief. You and Lucy later in a hospital room lay in a coma falling in and out of conscious. I've hope you would wake up to acknowledge me and say "I Love you". It hurts that you Lizzy never acknowledged your parents. I love you and I miss you. Love Mom."