“It's pretty bad. It's boring for the most part. Kids here are just straight up bullies. I'm trying to talk to people but most are annoyed when I ask them how they're doing. The rest come off as idiots.”
“Hey, better not be talking about me.”
“Why would I be talking you if I thought you were an idiot?”
“Fair point.”
“You do come off as an idiot though at times.”
“You wanna see an idiot,” Marshall growled, looking at Nick, annoyed.
“That doesn't even make sense. Are you trying to say you’re going to show me how tough you are by being an idiot?”
“I...yo, man, shut the hell up before I punch you.”
“Please do so. Maybe it'll make this day much more exciting,” Nick challenged, laughing. Marshall cracked a smile.
“You can be a real jerk sometimes, you know that,” Marshall said trying to impersonate a sweet, honest, little girl voice. “I'ma tell on you!” Nick laughed at the impression.
“Marshall can be a cool guy. Lately, though, he's been trying to show off. Try to show he's always the big tough guy in everything. I don't really know why either,” Fred said as he walked with Nick towards their classroom. They both made it in and sat down. Kelly was already there taking out her school supplies for class.
“Heads up guys. Our first test is next Friday,” She said seriously. Nick wanted to hear her talk more so he didn't respond right away. She looked up, catching his eyes, they both felt a connection. Sometimes a weird feeling that made them seem so close. Nick looked away first, feeling his cheeks turn red again.
“Thanks for the heads up,” he answered sheepishly. He still couldn't get over how cute she was. Every time he saw her he wanted to touch her. She kept getting ready for class while he took out his notebook.
Fred leaned over. “Kelly is awesome. If you get with her that’d be great. She's funny and cute. Just so you know, she never really dates. Well, no one that I know of. We've been going to the same schools for a few years and I've never seen her with a guy. So, she might swing the other way, ya know?”
Nick swung around. Really quietly, but with panic in his voice, he asked, “Are you serious!?”
“No.”
“I hate you.” Nick looked towards Kelly one more time before turning to the front of his class.
The bell rang and the classed flushed out. Kelly said goodbye with a wave and walked towards a group of girls. Fred shoved Nick playfully. “Man, she definitely wants you. She used to be kind of okay looking but now...” Fred made the shape of a really skinny girl with a big butt using his hands. “Now, she's so fine. You better get with her,” Fred said, elbowing his friend.
Nick pushed Fred outside the school building. “Shut up. I'ma ask her out real soon. Just watch.”
“Hey man, that's all I'm saying. Don't let it slip away. She's worth it!” Nick nodded to that.
Both began walking towards their houses together while discussing classes. “Yeah, I hate Spanish. What are we really going to need it for anyway?” Nick asked Fred who just shrugged for response. “Man, I'm getting so tired of talking about school and I just started. I almost wished those missions were real.” Fred stopped at the last comment. Nick turned to look at his friend who was now just standing there. “What?”
“I don’t know. I see something. Something isn't right. My head is pound-” Fred grabbed his head and began slowly rubbing it. The throbbing suddenly turned to a sharp pain. He winced at it as he slowly sunk to the ground. Nick began to walk back towards his friend to check on him. He looked around to see if he could call anyone for help but no one was out on the street.
Nick bent down, trying to check if his friend was okay. “You sure you’re doing okay man?” Now, Nick began to worry, as his friend would occasionally let out small moans. “You don't look too good man.” Nick’s voice began to trail off while Fred mumbling to himself.
Fred opened his eyes as the pain began to subside. The pain was almost completely gone and he stood back up. Nick just stood there puzzled, looking at his friend. “Yeah, I'm fine. It's just that...” Fred looked straight ahead while speaking. He saw a huge stone in front of him. “What is that?” Fred whispered looking scared. Nick looked to the side but he saw nothing.
“You sure you're okay? There isn't anything there,” Nick said worriedly. His friend, who was almost about to collapse a few moments ago, was now staring at nothing.
“No, dude its right here.” Fred walked up to the stone in front of him. It had an engraving on it. On it displayed an address that was only twenty minutes from his current location. “You don't see this?” Fred asked as he pointed towards the huge rock.
“Dude, I think you're going insane on me,” Nick answered as he shook his head. “Trust me when I say there is nothing in front of you.” Nick walked towards Fred.
“No, man it’s right here.” Fred turned back around to the rock. He memorized the location and smiled, thinking this might actually be his first mission. Then he heard a loud hard swipe as something tore into the rock. A rip appeared over the location where he was just reading. He jumped back at the sound and almost fell over. The rock shook and crumbled into pieces. Fred felt a small sharp pain in his head. He winced as he grabbed his head. Once he opened his eyes again the rock was gone.
“You sure you're okay? I think maybe we should go to the hospital.” Nick patted his friends back.
“No. It's a mission. Nick, I got a mission,” he told his friend, sounding both worried and excited.
Chapter Six – The Alleyway
“A mission?” Nick looked surprised.
“Yeah, a mission.”
“Like...like a mission to hunt down monsters?”
“Like a mission to hunt down monsters.”
“Like a mission to hunt down “real” monsters?”
“Dude, I just saw a huge rock with engravings giving an address. Then it shattered into pieces. I think this is as real as it gets.” Fred sat on the curb trying to relax.
“Everything…,” he began and took a second to gather himself. His body felt weird as the air began to flow in through his nose and out his mouth. He could still feel some of the pain in his head. He saw everything kind of shift. Everything looked the same, except for the huge rock, but it felt different. As if he wasn't truly in the same place as Nick. He didn't know any other way to describe it but the feeling of being in two different realities at once. “Everything looked the same but nothing was the same. I felt such a heavy pressure. To be honest, it scared the heck out of me.” He let out a huge sigh. “Yet, I gotta admit. It was pretty cool.”
Nick listened to every word his friend said. He spoke after a few moments of silence. “I just don't know if I believe there are monsters. I mean it's monsters. It can't be. There's no such thing as monsters.”
“It felt real. I felt like I was pushed into something... I can't describe it.”
“I dunno man.”
“I'm telling you man it’s real!” Fred was yelling now.
“I believe you.” Nick put his hands up to calm Fred down. “I'm just saying it's still hard to digest the fact that these...monsters...can be real. I'm not saying you're wrong or lying. I'm saying it's hard to believe in general.”
Fred understood but he still began to get agitated. “I'm serious man. I know it sounds crazy but what just happened to me proves it.” Fred looked to the ground. “I mean if rocks can suddenly appear and give directions and then shatter I'm sure there are weirder things out there.” He looked up at Nick.
Nick didn’t know what to do now, standing there just as confused. “I don’t know what happened. I didn't see a rock or anything. If you told anyone else they'd think you were a nut-job!” Nick made sure the message got through and it did, loud enough so the people across the street could hear. “I mean come on man. I've only known you a bit but you gotta admit it's crazy. Plus, how do I know you aren't just messing with me right now?”
“I ge
t that you don't want to believe it but it's real. I'm scared out of my mind and need your help. You have to believe me!” Fred looked towards his friend. Nick watched him but then shook his head.
Nick started pacing back and forth for a moment before speaking. “Okay, say I believe this crazy stuff. What do we do now? Go to the address?” Nick seemed to be coming around which relieved Fred.
“Well the rock told me to go to 60th Street and Third. It's not far from my house. It's a twenty minute walk, maybe, from here. It wrote the address, after I read it though it sounded like something scratched it. Like a huge claw or something slammed its paw into the rock and shattered it,” Fred told Nick.
“Well I just moved here but this doesn't sound right. I mean people are walking on these streets at all hours. How can no one see these things? These Unknowns!?” Nick now sounded distraught, his attitude changing every few seconds. Frustration was building up in him and he wasn't sure why. Fred took some offense to the aggressive attitude Nick was giving but was too busy thinking about the possibilities of there being real monsters in the world he lived in.
“An alternative realm.” That’s all Fred had to say. Nick just watched as his friend pondered. “Remember the book we got from Carl. I only read a few chapters but they mentioned these “monsters”, Unknowns, come from the realm of the others. Some type of realm that connects our world...universe...whatever, to another. I didn't read deep into details. Where's Peter when you need him?” Fred got up and looked around.
“I didn't read any of it yet but this sounds just crazy man. I'ma head home and read some, maybe get an idea of what we're dealing with. Let me go check on a few things. Not to mention I left that Rod thingy at my house. So I can't even do anything against these “monsters” anyway.” Nick backed away from Fred. “I'll call you up in a bit.”
“Wait, you aren't coming with me?” Fred said, sounded worried. His voice almost broke up but he stood waiting for an answer from his new friend. Nick turned around, eyes looking down to the ground, and stood only a few feet away.
“Let me go read more about this. Once I figure it out I'll call you up.”
“I only have ‘till tonight, remember? I don't have time to go and fool around. Are you helping me or not?”
“I'll call you...” Nick's voice trailed away as he walked towards his home. Fred stood there hurt, not sure if he was more upset at the fact Nick wasn't helping or that Nick didn't believe him.
Fred sat on his bed, trying to figure out a plan for tonight. He only had an hour or two before he had to head out and tackle whatever was at the address. With almost no training or counseling from Carl, he was worried. He tried reading more of the book that was given but it only made him uneasy. Details about monsters that can wrap their claws around your back and rip you apart scared him too much to continue. He figured the missions given to the new recruits were minor monsters that slipped through the realms. He focused on what weapon he could use to fight an Unknown. “A sword would be useful. Then again so would a gun. Then again it's a monster. What if it could eat bullets? What if it has wings, or spits out fire? This little thing is what's supposed to protect me?” He held his Rod in his hand as he kept turning it side to side. The bottom crystal shined with a beautiful silver-white color.
His mother knocked on the door. “Come in,” he called out. The door opened slowly. The rare occasion when his parents were home, his mom was too busy looking at her cell phone to even notice her son. She just handed him the house phone and walked back out. “Hello?”
“Hey, it's Nick. Are you still going tonight?” Nick’s voice came through the line. Fred would have hung up but this was his last chance to have some backup. “I mean, you do know this is utterly impossible?” Nick’s voice sounded stern, as if he didn’t believe the words he was saying himself.
“I have to go. I don’t have another choice! This could be a joke, but it wouldn’t explain everything that has happened. Listen man, I know it sounds crazy but what if it's real? What if I don't stop whatever is out there? What if it hurts someone?” Fred began to feel some type of commitment to stopping these Unknowns. Even if he didn't fully believe they were out there yet.
“It's not real. It can't be real man. We watch all these movies, TV shows, read comics, but it's all make-believe. Monsters do not exist. You know it and so do I.” Nick sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than Fred.
“I don't need this. Are you with me tonight or not?”
“I...”
“If you don't want to answer, fine. You know the address. I got to do this. I need to find out if these things really exist or not.” Fred hung up the phone before Nick could respond, then tossed the phone to the side of his bed and got up. He attached the beeper to his belt and clipped the Rod to the other side. He took one last look around his room. “Well, it was nice knowing you room. You always did smell kind of funky. That could have been me. Goodbye sweet Xbox, I will miss you,” he jokingly said before climbing out of his window.
Nick threw his phone to the side of his bed. “What an idiot?” he barked. He sat down at his computer and began typing away. “How can he believe this stuff? Monsters do not exist. This stupid book-,” he said as he picked up the heavy book given to him by Carl. “-is all nonsense.” He looked through the names of the monsters. Most of them sounded old and made up, which made sense seeing as this so called organization he was working under created the names. They can literally make up whatever name they saw fit for these beasts. The way they described some of them though made Nick worry. Some had the power to lift a human and tear him into pieces. Some could use fire or electricity as weapons. He even saw one that had his whole body made up of stone.
He let the book slide out of his hands and turned on the TV trying to get his mind off the Unknowns. He wanted to forget everything and just worry about school and his own personal problems. Monsters were great in fairy tales but in real life, when school, girls, and family problems were happening all at once - monsters were the last thing needing to be added to the list.
He sat back watching a comedy, hoping to forget about all the monster talk. However, Fred and the Unknowns kept flaring up in the back of his mind no matter how loud the TV got.
Fred began to walk towards the address that was given to him. He ignored the fact it was already around nine o'clock and his mom would probably find out that he snuck out. She was rarely home and even when she was she was so busy she might as well not have been home. He brushed off the fact that she'd get mad and tried to focus on the mission.
“Damn it,” he muttered under his breath as he began to walk quicker through the heated night. The wind was paper thin as it barely brushed his reddish cheeks. “Why does this stuff always happen to me?” He wondered why he was the first to get a mission. Why hadn't Nick or even Marshall gotten one yet? Why was he the chosen one - the chubby guy who did nothing but play video games and eat? Fred felt that he lacked all the luck he needed tonight.
Fred grabbed his beeper and looked at the small black device. “He said red or green to start?” As he tried to remember, a couple that was strolling close together began to walk up the block. Fred decided to go with the red button, which made his body heat up. A small spasm hit his head again and he doubled over. Once the pain subsided he looked back up. He grabbed every body part to make sure nothing was wrong or missing. His body temperature quickly returned to normal. He took a look at his hands, still visible to him. “I thought I was supposed to enter the other realm. What the....” he said, and then saw the couple who was walking his way earlier. The girl bumped into Fred.
Fred stepped back as the girl almost fell. The guy took a look to where Fred was as he answered. “Hey, I’m sorry I didn’t see her,” Fred tried to explain but the guy just helped his girlfriend back to her feet.
“Something is there,” she screamed as she ran past where Fred was standing. Her boyfriend took a look in front of him and when seeing nothing, he shrugged and chased after her.
Fred just watched as they ran. She could feel him there but they couldn't see him. Visible to Fred, but invisible to the rest of the world.
“Cool.” A grin spread appeared on his face.
Nick tossed around a bean bag, which he loved to do. He kept throwing it from hand to hand while watching a basketball game. Occasionally he would look to the side at his Rod but never too long, as he didn’t want to miss any part of the game. Once the game went into break he took another look over, this time deciding to pick it up.
He stood now with the Rod in his hand thinking about what he was about to do. “I mean, all I have to do is concentrate right?” he said before glancing around his room. He then spotted a Batman action figure from when he was a kid holding a spear of some sort. “That’s it,” he shouted and closed his eyes.
Slowly, he let everything in his mind go blank. He blocked out the sound of the game and focused only on the spear. Once getting the spear into his mind he began willing the Rod to change. After a few seconds of straining, Nick let out a breath. Then the Rod shined so bright the whole room lit up. Nick almost let go but he was afraid it would break. He covered his eyes with his free hand as the light shined so bright the windows lit up.
Once finished it became the very thing he imagined. The staff was long and thin. The greenish bottom matched with the blackish middle and the steel white top. A extra hook coming out of the tip. The pole seemed to fit his grip perfectly; the staff was neither cold nor hot. It was almost four feet tall. Nick felt scared, excited, nervous, and surprised all at once.
He twirled it around. It went in perfect motion with his hand. He almost dropped it but grabbed it with his other hand and swung it. It knocked over his alarm clock which smashed on the floor. He jumped back. “Damn. That cost twenty dollars.” He laughed. He took a long hard look at the spear. “If this can actually be real then...” he started and looked towards his bedroom door. He knew his father wouldn't be home till well after eleven. Another late night at work. “It's time to take out a few monsters.”
Exterminators Infected (The Exterminators Book 1) Page 5
