by K X Douglas
“RCMP! Put your hands up!”
All of them were holding their guns in plain view. They were too surprised to do anything right away; they could only stare at the uniformed officer who was pointing a gun right at them.
“I said hands up!”
More officers entered the building and aimed their guns at the group.
“Don’t try to fight them; they’re way better shots than we are!” Peter said. “Just run! I’ll keep them occupied!”
Peter extended tendrils out in both directions through his sleeves and widened them until they were broad and flat like wings, obscuring the rest of the group from the officers’ vision.
“I know you probably won’t believe me, officer, but the incident is taken care of,” Peter said. “Everyone has been evacuated safely. There are no casualties.”
“I think it’s him! The one from the river that they showed on the news!”
Oh, shit. I still can’t kill them, but I need to stop them by any means necessary. I can’t let them catch up to the others.
They all shot at him. Tinnitus rang in his ears from the gunfire as bullets tore through his clothes and stuck themselves halfway into his body, but he did not fall.
In fact, he did not even budge.
Peter reached to the one bullet that was embedded in his chest right over where a human heart would be. Pulling it out, he brought it close to his eyes and examined it.
Guns are getting pretty advanced these days. I didn’t expect bullets to get that far into me.
He extended a hand over to the officer who had arrived first, his arm stretching to over ten feet long as he stuck his fist into the man’s mouth. Forming tiny tendrils on the ends of his knuckles, he sent them down the man’s windpipe and into his lungs.
Please don’t fuck up, please don’t fuck up, please don’t fuck up.
In a matter of seconds the officer fell to the ground. Peter withdrew his now-bloody hand from the man’s throat and held a finger to the side of his neck to check his pulse.
As soon as he confirmed that the officer was still alive, he withdrew his hand. The others looked on in horror and stepped back.
“No. I can’t let you get away now that you’ve seen me.”
He dashed up to them and tackled one to the ground. With one hand, he suffocated the officer as he did the previous one while grabbing the gun with his other hand and devouring it.
The remaining two officers did not shoot at him, as they did not want to accidentally kill their colleague. Peter stood up and extended his arms again, reaching for their guns.
Both officers tried to run away, but they weren’t quick enough. He seized them by their legs and pulled, causing both of them to fall on their faces.
Peter took his time suffocating them, confident that there weren’t any other police officers in the immediate vicinity. Once they stopped struggling, he put a finger on each of their necks to confirm that they were still alive.
Well, at least classes will probably be cancelled for the day. Weren’t Eric and I supposed to have a midterm today? Oh, well.
Peter ran back to the dorms and knocked on Heidi’s door. There was no answer.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!
He pulled out his phone and started typing.
Peter let out a sigh of relief.
He walked over and knocked on the door. Isabelle answered.
“Peter, you’re okay! Oh my god!”
She glomped him before recoiling at the sensation of the stray bullets protruding from his flesh.
“Oh my god, they shot you!”
“Yeah, they did. It kind of hurt. Is everyone else safe?”
“Yeah, they’re inside. Come in.”
Peter plucked the bullets out of his chest and discarded them before he walked inside. Everyone was gathered in the living room.
“Hey,” Peter said. “I made it out intact.”
“Peter, did you kill those cops?!” Eric asked.
“Nah, didn’t have to,” he said. “I just knocked them out and left them there.”
The television was turned to a local news station, and the academy appeared on the screen. The news crew seemed to be reporting the incident as a mass shooting rather than an alien attack. However, there appeared to be no suspects; the RCMP were completely at a loss as to who to investigate.
“God damn it!” Lachlan shouted. “I hope they don’t investigate us!”
“Maybe that was Kevin’s plan all along,” Silas said. “Attack the college to try and kill us, and if he fails, our defending ourselves would be spun as an attempted mass shooting.”
“They’re probably going to be inspecting the dorms soon, anyways,” Victoria said. “We need to find a reliable place to hide our guns.”
“I can take care of that,” Silas said. “I can hide them at Dad’s place. They’re registered under his name to begin with.”
“Alright, Silas, I trust you,” Peter said. “I’ll get that bag you left at my place, and you can take all our guns for the time being.”
Peter returned to his dorm to fetch the duffel bag and bring it to Silas. They all placed their guns in it, and Silas loaded it into the trunk of his car.
“Thanks a lot, dude,” Lachlan said.
“It’s no problem,” Silas said. “You all have my number now, so you can shoot me a text if anything comes up before Halloween.”
***
Midterms came and went across the next week. Peter didn’t even spare a thought as to whether he would get a decent grade on any of them; his mind was completely occupied by thoughts of the coming festival.
He spent a great deal of time trawling the internet for any mention of the mi-go incident. Obviously, there was no useful video footage of the creatures. As a result, nobody seemed to believe the rumours of an alien invasion despite some testimony from students who witnessed the events.
The prevailing narrative, unfortunately, seemed to be that of an attempted mass shooting despite the complete lack of injuries of fatalities. The RCMP had issued a reward for any information on the supposed perpetrators.
This isn’t good. Should we be avoiding the police, or would that make us look even more suspicious? They’re probably going to be everywhere on campus now to make people feel safer.
As he scrolled through the article, he noticed that there was a video embedded halfway through. He clicked on it and saw footage of his own encounter with the RCMP in the main lobby of the campus building. The video was taken from a great distance, perhaps over two hundred feet away, so there was little in the way of detail. Still, it showed him attacking the officers and suffocating them.
Because he didn’t transform or shed his clothes during that encounter, the person who appeared on screen was readily identifiable as Peter Nelson to anyone who would see him.
Damn it. I might have to go into hiding for awhile…or at least get a whole new wardrobe.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Peter watched the video several times in silence. It wasn’t very long, and he paused it frequently to zoom in on different frames. Luckily, the video looked to be recorded on a truly ancient phone, or perhaps a potato, as the quality was abysmal.
Yeah, I think a new wardrobe would be a good idea. I can at least have some plausible deniability.
He checked his school email, and to his surprise he already had a message in his inbox regarding the day’s incident.
Shit. First a shooting at Mabon, now they think there was a shooting at the academy. Security at Samhain is going to be absolutely ridiculous. It’s a good thing we all gave the guns back to Silas for safe keeping. I
might have to look up Kevin’s address and pay him a visit ahead of the festival. Maybe I’ll be able to take care of everything then and there.
Peter got into his car and started it up. He loaded a map on his phone and typed the address that he had received from Brooke. A map detailing the quickest route appeared, and he spent a few seconds examining it before setting his phone in the cup holder at his side.
The drive was straightforward; Peter spent most of his time on the road waiting at traffic lights.
Kevin Wilkinson’s house was located in a cul-de-sac in an unassuming suburb on the south side of the city. It was a two-storey McMansion that, in trying too hard to be unique, looked just like all the others in the neighbourhood. The lights were on and there were two vehicles parked in the driveway, indicating that people were home.
Peter parked his car on the other side of the street, rolled the driver’s side window down, and stepped out.
If I manage to catch him by surprise, this should be easy. I’ll just walk up to the door, knock, and hope that he answers.
Peter approached the house, trying his best to act as inconspicuous as possible. He rang the doorbell and waited for someone to answer.
The door opened and Peter saw a middle-aged woman on the other side.
“Hello, can I help you?” she asked.
“Is this the Wilkinson residence?” Peter asked.
“Yes, it is.”
“Is Kevin around? I have some questions about joining The Laughing Union.”
“He is. I’ll go get him. Just a moment.”
She disappeared into the house
So it looks like he’s married. If I manage to kill him, I’m going to have to get away before his wife manages to call the police.
Suddenly, Peter felt a bullet hit his chest. Somewhere in the endless sea of tinnitus he heard a woman scream. Several more shots hit him, having penetrated completely through the almost-closed door.
It swung open, and Kevin stood on the other side. He stared at Peter with wide eyes and, upon realizing that he took four bullets without even falling to his knees, readied his gun again.
“You…you’re the thing that attacked me at the hotel! What are you?!” he shouted. “What do you want with me?!”
“I’m here to kill you, Kevin,” Peter said. “Do you have any last words?”
Kevin held out his hand and began chanting.
Peter’s entire body was consumed by flames. He doubled over and screamed in pain; it wasn’t something he had experienced often and not since Heidi had tried to brand him. His clothing instantly turned to ash, leaving him lying on the ground naked. The spell persisted for nearly a minute, with Peter writhing around on the ground in a semi-foetal position. He began to drift in and out of consciousness.
Someone said something, but he couldn’t tell who or what.
No…I can’t let him get away. I have to go after him.
After picking his keys up off of the pavement he stood up, reeling from dizziness. When he walked past the driveway, he saw that Kevin had gotten into one of the vehicles and was currently driving out of the cul-de-sac. Limping towards his car, he tore the license plate off of the back bumper before squeezing in through the window that he had left open.
He started up the car and drove after Kevin. The chase led him out of the suburb and back towards campus, only for both of them to drive further north.
Now they were immersed in general traffic, but nonetheless Peter watched as Kevin began to accelerate, paying no heed to the other vehicles on the road.
I don’t really know how fast this old beater can go. Guess it’s time to find out.
He slammed his foot on the gas pedal and wove his way around the other vehicles, eyes glued to Kevin’s car wherever it went. Vehicles began to slow down or outright stop in reaction to their acceleration, their drivers not wanting to risk a pile-up; other drivers began to honk angrily at them as he sped past.
What am I gonna do when I get close? I don’t think I can really drive and cast at the same time. I have to get him out of the car, or disable it somehow.
Peter heard the sound of gunfire. Looking into his mirrors, he saw that there was now a bullet hole spreading a spider web of cracks through his rear window.
More gunfire, more bullet holes. The window finally gave out, shattering all over the back seat.
He’s already got his goons coming after me. How is he doing this? Oh well, bullets won’t really do anything to me, so it’s no big deal unless they can use magic. Shit, I hope Kevin doesn’t get the bright idea to use more magic to help get away from me.
Peter looked in his side mirror and saw the source of the bullets; the car immediately behind him had someone in the front passenger seat pointing a pistol in his direction.
I can’t find a way to incapacitate those people while I’m driving. I’ll have to just ignore them for the time being and hope they aren’t careless enough to hurt anyone else. Besides, that person’ll have to stop and reload at some point…or stop shooting entirely if they didn’t bring extra ammunition.
He looked at his speedometer and saw that it was, for all intents and purposes, maxed out. Unfortunately, he only had half a tank of gas left.
I hope something happens that forces us to get out of our cars at some point so I can chase him on foot. I’ll be much faster that way, plus I think my car’s about had it with this shit.
Suddenly, Peter could hear the sirens of a nearby police cruiser over the myriad car horns. He looked in his rear view mirror and saw that it wasn’t far behind him, maybe a couple of cars away.
Shit.
He advanced around several cars that didn’t bother to get out of the way. Many of the drivers honked at him as he raced away, and some even rolled down their windows so that they could scream at him.
He paid them no heed; his attention was focussed on what was ahead of him.
Again, gunfire-induced tinnitus rang in his ears as his front window completely shattered. From the direction that the glass flew, he surmised that the shot had come from behind. However, it sounded like something much more powerful than just a handgun. A glance in his mirror informed him that another vehicle was on his tail, and it was currently competing with the police cruiser for the honour of being the first to catch up to him.
Before he knew it, he was on a bridge crossing the river. His eyes wandered down to the water for a fleeting moment, and he was reminded of his past failure.
I can’t afford to let him escape this time.
Once he reached the other side, he felt the very earth beneath him begin to rumble. Looking around, he saw that he probably wasn’t the only person who noticed; it seemed as though life outside froze for a moment as people looked around in confusion.
The earth was definitely shaking.
Ahead, Peter watched as the ground began to sink down like countless grains of sand falling through an hourglass. Peter swerved to the side to avoid a newly-formed tremor in the earth.
Opening the car door, Peter jumped out, no longer caring what happened to what was soon to be a pile of scrap. He examined his immediate surroundings and saw that people were indeed panicking.
In the distance Peter saw an utterly colossal worm rear its head up from deep within the earth as it let out a bone-trembling roar. Its mouth was so wide that it looked able to swallow a car whole. Peter estimated that the creature was three times the size of a blue whale.
Fuck. I don’t know if there’s anything I can do to stop that thing. It’s going to kill so many people.
Ignoring his car as it fell into the jaws of the earth, he started running in the direction that Kevin had been going…which also happened to be in the direction of the giant worm.
At least I shouldn’t have to worry about the police anymore. Now, how am I going to track down Kevin?
He ran into the nearest alley between buildings and, kicking his shoes off, set to climbing the wall. Growing an extra set of limbs from his torso, he scurried up the wa
lls. There was more green space on this side of the river, allowing him to see further.
Kevin had continued driving north, perhaps hoping that his minions would have killed Peter by now. He retracted his extra limbs and jumped down from the building.
How could I catch up to him at this rate? I need to think of something that’s fast. Something that can outrun a car…
His train of thought was interrupted by the worm’s roar. He looked towards it and saw that it was demolishing the northern bank of the river, causing buildings to slowly drift towards the water. The bridge, too, had been destroyed, and vehicles were now driving away from it in both directions.
Immediately, Peter broke out into a sprint towards the riverbank. After swallowing his belongings for safe keeping, he dove in, not caring for his own safety.
If anyone had fallen into the river by then he surmised that they would have been carried away to their deaths.
All this just to get me off of his tail. Did he want to send me a message? “Try to come after me and people will die?” Or does he just not care about peoples’ lives?
He swam across, flattening his hands and feet into fins to better fight the current. Once he reached the other side, he returned to his human form and climbed out, clothes thoroughly soaked. Traffic was backed up for several kilometres, and emergency services had arrived to try and rescue people from the river. However, they seemed to be paralyzed with fear of the giant worm that was effortlessly levelling part of the city.
This time I couldn’t keep people safe. I couldn’t even save their lives. Who knows how many people died because of my actions today?
When Peter reached campus, he didn’t bother to check his voicemail to see if anyone had called him in the meantime. After taking his clothes off and hanging them over the shower curtain, he regurgitated his other belongings onto the tiny kitchen table.
I don’t yet know if I can feel love…but I absolutely know what it’s like to feel hate.
He stepped into the shower and stared at the wall in silence.
