Fear Factors

by Peter Sacco

  The school principle was an avid supporter of the debate team and really grew fond of Sean. The debate team had received so much attention the varsity teams were getting less and less intercom coverage. The jocks did not like this very much. This was what actually led Sean to wishing he was the big man on campus.

  Sean was bullied more each week. He wasn’t sure if it was his personality and appearance which drew the jocks or whether it was their jealousy over the team receiving much of the coverage. Sean was an average looking teen male. He had always dressed conservatively and kept his appearance simple. His younger sister told him if he dressed himself half decent, he would not look half-bad. Sean never had any dates and his sister attributed it to his geeky appearance. His collar length straight black hair had always been combed forward. His thick-framed glasses sheltered and concealed his deep, dark, rich brown eyes. Of average height and size for a seventeen-year old, Sean looked very thin because of the loose, baggy clothes he wore. All and all, he was what his sister called a fashion disaster.

  Sean was picked on by the jocks and bullies immediately following the transfer to the school. Their antagonizing flourished during the debate season. At one point, Sean had actually convinced himself to resign from the team to maintain some self-respect and dignity. The school principal talked Sean out of it, believing they would leave him alone once the novelty of his new geek-on-campus status wore off. It didn’t happen. Things got worse. Gym class had to be the worst. Before and after class in the change room, the guys were always bullying him. They gave him “wedgies” having the waistband of your underwear tugged up as high as it would go, while having the underwear burrow into the rectum as far as it would go. Twice in the last month, the guys had pulled so hard Sean’s underwear had torn. On one occasion, the underwear was pulled so hard that he bled. In the showers they would urinate on him. On the basketball court and volleyball court they would accidentally-on-purpose throw the ball at his head. Things had gotten so bad, at one point, during wrestling training, Sean had to fake a two-week long injury to get out of the beatings he was taking.

  The best part of the day was going home and getting away from the creeps at school. They no longer waited for him at the school doors to mock him, however they still harassed him at his locker. It had gotten so bad his own sister would not have anything to do with him. She avoided him at all costs to avoid any of the negative attention he was receiving. Sean so looked forward to going home. He had taken up a new hobby. He withdrew some of his money from his savings account to purchase a set of weights. His mother and father were opposed to his buying the set, however, but it was his money and he could darn well do what he pleased with it. Like clockwork everyday for the last two weeks, Sean rushed home and lifted. After an hour with the irons, Sean would stand in front of the mirror and admire results. Sean began feeling more confident about himself and he truly believed things were definitely going to get better. There were only two and a half weeks of school left and Sean planned on pumping iron all summer. He told himself he was going to go back to school in September with grade twelve being his best year! He dreamed of being the big man on campus.

  During the summer months, Sean found a job on Yonge Street in Toronto, as a waiter in a Chinese restaurant. He was averaging about thirty hours a week there which left him more than adequate time to pump the irons. Sean had begun to take protein supplements and creatine to try and bulk up. He was very proud of himself and the results he was getting after two months of training. By the end of June, he had put on four pounds. He was now up to one hundred and fifty-one pounds. Unfortunately, no one else noticed the results. His sister even teased and ridiculed him saying he looked smaller than before. It was no surprise that Sean began spending most of his life in front of mirrors.

  On the last day of June something happened which would change his life forever. As he was walking to work one afternoon, two of the school goons passed him. After realizing who he was, they started to push him around. For the first time in his life, Sean wanted to fight back. Sure, they were both a good fifty pounds heavier than he was and more muscular, but he felt strong and muscular. As he wound up to push his assailant away, the other one struck him on the bridge of his nose. As he fell to the ground, Sean watched Hung, a Chinese cook from his restaurant, as he grabbed both of his assailants and pushed them away. Hung was not very tall, but he was as wide as a door and as strong as an ox.

  Hung would always affectionately tease Sean whenever he caught him posing in front of the mirror in the men’s restroom. Sean’s two goons mouthed obscenities as they walked away. Hung helped Sean to his feet and reassured him everything was going to be all right. Hung opened the palm of his hand and showed Sean a small sandwich bag containing pills. Sean had never tried experimental drugs in his life. Sure he had taken antibiotics whenever he had been ill and pain killers when he had pinched a nerve in his neck, but never street drugs. What Hung was offering him would change his life. As to whether it would make him or break him, Sean was unsure.

  “The pills will make you huge and strong,” Hung stated convincingly. “These pills were imported from China, and were created long ago from the time of the Ming Dynasty. These pills were given to warriors to promote their strength, endurance and ferocity.”

  “No way! Are there side-effects?” Sean asked.

  “The effects are short-lived, but one cannot stay on them for long period of time without there being possible and terrible side effects,” Hung said.

  “They sound very tempting, but I don’t know if I want to take steroids or drugs to get muscular.”

  “They are not steroids, rather organic substances occurring in nature. You will not have the typical side effects a steroid user has, like acne, shrunken testicles, hair loss, increased sex drive, etc.”

  “So, I will be able to get massive in a hurry and not have to worry about any side-effects?” asked Sean.

  “Yes, only stay on them for short durations. Typically, one takes the pills for two weeks and holds the physical growth for three to four weeks. If you use them for two weeks, you’ll become massive, intimidate everyone in sight and never have to take them again. Just keep training with weights as you have been.”

  Basically, what Hung was offering Sean was a band aid solution. When asked if Hung had given the pills to any other Torontonians, Hung shook his head. He said no Caucasian man had ever taken the pills, and he was only offering them this one time to Sean because he was a good kid and did not deserve to be picked on. Sean decided he would continue to work out hard with the weights and take his supplements. If there were no great gains by the middle of August, Sean told Hung he might consider taking the pills.

  Come the middle of August and there were no incredible gains. Supplements and all, Sean had only gained a pound and a half and a generous weigh-in placed him around one-fifty-three. Sean pondered and struggled at the notion of taking Hung’s pills. It was almost exactly two weeks before school started when Sean decided, what the heck? In an effort to look tougher, he had been wearing his hair longer in the back and grew a feeble looking goatee, which resembled hairs on a raspberry. He had also switched from glasses to contacts. Sean was even going to go so far as to purchase some hip clothing. Hopefully, the pills would complement the new Sean. He would go to school and no longer have to put up with the traditional shit geeks were forced to take. He was going to take a stand and change things. He was going to be the big man on campus.

  Sean took the pills from Hung and was instructed to take them prior to retiring for the evening. Hung warned Sean the pills were a one-time thing and not to come back looking for more. Sean assured Hung that it was a one-time thing and he would not rely on pills to make his life better. Sean took the pills before going to bed as Hung had instructed and slept one of the longest sleeps of his life and upon awaking, felt incredible.

  His body felt different. The skin covering his muscles felt tighter. He
felt like pork which had just been squeezed into a sausage casing. His muscles felt hard as steel. He almost tripped climbing out of bed to get to the mirror. Sean almost wet himself when he saw his reflection in the mirror. He was muscular! He looked the way he should look after lifting all those weights. He was huge. His muscles did not look airy or watery as did many body builders’ muscles from steroid use.

  Instead he was firm and hard and ripped. He could see his veins protruding beneath his skin. Talk about impact! The pills worked. Sean couldn’t help but run to the washroom after he was able to pull himself away from the mirror. He had to get an official weigh in. Sean pushed in the button on the scale and waited for the scale to beep before he hopped on. Sean collected in a deep breath as he waited for the red digits to flash. There was a beep and there it was. One hundred and sixty-four pounds. Sean had gained eleven pounds overnight.

  He went into work that afternoon and kissed Hung on the cheek. Hung was happy for Sean, but reiterated his warning that after the two weeks, there would be no more pill popping. Sean agreed and kissed him again.

  It was a new school year and like all first days, teens sat in their home rooms collecting their thoughts about any doubts that summer was over and a new school year was beginning. Mr. Jones, the homeroom English teacher managed to get into the class, just as the students were rising for the National Anthem. Once the Anthem was over, the grade twelve students took their seats and Jones read the names aloud from the attendance sheet.

  As he read Sean’s name there were giggles amongst the students in the classroom. They all stared around as there was no sign of Sean. One of the male students yelled out “geek.” At that moment, the new and refined Sean strolled into class. It was the first time in his life he had ever been late. There was surprise on the faces of his classmates. It couldn’t be Sean Pender, their nerdy looking Sean Pender. It couldn’t be! The kid standing before them wasn’t a kid. He was a monster.

  Sean had taken his June 5’11” and 150 lb. frame, and turned it into a 5’11”, 195 lb. ripped, muscular frame. His biceps and Pecs bulged through the muscle shirt he was wearing. His short hair on the top of his head, and crop of long dark hair on his shoulders accented his thick neck and wide shoulders. Jones took a double take and swallowed as he asked Sean to confirm if in fact it was really he. As Sean took his seat, he offered a look of contempt at the student who yelled out “geek.” The student squirmed and slouched down in his seat. After class, Jones asked Sean if he would be attending the debating team meeting after school. Sean told him he would no longer be a debating team member as he was going out for the football team instead.

  The jocks and the goons were floored by the new Sean in gym class. The first day in class they played touch football. For Sean, it was sweet retribution! He discounted the touch rules and played tackle with some of the guys who had been giving him a hard time. After being reamed out for his antics by the teacher, he was told he should show up for football practice after school. Sean did. He went out for an outside linebacker position. He lined up directly across from the two goons who pushed him around that summer. Sean nearly took one guys head off. By the time the practice was over, one of them had to go to emergency with a fractured arm and cracked ribs, while others were just plain shitting bricks. Sean was hitting to hurt. He was on a mission. The defensive coach had never seen such intensity. He couldn’t figure out where Sean had come from so suddenly. In the days that followed, Sean grew more powerful and was a one-man wrecking crew at the practices.

  The team had their first exhibition game and Sean recorded twelve quarterback sacks and fourteen tackles. His school blew out the other school, and there was some controversy following the game. Even though the game was only exhibition, the head coach from the other team held the game under protest. He threatened to inform officials there was steroid use. In the following days, Sean was forced to take four different drug tests. All proved negative. His own coaches were even floored. He was also nearing the double century weight mark.

  Amazing what muscles can do for a guy’s self-esteem. Even more so, it was amazing the respect Sean was receiving from his peers. Those who used to pick on him were terrified of rubbing him the wrong way. Sean’s reign of intimidation further intensified when he hoisted a heckler two feet off the ground and slammed him into the locker. This had been the same jerk who had given him those terrible “wedgies” in the change room. Sean had served notice and people were listening.

  Sean also had girls interested in him. His father was actually quite pleased that he was bringing girls around the house. His sister was even talking to him.

  Sean’s parents were originally frightened when they saw how fast he had grown. They queried him about taking steroids and when he kept denying it, they had him see their new family doctor who found no sign of drugs in his system. The doctor had been impressed as well as intrigued with Sean’s muscle mass and very low percentage of body fat. The doctor described Sean’s growth as a combination of physical growth spurts, accompanied by intense weight training. The explanation was good enough for his parents, even though they did not like the way their son was beginning to resemble an ape. He had become the Charles Atlas of comic books. He became the guy who didn’t have to have sand kicked in his face.

  One Saturday morning Sean awoke feeling frightened and concerned. He ran to the mirror stared at his reflection and then scurried into the bathroom for a weigh in. His fears were reality. He had lost seven pounds during his sleep and he could feel his strength slipping away. He spent the better part of the morning alternating between trips to the mirror and the scale. He consumed large amounts of water to regain the weight. It was not working. Each time he looked into the mirror, he saw himself getting smaller. When he asked his sister if he looked any different, she told him that his head was getting bigger.

  Around noon time, Sean journeyed to the restaurant to pay his friend Hung a visit. Hung knew why Sean had come to see him and told Sean he could not give him any more pills. He warned Sean of the side effects but Sean would not listen. Sean was so incensed that Hung wouldn’t listen, he almost struck him. Hung told Sean to leave and never to come back. Sean left the restaurant with a new plan. He knew where Hung lived. He went to Hung’s apartment and broke in. Hung lived alone in the one bedroom apartment. After about an hour long search, Sean found the pills.

  They were in a smoked, green, large glass jar on the top shelf of a small wooden cabinet. Sean took a large handful of them and shoved them into his pocket. He left the apartment and went home. He consumed a double dose and had a nap. When he awoke, he was big again.

  In the weeks which followed, Sean’s muscle mass increased as did his temper. He was next to impossible to live with. His father repeatedly threatened to take away privileges if he did not change his attitude. At one point, Sean challenged his father to a fight. Sean’s mother yelled at him and told him to get the hell out of their house. He was not to come back until he wised up. Sean returned home late that night and apologized. He said it would not happen again and gave his parents a lame excuse about being under so much pressure to do well in school. His mother hugged him and reassured him it was a phase he was going through and things would get better. His father gave him a reassuring pat on the back and accepted his apology.

  Sean’s presence on the football team was incredible. They had a perfect record for the season and he was voted the league’s most valuable player. He was considering joining the wrestling team. It was just a few days after his new sport endeavors when he again woke up feeling small. Angrily, Sean swallowed a double dosage of pills and did so repeatedly for the next two weeks. By the end of the two weeks he was enormous. He weighed in at two hundred and sixty-three pounds. His skin was beginning to turn a sickly blue color. Sean also felt intense chest and lower back pains. One night, he woke up in the middle of the night moaning and gasping for air. His muscles felt like they were trying to come through
his skin. Worried about how his body was changing, he decided that he had better pay Hung another visit. Sean was very disappointed when he arrived at the restaurant to find out that Hung had quit. The manager said that Hung had left Canada to go back to China. Skeptical, Sean went to Hung’s apartment and got the same answer from the superintendent. After returning home, he had to lie down because the pain was getting so intense. His muscles felt like they were going to explode. His face was also turning a dark shade of blue.

  Sean crawled out of bed around dinner time. He had planned on eating a light meal, followed by a Saturday night workout. After weighing himself, he went back to bed and wept. The scale indicated that he was still growing. His body was becoming loaded with stretch marks from head to toe. He began wearing turtlenecks, and taking zinc tablets to try and remedy the stretch marks. Sean even began applying vitamin E gel capsules on the stretch marks. They weren’t getting any better.

  Sean slept right through until noon on Sunday morning. He was barely able to pull himself out of his bed. His body gave new meaning to the term muscle-bound. At first Sean thought that he had trained so hard the night before. Wrong! He realized he had been asleep since last afternoon. He wondered if his parents had even bothered checking in on him. Lately they had been avoiding their son, the monster.

  Sean pulled himself into the washroom and urinated. While standing over the toilet, he felt and heard a soft tearing sound a little like paper towel just been separated from its roll. Sean rolled up his t-shirt sleeve and winced in horror. The head of his right deltoid was so pronounced that he could see it through the transparency of his skin. He felt a similar feeling in his other shoulder and pectorals. After examining the muscles, he wanted to vomit. He dared not vomit as he was concerned that more of his muscles would pop out.