Chapter 4: Afraid

“H-Hello,” I said to the woman, but she did not respond. She only continued to look at me with the same facial expression. When I got up, she took a step back. Her eyes moved up and down as she looked at me. Similar to what Mother did somet-...Mother. I turned around to see if she had woken up, but nothing. “Uhhh…” The woman spoke, “What happened here?” She asked. “My mother, she’s asleep, but won’t wake up,” I responded, “And I don’t know why. D-Do you know?” I asked the woman. She cautiously walked closer to me and Mother and knelt to look at Mother. First, the woman looked at the mark on Mother’s stomach, then put two fingers on top of her neck. The woman got back and looked at me, her face sad. “Umm, I don’t know how to tell you this,” She started, “But…your mother is dead.” I stared at her confused, “Dead? What is that?” I asked. “Huh? Oh, well…that’s uh…well.” It took a while for her to respond, “Dead is another word for being asleep forever.” I looked at Mother, “I don’t understand. She will never wake up?” The woman nodded. My eyes became blurry again and my chest became tight. My mother is asleep forever? Why? WHY? What is this feeling? “Look, I’m gonna call 911, they’ll help you.” I looked up at the woman who was pulling something my mother had. A “phone” I think it’s called. I tilted my head, “911? Those are numbers.” She looked at me, “Yeah, an ambulance will come to help out. Just stay here while I call them.” She told me as she left the alley. I watched her leave and then looked back at Mother. I walked over to her and sat down beside her. She was asleep forever. I’ll never hear her again. Never see her smile again. My chest hurts. My eyes got blurry again so I rubbed them, but they just got blurry again.

The woman walked back into the alley, “So they’re on their way,” The woman said, “So if you can pick her up and I’ll wait with you, okay?” I nodded, “Okay.” So I picked up Mother and we waited for the 911 to come. No, she called it something else…an “am-bu-lance.” “You’re nice,” I told the woman as she stared at the ground. She looked up at me and gave me a small smile, “Thank you. I’ll help anyone in need.” Soon I heard a faint wailing coming from the left. It was getting closer and louder, the nice woman heard it too. A large red and white car stopped in front of us and two men came out of the back of it. The nice woman walked over to them and started talking to them, pointing in my direction. Then she walked back over to me, “They said they’ll help you and your mother,” She said, “I’ve done all I can do. I’m sorry.” I looked at her confused, “Sorry for what?” I asked. She gave me a small smile again and walked off, leaving me with the 911 men. One of the men walked over to me, “We’ll take her now, son.” He said. “Why?” I asked. “Well, we need to get her to the hospital,” He said, “Not that it would do any good. But…there still could be a chance.” I looked at Mother and handed her over to the man. Then he started to walk off. “Wait!” I shouted and he stopped, “Can I have her jacket?” I asked. “Oh. Sure, I guess.” He put her on some kind of bed, took off her jacket, and went to hand it to me, but when he did, he dropped it and stepped back. I looked at him, he looked scared. “What?” I asked. “What’s wrong with your hands?!” He asked frightened. “My hands? Oh, these are just my claws. I also have them on my feet too.” I took off my shoes to reveal my feet. He looked down as did the other man whose eyes widened when he saw them. The first man looked at the top of my head, “I thought those ears were those headband kids where. But, are those real too?!” I nodded and he ran next to his friend. “The hell is this kid?” The second man said. “He’s a freak that’s what he is!” The first man exclaimed. It took a while to realize, but people were watching us, and they all were looking at me scared and disgusted. I could feel them surrounding me, gasping and saying “Is that a monster?!” “What’s wrong with him?!”

They were surrounding me. Getting closer and closer. It felt harder and harder to breathe. My eyes were darting all over the place. I’m…I’m scared. My breathing sped up as they just got closer…AND CLOSER! “Freak!” “Monster!” “What is that?!” They all shouted. I’M SCARED! I….MOTHER HELP! PLEASE! I’M SCARED! My breathing sped up more. I didn’t know what to do….I was frozen. Closer…CLOSER! I remembered something one of the scientists told me when I was younger: “Fight!” He said, “Fight when you are scared. When you’re angry. ALL YOU KNOW IS FIGHT!” I snapped, “FIGHT!!!!!” I lunged at the 911 men and slashed one of them across the chest. He fell to the floor and I eyed the second one who tried to run away, but slashed his back and pinned him to the ground. “GRAAAAH!!!” I yelled at him. I heard people screaming and looked up to see them running away in a panic. I growled and got up, seeing which way I should run. “AWOOOOO!!!!!” I threw my head back and howled. Then I heard more wailing from these black and white cars that were coming at me. I didn’t know how to fight cars! So I ran, and the three cars followed me. I kept running, pushing people out of my way. Scared of these cars. Mother told me if I’m fighting something I’ve never seen before to always run. As I ran, I picked up a familiar scent….I was the nice lady! So I followed the scent. Climbing on the top of a building and running on the top. Hopping from building to building, getting closer to the scent. Nice Lady will help me. I know she will!