Chapter 7
“Well, there you go, that’s my story. Last night, I met Mr. Victor at the address he gave me and we started training. I have to admit, I suck pretty bad but I’m learning…slowly. The stuff is pretty sweet, and I can’t deny it was fun being able to do all the things Mr. Victor taught me to do. But, honestly, I’m still scared. I don’t know the first thing about war, about fighting…let alone fighting all the things that go bump in the night. But Mr. Victor says I have a responsibility to try, and I guess I agree with him.
“Sorry to bore you with all this, Mr. Peterson. But it just feels good to talk to someone about it. Mr. Victor would kill me if he knew I told you all this, honestly. I think talking about the M.U.R. and M.U.R.S.E.s with civilians is against M.U.R. law. Guess I’m screwed then, huh?” Colby Jack asked.
He looked up from the dialysis machine he had been monitoring for the last couple hours, to the patient whose blood it was filtering. Earl Peterson was fast asleep.
Colby chuckled to himself. He had really put the old guy to sleep. The male nurse had been so caught up in telling his story that he hadn’t even noticed Mr. Peterson had fallen asleep. Colby had wondered why the old rascal had stopped his incessant interrupting and insults. Well, his snores explained it. Probably for the best.
Colby shouldn’t have told the old guy everything he had, hopefully he wouldn’t remember any of it. Dementia was setting in, so Mr. Peterson could hardly remember his name or where he was, let alone the two-hour long story Colby had just told him.
Looking at the sleeping elderly man, Colby sighed. Poor guy, what a rough hand to be dealt. Diabetes, dementia, and kidney failure. A full house…of crap. Mr. Peterson had time to sleep, his dialysis treatment wasn’t finished yet anyways. Leaning back, Colby thought some more about what the past 24 hours had entailed.
Mr. Victor had told Colby about more creatures on both sides of the war. The Evilness had more than just Vampires, Werewolves, Dragonfolk, Skinwalkers, and Laestrygonians, as well as their zombie mistakes, in their pocket. They had freaking Demons, Trolls, Swamp Beasts, reptile-humanoids called Reptillians, and Chupacabras. Yeah, the evil little bloodsucking goats were real, except they were a lot bigger than people thought…and much more human-like.
The M.U.R. themselves had more than just Sorcerers, Wizards, M.U.R.S.E.s, Sasquatches, and the army of human M.U.R.S.E. successors. In addition to those, they had Elves, Mimes (which were like the good version of shapeshifters, according to Mr. Victor), Dwarves, and believe it or not, Gorillas. That’s right, according to Mr. Victor, Gorillas were much the same as Sasquatches, foot soldiers fighting against the Evilness, deep in the jungles around the world instead of in the forests like Sasquatches do. Colby had had many questions about that, but Mr. Victor had put that off for a later date, instead focusing on training.
What he had said was that the Evilness wasn’t a cohesive unit. They didn’t fight the war together as a whole, one group hardly ever joining forces with another. From time to time they would, but each species was out for numero uno. But they all shared a hatred for the M.U.R., and took joy in killing its members, especially its precious M.U.R.S.E.s.
Mr. Victor had also told Colby that both sides had dealt with defectors. Sometimes a creature from the Evilness would help out the M.U.R., but they were never allowed to join. It was another one of the M.U.R. code of laws. No creature of the Evilness would ever be allowed to join the M.U.R. and if any member of M.U.R. was proved to be associating themselves with a creature of the Evilness, they would be put to death.
Pretty hardcore if you asked Cody, but he was new to the team and wasn’t going to point fingers. Mr. Victor said the Sorcerers and Wizards on the council were pretty old school and stuck in the ancient ways. That explained why they wanted to put everyone to death for pretty much anything.
Since the Evilness didn’t act as a cohesive unit, defectors from M.U.R. were welcomed with open claws. There had been defectors and traitors from every branch of the M.U.R. through the years. Except for the M.U.R.S.E.s. Mr. Victor was very proud of that. Something else Colby hoped Mr. Victor was proud of was Colby Jack, the newest M.U.R.S.E. himself.
Colby knew he had a ton of work to do, but he would get there. He didn’t really have a choice. Even if he didn’t want to accept the responsibility of being a M.U.R.S.E., Steven Ryans’ power and magic had chosen him as its successor. So, whether he liked it or not, the Evilness was going to be coming for him and if he wasn’t ready to fight, he was going to die. That, more than anything, scared the crap out of the young male nurse. Hopefully he wouldn’t face any baddies from the other side any time soon.
As the dialysis machine finished its treatment, Colby got to his feet and begin preparing to power everything down and get Mr. Peterson unhooked. Charting notes and focusing on decreasing settings on the machine, Colby barely noticed when his slumbering patient sat straight up. He did, however, notice when the door to the dialysis room locked all on its own, trapping Colby in the room. He didn’t like where this was going.
Turning around, he saw Mr. Peterson standing far too tall for the hunched, feeble elderly man he’d hooked up to the machine. And looking at the man’s face, Colby noticed his smile was far too wide…and fangy.
“Hey, uh, Mr. Peterson…you alright?” Colby asked.
He knew the thing smiling at him wasn’t Mr. Peterson, it couldn’t be. But what was it? It bent its neck at an inhuman angle and then opening its mouth, exposed rows of snaggled sharp teeth as it let out an ear piercing laugh.
“Mr. Peterson is dead you fool! The old M.U.R.S.E. that trained you didn’t tell you much about Skinwalkers, did he?” The beast squealed with delight.
Crap, Colby thought. He wasn’t ready for this. First off, he had just found all this stuff out yesterday, and had had only one training session with Mr. Victor. Second, he had forgotten his darn invisibility hooded shirt. Thank goodness his battle gear watch was attached to his arm or he would have probably forgotten that as well. If he survived this, Mr. Victor was going to kill him.
Speaking of which, if he did want to survive this, he was going to have to stay calm. So, instead of being cocky, or making a move that would cause the evil bastard to strike, Colby just stayed still and silent. The monster continued.
“I ate him, hero. That is how I take a form, by ingesting my host. Mr. Peterson was quite easy to eat. Very frail and small…but full of disease. Not very tasty. You on the other hand will be a challenge to fit in my mouth, but a much healthier and tastier meal. M.U.R.S.E. is my favorite meat you know, a delicacy. Then, after I am done enjoying your flesh, I will not only celebrate having destroyed your M.U.R.S.E. power and magic, but I will disguise myself as you.
“Then I will kill the old M.U.R.S.E. Alan Victor. After that, I will enjoy killing everyone who recognizes you…everyone you care for…everyone you love. Oh, how much fun this is going to be!”
Clapping his hands together, the skinwalker threw his head back and released a demonic squeal as his jaw came unhinged and his mouth opened much larger than should have been possible. Then he charged Colby.
Pressing the red button on the watch, Colby let the surge of energy through his body rev him up for the fight that was seconds away. He may die, but he wasn’t going down without a fight. Colby wasn’t too proud to admit to himself that he was scared crapless, but he wasn’t going to let this evil son of a bitch win. No way he was going to let this shapeshifting punk use his skin to murder Mr. Victor or his family and friends. Or his sweet Regina.
Focusing his magic into his right metallic fist as Mr. Victor had taught him to do, Colby watched as purple light and energy built around his knuckles, sparks crackling and popping. Pulling the FireSword free of its sheath, Colby let loose a roar and charged towards the oncoming monster.
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br /> About the Author
Christopher Lee Cousino is the author of two novels and numerous short stories, including the HOMELESS superhero series and the WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD short story series. He is hard at work at releasing many more novels and short stories, so stay tuned.
By day, Christopher is a Licensed Practical Nurse at a group home for special needs adults. But by night, after his family is fast asleep, he morphs into Super Writer, with the ability to lose sleep and create works of fiction for your enjoyment. Christopher lives in Hudsonville, Michigan with his beautiful wife, 3 awesome kids, 2 free-loading cats, and his brave and loyal chocolate lab.
Check out his website, where he posts a FREE short story Sunday through Saturday. That’s right, a FREE short story every single day! Happy Reading
www.christopherleecousino.com
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