Metamorphosis: Chapter 79

Chapter 79: Trite

Minutes before the attack...

“Okay, I’ll raise you guys… three cigarettes and a bag of M&M’s.” Kairi pushed her wager into the pile around which the four of us sat.

“Interesting,” said Shane as he looked at his cards. “You know my weaknesses too well.” He gave her his stink eye, then put in a whole pack of Marlboro cigarettes.

I whispered to Kris, “Are aces good? ‘Cause I have, like, three of them.”

She gave me a look with her big, brown eyes. “Uh, yeah! God, how haven’t you played poker before?” Her snobbish attitude always gave me a spark of excitement for some weird reason.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that!” I protested and placed her finger on her chin. “When you gotta run from foster homes and the state, it’s kinda hard to sit down and play a card game.”

She sighed. “Fair enough.” She pushed in a few dollar bills and a few cigarettes of her own.

Our substitute didn’t really give any shits. He just sat there, leaning back in his chair playing a game on his phone. There was an assignment given out, but a chance to get some Earthly culture in? How could I miss this opportunity? I then traded some of my aces into the dealers hand, which was Harley in this case.  

“Read ‘em and weep, fuckers!” Kairi put down her hand.

“Goddammit,” Shane huffed. “A flush.”

Kris looked over at my hand as I watched the two bicker. “Jess, put your hand down!” she said. “You have a royal flush!”

“I do?” I was flabbergasted. “That’s good?”

“Yes! It beats Ms. Cocky over here.” She smirked in the other girl’s direction.

I exposed my cards.

“Winner, winner chicken dinner!” Shane yelled in victory, probably happy to see Kairi lose for once.

“This is war.” The sore loser snagged one of my winning cigarettes, knowing I wouldn’t hit or grab it away from her, and grabbed the hallway pass from the teacher’s desk.

“Alright, let’s get down to business while she’s gone.” Harley got up and handed the cards to Shane. “I’m gonna beat your pale asses.”

The crowded room’s noise--which consisted of our poker game and conversations about pot, sex, and rap music--was cut off by a deafening shriek. It almost sounded like someone was being murdered. The shriek belonged to Kairi. Shane rushed out of his seat first, and the rest of us followed. As he grabbed the knob to the door, he was pushed back into the wall by a guy in black. And I should probably add that this guy, along with the five others that followed, were all carrying guns and wearing shades. Ah, my people. I was actually in the mood to fight, for once.

I grabbed Kris’s hand and pulled her back to the circular table. I pushed it up, and the cards flew everywhere. I caught a glimpse of what was happening before Kris and I settled behind the table for cover: the substitute tried to fight; “badly” didn’t even begin to describe how awful it was. Everyone was frantic, screaming as if a fire was blazing right there in the middle of the classroom. Some ran to the corners while others tried fighting the men in black off, which wasn’t the best idea since these guys were probably trained to be the best fighters and gun bearers.

Oddly enough--well, not really odd since these guys were tearing the place to shreds--Kris was freaking out. I hadn’t seen her do that before. She was practically in the fetal position, crying actual tears, and I watched her makeup drip down her pale face. I held her close, kissing her forehead.

I murmured to her, “Kris.” I tried not to choke up. “Th-those guys...they’re here for me.”

Her eyes were so big and full of shock I thought they were going to fall out of her head. “What.” It didn’t even sound like a question. Her voice just sounded scratchy and hoarse.

“I...I couldn’t tell you the truth. They’d come for you ‘nd everyone else,”

“What truth? What in god’s name could you possibly hide from me?” She stood up, more tears sliding down her face.

I looked up at her. I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I mean, now was a perfect time to tell her something. But nothing. I could only stutter and think lower of myself, seeing her give me horrible, hateful looks. I touched her hands, then pulled myself up from the floor. As I wrapped my arms around her, I also couldn’t face the reality that this was probably the last time I would ever hug her. As much as I didn’t want to sound like a sappy prick, I was.

I held her extremely close, my forehead pressed up against hers. “Magic...magic is real,” I said. “Everything you think you know is a lie. You know those fairytales your mom used to read to you? They’re all real.”

She was speechless. “Wh-what?”

“And...” I planted a rough kiss to her lips, trying to forget that the guys in black were about two feet away from us. “...this isn’t the real Earth.”

I then kicked the table down, knocking three guys back and onto the floor. I grabbed one of their guns, pistol whipping one of them in the face. One of the agents, though, was a pretty good fighter, I’ll admit it just this one time. He got me, that’s for sure. He gave me a good suckerpunch to the face, then to my chest. I stepped back, trying to absorb the fact that he got me. Me. I was the best fighter I knew.

Trying my best not to sound too cheesy, but it was payback time.


I was able to get out of there after a few moments of kicking and punching. Let’s just say that agent wasn’t going to be walking out the classroom anytime soon. Kris and I got everyone out of the classroom and outside. As I went back in to find the others, Kris literally kicked my ass.

“Don’t expect me to forgive you so easily when this is all over.”

“I know,” I sighed.

“You gotta go, don’t you?” she gave me big, sad eyes.

I nodded. “It’s the only way you all will be safe,”

She cleared her throat. “Wh-what are you guys? Besides orphans? Are you even orphans?”

“It’s...it’s a long story.” I scratched my head. “I’ll tell you everything when we come back.”

“You’ll come back?”

“Yeah, of course!” I couldn’t bring myself to give her another goodbye hug or kiss or anything like that. I just bolted back inside, up the stairs to find anyone. I wanted to forget for a while. I was going to be lectured when I saw her again. I mean, I knew I was going to see her again. I was going to make sure of that. I really am a sappy prick, aren’t I?

I checked all of the classroom windows. Most of them were still being checked by the agents. I hid by some lockers until the coast was clear. I kept searching, until coming across Helia’s classroom. He managed to get in a few punches before going down on the ground. But, to my surprise, he got back up and snapped back at the dude in black. Helia threw back punches. It was hard to believe, in all honesty. Growing up with him, he was always a pacifist. Not so much any more.

Helia was able to get out of there before I went in to give him a hand. “Did you see that?! I gave him a bloody nose!” It seemed like he had an adrenalin high.

I blinked a few times, still trying to process what just happened. “Sometimes, you scare the shit out of me.”