A whole weekend had passed since his visit to his old childhood home, and Monday was rearing its ugly head. For once, however, Chris didn’t really mind going to school. It was something to take his mind off of those painful memories that lingered on after he came back from his trip to his Uncle Joey. It wasn’t the pain and abuse that he remembered though. It was the memory of his parents that tore at his heart.

Chris made his way across the room, being careful to step around the piles of dirty clothes and trash towards the living room. He paused briefly in the bathroom to use the toilet and wash his face. While he brushed his teeth, he examined himself. Since he had been expecting another nightmare, he had slept without a shirt, so he was able to see his whole torso. Black and blue bruises marked where his Uncle had struck him in various places. These were all in places where it could be hidden under a shirt, though. Even in a drunken stupor, his Uncle managed to avoid leaving any mark anywhere that was obvious. The only problem had been the swelling on his face, but after two days of rest and applying ointments it vanished without a trace.

Silently Chris went and made poured himself a bowl of cereal without the benefit of milk. He ran out of it some time back, but since his budget was so tight he just couldn’t buy any more. So now he was reduced to eating plain, stale cereal with only a glass of tap water to wash it down with.

After he finished breakfast, Chris grabbed his backpack out of his room and headed off to school. There was fog that morning, drowning the world around him in a veil of grey. The skies were completely filled up with dark clouds, blocking the sun from shining. Judging from the biting cold that Chris felt through his flimsy jacket, it was near time for the snowy season.

As Chris neared the school, he didn’t notice Mark calling him until he touched Chris’s shoulder.

“Huh?” Chris turned to face Mark.

“I called you three times already, Crissy.” Mark said.

“Oh. Sorry.” Chris replied in a low voice. With some effort he forced out a small smile.

“Where’ve you been?” Mark asked as he walked with Chris into school. “We’ve missed ya on Friday.”

“I caught the flu.” Chris lied. “I was sick in bed the whole time, so I’m sorry I couldn’t hang out with you guys like I promised.”

“Hey, it’s okay man.” Mark assured him. “I get sick for weeks myself, so I completely under-” Mark suddenly broke off coughing. Chris was about to pat him on the back but Mark quickly recovered. “See? I’m even sick right now.”

“Thanks Mark.” Chris’s smile was more genuine this time. “Anyways, I better get to class now. Later.” And he and Mark separated.

Chris stopped briefly at his locker to exchange his books. As he was putting his history book into bag, he noticed the crowd becoming distinctively noisier. To see what was causing it, Chris turned and looked around until his eyes fell on…him.

He was the most handsome guy Chris had ever seen. He stood a little higher then average, around 6’3” tall. His skin was a very rich tan color, but not too dark. He wore a tight black t-shirt that hugged every curve of his body, and what a body it was! He wasn’t as big as Lucas, and of course nothing compared to Kou, but he looked as if he had been lifting weight every day for years. His chest the stuck out of his body, with the valley between those twin pecs plainly visible. The sleeves cut off right above the biceps, allowing Chris to view those nicely shaped 18 inch guns in their bare glory.

Chris tore his eyes of that body to look at the face. Oh my god, he was gorgeous! His face had no scars, no pock mark, not a zit anywhere. He had hazelnut eyes that seemed to hypnotize you on the spot. When he flashed a smile at someone passing by, he revealed perfectly pearl white straight teeth. To top it all, his sandy blonde hair flowed down naturally into the most appealing style possible. He was, well, perfect!

All of the girls in the hallway noticed this as well as they gave this newcomer hungry looks as they passed by, trying their best to keep themselves from swooning. Every guy was automatically green with envy, but as this Adonis walked by they couldn’t help but look in awe at him.

As the handsome guy got closer to Chris, Chris noticed that he was starting to breath faster. Chris did his best to calm himself, but he couldn’t take his eyes of him. As the guy walked by, his eyes flickered over to Chris and their eyes met for one brief moment. Chris felt his whole body stiffen up, including a certain organ down in his pants. For that one brief second, Chris wanted to run up to the hunk and plant a big one on those full lips.

It only lasted for a second however. The guy had already broken eye contact and moved on, indifferent to Chris. Chris could only watch the guy’s back while he left Chris behind in stunned silence. Chris’s brain had virtually shut down completely until the bell rang for the start of class. Snapping out of it, Chris grabbed his books and hurried towards English.

Kou waited anxiously in his seat. Class was almost starting, and Chris still wasn’t here yet. No matter what he did, he couldn’t take his mind off of him. Kou had thought about calling him, but then Kou remembered he didn’t know Chris’s phone number. He then thought about visiting his house, but Kou didn’t know Chris’s address either. Now that Kou thought about it, he didn’t know anything about Chris’s home life because Chris always hung out at Kou’s place.

Kou’s sensitive nose suddenly caught a familiar scent. Turning his head, he watched as Chris walked through the door. Kou felt his heart lifted. Chris was alright! Kou was prepared to call out to him, but then he stopped himself. Painfully he turned his attention back towards the front of the class. He glanced over briefly when Chris sat down in his seat again, however. There was something about Chris that seemed…different somehow

As English class carried on and Mr. Benson explained the depth of some poem, Kou kept making frequent glances towards Chris. Something about Chris was odd, but Kou couldn’t put his finger on it. Chris looked pretty much the same, but there was still something different. Since his sight couldn’t discern it, he turned to his other senses. Concentrating deeply, he listened to Chris. Chris’s breathing was just noticeably irregular, and his heartbeat was slightly off. It wasn’t enough for that mind to put a fix on what was with Chris though. So, in his last effort he turned to his nose and took a deep whiff of the air. A mingle of smells enter his nostrils from all of the other students, but since Chris was closest, he was able to smell him clearly. Kou was somewhat taken aback when he smelled pain from Chris, but there was something else to it that he didn’t expected to find. Was that…lust he smelled?

The period decided to end at that exact moment. Everyone was suddenly moving and leaving, the sudden chaos cutting Kou’s investigation of Chris short. Quickly Kou gathered up his things and caught up with Chris before he left. “Uh, Chris.” He said rather hesitantly.

Chris turned around and looked up into Kou’s face. Kou almost flinched back when he saw those usually warm, friendly brown eyes turn hard and cold.

“Yes?” Chris asked, a slight edge in his voice, almost like it was cutting Kou like a razor sharp knife.

Kou began to fluster. He didn’t really think about what he was going to say beforehand. “I, uh, wanted to know if you were alright, y’know?”

Chris’s body stiffened up. “What do you care?” He said coldly.

Ouch. He probably had that coming.

“I just…wanted to know.” Kou said, obviously hurt.

“Well it’s none of your business so back off!” Chris snapped. “Now will you move please? You’re blocking the door and I don’t want to be late of class.” He threw Kou’s words back into his face. Without waiting for Kou to move Chris squeezed past him and walked out of the door.

* * *

Chris looked at himself in the dingy mirror in the dimly lit school boy’s bathroom, his face dripping wet and the facet was on, the water swirling down the drain. What was wrong with him? He shouldn’t have snapped at Kou like that. Kou had actually acted like he cared for the first time in two weeks, and he just blew him off! Sure, Kou had been a jerk, but he didn’t deserve to be treated like that. Kou was just a bit sensitive after all, and certainly had worse problems then Chris could ever have. Now things have probably gone too far to be fixed now.

Chris placed a hand over his eyes and shook his head. “What am I gonna do?” He groaned.

“Turn the facet off.” A rich voice suggested behind Chris, causing him to jump in surprise. “You’re wasting water.”

Chris whirled around and pressed himself against the sink. Of all the luck in the world, the person who had just come out of the stall was HIM! The hot stud that Chris had seen that very morning!

“Hey.” The guy flashed a perfect smile.

“Y-yeah!” Chris said in a high pitched voice.

The guy laughed. Oh God, even his laugh sounded sexy! “Is everyone in this school this jumpy? You’re the fifth person to act like I’m some sort of star.”

“Maybe because you’re so handsome!” Chris blurted out. Oh crap tell me I didn’t just say that!

The guy laughed again. “Thanks for the compliment.” He said. “My name’s Damien by the way.”

Even his name was awesome! “Miss. I mean Piss! I mean, ah,” Chris struggled. For some reason he just couldn’t remember his name. “Hiss! No, ah, Diss! Kiss!” Dear GOD WHAT DID I JUST SAY!

“Chris?” Damien suggested.

“Yes! Chris!” He said enthusiastically. Then his face grew very hot and red.

“Hahaha, you’re a fun guy to be around.” Darien said. The bell suddenly rang out, signaling the start of the next period. “Well, I’ll see you around then Chris.”

Chris gazed with a look of longing at Damien’s back as he left. When the restroom door swung shut though, Chris shook his head. How could he have acted so stupid? Frustrated, he gave a half-assed kick at the wall and left. But not before he shut off the water facet of course.

* * *

“Where’s everyone?” Chris asked as he set his lunch tray down across from Paige.

“Hunter and Lucas got called in for duty.” Paige answered, poking at one of the sodden mess on her plate.

“Duty?” Chris sat down.

“What, you didn’t think we do our job for fun, do you?” Paige smiled faintly. “We live here and take care of the area, but sometimes we’re called by our higher ups for some errands. You can think of it as jury duty.”

“Higher ups? You mean like your boss?”

“You can say that.” Paige said. “But if you ask any more questions about it, I’m afraid we’d have to kill you.”

“Wha wha what?” Chris reeled back in his seat.

Paige laughed. “I’m only half-joking.”

Does that mean she was half serious? Chris thought. “What about Mark? He’s here for sure. I just saw him this morning.”

“He went home sick.” Paige said as she brought a spoonful of sloop to her face, grimaced, and then swallowed it. “Earlier his coughing got a lot worse, and his runny nose turned into a nose bleed. After a quick check by the nurse his parents came and took him home.”

“Is he alright?” Chris asked, worried.

“Oh he’s peachy.” Paige sighed. “Don’t worry about him. This always happens around this time of year.”

“Are you sure? I mean, I heard he gets stuck back into the hospital for months at a time whenever he has some sort of attack or something.”

“I’m pretty sure he’ll live through this one.” Paige assured Chris. “Anyways, what did you say to Kou? He looked like a wreck when I saw him in the hallways.”

Chris flinched. Shit, he fucked up Kou alright. “Nothing.” Chris lied in a small voice.

“Really…” Paige looked at Chris suspiciously.

Chris sunk his gaze into his food. “R-really. It’s nothing.”

* * *

Kou looked at the pages of the book he held in his hand. The yellowed pages were illuminated by the light of his bedside lamp. Kou’s own massive form lay casually on his steel framed bed. Yet even as he lied there, with book in hand, he could not read the words printed clearly on the page. His mind was too occupied. What Chris said after English class really stung him. During PE Chris avoided making any eye contact with Kou as well, and stayed too far away for Kou to even use his keen senses to see how he was feeling.

Though, now Kou had a chance to look back, he probably deserved that kind of treatment. He had been trying to alienate Chris from him, and in return Chris did the same thing to Kou. Pretty soon he and Chris would drift farther and farther apart until they were nothing more then classmates. In a way, Kou was getting exactly what he had started two weeks before.

“It still doesn’t stop it from hurting though.” Kou closed his eyes. After a moment he felt awkward and shifted his weight. The bed gave a loud creak of protest, then it suddenly broke apart, collapsing under Kou with a loud CRACK!

Kou sat there in the remains of his bed, stunned. It wasn’t as if it had hurt him, but that had been a bed was made out of steel! Closely, Kou inspected the pieces of the bed frame. The beams themselves didn’t break, only just snapped off at the welding. Now that Kou had a better look at it, the bed hadn’t been put together all that well, so it kind of made sense that it did break. However, it still shook Kou to the core. Even if it was badly made, it still didn’t hide the fact that he had just broken a steel bed frame.

Kou quickly looked towards the mirror, trying to se if he was visibly different then before. Kou quickly scanned his body. He couldn’t see anything wrong at first. All of his muscles were still big and bulging, just like always. His pecs jutted outwards like two missile warheads. His thick neck was threatening to rip the collar of his shirt. His huge arms completely filled the sleeves of his shirt, those mighty peaks swollen with raw strength and power. His abs were so cut and defined that you could see it through the material.

Kou looked himself over and over again. Everything seemed to be the same. He towered higher then the seniors at school, veins streaked across his engorged muscles, his clothes were almost skin tight-

Wait, skin tight? But he had just started wearing new clothes a little over two weeks ago! Yet lo and behold, his clothes were starting to hug his every curve and crevice. How could he have grown so fast? How much longer until he was so freakishly huge that he could never be seen in public again? Will he able to control the strength that came with his increasing size? Of all the questions that flashed through Kou’s mind however, there was one that truly chilled him to the bone.

How much longer can he hold the monster inside of him back before he killed the people he cared about? •