As the Clouds Break
Volume I

By: Lamon Davis

Chapter 1

Today starts a not-so-great day for me as my first day of my junior year in high school is about to begin. I put on my uniform and left the house and as I was walking I saw my friend, Gretchen, waiting for me halfway towards the school. I don’t like going to school because I always get bullied, I don’t stand out, and I didn’t have any friends until Gretchen came into the picture.

Gretchen Hirsch is one of the popular girls at Emory Branch High School and is so far the only friend I have at school. She has the looks, she has good grades, she excels at sports, and she’s the class president at a classroom two doors down from mine. I met her during my freshman year after I was attacked by bullies and unlike the other popular girls not only Gretchen helps out people in need, but she has a heart of gold and that makes her an angel...literally. 

She’s not the only one who’s an apparition. I’m an apparition too...well only a part of me of course. I was attacked by a zombie shortly after I started my freshman year. Somehow my body didn’t decay or anything, but I did develop some zombie traits like super strength and regeneration and the only person who knows about this is Gretchen.

As I walked towards Gretchen she greeted me.

“Hi, Tony. Are you excited for your first day as a junior?”

“No,” I responded nonchalantly, “I’m pretty sure this year will be like my freshman and sophomore years all over again.” 

Gretchen decided to give me a little pep talk to cheer me up and get me prepared for my junior year.

“No it won’t. I believe in you and I believe that this year will be good for you. You need to just leave the past in the past and eliminate all the negativities and eventually something good will happen.”

And just like that Gretchen’s advice always hits where it hurts and it’s no wonder people always go to her for helpful advice.

“I really hate to admit it, but you’re right. No wonder people always come to you for advice.”

“Exactly.” 

Gretchen’s advice made me feel a bit confident about starting my junior year.

“I think I’m starting to gain some confidence and I’m beginning to look forward to this year.” 

She looked at me with sheer joy.

“That’s the spirit. I gotta go to class. See you later.” 

After first period started I was jotting down some notes until someone threw a paper ball at my head. I turned around to see who it was, but everybody was writing their notes then when I turned around to write my notes another paper ball hit my head and I turned around to see who it was until the teacher scolded me. 

After first period ended I was putting my stuff in my locker and that’s when “he” came along.

The person who came up to me was Bruce Anderson, the school bully.

“Well well well. Look what we have here. It’s Phony Tony.”

“What do you want, Bruce?” 

“Oh nothing. Just stopping by to check up on an old pal. Besides, I got a little present for you.”

“Oh no, Bruce. I know what you’re going to do and it’s not going to work.”

I know that Bruce was going to hit me or pull some other prank so I was about to walk away until he grabbed my arm.

“Hey now. I’m not gonna do anything to you, honest. It’s just a friendly gift. Here I’ll show ya.”

Bruce placed his hand in his pocket and as I looked to see what it was he quickly pulled his fist out and punched me in the gut.

He and a few students laughed.

“That’s what you get for being such a guillible dumbass. I can’t believe you fell for that.”

I laid on the ground writhing in pain as I knew that the torment from my freshman and sophomore years came back to haunt me. The bullying continued all the way until school was over.

As I left my class Gretchen was waiting for me at the exit.

“So, how did it go?” 

“Terrible. I got bullied yet again.”

“Why? What happened?”

I explained everything to Gretchen about what happened at school and she gasped.

“Sorry to hear that, but don’t worry. It’s only the first day and I’m sure things will get better soon.” 

“That’s what you say, but my gut still hurts from Bruce punching me too damn hard. I should have gotten up and kicked his ass.”

“Uh uh uh. I know how you feel, but violence solves nothing. Remember the fights you’ve had in your freshman and sophomore years?”

“Yeah. What about them?” 

“You got into a few of them and you almost ended up getting suspended for them. You need to control your anger or you’ll end up getting suspended or expelled. I can’t keep bailing you out of these situations.”

After telling me that I started to calm down.

“Well yeah. You’re right.” 

“The best thing for you to do is to tell the teacher.” 

“Okay.” 

After we walked halfway home, Gretchen and I said our goodbyes as we were heading to our houses.

“Well, I gotta go. See you tomorrow, Tony.”

“See ya.” 

As I got home my friend, Lindsay, was cooking for me.

Lindsay Pennington has been my friend since childhood and has taken care of me ever since. To be honest I lost my parents in an accident and after they died Lindsay and her parents took me in until after I graduated middle school.

She lives next door from me so technically I live alone. She comes to my house constantly to check on me and to do some cooking since I suck at it. What’s really unusual is that she is slightly younger than me by several months and she’s been acting as my “guardian” for a long time.

Despite the fact that she’s my friend, Lindsay acts like a mother to me because of her overprotective nature. Since my parents are deceased she makes me and my well-being her number one priority as she is a responsible person.

I sat on the couch tired.

“Hey, Tony. How was your first day of school today?”

“Terrible.”

“Why? Did something happen?”

“Yes. I got bullied again.” 

“Really? Tell me everything.” 

As I told her everything Lindsay was shocked.

“That’s horrible. Did you tell the teacher?”

“No. I wanted to get back up and kick his ass, but his blow to my gut was so hard that I nearly threw up.”

“No, Tony. I don’t condone violence in schools. Telling the teacher is the best solution.”

“Heck, even Gretchen thought of the same thing.”

“And she’s right about that too. You should learn something from her every once in a while.” 

“Come on, Lindsay. If I tell on these bullies then the school will view me as a wimp and a snitch.” 

While we were still talking Lindsay went to the kitchen to check on the food.

“Why would you care about what they think about you? You are your own person and you shouldn’t care about what those idiots think.”

“You should know that you can’t end violence with violence,” she continued, “That would bring more violence and conflict and I don’t want that to happen. Your well-being is my number one priority.” 

“Damn,” I said in my thoughts, 
“Gretchen and Lindsay barely know each other, but they sure do think alike.” 

Lindsay and Gretchen have met before when Lindsay and I went grocery shopping. While they met they were talking as if they knew each other which was a little awkward.

Lindsay prepared the food and gave me the plate.

“Here,” she said, “I made you dinner.”

“Thanks. I am a little famished.”

“I know. That’s why I prepared you dinner before you came home.”

What Lindsay served me was some steak with a side of corn and mashed potatoes. The truth is that I rarely eat vegetables. I always have a strange meat craving because of my zombie nature so I’m more of a carnivore than an omnivore. Eating a lot of meat is not that bad for me since they’re packed with protein.

“Aw man. You added corn and mashed potatoes?”

“Yes and you’re gonna eat it. You need to eat something other than meat and vegetables are a healthy choice.”

“Meat is healthy too since it has protein.”

“I don’t care what you say, Tony. You’re gonna eat your vegetables and you’re gonna like them.” 

“Okay, fine.” 

I ate some of the corn and the mashed potatoes, but Lindsay was still not satisfied.

“Uh uh uh. Eat all of it.”

I reluctantly ate the vegetables, but I also ate my steak to block out the almost non-existent taste of the veggies. Whenever I eat vegetables I don’t really taste anything, even when I add salt and pepper. I eat vegetables to prevent Lindsay from bothering me so when I eat them I just pretend to chew and swallow them whole or sometimes I just chew them up a few times so they can easily go down my esophagus. 

I’m fine with eating nuts and eggs since they have as much protein as meat and as for the other foods and snacks I eat them just fine. I eat fruit sometimes, but I hate vegetables. I ate my food and went into my room to do my homework.

Chapter 2

The next morning I was preparing myself for another day of school and I was about to leave the house.

“All right, Lindsay,” I said, “See ya later.” 

“All right, Tony and remember whenever you get bullied don’t forget to tell the teacher. Ignore what those jerks think of you.”

“All right. I won’t forget.” 

“See you when you get home.”

As I was walking to school I see Gretchen waiting for me as usual.

“Good morning, Tony.” 

“Morning, Gretchen. You seem happy today.” 

“I’m always happy and you should be too. Life is too short to be miserable all the time. You should fill your heart with love and faith and soon all of your problems will go away.”

“For all the helpful and spiritual advice you give me you should be a therapist. You’d easily cheer people up in a snap.” 

“You’re so silly,” Gretchen giggled.

“Anyways, there’s something I wanted to ask you.”

“Sure. Ask away.” 

“Well there is a fair coming up this weekend and I’m wondering if...you know...” 

“Yes?” 

“I was wondering if...you know.”

“Uh huh...” 

“I was wondering if you…”

“Yes?”

As I was about to ask Gretchen out the school bell had rung.

“Looks like you have to save that question for later. See you after school.” 

“Dammit,” I said in my thoughts, “I had just one chance to ask Gretchen out and I went and blew it. Oh well, I’ll get another chance to ask her out after school.”

After school ended I walked towards the exit where Gretchen was waiting for me. I got nervous again about asking Gretchen out so I started mumbling to myself and I gave myself a few slaps to the face to give myself some confidence and as I got to the exit I took a deep breath and exited the school to ask her out.

“So Gretchen about earlier, I wanted to ask you is that will you--”

I realized that the girl that was waiting outside wasn’t Gretchen and I was shocked.

“Who the hell are you?” the girl asked, “and why would I hang out with the likes of you?”

“Sorry. I thought you were someone else.”

I walked home by myself feeling embarrassed as I was about to ask the wrong girl out and as I went inside my house Lindsay was in the living room.

“Hey, Tony. How was school today?” 

“It was good.” 

“Why do you look so gloomy? Did you get bullied again?” 

“No. I was just thinking about something personal, that’s all.” 

“Okay, as long as you’re all right.” 

I went to my room to watch TV and then I turned on the news to find out that a murder took place in the city. I was disgusted after I heard some gruesome details about what happened to the victim.

“Holy crap!” I said to myself, “Who would do something like that?”

Lindsay knocked on my door.

“Can I come in?” 

“Yeah.”

Lindsay came into my room to check on me.
 
“Are you all right?” she asked.

“Yeah. I’m fine.” 

“Are you hungry?”

“No. I lost my appetite.” 

“Okay. I’ll be heading home. If you ever get hungry then there are some leftovers in the fridge.” 

“All right.” 

“See you tomorrow.” 

“See ya.”

I grabbed my cell phone and planned to call Gretchen, but I didn’t want to bother her. As time passed I got bored and I had no choice but to call Gretchen. After I dialed her number the phone rang four times until she answered.

“Hello?” Gretchen said.

“Hey, Gretchen.”

“Hi, Tony. How are you doing tonight?”

“I’m doing great, but why weren’t you waiting for me at the exit like you always do?” 

“Oh. I was busy signing up for track and field. Sorry about that.” 

“Oh, right. You are a star track runner for Emory Branch High. Well, I can’t argue with that, but still remind me that you have something important to do before you just ditch me like that.”

“Okay. I'll remember next time.” 

“So about my question...” 

“Oh right. What was it that you were about to ask me?” 

I took a deep breath and asked her out.

“Will you go to the fair with me this weekend?” I asked nervously.

“Sure. I’d love to.” Gretchen answered happily.

“Really?” 

“Of course.” 

“All right, so what time do you want to go?” 

“How about 8:00?” 

“8:00 it is!” I said excitedly.

“Okay,” Gretchen giggled, “I’ll talk to you later.” 

After Gretchen hung up I got very excited after she accepted my invitation to the fair. I started dancing around in my room in excitement then I went back to watching TV until it was time for me to go to bed.

Chapter 3

Four days later I was preparing myself for the fair as I was picking out a good outfit to wear. There were so many outfits to choose from and it was difficult to pick one, so I had no choice but to pick one outfit and I laid it across my bed.

After I laid out my outfit I left the house to do some walking and as I approached a nearby restaurant I saw a group of police cruisers behind the building and I was confused as to what was going on.

“What the hell is going on here?” I said to myself.

As I was walking over to the crime scene I saw a dismembered corpse covered in a bloodstained tarp. I was in shock after witnessing something so horrible and as I stood from the crime scene frozen in shock a police officer approached me.

“Hey you! Back away from the crime scene! There’s an investigation going on here so it’s best that you go home.”

“R-right.”

As I was walking home I was feeling a bit traumatized by what I’ve seen.

“Shit!” I said in my thoughts, “the killer just struck again. When will the cops ever catch this monster? I hope this doesn’t get in the way of my going to the fair with Gretchen.” 

After I came back home, Lindsay was in the living room sitting on the couch.

“Hey, Tony. Where have you been?”

“I was just taking a stroll just to kill some time,” I answered nervously.

“Okay. I was just wondering where you were just to make sure that you were okay.” 

“I’ll just head to my room to watch TV.” 

I walked up to my room to watch TV to get my mind off the crime scene that I saw earlier. As I flipped through the channels I turned on the news to see the same crime scene like the one I saw earlier. I immediately turned off the TV and took a nap.

An hour later, Lindsay came to check up on me.

“Tony! Are you hungry?” 

“A little bit!”

“Okay! I’m about to prepare your lunch right now!”

Lindsay went into the kitchen to cook while I was sitting in my room watching TV to kill some time and as I was flipping through channels my cell phone rang.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Hi, Tony,” Gretchen said back.

“Hey, Gretchen. I’m surprised that you called me.” 

“Why? I’m just calling just to check on you.”

“Oh.” 

“So are you ready to go to the fair tonight?” 

“Hell yeah!” I yelled excitedly, “and I got everything together too.”  

“That’s good to hear.”

“Hey, Gretchen,” 

“Yes?” 

“Didn’t you hear about the murder that took place in the city?” 

“No. What happened?”

I told Gretchen everything that I’ve heard on the news about the first murder that took place and she was in shock after hearing the details.

“Oh my god,” she responded in horror, “That’s horrible. Who would something so cruel?” 

“I don’t know. My guess would be a crazed psychopath.”

“Has he been caught?” 

“Not yet.” 

“I hope they catch him soon.” 

“I hope so too.”

I avoided talking to her about the crime scene that I witnessed earlier because I didn’t want her to worry or get her involved. I know that she’s an angel and all, but as a man I have got to keep her safe.

 “Tony!” Lindsay yelled, “Your lunch is ready!”

I responded to Lindsay then talked to Gretchen before I hung up.

“All right! Coming!” I yelled back, “Sorry, Gretchen. I gotta go.” 

“Okay. I’ll see you at the fair tonight.” 

I went to the kitchen to get my lunch and went back to my room to watch TV until it was time to go to the fair.

Chapter 4

It was almost 8 o’ clock and I just got prepared to go to the fair and was ready to head out the door.

“All right, Lindsay. I’m heading out.”

“Okay. Be careful out there and have fun.” 

“Don’t worry. I will.”

I walked to the fair and as I made it Gretchen didn’t show up yet. I waited in the line for five minutes until she came from out of nowhere.

“Hi, Tony.” 

I jumped in fear.

“Oh. Hey, Gretchen.” 

“Did I scare you?” 

“Yeah. You should’ve approached me differently.” 

“Sorry. I just wanted to surprise you. So, what do you think of my outfit?”

“Uhh...uhh...I-I-I think it suits you perfectly,” I replied nervously.

“Aww thank you.” 

“Umm...you’re welcome,” I said while blushing.

As Gretchen and I were next I was about to pay for the tickets until I realized that I had forgotten my wallet when I was searching my pockets.

“Oh shit!” 

“What is it? Is something the matter?”

“I forgot my wallet!”

“Don’t worry, Tony,” Gretchen said calmly, “I got it covered.” 

Gretchen took out her wallet and paid for our tickets and I felt embarrassed after I left mine at home.

“Sorry about leaving my wallet.” 

“It’s okay. I had a feeling you’d forget to bring it so I brought mine.” 

“You and your intuitions.” 

“Yep. An angel’s intuition is never wrong.”

“Well consider this, the next time we hang out I’ll pay for everything. Deal?” 

“Deal.”

Gretchen and I shook hands to seal the deal.

“Okay. What ride should we get on first?” 

“I don’t know. There’s so many to choose from.” 

Gretchen and I walked all around the fairgrounds to see what ride we should get on first until we eventually found one.

“Hey, Tony. How about that one?”

“Which one? Spinning Doom?” 

“Yes. Let’s get on that one.” 

“I don’t know about this, Gretchen. I just ate. I don’t wanna get sick.” 

“Come on, Tony. Just one ride.” 

 “I’m not sure about this.” 

“Pretty please.”

Gretchen continued begging me to get on the ride until I finally gave in.

“Ugh, all right. Just one ride only. That’s it.” 

Gretchen cheered and pulled me over to the ride and as we got on I felt very nervous. The ride started and after a minute I was starting to feel dizzy and disoriented and after the ride was over I stumbled out as my legs were shaky and I felt like I was about to puke at any minute while Gretchen got off of the ride in excitement.

“That was amazing! What do you think, Tony?” 

“I think I should never get on it ever again.” 

“Tony?” Gretchen said worriedly, “Are you okay? You don’t look so good.” 

I was about to respond to Gretchen until I was about to throw up. I immediately looked around the fairgrounds for a trash can until I found one and immediately puked in it.

Gretchen walked up to me to see if I was okay. 

“Are you feeling better yet?” 

“No. I’m still feeling---” 

I continued puking until I stopped.

“Do you feel better now?” 

“Yeah. I’m fine now.” 

Gretchen and I walked around the fair and got on numerous rides and we were having a great time. After trying a lot of rides we were getting hungry.

“Going on these rides is making me hungry.”

“Me too since I just lost my lunch.”

“Okay that’s a big TMI right there, but let’s go grab a bite to eat from the vendor.” 

We went to the vendor and Gretchen ordered her food first and as I was about to order mine I was going to order a few items as possible to avoid spending her money as I only ordered a sausage dog and a soda.

“Are you sure that’s all you want, Tony?”

“Yeah. I mean I can’t spend that much of your money.” 

“Don’t worry. I’ve got plenty so go ahead and order as much food as you want.” 

“Wow! Really? All right and for that I’ll treat you to something next time. Sounds good?”

“Sounds great. Thank you.” 

I ordered two sausage dogs, some nachos, a chocolate funnel cake, and a large soda and we both sat down and chowed down on our food. Gretchen was eating her food while I was gormandizing on mine.

“Whoa, Tony. Slow down. You’re gonna give yourself indigestion if you eat that fast.”

“Sorry. I’m just so hungry that I just can’t help myself.”

“Okay, but slow down a bit will you?”

While Gretchen and I were eating, a mysterious figure appeared to be spying on us and cracking a sinister smile.

Chapter 5

After Gretchen and I finished eating we were walking around looking for a game to play. Gretchen pointed to a game where we shoot a cork at a prize to win it. I gave the man a dollar and shot at a giant teddy bear, but I missed. I gave three attempts, but failed at all three of them.

Gretchen volunteered to shoot at the teddy bear and hit it on her first try and I was surprised.

“Damn and I thought I could win you a prize.”

“At least you tried, but I do have a prize for you.” 

Gretchen hugged me as a “consolation prize” for my efforts and while we were walking I stopped.

“What’s wrong, Tony?” 

“Will you excuse me, Gretchen? I gotta make a trip to the men’s room.”

“Okay. Hurry back.”

While I was in the bathroom the stranger from earlier was casually walking around the fairgrounds then he found Gretchen and as he saw her he approached her and talked casually to her.

“Hey,” he said in a smooth voice.

“Oh, hey.” 

“What’s a pretty girl like you doing out here all alone?” 

“Actually I’m just waiting on my friend. He’s in the bathroom right now.” 

“All right. Hey, while you’re waiting on him why don’t we go on a ride together?” 

“No thanks.” 

“Come on. It’ll be fun.” 

“I thank you for your offer, but I really can’t.”

The stranger kept begging Gretchen to go on a ride with him, but she still refuses to go with him.

“Just one ride.” 

“I said no thanks. Now leave me alone.”

As Gretchen walked away the stranger got agitated. I got out of the bathroom and walked over to the spot where Gretchen was at and she was gone.

“Gretchen!” I called out, “Gretchen!” 

As I walked around the fairgrounds I found Gretchen standing right beside a tent.

“Hey, Gretchen. Where have you been?” 

“Sorry. There was a stranger who wouldn’t leave me alone so I walked all the way over here and lost sight of him.” 

“That’s good, but don’t ever leave me worried like that. I’m glad that you’re all right. That bastard’s got a lot of nerve approaching you. If I was there I would’ve kicked his ass right into the ground.”

“Never mind that. I’m sure he’s long gone. Anyways, are you ready to go home, yet?” 

“Nah. There’s one more thing I would like to go to before we go home.”

“Where?”

“Over there,” I said pointing to the hall of mirrors.

“House of Mirrors? Okay I guess I’ll go there.” 

Gretchen and I walked over to the House of Mirrors where we were posing in front of different mirrors.

“Man, I haven’t posed in front of these mirrors like this in years.” 

As Gretchen posed in front of a mirror she was knocked out by a mysterious person and was dragged while I got distracted by the mirrors.

“Wow! Look at me. I’m a big muscle man. Whaddaya think, Gretchen?”

There was no response.

“Gretchen? Gretchen! Where are you?” 

As I was looking for Gretchen I found the teddy bear that she dropped. I became suspicious as I realized that something has happened to her. Meanwhile at a secluded, wooded area outside the fairgrounds the mysterious figure carried Gretchen in the middle of the woods and laid her down and Gretchen woke up only to find herself lost in the woods.

“What happened? Where am I?” 

“You’re right where I want you?”

“It’s you. You’re the guy from earlier.” 

“Yep.” 

“What do you want with me?” 

The stranger cracked a sinister smile.

“I want your flesh.” 

“My...flesh?” Gretchen asked in horror and confusion, “Just what are you?” 

The stranger was transforming into a monstrous entity and during his transformation, Gretchen was stunned.

“What am I you ask?” he smiled, “I am a ghoul and you are my meal.”

Gretchen was crawling back in fear, but she backed into a tree.

“Look at that body. It has just the perfect meat-fat ratio that any ghoul has ever seen. You’re the perfect delicacy for me.” 

Gretchen got up and tried to run, but the ghoul ran toward her and grabbed her shirt then threw her against a tree. As Gretchen was stunned by the impact the stranger exposed his claws.

“And where do you think you’re going?” 

As Gretchen has nowhere to run she was hoping and praying that I would show up.

“This is bad,” she said in her thoughts, “I can’t escape this monster. He’s too fast and too strong. Tony, hurry! I need you! Help me!” 

Back at the fairgrounds I was asking people have they seen Gretchen, but nobody saw her. I used my keen sense of smell to track her scent, but it was getting blocked by the food vendors. The smell of the food was so good that I couldn’t resist it, but I came to my senses, so I went outside the fairgrounds and finally tracked her scent and followed it to a wooded area.

Chapter 6

As Gretchen’s scent got stronger I knew that I was on the right track. Deep in the woods the ghoul was approaching her.

“Get away from me you monster!”

“You know I can’t get away from a fine meal such as you. You can yell and scream for help all you want, but nobody’s gonna hear you. Now be a good little girl and get in my stomach!”

As the ghoul rushed towards her, Gretchen tightly closed her eyes and turned her head until I came just in the nick of time and punched the bastard so hard until he was sent flying halfway across the woods.

“Whoo. Looks like I barely made it in time.”

Gretchen quickly got up and hugged me.

“Tony! I’m so glad you came. I thought I was a goner.” 

“I’m glad you’re all right. Did that bastard hurt you in any way?” 

I looked at Gretchen’s body and I saw bruises and her shirt was badly ripped to the point that her bra was visible. I removed my shirt to cover her up.

After I covered Gretchen with my shirt the ghoul got up and got very angry.

“You bastard! How dare you interrupt my meal? I’m gonna make you pay for this!”

The monster came at me and tried to attack me, but I dodged him and tried to punch him again, but he dodged it.

“Listen here you monstrous son of a bitch, I don’t know who or what you are nor do I give a damn, but I’m not gonna let you lay a finger on my friend.”

“Oh? You must be the ‘friend’ that this girl was talking about. I can see that you’re not human judging by how easily you punched me all the way across the woods.” 

“Trust me, pal. I’m as human as I can be. I’m just part zombie.”

“Is this some kind of joke?” the ghoul laughed, “If you had some zombie in you you would have devoured that girl over there, but you’re just a normal human boy with superhuman strength. Two things I detest are zombies and puny humans who want to play hero.”

“I also presume that you’re the one who caused these murders am I right?”

The ghoul laughed and clapped.

“Bravo,” he said sarcastically, “Looks like we got ourselves a skilled detective. Yes, I admit it. I ate those puny humans and they were delicious and I can’t wait to devour your little friend.” 

I grew more agitated after hearing him gladly admitting to causing the murders.

“You bastard,” I grumbled. 

“Aww. Looks like I struck a nerve.”  

“All right. Enough with this useless chitchat. The only things that will be doing the talking around here are my fists.” 

“Bring it,” the ghoul smiled. 

I tossed the tree at the ghoul, but he dodged it and it gave me an opening as I ran towards him and gave him a big punch and he fell to the ground.

“Not bad for a puny human,” the ghoul said wiping the blood from his face.

“You haven’t seen anything yet.”

The ghoul charged at me again and started throwing punches and kicks, but I kept dodging and blocking and when he was kicking me I grabbed his leg and I pulled him in and punched him to the ground.

After exchanging blows and kicks the ghoul grew agitated when I had the upper hand.

“Hmph. Beginner’s luck. No matter because I still have plenty of tricks up my sleeve.”

The ghoul got back up and disappeared again only to reappear beside me and swing at me again. As I was blocking, the ghoul’s claws struck me and it left a few big scrapes on my arm and Gretchen covered her mouth in horror.

“How do you like that, zombie boy?” 

“This is nothing,” I said while trying to toughen through the pain, “I’m not gonna let these cat claw marks stop me from beating you down to the ground.” 

“I’m just getting started.” 

Blood overflowed from the claw marks on my arm and I ignored it as the ghoul and I continued our fight.

The ghoul came at me again as he was swinging his claws at me and I kept dodging them and as I was dodging them my arm was slowly regenerating from his claw attack earlier, but he noticed it almost instantly.

“I see that you’ve regenerated from my claw attack. Well it looks like I gotta tear you apart so much that you won’t be able to regenerate.”

I was in a bit of trouble when he noticed my wounds healing, but I had to play it cool to avoid dropping my guard.

“Hmph. I dare you to try it.” 

“With pleasure.” 

The ghoul continued his attack on me, but I had an idea as I was using my surroundings to my advantage as I was hiding behind the trees and he was chasing me around knocking down the trees as I was hiding in.

“Hiding now are we? Here you are acting like a tough guy and now you’re hiding from me? Are you that much of a coward?”

As I hid behind a tree the ghoul began walking around knocking the trees over while I was waiting for the right moment for a sneak attack. As the ghoul knocked over a tree where I hid he turned around for a quick second and that’s when I made my move.

I jumped out behind the tree stump and punched the ghoul in the face and when he was about to get up I gave him a few more punches and kicks until my last punch sent him flying halfway across the woods again.

“That’s it!” he yelled angrily, “I’m through messing around! I’ll show you the power of a real apparition!”

The ghoul transformed again as his body, claws, and teeth got bigger.

“Now, behold my true power.” 

“All right. So you just made your body, teeth, and claws bigger. So what? I still have the strength to kick your ass.” 

“Still getting cocky I see. Well allow me to demonstrate my true power.”

“Hmph. I would love to see you try.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll let you see it, but let me give you a little warning: don’t blink.” 

“Huh?” 

The ghoul disappeared and reappeared behind me.

“Tony! Look out!” Gretchen yelled.

The ghoul swung at me and I blocked it, but he kicked me in the gut. He kicked me so hard that I was sent flying across the woods as Gretchen covered her mouth in horror.

I got back up and continued my fight with the ghoul, but before I was able to do anything the ghoul ran towards me and started throwing his punches kicks and claws at me and I barely had any time to defend myself. I realized that with his increased power I was outmatched and my body was bloody, battered, and bruised and I was on one knee.

“Serves you right for underestimating my power,” the ghoul laughed, “but don’t fret. I’m gonna put you out of your misery right here and now.” 

As the ghoul was about to finish me off Gretchen was crying and soon her eyes were glowing bright white as she was channeling her angelic powers.

“Hmm? What is this power?” the ghoul asked.

As Gretchen’s eyes were glowing my pendant was glowing too and it was making me feel stronger.

“What the hell?” the ghoul said in his thoughts, “Her eyes are glowing. What the hell is going on here?”

“You leave my friend alone!” Gretchen said in her angry, yet angelic voice.

“Just what are you?”

Gretchen stood silent and gave him a long, icy stare.

“No. This has got to be some kind of bluff.” 

As the ghoul got distracted I ran to him and gave him a hard kick to the face. The ghoul got up and had a surprised look on his face when he saw my pendant glowing.

“What the?” he said in his thoughts, “Not only her eyes are glowing but this guy’s necklace too? What the hell is really going on here?”

“What’s the matter?” I asked, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” 

“Shut up! I don’t know how her eyes and your necklace are glowing, but this has got to be some sort of trick. I’m gonna end both of you!” 

The ghoul charged towards Gretchen, but she deployed a shield which deflected his attacks.

“What?” the ghoul said in surprise, “A shield?”

“Yes and no matter how many times you attack me your attacks will be deflected.” 

The ghoul grunted in anger and came after Gretchen again until I suddenly appeared in front of him and gave him a big, powerful right hook to his face and he went straight through a few trees.

“No way,” the ghoul said in his thoughts, 
“This guy’s stronger than me? How is that possible? Did that girl give him some kind of power boost? Whatever the reason is I gotta get to her quick.” 

“What are you waiting for?” I asked, “Make your move.”

The ghoul got irritated by my taunt and started coming at me. I gave him some more punches and kicks while I regained the upper hand.

“It’s no use.” the ghoul said in his thoughts, “This guy is too strong and there’s no other way to get to that girl. I have to retreat and regain my strength.”

The ghoul was about to retreat until I kept trying to prevent him from running away. He was running deeper into the woods until I followed him and he kept jumping into numerous trees to avoid me.

“Stop running from me you coward!”

As he got on the trees I started lifting them up, but as I was lifting them up he jumps to another tree. 

During his escape the ghoul kept knocking down trees to block me, but I kept moving them until many trees kept falling down and the path was blocked as he got away. 

“Dammit!” I said angrily, “He got away.” 

“It’s okay, Tony. He won’t be bothering us for a while. Here, let me tend to your wounds.” 

I sat in front of a tree while Gretchen was using her powers to heal my wounds. Even though I’m part zombie my regeneration powers are slow so during the fight I was still sore as my body was slowly healing. I prefer Gretchen using her healing powers because it’s a faster process.

“Oh. I forgot something.” 

“What is it?” 

“Wait here.” 

I walked near the fairgrounds and back to give Gretchen her teddy bear from the cork shooting game.

“You forgot this so I went back to get it for you.” 

“My bear,” Gretchen gasped, “Thank you so much.” 

“Don’t mention it. It’s what friends do. Now let’s go home.”

Gretchen and I were walking home, but I was thinking about who or what that monster was.

“Hey, Gretchen.”

“Yes?” 

“What the hell was that monster back there?” 

“He said that he was a ghoul.”

“A ghoul?”

“Yeah. At first he was an ordinary human, but when we got to the woods he turned into a ghoul.” 

 “I see, so ghouls are humans at first and when it’s feeding time or nighttime they transform.”

“That’s right if you put it that way.” 

We made it to Gretchen’s house, but before she went inside she gave me back my shirt.

“Here. Thanks for lending me your shirt.” 

“You’re welcome, but what will your parents think about your clothes being tattered?” 

“Don’t worry. I’ll just tell them that I got into an accident at the fair. I’m sure they’ll believe me.” 

“Well okay. See ya later.” 

“Bye, Tony!” 

As I got home I removed my dirty, bloody, and tattered clothes, took a shower, and went to bed.

Chapter 7

The next morning at school I was getting my things ready for second period. As I walked into the classroom I accidentally bumped into Bruce and he got angry.

“Hey! Watch it, Phony Tony.” 

“Sorry about that.” 

“Yeah you better be or else I would’ve given you the worst ass-whooping of your life. As a matter of fact I’m gonna do it right now before the bell rings.”

Bruce lifted up his fists while I tightly balled my hand into a fist.

During the commotion, Gretchen came down the hallway and confronted Bruce before things got worse.

“Leave him alone, Bruce.” 

“Hmph. Consider yourself lucky that your little popular lady friend showed up, Phony Tony, otherwise I would’ve gave you a beatdown that everyone here would love to see.”

As Bruce was walking to class I raised my fist until Gretchen lowered it and tried to calm me down.

“Let it go, Tony,” she said lowering my fist.

I angrily punched a locker leaving behind a dent and headed to class.

After school was over I left the building still angry after what Bruce said to me in the hallway and Gretchen walked over to me.

“Tony? Are you okay?” 

“I’m fine, but I’m still pissed about Bruce. Since that son of a bitch wants to show off then I’ll give him something to show off about: a hard right hook to his frickin’ kisser!” 

“That’s enough, Tony. Remember what I said about inciting violence.”

“Just leave me alone!”

After I got home I went to my room and sat on my bed as I took out my notes to do some studying for my first quiz next week while trying to get my head off my altercation with Bruce. 

I was studying my notes until I just kept thinking about the altercation that I had to stop for a minute and I turned on the TV for a minute to clear my head.

While I was watching TV my cell phone rang.

“Hello?” 

“Hey, Tony. It’s me.” 

“Hey, Gretchen.” 

“Are you feeling okay?” 

“Yeah. Sorry for acting like a jerk back there. I was just so angry that I don’t want to vent my anger out on you.” 

“It’s okay. I’m just glad that you’re not hurt. That’s all that matters.”  

“Thanks for being concerned about me.”

“No problem, so what are you doing right now?” 

“Nothing. I’m just watching TV to clear my head. I’m also studying for next week’s quiz.” 

“Well, okay. I’m just calling to see if you were all right.” 

“All right. I’ll talk to you later.” 

I turned off the TV and started studying and after I got finished I thought about the ghoul from the woods near the fairgrounds and grabbed my cell phone to make a phone call.

I made a phone call to my friend, Colin Nyquist, and he answered.

“Hello?” 

“Hey, Colin. It’s me, Tony.” 

“Hey, Condron. How you doing? Trying to get with the popular girl at school I see. How’s the golden-hearted angel doing? Are you two dating yet?” 

“Look here, Colin, I’m not calling to talk about Gretchen. I’m calling to talk about an apparition that I’ve encountered.” 

“Hmm. You’ve ran into another apparition, eh? What was it?” 

“A ghoul.” 

“Oh? I wonder how you encountered it.”

I explained everything that happened at the fair and Colin has taken a major interest in the matter.

“I see. So this ghoul attacked your friend, dragged her out into the woods, and was about to devour her and as you two were battling it out he managed to get away, correct?”

“Yes.” 

“Hmm. Interesting.” 

“This is serious, Colin. Even though the ghoul is incapacitated there’s a possibility that he may strike again, so I need your help on how to defeat him.” 

“Well, I don’t know the weaknesses yet. To be honest I don’t even give a damn about ghouls, but since your situation has piqued my interest, I’ll see what I can do to get you the info you need.”

“I don’t know what to say to that, but thanks anyway.” 

“Don’t mention it.” 

There are two things about Colin that pisses me off: Number one is that he is a sarcastic smart-alec and two is that he’s been like that since we first met in middle school and that’s why I don’t like talking to him about anything else except apparitions.

Don’t get me wrong, but Colin is a helpful person despite being such a pain in the ass. Dealing with oddities is his thing and although he’s not that much of an expert, he still provides as much information about them as possible to make sure I know their strengths and weaknesses.

After I finished my conversation with him I went back to watching TV. I turned on the nightly news to see what was going on around town until I found out that some person named Gregory Ranfield had been arrested in connection to the murders.

“Thank God the bastard won’t be messing with anyone for a long time,” I said to myself, “I gotta show this to Gretchen.

I grabbed my cell phone and took a picture of Gregory’s mugshot.

Chapter 8

The next day at school second period just ended as I was getting my supplies ready for third period, which happens to be my art class and after the bell rang I went to class. 

After school ended I went straight home as Gretchen had track practice today and when I came home I was fixing myself some leftovers and went to my room to watch TV. My cell phone rang and I answered it.

“Hello?” 

“Hey, Tony. It’s Lindsay.” 

“Lindsay? What are you doing? Where are you at?” 

“I’m at my grandparents’ house. My parents are away at a job meeting tonight.”

“Oh. Okay.” 

“Is everything all right over there?” 

“Yeah. Everything’s fine. I’m eating some leftovers and I’m studying just fine.”

“Well that’s good to hear. I’ll be home tomorrow, so I’ll talk to you later.” 

“All right. Bye.” 

After I hung up I continued watching a movie until my cell phone rang again.

“Ugh. Who is it this time?” 

I checked my phone and saw that it was Gretchen calling me this time.

“Hey, Gretchen. How was track practice today?”

“It was great. The exercises were a little strenuous, but it was still fun.”

“Strenuous? Like did you pull a muscle or something?” 

“Yeah. I only pulled a muscle on my left leg.” 

“Are you all right?” 

“Yeah. It’s nothing, really. My leg will be one hundred percent in no time.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“How was your day?”

“It was all right. In art class I drew a picture and the teacher complimented my work and said that I should become a manga artist.”

“Wow. What did you draw?”

“I just drew a girl’s head.” 

“Really? You sure do have a talent for drawing.”

“Yeah. I like drawing, but not as much as I used to. I just like to draw from time to time.  

“At least she likes your art. Did Bruce bully you in any way.” 

“No and thank God for that.” 

“That’s good.”

The next morning, Gretchen and I were walking to class and I reminded Gretchen about something.

“Hey, Gretchen.”

“Yes, Tony? What is it?” 

“I forgot to tell you that last night a man named Gregory Ranfield was arrested in connection to the murders.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I took a picture of his mugshot when I saw the news.” 

I took out my cell phone and I showed Gretchen a picture of Gregory’s mugshot.

“Is this the guy you ran into at the fair the other night?”

“Yes. That’s him.”

“Well it looks like he won’t be messing with you or anyone else anytime soon. That bastard will be rotting in his prison cell for the rest of his life.”

Meanwhile in prison, Gregory was outside at the prison yard while he was trying to ease his boredom by getting on an exercise machine until an inmate approached and confronted him.

“Hey, punk. You’re in my spot. Move.

“Make me.” 

“What did you just say to me?”

“You heard me. I said make me.” 

The inmate laughed and then punched Gregory in the face and kicked him in the gut.

“You think you’re so tough now, huh?” 

The inmate started stomping and punching on Gregory until he was left on the ground writhing in pain.

“Don’t ever think and act tough with me or you will get your ass kicked. Remember that, punk.”

The inmate spat on Gregory and got on the exercise machine and after he got up, Gregory got angry and walked away and as he walked off he bumped into another inmate.

“Hey! Watch where you’re going, jackass!” 

The inmate shoved Gregory as he continued walking over to the other side of the prison and as he was making his way to the other side Gregory was getting pushed around and getting beat up by different inmates.

After making it to the other side of the prison yard Gregory sat down in front of a fence battered and bruised thinking about getting revenge against the inmates.

“Those bastards!” he said angrily in his thoughts, “Soon I’m gonna make them pay! I’ll show them no mercy!” 

Four days later I went out to the park to take a little stroll and sat on the bench until Lindsay came.

“Hey, Tony.”

“Oh. Hey, Lindsay. I didn’t expect to see you here.” 

“Same here. You seem to be in a good mood today.”

“Yep. I’m just enjoying my day out at the park relaxing and basking in the sun.”

“That’s good. You know this park brings back memories of when we were kids.” 

“Yep. I remember that time when we were on the playground we were playing tag, hide and seek, and catch when you brought your favorite ball.” 

“And don’t forget that we used to play Uno over there at the picnic table when we were in middle school.” 

“Oh yeah. I remember that and when I used to push you on the swing. Remember that?” 

“Yeah. You used to push me higher and higher until I fell on the ground.” 

“I felt bad for that.”

“It’s all right because since we were in middle school you pushed me too high and I flipped off the swing.”

“Yeah! I remember that now. That was awesome.” 

Lindsay and I were looking around the park reminiscing the good times we had when we were younger.

“Hey, Lindsay. Do you want to get on the swing for old times’ sake?” 

“Sure.” 

Lindsay got on the swing and I was pushing her and as I was pushing her I was remembering the times of when we were little she was saying “Higher, Tony. Push me higher.”  As I was pushing Lindsay she still has the same old fun giggle.

“Higher, Tony. Push me higher.” 

“You got it.” 

I pushed Lindsay higher and as she got too high she flipped off the swing.

“Well whaddaya know. I haven’t seen you do that in ages.”

“That’s a neat trick,” Gretchen said from out of nowhere.

“Gretchen!” I yelled in surprise, “Where did you come from?”

“I just got here, silly.” 

“That figures.” 

“You two sure are having fun. Mind if I join you both?” 

“Not at all,” I replied.

“Can you do that trick again, Lindsay?” 

“Of course.” 

Lindsay got on the swing and swung higher and higher until she flipped off of it again. 

“That’s amazing!” Gretchen squealed in excitement, “You have got to teach me that!”

“Calm down, Gretchen. If you want me to teach you then I’ll be happy to do it for you.”

Gretchen and Lindsay both got on the swings as Lindsay was teaching Gretchen how to flip off the swing and after all the bumps she took, Gretchen eventually managed to perform the trick successfully.

“Wow, Gretchen. You actually did it.” 

“Yeah! Tony, did you see it?” 

“Yeah. That was amazing!”

Gretchen, Lindsay, and I kept playing around on the playground until we sat back on the bench. 

“That was awesome!” I said excitedly.

“I agree. I haven’t had this much fun in a long time and the best part was that Gretchen joined in on the fun.” 

“Yeah and I had a great time with you guys.” 

“I wish it was like this every day. That reminds me, are any of you girls free tomorrow?” 

“Yes,” Gretchen replied. 

“I gotta check with my parents about that, why?” 

“I’m planning to go to the mall tomorrow and I was wondering if you two wanted to come along.” 

“I’ll have to see about that. I’m always busy with house work.” 

“It’s all right, Lindsay. Just take your time and give me your honest response tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

“And also you don’t have to come to my house tonight if you don’t want to. I understand how busy you are. Well. I’m gonna go home and take a nap. I’ll see you two later.” 

“Bye, Tony,” the girls said in unison.

I left the park and went home.

At the prison Gregory was in his cell still under solitary confinement plotting his revenge against the inmates who tormented him until the prison guard came to him.

“Good news, Ranfield. Because of your good behavior you’re gonna be out of solitary confinement tomorrow night. Make sure you have your things ready for your new prison cell.” 

“Okay. Thank you.” 

Gregory cracked a smile as he plots to set his plan into motion. 

“Tomorrow night those bastards are gonna be as good as dead.”

As night falls I was in my room doing some weekend studying for my quiz while Lindsay was at her house doing house work and since I told her that she didn’t have to check on me she never came by or called me, but it didn’t bother me since I wanted to give her a little break.

Chapter 9

Another day has passed and I was getting ready to head to the mall. I headed out the door, took a deep breath and walked to the food court and as I entered I saw Gretchen, but when I moved further up I saw Lindsay. I was so shocked after seeing them that I felt like I was the luckiest guy on Earth.

The girls and I greeted each other and we went to one of the restaurants to grab a bite to eat.

Meanwhile at the prison, it was lunchtime for the inmates as Gregory grabbed his lunch and sat down.

“Yuck,” he said in his thoughts, “More of this crap. They call this food? Like what the hell is this and why do these dumb humans eat this shit anyway? It’s a good thing I only eat flesh because human food is the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

An inmate approached him.

“Hey. Are you gonna eat that or are you just gonna stare at it all day?” 

“You can have this crap. I lost my appetite anyway.”  

“Thanks and here’s a little reward for giving me your food.” 
The inmate took a chunk of food from the tray and tossed it at Gregory. Half of the entire prison laughed and Gregory got even angrier.

Back at the mall Gretchen, Lindsay, and I got finished eating our food.

“Man that was good. I can’t eat another bite.”

“Same here.” 

“So, Tony, what are we gonna do now?”

“Hmm. Let’s go to the arcade.” 

Me and the others went to the arcade and as we got there we played skee-ball. As the game was over Gretchen won by fifty points while Lindsay and I were in third and second place respectively.

“Damn, Gretchen. I can’t believe you beat both of us.” 

“Yep and that proves that I’m the best.”

“In your dreams. How about two out of three?” 

“You’re on.”

Me and the others continued playing skee-ball and after three games Gretchen was still the winner.

“I win again. I am the queen of skee-ball!” 

“Yep. Looks like you’re right. You are the best.”

All three of us split up to play separate games and we remained in the arcade for an hour until we left.

“Whoo-wee! We sure had a blast today!”

“Yeah, Tony. I didn’t know you were that good at shooting games.”

“Yep. I’m the master at shooting games. I’ve been kicking...er, I mean, shootin’ some ass on those games ever since I was little.”

“But those kinds of games are for mature audiences. Didn’t you get squeamish after seeing all the blood and violence?” 

“Nope. Not one bit.”

“Trust me, Gretchen. Tony’s been into violence and gore at a young age, besides he gets so fascinated by it that he watches a lot of action and horror films and plays a lot of violent games.” 

“Whoa! I think he has grown a little too fast.”

“Hey. Don’t look at it like that, Gretchen. Look at it as me trying out some new things.”

“Okay. Whatever you say.” 

As the girls and I were walking we unexpectedly ran into Bruce.

“Well well. Look who it is. It’s Phony Tony and I see you brought your little harem too.”

Bruce and his friends laughed as I angrily balled my fists. 

“Cut the crap, Bruce. I haven’t forgotten the shit you said to me at school the other day, but since I’m in a good mood today I’m just gonna ignore you.”

Bruce grabbed my shoulder and squeezed it.

“What was that?” 

“You heard me. I’m gonna just ignore you.”

Bruce turned me around and grabbed me by my shirt.

“Listen here you little punk, nobody ignores me, you got that? So I suggest you show me a little respect.”

He gave me a head butt and shoved me and I was about to fall, Gretchen and Lindsay caught me.

“Tony, are you all right?” Lindsay asked.

Bruce’s bullying has driven me to my boiling point yet again.

“That’s it! Respect my ass! You wanna show off that badly, then I’ll give you something to show off!”

As Bruce and I were about to fight, Gretchen and Lindsay grabbed me by the arms and tried to calm me down.

“Calm down, Tony,” Gretchen said. 

“Oh yeah? Well bring it on, Condron.” 

“Stop it, Tony,” Lindsay said holding on to my arm tightly, “You’re causing a scene.” 

“I don’t give a damn about that! All I give a damn about is knocking this bastard’s teeth right out of his goddamn head!” 

“Come on, Phony Tony,” Bruce said while pointing to his chin, “Give it your best shot!” 

“I’ll give it my best shot all right and it’s gonna make you end up in the hospital!” 

I tried to take a shot at Bruce, but Lindsay and Gretchen held my arms so tight that I can’t free them and as I was still being held back, Bruce continued taunting me.

“I knew you couldn’t do it. You should’ve listened to your girlfriends, but instead you decided to act tough and make a fool out of yourself. What a joke.”

Bruce’s taunt drove me over the edge and as he was walking away I did the unthinkable by challenging him to a fight.

“Hold it, Bruce! If it’s a fight you want then it’s a fight you’ll get!”

“Hmm?” 

“You. Me. Schoolyard. This Wednesday. After school.” 

“You’re on. I’ll see you there.” 

I angrily walked outside and sat down on a bench until Gretchen and Lindsay followed me and confronted me.

“Tony!” Lindsay said in disappointment, “What were you thinking back there?”

“I was thinking about kicking Bruce’s ass, that’s what I was thinking about.” 

“See that? That kind of attitude will get you into trouble.” 

“You should listen to what Lindsay is saying. We don’t want anything to happen to you and you need to stop reacting to every trivial matter.”

“I understand that you two girls are my friends and are like family to me, but right now I don’t care what any of you have to say. Bruce’s taunting and showboating has pissed me off long enough and he made it personal and I’m gonna put an end to it this Wednesday after school.”

“We understand how you feel,” Gretchen said, “but all this isn’t worth getting in trouble over. Please Tony, just reconsider this.”
 
“No. I have no other choice but to end this whole thing and even if I risk getting suspended, expelled, or arrested then so be it.” 

“That’s not the point. The point is that---” 

“I don’t care! Bruce is my problem and I’m gonna fix that problem one way or another.” 

I angrily walked home disregarding everything Lindsay and Gretchen were saying to me.

Gretchen tried to stop me, but Lindsay stopped her in her tracks.

“Just leave him be. I’ll go have a little talk with him.”

As night falls I was at my house sitting down thinking about my fight with Bruce while over at the prison Gregory prepared his stuff as he is getting ready to move to a new cell. 

Chapter 10

When I made it to my house I was still feeling angry after an altercation with Bruce, but at the same time I felt ashamed for yelling at Gretchen and Lindsay until there was a knock on my door.

“Who is it?”

“It’s Lindsay. Can I come in?” 

“Sure.”

Lindsay came into my room and sat right beside me.

“Tony, I know how you’re feeling, but please you have got to stop this.” 

“I know, but...” 

“No,” Lindsay said while putting her finger over my lips, “I don’t want to hear any more excuses. Now listen to me, what would your parents think if they saw you starting a fight in a public place?” 

“They would stop it?” 

“Exactly and that is why Gretchen and I stopped you because if that fight between you and Bruce broke out at the mall then you would’ve been the one getting arrested. You need to start thinking rationally and not let Bruce get into your head. Don’t let him egg you on like that.” 

I tried to respond to her, but all I could do is cry as I leaned my head against her chest. 

“I’m sorry for yelling at you and Gretchen.”  

“There, there,” she said softly while hugging me and stroking my head, “It’s okay. You just couldn’t handle your emotions. That’s why Gretchen and I are here: to take care of you and look after you.” 

Eventually I calmed down and we moved on from this situation and pretended that it never happened. I turned on my TV while in the living room area the home phone was ringing while Lindsay was cooking.

“Hello?” 

“Hi, Lindsay. It’s Gretchen.”

“Hello, Gretchen. Is there something you need?” 

“No. I just wanna know how Tony is doing.” 

“He’s doing fine. He was in his room the whole time.” 

“Is he still angry about the incident at the mall?”

“At first, but we talked it out he apologized for yelling at us and promised that he will never react to trivial situations ever again.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Even if he was still angry I would still forgive him.” 

“Umm...Aren’t you being a little too nice?” 

“No. It’s just that I completely trust Tony and I know what kind of person he is deep down.” 

“Okay...That sounds reasonable. Well I gotta get back to cooking.” 

“Okay.” 

I went to the kitchen to get something to drink.

“Hey, Lindsay, who were you talking to?” 

“It was Gretchen. She just wanted to check on you to see if you were still angry about what happened at the mall.” 

“Why didn’t she call me? I would’ve talked to her about everything.” 

“She thought that you was still angry with us, so she didn’t wanna bother you, but don’t worry. I told her that you were fine and that you apologized and swore to never react to trivial things.” 

“Oh, okay. At least you settled it with Gretchen for me. Thanks. I owe you one.”

“No problem.”

Meanwhile at the prison, Gregory got his stuff and moved to his new cell and as the guard left he approached the window and saw the full moon and began to regain his powers.

Gregory broke through the prison door setting off the alarm and a squad of armed guards readied themselves as they were going up against him.

“Stop right where you are!” the captain shouted, “Return to your cell now or we will use excessive force against you!” 

As the guards pointed their weapons, Gregory turned around and slowly approached the guards.

“I said stop right where you are!” 

Gregory ignored the guards’ orders and continued walking towards them until they had no other choice but to take action. The guards fired their weapons, but their bullets had no effect on him.

One guard fired a tear gas canister, but Gregory caught it with his bare hand and crushed it. The guards and inmates were stunned by what they had witnessed. 

“Are you guys finished?” 

The guards couldn’t believe what they saw and they started murmuring.

“W-w-w-what the hell?” the captain said in horror and shock, “That’s...impossible! What in the hell are you?!?!?”

“Well if you really want to know that bad I’ll show you what I really am.”

Gregory transformed and the guards backed away, but as they were about to run, Gregory ran after them and attacked them one by one. One of the guards ran and called for backup, but Gregory killed him instantly.

More guards came in with shotguns and high-powered rifles and started firing at him, but the ammunition still had no effect on Gregory as he went all out.

The inmates cowered in their cells in fear after after witnessing Gregory taking out all of the guards in one fell swoop. As he was looking around the prison, Gregory spotted one of the inmates who threw food at him earlier. The inmate looked terrified as Gregory cracked an evil smile at him and approached his cell.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the bastard who threw his lunch at me.” 

The frightened inmate attempted to talk his way out of getting slaughtered.

“Look, man. Ease back, okay. I’m sorry I threw my lunch at you. It was all a joke. It won’t happen again, I swear.”

Gregory walked closer and closer to the cell and as he got there he bent the metal bars. The inmate quickly backed up into a wall trying to beg his way out.

“Please have mercy, man,” the inmate begged while on his knees, “Look, I’ll never mess with you ever again. I’ll do whatever you ask. Just spare me, please.”

Gregory looked at the inmate with an icy stare as he wasn’t tempted by his offer one bit and lifted him by the neck.

“Please. Don’t do this. I’m begging you.” 

“I can do whatever I please. You’re my dinner.”

Gregory tossed the inmate against the wall and as the inmate got up he looked around his cell and grabbed a shank from underneath his mattress and swung it at Gregory.

Gregory kept dodging the shank until the inmate successfully landed a cut on his face. He swung the shank again until Gregory grabbed his arm and easily broke it and the inmate screamed in pain. 

The inmate was lifted from his throat and was tossed towards the bent metal bars. He saw it as an opportunity to escape, but Gregory grabbed him by the leg and dragged him back into the cell.

“Uh uh uh. You’re not going anywhere.” 

“Noooo!” the inmate screamed, “Help me! Somebody!” 

Gregory devoured the inmate and the others were disgusted by what they had saw.

“Now. Who’s next on my menu?” 

At my house I was eating dinner until my cell phone was ringing.

“Hello?” 

“Hey, Condron.” 

“Ugh. What is it, Colin?” 

“I found out some info about ghouls.” 

“Too late for that. Gregory’s already locked up and he’ll be in solitary confinement for the rest of his life.” 

“I wouldn’t be so sure.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Ghouls transform when they see the moon and the prison has windows. So if Gregory lays his eyes on the moon then he’ll transform into a monster and when he transforms he’ll turn the prison into a slaughterhouse and his own all-you-can-eat buffet.” 

“Come on, Colin. You’re just exaggerating.” 

“Turn on the news.” 

I grabbed my remote and turned on the news and I was shocked at what I saw. I saw a news report about a massacre that took place at the prison and that Gregory has escaped.

I dropped my remote as my jaws dropped and my eyes were glued onto the television screen as I couldn’t believe what was happening.

“Condron? Condron, are you there? Hello?”

“He escaped?” I said in my thoughts, “Oh shit! I gotta tell Gretchen about this!”

I hung up my phone and called Gretchen.

“Gretchen! It’s me! We got a problem here!” 

“What is it, Tony? Is something the matter?”

“Yes! Gregory escaped from prison!”

“What?”

I told Gretchen everything I’ve heard from Colin and the news and Gretchen was just as shocked as I was.

“Oh my god. Please tell me that Colin found out a way to defeat him.” 

“Shit! Hold on. I’m about to call him back.” 

I hung up and called Colin back, but there was no answer and his phone went straight to voicemail.

“Dammit!” I said in my thoughts, “My call won’t go through.” 

I sent Colin a voice message and hung up. 

Near the prison, Gregory took the form of the last inmate he devoured and walked towards town and as he was walking a car was behind him and the driver started honking and yelling at him.

“Hey! Move out of the way you idiot!” 

Gregory turned around and angrily looked at the driver.

“What? You got mud in your ears or something? Get out of the road!” 

Gregory ran towards the driver, grabbed him by the throat, and pulled him out of the car and the driver started pleading for his life.

“Hey, man. I’m sorry, okay. Look, just take my wallet, take the car, take whatever you want. Just don’t hurt me, please.”

“I don’t want any of your crap,” Gregory said while crushing the driver’s neck, “I want your flesh.”

Gregory transformed into his monstrous form and the driver screamed as he was being devoured.

Chapter 11

At my house I was pacing back and forth thinking about what to do since Gregory slaughtered and devoured the entire prison before escaping. I was freaking out and was waiting for Colin to call back so I can get more info on ghouls.

In town Gregory was walking around looking for me and Gretchen as he took the form of the driver he devoured and came across a group of people walking down an empty street.

He walked up to them and asked for directions.

“Excuse me, guys. I’m kinda lost here. Can you give me some directions?” 

“Sure,” one woman answered.

“Thank you very much,” Gregory said cracking an evil smile.

At home I couldn’t wait for Colin to call anymore so I went to bed feeling a bit comforted by the fact that Gregory doesn’t know where I live.

The next day I left the house to go to school until I saw another crime scene and this time it involved multiple people as I saw a small crowd watching the crime scene in horror.

I ignored the whole thing and walked to school only to find it temporarily closed due to the murders. I walked to the park and sat on the bench thinking about what to do.

I grabbed my cell phone and called Colin again and this time he answered, but he sounded a little mad.

“Hello?”

“Colin, did you get my message.” 

“Yeah I got your message.”

“Then why didn’t you return my calls?” 

“Because you hung up in my face last night,” Colin responded angrily.

“Sorry. I freaked out and I had to spread the news to Gretchen.” 

“I understand, but don’t ever hang up on me like that again.”

“Fine. I won’t do it again, so do you have any more info on ghouls?” 

“Yeah. I managed to look up more info on them and they say that ghouls can also transform into other people to disguise themselves.”

“What? They can do that too?” 

“Yes and their weakness is their legs.” 

“Their legs?” 

“Yep. If you attack the legs then they will be immobile for a bit.” 

“Are you sure about that?” 

“I’m one hundred percent sure and also one of the other weaknesses is head trauma. If you hit them on the head as hard as possible then they will become disoriented and vulnerable.  Just keep that in mind.”

“All right. Thanks for the info. Call me back if you have any more.”

“Will do.” 

Gretchen came to the park and sat right beside me.

“Hey, Tony. Was that Colin you was talking to on the phone?”

“Yeah.”

“What did he say?” 

“He told me more info about ghouls. He said that they can transform into other people to disguise themselves and that their weakness is their legs and head trauma.”

“Really?” 

“Yes and damaging the legs and the head will be a big advantage for us, but the part about transforming into other humans they eat is a major disadvantage and since Gregory is still on the loose there can be more victims and he can be anybody, so we must not let our guard down.”

“Right.” 

“We need to watch over our shoulders and avoid being ghoul food.”

Gretchen nodded in agreement.

“Well, since school is out for today, what should we do?”

“Wanna come to my house?” 

“Sure. I guess.” 

I followed Gretchen to her house and after we got inside I sat in her living room.

“You want something to eat?” 

“Sure.” 

“All right. Hold on.”
 
This is not the first time I’ve been to Gretchen’s house. Because of her kind-hearted nature, Gretchen always provides me good hospitality despite the fact that I’ve visited her house several times. Even Lindsay has been that hospitable to her when she visits my house.

As I was reading a book, Gretchen came back to the living room and gave me a chicken sandwich. I easily gobbled down the sandwich since it was so good and sometimes I prefer her cooking over Lindsay’s, but don’t get the wrong idea. I like both of their cooking regardless.

“Wow, Tony. You sure are one hungry boy.”

“I can’t help it. I skipped breakfast this morning.”

“How’s Lindsay doing?”  

“She’s doing fine. She’s doing some homeschooling right now.” 

“That’s great.”

“Yeah. At least she’s getting some education. Where are your parents?”

“They’re running errands today, so they’ll be back in a few hours. Come with me to my room.” 

I followed Gretchen to her room.

“So, Tony, do you wanna play a game to kill some time?” 

“Sure. I mean there’s nothing for me to do anyway.” 

“All right. What game do you wanna play?”

“What games do you have?” 

“I have chess, backgammon, mahjong, checkers, solitaire, Uno, and---” 

“I wanna play Uno.” 

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I haven’t played that game in ages.” 

Gretchen took out the Uno cards and started shuffling and dealing them.

While we were playing Gretchen and I were discussing about how I grew familiar with Uno.

“So how long has it been since you last played Uno?” 

“Well, the last time I played Uno was when I was in middle school. Lindsay and I used to play this game at the park all the time.”

“That’s great. Who was the better player?” 

“Lindsay was the better player. I lost most of the games, but somehow I managed to win a few of them.” 

“At least you’ve won against her a few times.” 

“Yeah, but still it’s embarrassing to lose that many games to a girl.” 

“Now, Tony, you shouldn’t be using gender as an excuse. Girls can secure victories over boys too, so you just need to learn how to accept your losses and have fun.” 

“Here you go again hitting it where it hurts. Do you always have to be right?”

“Don’t worry. You’ll understand soon.” 

Gretchen had one card left.

“Uno!” 

“Oh no you don’t.” 

I threw out a “draw two” card.

“Ha! Take that!”

Gretchen drew two cards and I threw down a green 8, but she smiled and threw down a “draw four” wild card and I drew four cards.

“Dammit!” 

“And the color I choose is blue.” 

Gretchen threw down a blue six.

“Uno!”

“Crap!” I said in my thoughts, “This is getting intense. I don’t have any cards left to counter her move and the only option I have left is to draw.” 

I slowly drew a card and I finally drew a wild card and threw it down.

“The color I choose is...yellow.” 

Gretchen threw down her last card and won.

“No! That’s not fair!” 

“Calm down, Tony. It’s just a game. We’re only having fun.” 

“I want a rematch!” 

“Okay.” 

Gretchen shuffled and dealt the cards and we continued playing.

As the second game was coming to end I had one card left. Gretchen threw down a “skip” card and then a red 7. I threw down a blue 7 and seemingly won.

“Ha! I win!” 

“Uh uh uh, Tony. You didn’t call “Uno!” on that last card, so you know what that means, right?” 

“Oh no.” 

“Yep. You have to restart your hand all over again.”

“Dammit!” 

I restarted my hand as Gretchen only had three cards left. Gretchen threw down a “draw two” card and I drew two more cards and she threw down a green 3.

“Uno!” 

“Not so fast!” 

I threw down a “draw four” wild card and chose yellow. Gretchen drew four cards and I threw down a skip, reverse, “draw two”, and a 4.

As the second game rages on I had three cards left while Gretchen had two. I threw out a red 2 and after Gretchen drew a card and threw down a 4 I threw down a green 4 and we both had two cards left. Gretchen drew a card and kept it in her hand and I did the exact same thing.

As Gretchen drew another card she threw down a blue 4 and I threw down a skip, reverse, and I drew another card. Gretchen threw down a yellow reverse and a 9.

“Uno!” 

I countered her move by throwing down a red 9.

“Uno!” 

As we were both down by one card Gretchen drew a card and threw down a “draw four” wild card, picked green, called Uno and as I drew four cards she threw down her last card and won again.

“Not again! Rematch!” 

Gretchen and I played three more games, but unfortunately I lost all three of them.

“One more time!” 

“No, Tony. I think we should stop right here. My parents will be home at any minute.”

“One more game! Just one more!” 

“Fine, but this is the last game.”

Five minutes later I had three cards left and Gretchen had two. I threw down a red 7 and Gretchen threw down a 9.

“Uno!” 

I clenched my teeth as I was thinking of a way to counter her next move. I drew a card and threw down a “draw two” card. Gretchen drew two cards and I drew another card and threw down a red 1. Gretchen drew a card and kept it while I threw down a yellow 1.

“Uno!” 

As I was getting close to victory, Gretchen drew another card and threw down a 6 while I threw down a blue 6 and won the game.

“I won.” I gladly said to myself.

“Yep. You win. Are you satisfied?” 

“Yes! I won! I finally won!

“I’m glad you won, but there’s something I want to show you.” 

Gretchen revealed her hand as it contained enough cards to beat me and after showing me that I realized that she was letting me win the whole time.

“Wait a minute. You were---” 

“Yes, Tony. I was letting you win. I did it because I don’t want you complaining about losing again.”

“I see.” 

“You see. Winning isn’t everything. It’s all about having fun.” 

“Yeah. Sorry for getting all competitive over nothing.” 

“It’s okay as long as we were having fun. I enjoyed your coming over to my house.” 

I gathered my things and was getting ready to head home.

“Thanks for the chicken sandwich and thanks for letting me play Uno with you.” 

“You’re welcome.” 

“See ya later.” 

Chapter 12

I left Gretchen’s house and headed home and after I got back to the house, Lindsay was sitting on the couch looking at me with a scowl look on her face.

“What?” 

“Where have you been? I’ve been looking for you all day.”

“I was at Gretchen’s house.” 

“And what were you doing there?” 

“I was just playing cards, that’s all. What’s up with you today? Weren’t you busy with homeschooling?”  

“I was until my parents had to stop to go to work early. I’ve heard a murder was taking place recently and I was worried that you might have gotten hurt.”

“No, I’m fine. I left to go to school this morning and I got there only to find it closed, so I went to the park, but Gretchen showed up and invited me to her house because I had nothing to do.” 

“Okay. That sounds reasonable. At least you’re not hurt in any way, shape, or form.” 

“I’m going to my room to take a nap. I’ll fix me something to eat later.” 

I went into my room and took a nap. Two hours later I woke up and I went to the kitchen to reheat some leftovers and after I reheated my food I went back into my room and took out my notes to study for the quiz. 

While studying my cell phone was ringing and I answered it and it was Gretchen.

“Hey, Gretchen.” 

“Hi, Tony. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

“No. It’s all good. Is there something you need?”

“No. I’m just calling to check up on you just to see if you’re okay.”

“Oh. I’m fine. I just got up from my nap and started studying for my quiz. What’s going on with you?”

“Nothing. I just got out of the shower and I’m getting ready to watch TV.”

“Okay, so when is the track race?”

“In about five weeks.”

“I hope you’re in top physical shape for the race.”

“I hope so too.”

“Oh and I have something that I want to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“Can you meet me at the park later on?” 

“Sure, why?” 

“Because I have an idea.” 

Three hours later it started getting dark and I went to the park. As I got there Gretchen showed up. Gretchen got a little nervous about being out in the dark because despite the park being well-lit nobody is around to witness what’s going to take place.

“Well, Tony, we’re here. What’s your idea this time?” 

“I’m gonna draw Gregory out.” 

“What? Are you insane? He almost killed us last time and now you want to fight him again?”

“Yes. I can’t have him terrorizing this town anymore, so we might as well have to do this before this whole place turns into his own all-you-can-eat buffet.” 

“I understand that, but...” 

“Listen to me, Gretchen. Like it or not this is our only chance to defeat him. We almost defeated him last time, but this time it’s gonna be different. We will beat him one way or the other.”

“Yes, but due to the amount of victims he devoured he has probably grown even stronger and he can take the form of anyone and even my powers and your powers won’t stand a chance against him.”

“Do you trust me, Gretchen?” 

“What does that have to do with---” 

“I said do you trust me?” 

“Yes. I trust you with my life.” 

“Then listen to what I’m saying and have faith in me. I know what I’m doing and I promise you that my idea is gonna work. We only got one shot at this so let’s make it count.” 

“Okay. We have no other option, so let’s give it our all.”

Meanwhile in town, Gregory continued wandering around in search of me and Gretchen as he took the form of one of his recent victims from last night and he was closing in on our location and when he reached the park he finally saw his chance. Gretchen and I heard him coming.

“Someone’s coming. I’ll hide and you stay put. Got it?” 

Gretchen nodded reluctantly.

“I hope you know what you’re doing, Tony,” she said in her thoughts, “I place all my faith in you.”

“I hope this isn’t the wrong person,” I said in my thoughts, “If that’s the case then we’re screwed.”  

A middle-aged man came to the park and spotted Gretchen all alone and when he walked towards her, Gretchen grew even more nervous.

“Excuse me, young lady.” 

“Umm...Can I help you, sir?” 

“Yes. I’m kinda lost here. I’ve got somewhere I want to be and I was wondering if you could give me directions.” 

“Sure. Where do you need to be?” 

“I have to go to a store to get something to eat.” 

“Oh, the store is just around the corner.” 

“Okay. Thanks young lady.”

As Gregory walked past Gretchen, he smiled as he was waiting for her to lower her guard.

“That’s it, angel girl,” he said in his thoughts, “once you drop your guard then you will end up becoming dinner.” 

When Gretchen turned her attention away from him, that’s when Gregory saw his chance to attack and that’s when I jumped out and attacked him, but he dodged my attack.

“Look what we have here,” Gregory laughed, “Ol’ zombie boy is back to play hero again.”

“Shut it, Gregory. We almost beat you last time, but this time it’s gonna be different.” 

“It’s gonna be different all right. It’s gonna end in your deaths.” 

Gregory transformed into his monstrous form and this time his body has gotten bigger and stronger than ever.

“What the?” 

“What’s the matter zombie boy? Are you surprised of my newfound power?”

“No way,” Gretchen said in her thoughts, “I’ve never seen so much power from an apparition like this before.”   

“If you’re wondering how I got like this then it’s simple. During my trip to the buffet called ‘prison’ I’ve ate and slaughtered as many victims as possible and now that I’ve gotten out I had me a little dessert like the people I devoured in the streets and now I’m stronger than ever.” 

“I get it now. All this time you got yourself arrested on purpose just to have all those inmates and guards end up on your menu.”

“Ding ding ding! That’s right, Mr. Detective. I’m gonna give you a prize and trust me it’s to ‘die’ for.”  

“You fiend!” I grumbled while balling my fists, “I’m gonna finish you off once and for all! Now, Gretchen!” 

Gretchen channeled her angelic powers and her eyes glowed as well as my pendant.

“Again with the glowing eyes and necklace?” Gregory laughed, “It’s gonna take a lot more than that to stop me now.” 

“We’ll see about that.” 

Gregory disappeared and reappeared behind me and I blocked his punch and his kick as I found out that he was going to pull that same trick on me again.

“Nice try, Gregory. I fell for that dirty trick last time and I’m not going to fall for it again.” 

“Hmph. Not bad. Let’s see if you can handle this.” 

Gregory charged at me and started throwing a barrage of punches and kicks, but I blocked and dodged every one of them, but every time I block his attacks they actually feel more powerful than last time.” 

“I’m impressed,” Gregory said sarcastically, “but you’re not gonna beat me just by blocking and dodging my attacks.”

Gregory delivered another blow to me, but after I blocked it he gave me a kick to the gut and I was sent flying through a tree.

“Tony!” Gretchen yelled worriedly.

“Come on zombie boy. Get up. You can do better than that.” 

As I got up I lifted a tree and started swinging it at Gregory, but he kept dodging it and when I swung it again he punched it and broke it in two.

I grabbed another tree and tossed it at Gregory, but he punched it and it gave me an opening as I appeared from behind the tree and punched him in the face, but it had no effect on him at all. Gregory gave me an evil smile and threw another barrage of kicks and punches at me until I was left on the ground bloodied and beaten.

“Dammit!” I said in my thoughts, “This guy is too strong. No matter what I throw at him he overpowers me. There’s gotta be a way I can stop him. Wait a minute. Colin told me that the weak spot is the legs, but how can I go for the legs if he’s this powerful? I have to improvise.” 

“Is that all you got? I thought things might get a little more fun, but I guess that power boost from your little friend isn’t helping me work up a sweat. Now to finish what I started.” 

Gregory turned his attention to Gretchen and was about to attack her. He ran towards her, but Gretchen deployed a shield.

“That won’t work on me this time!” Gregory yelled while punching through the shield.

Gretchen’s shield disintegrated and she fell to the ground as Gregory was closing in on her until I ran to him and was about to go after his legs, but he sensed me and dodged me.

“Ah. I see that you still got some fight left in you.” 

“Cut the crap you son of a bitch. Even though you’re stronger than me I still won’t back down from the likes of you.” 

“Here you are still trying to act tough. Look at you. You look like you’re gonna die at any minute. I gave you a chance to stay down, but since you got back up it looks like I have no other choice but to kill you.”

Gregory immediately ran towards me and as he got closer I moved, grabbed a tree stump, and tossed it at his legs. The stump successfully struck Gregory in one of his legs as he knelt down in pain.

“Bullseye!” I said in my thoughts.

“Ahh!” Gregory yelled in pain, “My leg!” 

Gregory slowly got up as he was trying to ignore the pain in his leg.

“Lucky shot, boy. But it’s gonna take a lot more than this little leg injury to stop me.”

“That would be the least of your worries because I know your weaknesses and I’m just getting started.”

“What?” Gregory asked in surprise.

I ran towards Gregory and started giving him endless punches and kicks and I punched him to the ground with my last punch.

After I landed my last blow I walked over to Gretchen and was preparing to go home until Gregory started laughing and slowly got up and as I turned around I looked in shock and so was Gretchen.

“But…how?” I asked in shock.

“Foolish boy. Did you really think that my legs were my weak spots? I don’t know what idiotic dipshit told you that lie, but too bad that you’re gonna have to pay with your life. Though I have to admit you almost had me that time. I’ll give you credit for that.”

“It can’t be,” I said in my thoughts, “I thought that if I took out his legs then he would be immobile, but he’s still standing.”

Gregory cracked a smile, came at Gretchen, and before he got a chance to attack her, she deployed her barrier, but Gregory punched through the barrier as he knocked her through a tree.

“Gretchen!” I yelled worriedly, “You leave her alone you bastard!”

I charged at Gregory, but he punched me in the midsection and started swinging his claws and fists at me as I was being beaten to a bloody pulp. My body was getting covered in bruises and claw marks and I was losing a lot of blood. I was at my limit as I was unable to defend myself. Gregory walked up to me and grabbed me by my throat while Gretchen gasped in horror.

“This is it for you zombie boy. Say good night.”

Before Gregory was about to give me the final blow I dug into my pocket and felt something pointy and that pointy object turned out to be a pencil.

“I wouldn’t count on it.” 

“Huh?” 

I took out the pencil from my pocket and stabbed Gregory in the eye. He released me while he was holding his eye screaming in pain until my cell phone started ringing unexpectedly and it was Colin.

“What is it, Colin? I’m in the middle of a fight here.” 

“Condron, I have one last piece of information that I need to tell you. The alternative way to kill a ghoul is by decapitation.” 

“Thanks.” 

“What did Colin say?” Gretchen asked while running to me. 

“He said that the only way to kill a ghoul is by decaptation, but I don’t have a blade. Wait a minute, I got an idea.”

While Gregory was still writhing in pain I ripped some bark from a few trees. Because of my strength I can toss them hard like razored frisbees and that will decapitate him, but I only have a few shots to I have to make them count.

“Tony,” Gretchen said worriedly, “what are you doing?”

“Ripping the bark from the trees so I can use them to decapitate Gregory.”

“No, you can’t. You’re hurt and you’re already at your limit.”

“I know, but we have to beat this bastard before he kills and devours more innocent people. We have no other choice so we have to find a way to beat him one way or another.”

Gregory eventually stopped writhing in pain and he was beyond pissed.

“You bastard!” he yelled, “You’ve done it now! You and your friend are as good as dead! I will rip both of you to tiny pieces!”

As Gregory ran towards me I jumped out of the way and it gave me a chance to toss one of the tree barks. After I tossed the tree bark, Gregory moved out of the way. I tossed two more at him, but he punched both of them away. I was down to two tree barks and I had to devise another plan before I’m dead meat.

“Gretchen!” I yelled, “Distract him!”

Gretchen nodded in agreement.

As Gregory was chasing me, Gretchen was looking for something useful until she found a medium-sized rock and tossed it at Gregory’s head. The impact from the rock was so big that Gregory briefly held his head and as he turned to Gretchen he got more enraged and ran after her.

Gregory swung at Gretchen, but she leaped over him and quickly placed her hand on his back letting out a painful shockwave through his spine, but it barely had any effect on him. While Gregory had his back turned I tossed another tree bark at him, but he caught it with his bare hand and crushed it like it was nothing and now I am down to the last one and I have to wait for the perfect time to use it because if I miss then it’ll be all over.

Gregory ran into the woods as Gretchen and I were left confused about what he’s planning to do next.

“He ran into the woods?” I asked in confusion, “What the hell is he planning?”

“I don’t know, but I hope he’s not heading for town.”

“I hope not, but let’s get him before he does.”

“Wait,” Gretchen said grabbing my arm, “If you follow him now you might get lured into a trap. We must be cautious.”

“Right.”

Before Gretchen and I went inside the woods I gave her the last piece of tree bark just in case and we started looking for Gregory, but halfway through the search there was no sign of him anywhere.

“Dammit,” I said impatiently, “How are we gonna find him? There’s so many trees here that he could be hiding behind one of them.” 

“Maybe so, but we shouldn’t let our guard down. Not even for a second.” 

After all the searching I had no other choice but to knock down some of the trees and as I knocked down two of them, Gregory jumped out from behind a tree near me and punched me so hard that I was sent flying across the woods and into the trunk of a tree.

“Tony!” Gretchen yelled worriedly.

The impact of my back hitting the tree was so intense that my spine almost split in two.

“Well whaddaya know,” Gregory laughed, “I just took this little trick out of your playbook. How does it feel getting the taste of your own medicine zombie boy?”

After Gregory was talking trash I was on the ground writhing in pain, but he lifted me and slammed me to the ground as Gretchen gasped and covered her mouth in horror.

As I was being pummeled, Gretchen had to think fast before Gregory turns me into a ground clump of meat.

“What do I do? What do I do?” she frantically thought to herself, “Think, Gretchen. What would Tony do if he saw someone in trouble?”

An idea soon popped into Gretchen’s head.

“Hey, you monstrous bastard!”

Gregory slowly turned around and angrily looked at Gretchen.

“What did you call me?” 

“You heard me, you monstrous bastard.”

“I’d watch my mouth if I were you unless you wanna end up like zombie boy over here.”

Gretchen looked terrified as Gregory looked at her and started intimidating her, but Gretchen had to keep her cool and act tough to get him away from me.

“Go ahead you ugly freak. Do your worst!”

“That’s it! I’ve had enough of you!”  

Gregory approached her and I was barely conscious as I saw Gretchen putting herself in harm’s way just to protect me, but I got worried as Gregory will tear her to pieces.

“Gret...chen. No.”

I finally lost consciousness and Gretchen was the only one left standing and it was all up to her to face Gregory.

“I’m sorry, Tony,” she said in her thoughts, “but I’m going to risk my life facing this monster not just for your sake, but for the sake of humanity.”

Gregory slowly raised his fist, cracked an evil smile, and immediately swung at Gretchen, but she jumped out of the way just in the nick of time.

“That’s it little girl,” Gregory said taunting her, “keep on running and dodging. That’s all you’ll ever do before I’m done with you.”

Gretchen grabbed a rock and tossed it at Gregory, but Gregory caught it and laughed.

“Is that really all you got? Even zombie boy can put up a better fight than this, but now that he’s been put out of his misery I’ll make this quick and devour you right now.”

Gretchen used her telekinesis and lifted some rocks and trees.

“Oooh,” Gregory said sarcastically, “Looks like you’re showing yet another magic trick. I can’t wait to see how this turns out.” 

Gretchen gritted her teeth and grunted in anger after being fed up with Gregory’s taunting. She used her telekinesis and started hurling rocks and trees at him.

“I may be a low-level angel,” Gretchen said in her thoughts, “but my faith in Tony is so strong that I will do whatever it takes to protect him.”

After hurling so many rocks and trees, Gretchen grew exhausted and fell on her knees. Unfortunately for her, Gregory emerged from the pile of trees and rocks unscathed and brushed off the dirt from his chest.

“You finished?” 

“No. It can’t be...” 

“Now it’s my turn.”

Gregory lunged at Gretchen and as he was about to punch her, Gretchen deployed a barrier, but it was ineffective as Gregory easily punched through it and gave her a hard hit to the face. He also gave Gretchen a kick to the abdomen and she fell to the ground in pain.

“Tony,” she groaned.

“Aww, you want zombie boy? Well I’ll do you a favor and let you join him.” 

Gregory’s teeth got bigger as he was about to eat Gretchen and as was about to take a bite out of her, Gretchen tightly closed her eyes preparing for the worst until...

“Huh?” she said in confusion, “I didn’t get eaten?”

As Gretchen turned around she was a bit startled at the sight of Gregory’s decapitated head on the ground.

“He’s been decapitated?” Gretchen asked in her thoughts, “But how? What just happened?”

“Don’t ever mess with my friend, you bastard,” I said in my weak voice.

“Tony,” Gretchen said in a surprised tone.

Gretchen ran to me and started using her healing powers on me.

“How did you decapitate him while you were in your weakened state?” she asked.

“Well, I was unconscious for a period of time, but when I came to I saw Gregory getting ready to devour you, but luckily the last tree bark I had was right beside me, so I mustered enough strength to toss it and decapitate him.” 

“The last tree bark?” Gretchen asked in confusion, “You mean the one you gave me? But how did it end up right beside you?”

Gretchen had to think about what happened that made the last tree bark appear right beside me and it eventually came to her.

“Wait a minute,” she said, “When I dodged Gregory the first time the bark fell from my hands and it slid over to you.”

“Yep. Talk about a stroke of luck.” 

“No! No! No! Nooooo!” Gregory yelled, “How could this happen? That girl was mine! This was supposed to be my victory!” 

I got up and grabbed a huge chunk of rock from the ground and walked over to Gregory’s head.

“Wait,” Gretchen said, “I’m not finished healing you yet.”

“I know, but I still have enough strength to do one last thing to get rid of this jackass once and for all.” 

“Damn you zombie half-breed! I’m gonna make you pay for this!”

“Listen here you son of a bitch,” I said stepping on his head, “I may be part zombie, but I’m still human and I have a heart and unlike you you’re just a monster who hides in human shells. Scum like you don’t deserve to live. I hope you rot in Hell.”

I slammed the rock on Gregory’s head turning it into mush and the whole ordeal was finally over.

I fell to the ground until Gretchen caught me and carried me home.

“You did great, Tony,” she said in her thoughts, “now it’s time for you to rest.”

As Gretchen and I made it to the house, she took the key from underneath the doormat and unlocked the door and after getting inside she carried my battered body in my room and laid me down then she proceeded to heal my wounds. Gretchen unexpectedly gave me a kiss on my forehead before leaving.

Chapter 13

The next morning I woke up getting ready for school and I realized that I was underneath someone’s blanket and I still had on my dirty and bloody clothes from the fight with Gregory last night, but when I looked in the mirror I saw that my body was healed from head to toe. As I was getting ready I found a note on my dresser and it reads:

Dear Tony,

	Last night you were unconscious again so I had to carry you home. The door was locked but luckily you had your key hidden underneath the doormat, so I carried you to your room and laid you down on your bed. Before I left I healed your wounds and bestowed a kiss on your forehead as a thank you for saving me. Can’t wait to see you at school today.

Love,
Gretchen

P.S. Your body was so bloody that I took the bedspread off your bed and I lent you my blanket so don’t forget to return it.

After reading that letter I was surprised and touched at the same time as I touched the center of my forehead where Gretchen kissed it. I looked at the clock and realized that school is about to start in half an hour. I rushed over to the bathroom and took a shower, brushed my teeth, and put on my uniform and after I left the house I made it to school. As first period ended I was in the hallway getting some supplies from my locker until Gretchen walked up to me.

“Hi, Tony,” she said gleefully.

“Oh hey, Gretchen.” 

“So did you get my note?”

“Yeah.” 

“How was it?”

“It was sweet, though the part about kissing me in the forehead seems a bit unexpected.”

“I know, but that was just a little thank you kiss. Oh I almost forgot. Did you bring my blanket?”

“Sure did.” 

I took Gretchen’s blanket and showed it to her.

“Great. Give it to me after school, okay.” 

“All right. Will do.”

Gretchen and I headed over to our classes, but before I went to my class I turned around and looked at Gretchen while clasping my pendant as I reminded myself that even though I’m partially an apparition I can still live a normal life and have friends because I am what I am...human.

Epilogue

Two days later it was time for the big quiz to start and I was preparing myself as I did a lot of studying. I went inside my classroom feeling confident and the quiz was about to start and after class was over I was getting my stuff together for next period until Gretchen came up to me.

“Wow. You look like you’re in a great mood. How was the quiz?”

I took out my quiz and proudly showed it to Gretchen.

“Read ‘em and weep.” 

“A perfect score? You sure are off to a great start in your junior year. I’m proud of you.”

As I was talking to Gretchen, Bruce came down the hallway with a smug look on his face.

“What’s this? Looks like Phony Tony is having a romantic moment with his little ladyfriend.

“What do you want Bruce?”

“I’m just here to remind you about our little fight you proposed at the mall.”

“Oh yeah. That. I’ve been wanting to beat the crap out of you for a long, long time ever since you made me look like a fool.”

Bruce took the quiz out of my hand and started to taunt me once more.

“Well, brainiac I’ll be looking forward to you doing that if you can try to lay a finger on me before I do this to you...”

Bruce ripped my quiz to shreds and walked off laughing.

“That no-good son of a bitch,” I said angrily.

As school ended I was preparing for my fight with Bruce.

“Tony,” Gretchen said approaching me, “If you’re going to proceed with this fight then I’ll have no other choice but to support you.”

“Thanks. I really appreciate it. Now to kick Bruce’s ass.”

“Wait.” 

“What is it, Gretchen?”

“Just remember you’re fighting Bruce, not Gregory so use your own strength and do not rely on your zombie powers.” 

“Got it. I was training just for this occasion.” 

Gretchen and I went outside onto the football field where the fight between me and Bruce was being held and the field was loaded with students. As I was walking to the center of the field, Bruce was waiting for me with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face.

“Glad you can make it, Phony Tony and I see you brought your popular ladyfriend to be your little cheerleader.”

“Say all the shit you want Bruce, but I’m gonna end this once and for all so you better get ready.”

“All right, tough guy. Bring it on.”

I took off my pendant and gave it to Gretchen and she walked over to the side of the field while one of the students was getting ready to signal for the fight to start. While the fight was about to begin I was preparing myself as Bruce was cracking his knuckles.

“And begin!” the student yelled.

Instead of running up to Bruce I walked towards him and the audience murmured.

“What the hell is he doing?” One student asked.

“Probably wants his ass kicked again,” another student laughed.

“He’s walking up to him?” Gretchen asked in her thoughts, “Just what is Tony planning?” 

“What the hell?” Bruce said in confusion, “Hey why are you walking up to me, huh? Looks like you want some more ass whooping.”

“Can it, Bruce. If you’re expecting me to run toward you like a madman bent on revenge then you are dead wrong. I can see through you and I’m not stupid so you and all these people can drop this little act.” 

Bruce was getting a little irritated by what I was saying.

“Face it you’re just acting all big and bad because you’re just insecure and it’s just a facade to hide what you really are...a coward.” 

The crowd gasped at what I said.

“He is so dead,” One student murmured.

“What did you just say to me?” Bruce said in anger.

“You heard me. Coward.” 

“That’s it! You’re a dead man!”

Bruce swung at me, but I dodged his punch and he continued trying to punch me until I stopped his fist and punched him in the gut.

“Why you bastard!!!” 

Bruce got back up and kept swinging at me again, but I kept dodging him and gave him a big punch to the face. Bruce recovered from it almost immediately and continued throwing punches and kicks towards me, but I grabbed his arm and tossed him and it left him out cold and the audience stunned.

Realizing that the fight was over Gretchen and I left the football field as the other students looked at Bruce in shock and disgust.

“I can’t believe Bruce lost,” a student said.

“Yeah,” another student said, “that was the most boring fight I’ve ever seen. Let’s go home.”

As Bruce came to he was confused as he saw the students leaving the football field.

“Hey! Where are you guys going?” 

“We’re going home.”

“We thought you were big and tough, but just like Tony said you’re just an insecure coward. We were fools to look up to someone like you.”

After the students left, Bruce pounded the ground in anger.

“Damn you Condron! Just you wait! The next time I see you I am gonna make you pay!”

The next day the fight became the talk of the entire school as a lot of students were talking about it.

After I went to class Bruce and I were called up to the principal’s office and the principal asked us what happened in the fight and what led up to it. Bruce and I explained our sides of the story and we got sent back to our classes.

After class was over Gretchen asked me about what happened at the principal’s office.

“So what happened at the principal’s office?”

“Well the principal asked me and Bruce a bunch of questions about the fight and what led up to it and we both explained our sides of the story until the principal believed my side of the story more than Bruce’s side of the story.” 

“Okay and what happened after that?”

“Bruce ended up getting suspended and I only got off with a week of detention.”

“Sorry about that, but on the bright side you didn’t get suspended and Bruce won’t be messing with you for a while.”

“Yeah you’re right. At least Bruce is out of my hair and I can handle a week of detention. I’ll take detention over suspension and expulsion any day.”

The warning bell rang and Gretchen and I went straight to class. Even though I was given a week of detention I was glad that Bruce won’t be around to bother me for a long time and I can finally live a normal school life with seemingly no trouble at all.