StarFall (Completed)

Ch. 11 (part 2)

The old man sat at the head of the table, in between Madison and Bobby. Bobby wolfed down his weird, green eggs, and Madison poked at hers with her wooden fork.

"What's this, breakfast with Dr. Seuss?" She made a disgusted face as she sipped her tea. "Mm, at least the tea's good." She took a longer sip.

"I'm glad you like it." The old man smiled, his eyes closed tight. "It's fresh as can be. I drained the Funnel cat last night."

Madison stopped. "Drained?" She looked in her cup.

"Yes. That's the only way to get the juices out. Gotta give it a nice good tug." He motioned with his hands.

Madison looked as if she would heave chunks right there. Unfortunately she did not.

"I don't deserve this," she groaned, her head dropped onto the table, and she rested it against her crossed arms as she continued to mumble to herself.

"Oh, what did these eggs come from then?" Miller said excitedly.

"Chickens." 

"Like, magical chickens?"

The old man's nose wrinkled up. "Magical chickens?" He looked to me. "Is he alright in the head?"

I couldn't help but laugh.

Miller hung his head low as his excitement faded. "Are they at least green?"

The old man chuckled. "Heavens, no. They are ordinary chickens. Red fur, four legs, two heads, leathery wings." He smiled.

Miller's head shot back up as he looked over at me, and smiled.

"Calm down, Miller," I laughed.

"I don't care what laid these eggs, they're great." Bobby took in another bite.

"I'm glad you like them, though it's no surprise. Lazows do love chickens."

Bobby stopped stuffing his face. "Lazows?"

"Yes, those lizard-things the young lady over here mentioned." He motioned to the still groaning Madison.

"The lizard-wolf," I said.

"Lizard-wolf?" He smiled. "How quaint."

"What do you know about them, sir?" Miller asked, his hands still clung tight to the old book before him. 

"Hmm, let's see." He stroked his beard. "Lazows are hostile creatures. They're very rash, impulsive. They aren't known for thinking things through ahead of time."

I glanced over at Bobby. Was the old man describing a lizard-wolf, or him?

Bobby caught me staring. "What's that look for, Summers?"

"Nothing, nothing at all." I couldn't help but grin.

The old man's face turned stern. "I'm afraid this is no laughing matter, young ones." He turned to Bobby. "It killed you, correct?"

"Well, I mean...clearly it didn't. I'm still here, right?"

The old man narrowed his eyes on Bobby, still stroking his beard. "Yes. Unfortunately, you are."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Bobby's tone grew louder.

He turned to me. "Polite one, was it you who killed the chief Lazow?"

"The chief? You mean that big one?"

He stopped stroking his beard. "I see. So it was you." He turned back to Bobby. "And it pierced your heart?" He pulled at Bobby's shirt.

"Hey, hands off, gramps."

The old man pulled away. "The wound is gone. This is not good, it has already begun."

Bobby's eyebrows were raised, a look of fear grew steady on his face. "Begun? What are you talking about?"

The old man sighed. "When a chief Lazow is killed, the very last person killed by it becomes the new chief."

The table was left silent. Madison didn't seem to care enough to look up, Miller was hiding his enthusiasm, and I didn't know what to think. We were all aware of what the old man meant.

Bobby's fear worsened as he sat silent. "Old man...are you saying what I think you're saying?" He lowered his head.

The old man nodded. "Indeed. You will soon become a Lazow. Though I have no idea how long it will take. Could be tomorrow, could be next week. There's no telling."

Bobby gripped the table hard. "I see." His words were soft, and distant. He rose from the table and walked out of the tree-house.

Madison raised her head. "What's going on now?"

"Bobby, wait," I said as I ran after him.

I ran after Bobby Ferrari, why? Why would I do such a thing. What is wrong with me?

Bobby stood at the edge of the wooden platform outside the tree-house. 

I approached him slowly. "Hey."

He didn't turn around. "What do you want, Summers? Came to rub it in?"

"What?"

"Sure. Big bad Bobby's the big bad wolf." His words were strained as he dared not turn around.

I inched my way closer to the edge. "Bobby, I...I don't know what to say. You're right. I don't like you. In fact, being this close to you makes my skin crawl."

He shrugged. "Wow, thanks. I feel so much better now." He said flatly.

I groaned. "Let me finish. I'm not a fan of yours anymore, Bobby Ferrari, but I know what it's like to be cursed. I know what going through this unbelievable change can feel like. And as much as it pains me to say this...I'm willing to be the bigger person here, so if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm--"

"Summers?" Bobby turned to face me, just in time to watch me fall off the edge of the platform. "Summers," he screamed out. "Help, somebody, help."

I watched as Miller, Madison, and Bobby gathered around the edge where I once stood. My vision became blurry as I fell faster to the ever-closer ground. I felt the wind rush past, and over me, my body grew weak, and limp. I looked up at the beautiful sky overhead before my eyes slowly closed, and everything faded to black.

𝔗𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔨 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔱𝔬 𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯𝔶𝔬𝔫𝔢 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔡𝔦𝔫𝔤 𝔱𝔬 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔢𝔫𝔡 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯! ℑ𝔣 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔢𝔫𝔧𝔬𝔶𝔢𝔡 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔰 𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔫 𝔭𝔩𝔢𝔞𝔰𝔢 𝔳𝔬𝔱𝔢 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔰𝔥𝔞𝔯𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔱𝔬𝔯𝔶 𝔴𝔦𝔱𝔥 𝔬𝔱𝔥𝔢𝔯𝔰! ℑ'𝔡 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔶 𝔞𝔭𝔭𝔯𝔢𝔠𝔦𝔞𝔱𝔢 𝔦𝔱. 𝔄𝔫𝔡 𝔣𝔢𝔢𝔩 𝔣𝔯𝔢𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔪𝔢𝔫𝔱 𝔞𝔰 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔡 𝔬𝔯 𝔴𝔥𝔢𝔫 𝔶𝔬𝔲'𝔳𝔢 𝔣𝔦𝔫𝔦𝔰𝔥𝔢𝔡 𝔞 𝔭𝔞𝔯𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔱𝔬𝔯𝔶. 𝔇𝔬𝔫'𝔱 𝔟𝔢 𝔰𝔥𝔶! 𝔗𝔥𝔞𝔫𝔨 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔞𝔤𝔞𝔦𝔫, 𝔞𝔫𝔡 ℑ 𝔥𝔬𝔭𝔢 𝔶𝔬𝔲 𝔠𝔬𝔪𝔢 𝔟𝔞𝔠𝔨 𝔣𝔬𝔯 𝔪𝔬𝔯𝔢!