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Basehor, Kansas
2018, AD
6:20 pm
Family was something heavily valued by the Ivar family. If one suffered all suffered. Somedays the family thought they were connected in more ways than just blood. Aaron thought that his Nana was insane when she spoke of such things. The only thing he thought connected his family to each other was their blood. His sister, Aline, shared similar beliefs. Bonded by blood. Nothing else.
In the womb, and out of it, Aaron had provided and sheltered his twin when others worried that he would rival her. It often occurred that Aline would speak out against her brother. Especially in more recent times. Aline thought her pain would be taken easier by her twin if they no longer showed love for one another. Her withdrawal from him started to make his family's beliefs more evident in his actions. He reached out to her and offered his hand to the dying girl. She rarely greeted his hands with warmth because she could only see the dark.
As much as she wanted to distance herself it was hard. She cared for no one as much as she cared for Aaron. But since her diagnosis, she didn't see herself as a person. She saw herself as a problem. If she could fix herself she would. But she couldn't and so she asked for the two of them to have separate rooms. Her parents obliged. She asked to have her classes switched so she wouldn't be with him. The teachers obliged. Everyone did what she wanted them to. A dark part of her heart loved it. But she didn't like being treated like glass.
"Aline?" Aaron asked after knocking on her door.
"What?" She replied from her bed in a cold tone.
"I just wanted to let you know that I'm home. Did you find Teddy?"
"As if you care, " Aline scoffed as she opened the door and walked past him toward the bathroom. Aaron followed from behind her.
"I said I'm sorry. A stupid fish wasn't going to help your situation, Al!" He said jogging in front of her and spreading his arms so she couldn't pass. If she wouldn't willingly talk he'd make her. Aline's heart wanted to risk not being stubborn and forgive him. Her head knew that was a risk she wasn't willing to take.
"I don't need to hear your excuses," She said and moved forward, ducking under his arms. Aaron didn't try to stop her this time. He knew that she needed time.
Aaron's stomach growled and he turned back toward the kitchen to find himself a snack. He craved meat more than anything and hoped for leftovers from his father's Thanksgiving barbecue. His mouth watered at the thought of barbecue. For him this was unusual, he never liked eating large amounts of meat, he decided not to dwell on it. Everything seemed unusual today.
Finding the meat was easy. The meat's odor was the most potent thing in the fridge. Aaron didn't bother too find a plate or warm the meat up. The burning desire in his body could only be silenced by the taste of animal meat.
Bite after bite sweat started to trickle down each part of his body. The more animal he ate the more sweat his body produced. Aaron knew that he seemed to resemble a ravenous animal. He didn't care. As he continued to eat, saliva dripping down his face, a vein right above his left eye began to swell the skin on his forehead. He stared down the last piece of meat and devoured it in one bite. His teeth gnawed through the thin strip of meat and pierced his tongue. The metallic taste of blood made itself present.
"Shit," he swore with a mixture of meat and blood muffling his sound. Aaron quickly swallowed the barbecue and jolted to the bathroom door. He tried to open it, but the door wouldn't budge. "Aline!" He hammered his fists against the door.
"Leave me alone!" She yelled from inside the house's only bathroom.
"It's an emergency!" He paced outside the door growing irrationally irritated. Aline opened the door. Aaron ran in, slammed the door in her face, and turned the lock.
He looked in the mirror staring back at another version of himself. His canine teeth were sharper than knives, covered in blood. His blood. Aaron's hands trembled as he held a towel under the sink's water and then he brought it up to his mouth to stop the bleeding.
The feeling of tiny needles poking his skin from within his body. He screamed wishing for the affliction to go away. His ears drowned out all sound of Aline's worry and pounded one thought into his head with every heartbeat.
Outside.
Outside.
Outside.
Outside.
He rushed out of the bathroom in a flash. He ran and ran until his body became a creature unfamiliar to anything he had seen or experienced in his life.
