Love Laced with Venom

Prologue

I noticed my Transformation. I noticed how I got faster, stronger, overall different. And it scared me, it scared my friends. No one knew what was wrong with me. Not even I did.

My name- my human name- is Gordon. I had been your average floater. I mixed in with the crowd, I didn't sit with a particular group or socialize with anyone in particular. I just floated around, friends with which ever group I felt like. Even the populars, or the jocks, or the nerds. However, I never stood out through popularity or shame or brains. And that, I didn't mind. I had a little sister by the name of Cassidy and a normal pair of loving parents. Everything was... Fine. Not too bad nor too perfect. I was right in the middle. But I guess that wasn't interesting enough.

THE TRANSFORMATION

"Gordo, gosh, you look awful, man. You aiight?" Sterling, an ash-blonde jock had asked as I swayed back and forth in the group, prepared to faint. "Damn, man. What the fuh-" He paused as my legs suddenly gave way and I collapsed to the floor in a heap. "Call the freakin' nurse, you morons!" He ordered to the rest of his football friends. I could feel Sterling gripping me tightly by my shoulders and lifting me to my feet. I pressed most of my weight onto him as he graciously accepted it. Clearly I looked bad. But it couln't possibly compare to how I felt. My stomach was wrenching itself within me, twisting in agony. My heart beat too hard against my chest and my throat felt too dry for me to even swallow. I threw my head back, unable to bear the pain. "Gordo? Gordo? Gordo!" At first, the sweaty footballer had been requesting my counsciousness but suddenly his voice was so loud and demanding that it echoed through my ears. My eyes fluttered closed and I was out.

I had awoken to the sound of Sterling's babbling panic. "Shit, Nurse, his eyes were weird! They were like blood-shot red! I swore he was gonna die on me! I mean, we can't lose him, he's a good guy, Nurse. I- I don't know what happened! One second he was laughin' and jokin' with these guys and suddenly, he's all pale and sweaty and clearly dizzy and I mean, I- I didn't know what to do, ya know? I'm no nuse, Nurse so like, all I'm good for is my damn good body and ass kicking football skills." The nurse ignored his habbit of curse words, seemingly hanging onto one single, out-standing phrase. I couldn't balme her. It was the same phrase I had been re-playing over and over again in my head.

"You said his eyes were red?" She pressed.

"Yeah, yeah. And not like no other kinda red I've ever seen!" Sterling responded, lacking respect. Nurse Claymore whipped around, probably expecting an unconscious boy because she jumped with a light screech when our eyes made four.

"Holy Mary, birth giver of Jesus! How long have you been tuned in, child?" She asked. But before I could even answer, Sterling pushed Claymore aside and ran toward me.

"Shit man! Don't even mess with me like that! Can't have no dead body in my hands. Chicks don't dig that. Don't you dare do that again!" He exploded.

"Man, chill. And watch the language." I warned and looked past him to meet Claymore's gaze again. She shook her head slowly and pulled out her flashlight.

The nurse approached me, pushing Sterling aside, a hint of revenge in her actions. She shone the light brightly into my eyes. "Sterling, you should leave." She ordered. He hadn't bothered to argue with her. The tall senior exited the room with haste. Claymore didn't waste time with hesitations. She pulled up a chair right next to my bed. "Son, are you doing drugs?" She questioned softly. At first I had been taken aback by her words but then, understanding began to sink in. I took into consideration the situation and simply shook my head in honest response. "Now... Gordo?" She was clealry uncertain of my name.

"Gordon." I corrected.

She nodded her head and gazed down at her hands. "Gordon, I can't force you to tell me the truth but it might save your life if you do. Are you taking drugs, Gordon?" She repeated, sounding a bit more stern but still quite harmless and gentle. I shook my head again and she let out a deep sigh at my response. "Now, Gordon. Your- friend- seemed to be very convinced that your eyes were blood-shot and several of the teenagers at this school, lately, have been having your symptoms and we realize that they are drug abusers. I'm afraid that the only way to keep you truly safe is by a urinary sample test." I knew I had tensed up at the sound of that but only because it would involve my parents and, until the results, they'd give me harsh accussations. But she hadn't consider this as the source of my change in attitude. "Is there any reason as to why we shouldn't, Gordon?"

At that point, I stood up from the nurse's bed I had just realized I was on and moved past her, heading towards the door. "Whatever you wanna do, Nurse Claymore. I have nothing to hide." I stated, pausing at the door to speak. "Now, you have a good day." I pushed the door open and greeted the busy halls of BrickWood High.

The rest of the day went by quickly. Well, I only had one period left, considering my unusual encounter had occured at lunch time and I seemed to have slept a lot in the Nurse's Station. Speaking of which, as far as the pain goes, it was like it never even happened. Hell, if it weren't for the constant murmurs everytime I walked by and the weird stares, and of course Sterling's frequent check-ups and warnings of "Not cool nearly dyin' in my arms like that. Don't ever do it again", I would have been able to fully convince myself that I wasn't oddly sick and out-of-sorts.

What was going on with me? I had gone through agonizing pain, fainted, walked out on the nurse and in a few days, I would be peeing in a cup. As I left Ms. Wikey's class, ready for the weekend up ahead, I noticed Sterling surrounded by a large group of kids. Mentally shaking myself, I decided I didn't want to be in that crowd and zipped out through the school doors.

Approaching a corner, I contemplated. I was a senior in highschool, doing fairly well, living a regular life, never really rude to anyone. Was it possible that I had an enemy? Somone who had been slipping drugs into my drinks or in my food, trying to avenge themselves for something I had done? Students in the parking lot began to whip their heads around and stare at me with questioning looks. Rolling my eyes, I continued my journey down the sidewalk where my car was parked under a shady oak tree.

As I disarmed the little security system, I noticed a small piece of paper attached to my windshield. Examining it, all that was presented to read was one eerie direction.

Look behind you.

My heart was beating hard. If I didn't know better, I would think it was attempting to break free of my rib cage. 'It's a prank, of course it's a prank. To get me freaked.' I thought to myself, trying to keep calm. But as I glared at the note and fought the urge to glance behind me, the words had changed. It seemed impossible. The direction, that was once written in cursive on a small piece of paper, had been replaced by a one-word question:

Scared?

I gulped down the fear I so desperately tried to hide. The words were changing again, now it read:

You don't have a choice. Turn around and follow the man with the black coat. You'll know.

There was no way I was going to follow those instructions. I slowly stepped towards my car, sliding the key in to unlock it, trying my best to make the least obvious movements. "Didn't that paper say 'you don't have a choice'?" A deep, stern, male voice boomed just inches behind me. This time, I couldn't help the naturalurge as it became too hard to fight. As I swung around, I faced a tall lanky man wearing a black coat. He was more than intimidating. "You, Gordon, are coming with me."