Chapter-1_Awake.odt
Grant awoke suddenly, ripped from his sleep by the blasted ear piercing blare of the alarm clock on his nightstand. His eyes snapped open, his first breath was through a pile of drool on his pillow, a blurry red digital read-out staring back at him. He blinked, hoping to clear up his vision. Damn it! Oh it was clear alright, he'd have to hurry to make the morning progress meeting. "I don't even remember hitting the snooze" he mumbled, scratching his head and squinting. A dull ache crept through his right side, under his arm. It was like he hadn't slept at all.
Thursday mornings were always a bitch. Weekly progress meetings, and reports due. Why did it have to be Thursday? Grant smirked to himself, and thought "Probably just to screw up a perfectly good Friday". Traffic had been horrible as usual. He went over the drive in his mind, still pissed about letting someone merge in front of him, then getting the finger as thanks. Next time, he'd just tailgate the person in front of him... no he wouldn't. Grant shook his head slowly as these thoughts passed through his mind.
"Grant!" The daydream of sorts was shattered by the voice of Grants supervisor, Paul. Short, squatty, thick glasses, hair follicle challenged up north. Attitude? Check. Better-than-you complex? Check. "Reports are due today, and it would be nice to have them on my desk with time to review them before the 10:00 meeting for once, do I make myself perfectly clear?" Perfectly. Grant bit his tongue, holding back smart-ass remarks and hidden come-backs. "Yes sir" Oh yes this was going to be a great day for sure.
Grant spent most of the meeting focusing on the raised blood vessels in Brent's forehead. Brent, the fearless leader of this department, always had a way of putting on a good show. How has this guy gone this far without having a heart attack? His gaze shifted to his supervisor, who was nodding in agreement, a frown across his face. His eyes floated around the room, each person having a different reaction to the verbal whipping. Slouching, nodding, blank stares, nervous rubbing and finger tapping. A large growling sound was heard, loud enough that coworkers broke their attention off Brent. Good lord he'd eaten a huge breakfast, it was only 10:20 and Grant was starving.
"Well that was fun." Tim murmured. Grant let out a quick snort, his mouth already wrapping around the huge slice of pizza. "One of these days he's just going to fall over dead" Finished Lisa, and everyone at the lunch room table nodded in agreement. "Jesus Grant, how do you eat like that and not weigh 300 lbs.?" Robert asked, the heavy one of the bunch, obviously a little bitter about the salad he was nibbling on. Grant looked up and shrugged, his mouth full of half the pizza slice, a string of cheese followed his hand back to his plate. Tim pitched in, "He must work out, you can't sit at a desk all day and have his body and eat that food". "Jealous?" Grant said after swallowing half the contents in his mouth, leaving just room enough to squeeze words around the ball of cheese and pepperoni.
It wasn't true, all Grant did was wake up, work, eat, work, eat, go home and sleep. His drive home was the usual show of honking and fist shaking. Grant was too tired to care. His side still ached, he'd learned to ignore those things. He couldn't even remember when he started having them. Small bruises, pains, even a sprained wrist. Doctors had told him he was a wrestles sleeper. He didn't have the time or money to have a sleep study done. Having people watch him sleep didn't sound like a good time.
The distant blaring of the alarm clock once again pulled Grant from his sleep. He slowly opened his eyes, they seemed heavy, and he slowly blinked away the sleep. His hand slammed down on the clock, missing the snooze button the first time. He found the long flat button on the second try. He smiled. Why was he smiling? He felt, good! He felt like he'd had rest. For the first time in weeks his body was totally relaxed as he woke. He propped himself up on his elbows, and looked toward the end of his bed. He shifted slowly and then stopped... something cold hit his leg, cold and wet. He slowly lifted up the covers to reveal the situation. "Really Grant, has it been that long?" he moaned. It might have been worth it if he remembered his damn dream! He never could remember dreams. Even though he knew he had them. Waking up screaming, crying, laughing... and now this.
The shower felt good, the dull ache in his side all but gone. Grant tilted his head back and let the hot water hit his face, opening his mouth slightly letting the water in before he spit it out. "Last night was amazing, Harvark" a gentle voice said from behind him. Grant screamed, his voice echoed off his shower wall as he lurched back, water hitting his eyes and filing his mouth. He coughed, wiped his eyes and looked, but no one was there. He'd heard it, plain as if someone was standing right behind him. His heart raced, he tore the shower curtain back, but the bathroom was empty.
"Well well, looks like someone got some last night!" Tim jeered, giving an exaggerated nod. "How much did she cost?" Grant gave an absent chuckle, and kept walking. "All the details... lunch, Jimmy's Pizza, be there because I'm paying". Grant shook his head and sat down at his desk. His monitor flickered to life as he touched the power button. "What in the hell is going on". Grant said out loud to himself, the sound of the voice still clear in his head. So soft, so soothing, so familiar. "I'll tell you what is going on!" A gruff voice boomed behind him. Grant's supervisor stood there, hands on his hips. "I asked for a report, and you give me crap!" And a flutter of paper rained down inside Grant's cubicle. Suddenly Grants chair was grabbed and spun around so he faced the little man. "If I have to read through another one of these reports again I'll---" As soon as he was spun, in a flash his hand was flying, toward Paul's jaw. Grant found himself snarling, his lips pulled away from his teeth, his fist stopped centimeters from its target. "You'll what!!" Grant roared, his voice so loud and fierce he fogged the quivering man's glasses.
A coffee cup hit the floor. A chair creaked. Everything stopped. The fog slowly cleared from the eyewear to reveal eyes tightly shut, a cringe froze across Paul's face. Grant looked at his fist in horror and slowly broke his gaze, taking in the scene around him. He slowly lowered his hand. A sudden smell of urine filled his nose. Paul collapsed to the floor.
"I can't believe they called security, that's a first." Blurted Tim, still adjusting himself in the booth, sliding over so Robert would have room. Lisa slid in beside Grant, and picked up the menu. "I don't even know why I look at this thing anymore, I get the same thing every time." Lisa stated, trying to change the subject. "Dude you should have seen Paul in HR, he was still muttering about a beast when he came out!" Tim said, ignoring Lisa's efforts to direct the subject matter. "Give him a moment." Robert stated, looking over at Grant, who still had a blank expression on his face. "He looks like he's still in shock. Grant hey, buddy, don't worry, you'll find another job, I hear Intek is hiring". Robert finished and snatched up a menu. "I can't believe he pissed himself!" Tim could hardly contain himself.
There was much to talk about, but Grant didn't hear a lot it. What happened to him? He would never do that! He almost took Paul's head off! How did he do that so quickly? His mind raced as he tried to make sense of it, of everything, of his life. "Wait, mark this on the calendar, Grant isn't hungry" Tim announced, and drew a check mark in the air. Grant looked down, 3 slices of un-touched pizza still on his plate. "guys, thanks but I think I just want to go home" Grant said, and looked at Lisa who was already looking at him with teary eyes. "Please stay in touch Grant, we'll miss you so much" Lisa slurred, her lips quivering as she started to sob and cry. She stood up, as did everyone at the table, and gave Grant a hug.
It was only 3:00 in the afternoon, and Grant was sitting on the edge of his bed. He cradled his head in his hands, muttering to himself. A sudden wave of drowsiness washed over him. He felt as if he could fall asleep right then. Grant moved his head from side to side, and his hand rubbed the back of his neck. Another hand softly rested on his shoulder and the thumb gently pushed into his shoulder muscle. Grant moaned slightly, it felt so good, the firm grip, the soft touch, another hand fell on his other shoulder, fur brushed the hand on his neck, and a soft kiss fell on the base of his skull. Grant's eyes snapped open and he was air-born. Twisting in the air, eyes wide. He landed in the pile of dirty cloths against his wall with a thud. A vision of a figure kneeling on the bed drifted away, and he was alone.
His phone rang, or was he still dreaming. No his phone was ringing. Grant jumped up and grabbed it. "Yes!" he gasped. Swallowing hard and taking another deep breath. "What in the hell are you doing, running?" Tim's voice echoed "No I was um... " Tim cut in "Hey it's none of my business man... hey listen a bunch of us are meeting down at the Tah later for drinks, you need to be there." Grant looked around his room, "I don't feel... like going anywhere man, I think I'm tripping out" "Hey a few drinks are just what the doctor ordered, be there or I will hunt you down! Don't make me kung fu your ass!" The click meant Tim wasn't going to give Grant time to protest. He set the phone down, and took one final look around the room. "I need to get out more" he whispered.
Grant didn't like the bar scene. There were better places to people-watch. Tim was already talking loudly and often. Robert was already slumping into his chair. Lisa was already flirting with anything that moved and Grant was still sipping on his first beer. "Hey, Grant, you need a sippy cup?" Tim said jokingly, and held up his mug. "A toast, to the one guy who did what we've all wanted to do!" Tim stood up and raised his glass. Surprisingly half the bar stood as well and everyone laughed and took a drink. Grant took a sip, and set his mug back on the table. Lisa scooted closer to him. "Hey, you're going to need to finish a couple of those if I am ever going to have a chance with you." She gave a sleepy-eyed look and moved the mug closer to Grant. "We aren't co-workers anymore, so look out!" She made a big motion with her arms, almost spilling her beer. Grant smirked, and took another sip.
"How do you keep... keep your arms so... where do you work out?" Lisa finally finished her sentence while hanging off Grant's arm. She was using him just to stay upright as they walked back to the parking area. Before Grant could come up with a reason Tim bellowed "Cause he's a Man! A stud, he's a-a- tough guy Lisa and you want to know why? Cause tough guys don't need to work out" Tim leaned back as he said this, but in doing so lost his balance, taking a step back to catch himself before heading back in the right direction. Robert lingered behind the group, trying to focus on the complicated task of putting one foot in front of the other. "Hey, hey you!" a voice called out from behind them. "Yeah that's right I'm talking to YOU!!" They all spun around to see 3 larger guys closing the gap between them very quickly. "Run" Tim stated, then turned around and slammed into a light pole. Lisa frowned, "They look angry". Robert looked up as the men passed him and went straight for Tim. Two of the men picked Tim up off the ground, and slammed him into the light pole he'd run head long into.
"What ya runnin for you little shit" Spat the man who wasn't holding Tim up off the ground.
"Wha--I uh--wasn't -" His words were cut short as the third man slammed his fist directly into Tim's stomach. The rush of air and painful moan was washed over with the laughter from the other two. "Hey!" Grant yelled, letting go of Lisa who stumbled over to a car for support. "There is no need for that!" But as Grant came toward the third man, he was met with knuckles headed toward his nose. Grant's head snapped back and he fell backward. Surprise faded, something else took over. Pure anger. His vision changed, dark was light, the overhead parking lights seemed like suns in the sky. Grant stood up, his shoulders low, his torso upright. The third man looked back, and grinned. "Oh back for more are you?" And took another swing. It was the last thing he did that week.
Grant sidestepped, his right arm shot out at lightning speed striking the man in the jaw. Teeth and spit flew in the air, followed by flood. At the moment of impact Grant let out a battle cry so loud and deep it set car alarms off. The second man dropped Tim and rushed. Big mistake, as Grant's foot shot out and picked him completely off the ground, shattering his jaw as well and snapping his head back with such force his head hit the ground before his feet did. The first man dropped Tim's other arm, and in seeing his two buddies motionless, ran for it. Grant thrust with his legs, lunging, clearing a car's length before his shoulder met the man's back. Arms wrapped around him in a football tackle so powerful that both men were air-born for a moment. As they both slammed down, Grant rolled off forward and came to his feet, the man, still thinking Grant was behind him scrambled to get up and ran right into Grant's knee. A sickening crack was made by the man's nose being shattered. He dropped instantly. Another faint thud was heard over the car alarms as Tim passed out and hit the ground. Lisa was frozen, unable to move. And Robert was slowly swaying back and forth, a look of pure panic, looking straight at Grant.
"Ok ok, let me get this straight, you don't remember how you sent 3 guys to the hospital?" The officer's head tilted to one side, both his arms on the metal table bolted to the floor of the questioning room. "How do you not remember that?" The man in blue craned his neck, trying to look in Grant's eyes. Grant only had a slight trickle of dried blood at the corner of his nostrils. His head hung down, looking at his folded hands resting on the cold surface. "I... I don't know, all I remember is getting punched in the face, and then I was standing over one of them and Lisa was screaming and..." Grant's voice shuddered, and he took a sharp deep breath.
The police station was busy that night, it usually was on a Friday. The officer didn't seem that much in a hurry, however. He leaned back, held up his hand and extended his thumb, and rested his pointer finger from his other hand on it. "Ok look, I got one guy in a coma, getting his jaw wired shut right now," his pointer finger extended along with his thumb and his other finger switch digits, " I got this other guy who doesn't remember his name, getting his jaw wired shut right now, and, " For effect his 3rd finger flipped out, acting as a perch for the pointer finger, "I have a guy with a shattered nose who will have to have reconstructive surgery if he ever wants to stop and smell the roses again!" The police officer leaned forward as far as he could, "Son, you don't do all that and not remember how in the hell you did it! Each of those men were twice your size! Now, I'm not saying they didn't deserve to be roughed up a bit but, holy shit did you have to wreck them that bad?"
Grant continued to look down at his hands. He did remember. The reflexes of a cat, the vision of a cat, and abilities he never knew he had. And yet it was like old times for some reason. It was as if he'd done this before. He couldn't shake the nagging feeling that he had experience more than he remembered... "Hey snap out of it son! You better give me some answers or you'll be spending a lot more time with me!" Grant looked up slowly, his tone changed. "Sir, there were 3 of them, and one of me. I was scared for my life. I knew they were going to kill me so I defended myself." The sentence was monotone and sounded rehearsed. "Really? That's it? That is what you have to say for yourself?" The officer leaned back and slumped in his chair. "Well ain't that a peach."
Tim wasn't answering his phone. Neither were the other two. Grant sighed and slammed the phone down on the seat beside him. He parked his car in the lot, and headed up to his room. He tried one last time for Tim and it went straight to voicemail. "Hey um, Tim, this is Grant... hey, about tonight... I'm sorry about... what happened. I hope you got home ok, and um, well... catch you later" Maybe a poor choice of words, Grant thought as he fished for his keys in his pocket. He unlocked the door and went inside, the door clicked behind him and he hit the lights. Grant threw his keys and wallet up on the counter and rubbed his eyes for a moment, letting the counter support him. When he opened them a vision quickly faded away, something of dirt, dark walls, an earthy smell. He was in his kitchen, but for a second he seemed to be somewhere else.
"I must be tired" Grant muttered to himself, and staggered into his bedroom. He slumped onto his bed, and untied his shoes, took his socks off, and started unbuttoning his shirt. He looked down and for the first time saw the blood spatter on his shirt, and pants. "Oh man, this was my good shirt!" Grant howled, and fell back onto his bed. "Damn it this week has got to be the worst week of my life!" He took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled, closing his eyes and trying to relax. Both his hands rubbing at his eyes then pulled his cheeks down as he flopped them to the bed again. If he didn't get up now, he would never get his clothes off before he fell asleep.
"Harvark, lover is that you?" Grant shook his head, and tried to open his eyes. As they opened, he saw an image imposed over the ceiling he would normally see in that position. A face, looking down at him, milky white fur covering all features, soft blue eyes looking down at him. He sucked in a breath quickly, but was un-able to move. "Oh Harvark, you look horrible, I've never seen you like this." A warm paw softly padded his cheek, he felt it... the fur on his face, the soft, warm touch, he couldn't believe his eyes. "You've never taken this long to shift, something must be wrong." The soft white face moved close to his, and she softly brushed her cheek against his, her whiskers folding back as she continued the motion and folded her ear back. He now felt her soft fur on the rest of his body, she was sitting over him, her paws on either side of his chest. Her head rose again to look him in the eyes. So much love and passion, he knew her, but, how? A sudden mix of memories flooded through his mind. He shook, his whole body trembled. Memories started mixing, like a giant box of puzzle pieces. His eyes flickered back and forth, from his room, to this other room. He was fighting to stay, but another part of him was fighting to return.
Grant looked down, and raised his hand... but all he saw was dark grey and black stripes, and a white paw. He raised his other hand, he saw his hand. He could see both at the same time! As he moved, he saw both his hand, and a paw move. Everything was blurry, nothing made any sense. Grant closed his eyes and screamed. What he heard was a roar, that drowned out his human cry. Grant passed out.
A sharp rapping at the front door woke Grant. He bolted upright. His vision cleared and he looked around the room. Again someone pounded on his door. He threw back the covers. He looked down to find himself completely naked. He never slept naked, how did he get under his covers? Some memories snapped back into focus, but they seemed like dreams. Another pounding on the door, this time followed by a voice "This is the police, we need to talk to you!" Oh shit, what now? He threw his legs off the edge of the bed, he felt wetness again. Another wet dream? "Shit" he said under his breath, and jumped into his pants that were piled on the floor next to his bed. He didn't bother with a shirt, as he walked to the door. He looked through the peephole to see a distorted view of the officer who had been asking him the questions last night. "Yeah what is it?" Grant yelled through the door. "Yeah open the door, need to talk to ya" The officer demanded.
Slowly Grant unlocked the door, and opened it. The officer peered inside, then took his hat off and pushed his way through the door. "Mornin!" the officer said, as if he'd come over for some pan-cakes and coffee. "Um, yeah it is, early. Listen I had a rough night and I'm tired-" The officer broke in, "Oh this won't take long. I just forgot to ask you a couple of questions about last ni.... Holy shit what happened to your back?" The officer exclaimed, and stepped back. "What?" Grant asked, trying to look back over his shoulder. Out of the corner of his eye he could see 4 red lines barely over his shoulder. "I don't I, must have fell last night" Grant stammered. The officer raised an eyebrow, and looked back at Grant. "Yeah... fell" the officer retorted. "Hey listen, we have some security footage of the attack we acquired from an ATM across the street." The policeman paused, as if waiting for a reaction. When he didn't get one, he continued. "It's kind of crappy quality, but we can see that only two of the guys actually attacked you. The other one was running away and you tackled him. If he presses charges you could go to jail." Another pause as the officer waited for some sort of a reaction. For the second time he got nothing. "Well just wanted to let you know, and hey, you aren't planning any trips out of town anytime soon are you?" Grant shook his head slowly. "Good! Ok well have a good day then, I'll see you around." The police officer gave Grant a slap on the back, which to Grant's surprise, resulted in feeling like someone had taken a cheese grater to the skin on his back. He winced which gave the policeman a little satisfaction. "Must be some girl you got" he stated as he walked out the door.