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Epilogue

---

And, so...

We meet again.

"Wha...?"

I don't think you'll remember me -

Then, again, it's inevitable.

"Who...are you?..."

In time, you will know me.

And that will come sooner than you think.

"Seriously...what is this?..."

Hehehe...

You have grown so much.

Good luck.

_ _

Ivan woke up. He lifted his eyes lightly, as he scanned his ceiling. He gently got up, and scanned his room as he was doing this; nothing out of the ordinary. Ivan perked his ears up to listen closely to any sounds he might catch; still, nothing and dawn wasn't even creeping up, yet. Ivan fell back on his bed, and rubbed his eyes with both of his hands, yawning.

"Well..." he whispered, "That was peculiar."

Chapitre Une

Ready, Steady...

"MR. INGRAM!" cried Professor Woodard.

Ivan jolted up from his seat, "Y-yes, sir?"

The class let out some snickers and giggles, and Ivan sank back into his seat in embarrassment.

"Mr. Ingram," his instructor said, going back to the whiteboard, "I suggest you sleep at a much earlier time - so as to not look like you're the waking dead...Am I clear?"

Ivan nodded, at first, and quietly replied, "Yes, sir...sorry." He sank even further into his seat, hoping he would be like a pearl to a clam and let the chair swallow him whole - away from the humiliation he had just experienced. However, he had to face this: what happened had happened, "Don't let it get to you," his Grampa might say. So, he straightened up in his chair and made himself look like nothing happened (it almost convinced him).

Ivan Ingram - 19-years-of-age, in good health (thin, but not skinny nor is he slender enough), about 5' 8", beige hair to match the rest of his fur, a gentle yet vigilant face with blue eyes to match, and has a grey-white, straight-tipped tail (that he proudly grooms every morning). A regular college student aiming to be an English teacher - and that is the only reason as to why he really has to tolerate Mr. Woodard (an old bald, hog).

Creative Writing class was particularly uninteresting that day. It was just the fourth day, of the first week of class, so Ivan could sit back a little - but, not too much to repeat his mishap. He quietly brought out his sketchbook to beat his boredom. Ivan can only wince at each time the instructor's voice boomed in the enormous room-for-100, and it certainly did well on catching his attention as well as his fellow classmates. Ivan tried his best to finally look upon his sketchbook.

There it was. A blank page ready to have its contents filled with his boundless imagination - yet, there was nothing. "Dammit," Ivan said to himself. Nothing really came into mind right now, and with him being so tired wasn't helping. He tried to look over previous drawings he did, and tried to see if he can be inspired - still, nothing. So, he stashed his sketchbook back into his messenger bag and continued to be "attentive" in class.

When the class ended, Ivan let out a sigh of relief. As he left the class, he saw some of the girls snuck mocking glances at them - a cat group, Ivan thought, "They're not worth it." When the girls noticed him noticing him, they giggled by themselves and even had the nerve to eye like he was an "undesirable."

Something clicked in Ivan, and he was immediately overcome with a sudden bloodlust. One of the girls took out her phone, and Ivan noticed it.

BZZZAK!

BAM!

Suddenly, the phone frizzed and, literally, blew up in her hands, and the girls let out pitiful screams. As the girls screamed, Ivan woke up from his trance and was immediately aware of the situation. "Shit..." he whispered, and the people were starting to crowd. Ivan used this to his advantage and escaped through the crowd.

Ivan quickly maneuvered his way out of the mess, and into the streets of the campus. UC San Luisito is a particularly huge and crowded campus, so, if you want an easy escape, just go into one of the crowds of students that usually occupy almost every corner daily. Ivan scratched the back of his head, and looked back - so far, no one was following him or anything. He was safe, for the time being, "That was close..." he thought, "Too close." He looked at his watch: 4:15 P.M., it was still too early to go home, yet. His uncle won't be home till seven, at least, so he's got some time to wander around a bit - he's in charge of dinner tonight.

The coastal town of San Luisito was a frequently visited place - by state locals and tourists alike - and, as such, is usually also crowded. The crowd seems to be minimal today - the middle of the week being as it is, this is normal. Ivan, instantly, fell in love with the place for two reasons, when he and his uncle moved in just this winter: the beach...and the beach-goers. "Plenty of fish in this sea," as his uncle described, "I'm sure you'll be able to find someone - if not then I'm suing our realtor!" Ivan chuckled to himself at his uncle's remark, and almost tripped on a rock but he was able to catch himself. A 15-minute walk took him to an abandoned dock right beside the campus. It wasn't entirely abandoned, really. Ivan had heard of the raves that go on in this place - especially inside the warehouses by the dock - and is pretty apparent with the scattered trash and bits of glass everywhere (probably vodka or rum bottles). However, there was no rave that evening, and Ivan was all alone. It was a little unnerving, but it was what he wanted. A low rumbling sound echoed somewhere near the docks. Ivan couldn't describe it, but he knew that it was far enough for him not to be worried.

Ivan went back to his thoughts, sat himself down with his feet to the murky seawater, and stared at the dipping sunset over the horizon. "It almost happened again," he whispered to himself, "I don't know...if I can control it next time..." The last time Ivan lost control of himself, it almost cost the lives of a lot of people. He felt his hands shaking at the thought of this, and an empty feeling in his stomach made him grab it. Images swirled in his head and none of them good - his head felt light, and his sweat was cold. He shook his head to wake himself up from the stupor, and immediately was back. A small panic attack; he hasn't had it in a long while. Not a very pleasant thing. The rumbling echo came back and a little closer this time - Ivan raised his ears and listened close...nothing. "Hmm", he said, quietly, "I wonder if--" Then, the rumbling came closer, and louder. Ivan had to actually stand up to see what was going on.

Then, an explosion from the other side of one of the warehouses (the one closest to him) made Ivan jump. He was so tempted to go take a look, "C'mon, Ivan..." he whispered, "Remember: 'curiosity killed the cat.'" Now, there were different kinds of explosions, rumblings, and bangs going on inside the warehouse, and lights, like a bonfire, shined from inside it. The symphony of noises and lights stopped with one final, earth-shaking thud. Ivan was attempting to inch closer to the warehouse, but, "'Curiosity killed the cat'", and he let that play in his mind...until, "But, I'm not a cat." With that, Ivan sprinted towards the warehouse to see what was going on.

GGRRAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!

"What the hell...?!" Ivan cursed, and stepped back. With the roars, growls came within the warehouse and Ivan stepped back even further. He was just about to run when the bright light came back, and, this time, it was brighter and Ivan could feel the heat from it.

BOOM!

The wall of the warehouse, facing the sea, blasted open and Ivan was knocked from his feet. Something huge was launched from the blast and landed with a heavy thud right where Ivan was standing before. It was huge, whatever it was, and it was black all over - and it was still breathing. Ivan crawled away from the thing, as it was picking itself up. The "black monster" had great big claws, and it grew to twice its size as it stood on its massive legs...something about its skin made him feel uncomfortable. "It looks like a bear..." Ivan thought to himself, already afraid of what it is. But, Ivan became even more scared when it raised its head: it had piercing, red eyes that gripped his heart; and gnashing, sharp teeth, that constantly drooled, which made him cringe. Ivan thought that if he could quietly crawl away, it might not notice him. However, he couldn't move - he was so scared, it made him stiff. The worst part was that the monster noticed him, and it creeped towards him. Ivan replied by crawling away from it - though it was no use because the creature took bigger strides than he did. The creature was starting to sniff for his scent, "I guess..." Ivan thought, "I guess this is it for me..." And he was preparing for the worst - with fear gripping him, he could barely move.

Then, a bright fireball blasted the creature back and Ivan had to cover his eyes from the brightness. He couldn't believe it - he's saved!

"Oh, shit..." said a voice from behind him.

Ivan looked behind him, and saw a fox-boy standing from where the explosion made a big, burning hole, "Hey, kid!" he called, "Hey, kid, you alright?"

Ivan doesn't know...this doesn't seem to be his day, though - but, it certainly is getting interesting.